5 day pouch test

It has been a really long time since I have posted on the forum.  I am 5+ years out (March 08) and hardly recognize any names on here .  I started out really well went from 270# to 180# in less than a year.  I  got to a point where I wasn't really losing anymore but I also wasn't gaining.  That changed about a year ago when I got pretty sloppy about my eating habits.....and I have gained about 10 # this past year.  So today I started the 5 day pouch test.  I made it through the first day and feel pretty good about that.  I'm hoping doing the pouch test will get me back on track and I can lose another 50 #'s.  On the upside, I continue to feel fantastic.  I am back playing golf several times a week, just got back from a week long golf clinic/vacation with two friends.  We were up in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  Absolutely beautiful!!! played lots of golf, had great lessons, and had a great time at the spa at the hotel.  I still stay very active taking care of our Ranch in northern California.  And will even, occasionally, take one of our horses for a trail ride with friends.  But I REALLY need to get back on track and get the rest of the weight off!!!

What is the pouch test?

It's a technique out of the RNY community.  Their stomachs, or pouches, are made from the stretchy part of the stomach.  The test is basically just re doing the initial diet stagecoin a five day period.  The idea is to reset the pouch to the after surgery condition.

in the VSG world, there is usually not a physiological impact.  The effect for us is more from the carb detoxing thain anything else in my opinion.  The goal is to make it easier for us to use the sleeve as a tool for eating healthier.

Best of luck in your journey!  No clue on the pouch test, but I saw your dogs, and had to reply!  

Glad you are feeling good and getting back on track. It's so easy to let a bite here and there creep up on you -- so I hope you hang around.  There have been a lot of great posts lately from people who are further out about the challenges of getting the last chunk off and keeping it off.

Welcome back!

actually it's not just for RNY.....it's for anyone that needs to get the full feeling of their pouch again.  Day 1 & 2 is full liquids....shakes/smoothies, creamed/pureed soups or broth, etc.  Day 3 is soft foods, cottage cheese, eggs, etc. you can also continue shakes/smoothies, Day 4 is ground meats, day 5 is firm meats. Plenty of fluids....at least 6 8 oz glasses of water, etc.  The goal by the end of the 5 days is to regain the full feeling of the pouch and break the bad cycle.  Mine is drinking water with my meals and snacking during the day.  It creeps back without you realizing it.  I will go in and grab a bite of cheese, or a handful of almonds without even thinking about it.  And I have found that I can eat larger meals in the last year or so.  So I really need to "reset" my pouch and get used the tighter feel of it again.

I've always loved the pouch test for resetting.  It's always worked wonderfully on killing the cravings and lessening the appetite.  I've done it several times as have many vsgers.  Hope it helps you on the rest of your journey.

Laurie, I think what Rob is trying to say is that if you have had VSG you do not have a pouch. The correct terminology is sleeve and the sleeve is usually not formed from the stretchy part of the fundus like a pouch normally is. The physiology of our sleeves is different than that of RNY pouch.

You are right the correct terminology is sleeve.  As an RN I should be more careful and use the correct terminology.  But trust me.....at 5 years out you can lose the tight feeling of the your sleeve!! So maybe I should refer to it as a 5 day sleeve test.  Either way the goal is the same.  To get the feeling of fullness back, with smaller meals, and to get back on track and make this wonderful tool work again!!

actually, if you were to look up the definition of stomach it refers to it as a saclike organ, or resembling a pouch.  So using the term pouch is really not that incorrect, because that is basically what the stomach is.  In an RNY they make a smaller pouch from part of the stomach.  But the stomach as a whole is a pouch or sack that holds and partially digests food until it enters the intestines.