Testing Pouch Size

[LindaV]

Hey All,

I was browsing on "the other side" and ran across a thread about stretching you pouch. Faybie had posted this reply with a link at the bottom about how to see how much you pouch actually holds.

Here is her post:

Originally Posted by faybie
Well, I am very, very new to this process so this reply isn't based on personal experience but on research. I have read many, many posts on this site and also read every lap band site, Dr. Site, Advocate site, Negative site, Before and After site that I can locate multiple times over. For two years now, I have been doing this, I am the kind of person that likes to know every single detail good or bad, so that I know what to expect.

So, now that you know the history of where this comes from, out of all of the research that I have gathered via websites, Dr.'s, statistics and real life people, I have concluded that the best recommended way to maintain your 4oz pouch "for life" and to not have it dialate, slip or erode, is to only eat 4-6oz in a sitting. This includes people restricted and non-restricted. The Restriction is designed to keep you full longer, not necessarily to allow you to eat more. So, if you are non-restricted and 6oz does not keep full for long, then it is recommened to have two 6oz. snack/meals when you feel hungry, instead of one big 12oz meal.

It is a proven fact that your pouch will dialate over time, it is body tissue and cannot be prevented. (If supervised and caught early enough, it is a very, very simple procedure to get you back down to your oringinal 4oz. pouch size, which is why you should never skip an annual appointment) So, it would be easy to surmize that a person eating 8-10oz in a sitting is going to dialate their original 4oz pouch over time faster than one who eats 4-6oz. in a sitting.

Here is a good website that I found on this board that is suggested to help you determine what your pouch size is now. This site is a gastric bypass blog site, however you could easily do this test and apply band techniques, like not scarfing down as much as you can in 5 mins. instead eat slowly like we are supposed to.
http://www.geocities.com/sweetartz19...agecheese.html

[NotSoFunny]

This is great information. Thank you for posting it!

[paula]

Is the link working?

Ive heard of bandsters tyring this. Im gonna dig aound LBT to get more info on it - I think Leatha was one that kinda researched this pouch evaluation. Seems like I remember something about eating 4oz's of cottege cheese and seeing IF you were still able to eat more/feel hungry....

Im gone diggin...

[Goannabanda]

I'm not banded yet, but here's what my surgeons say:

The band holds about one or two small bites at a time, and lets the food move slowly down over 4 or 5 minutes.

Food is not held for longer in the upper part of the stomach unless it gets stuck.

As long as you eat slow enough, allowing the band to clear before taking the next bite, there should be no problems with dilating the pouch.

They also only provide loose recommendations as to what size your meals will eventually be - they say that after about 20 to 30 minutes of eating this way, you feel full and the meal ends. It's not a matter of "filling up your pouch" per se.

Just my two cents worth... ...I'll reserve the right to edit the above once I am banded and restricted!

[Iulizbug]

That all makes sense to me when you are properly restricted but what about when there is no saline in the band? You still only can hold that little bit in the pouch and it takes 4-5 minutes for a couple bites of food to go down? I guess I am just wondering b/c now b/c I am completely unfilled I feel completely "wide open" and though I make myself eat slow I know I "could" eat extremely fast and I do not slime or PB. I could also eat for at least 30minutes as well. I don't b/c I would gain my weight back but it just seems extremely different then when I was restricted. Thank goodness i only have two more weeks till then...I need my saline!!

~Liz~
03/10/06
241/168/160
5'7''

[LindaV]

Since I am really tight in the morning, I tend to eat very little and then get most of my calories in during the late afternoon and at dinnertime. I can eat a substantial amount of food at dinner--sometimes 2-3 cups of food depending on the content. Sometimes I worry about what this is doing to my pouch. I know pre-banding that my stomach could hold an incredible amount of food. I could out-eat everyone I know.

I still struggle with eating very slowly. Unless I am eating hard protein there is a big gap between "no longer hungry" and "feeling full." I'm only 4 months out and am still very much in the learning curve for learning to eat with the band. Sometimes I just wonder if I will ever just be able to eat (in a healthy satisfying way) without putting so much thought into it.