Pouch Rules

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/3/04 8:31:25 AM Central Standard Time,

rwburtt99@... writes:

> Don't do it much but I can. If the size of stomach is supposed to be so

> small, why can I eat so much????????????///

------------

It can depend on several factors. How much you can eat is a function

of holding a chewed mass of food in a pouch with an opening in it. Only if

you are " holding " the food (that is, it is not running out) will you get " full "

to the point where you CAN'T eat anymore.

One factor is the size of the pouch NOW -- it DOES stretch over time,

though probably not as much as many people think. However, it wouldn't be

unheard of to have a pouch that would hold 1 to 1/2 cups of chewed food -- even

if none of it is running out of the bottom through the stoma.

Another factor is the size of the stoma, or opening to the pouch. If

the opening is large, food will be moving through the pouch and then through

the stoma into the intestine quite rapidly, so that you can continue to put

more and more food into the pouch.

Another factor is consistency of the food. Food that chews up finely

can require a large amount to make up the volume that will fit into a pouch.

For example, it takes a lot of crackers to make crumbs that will fill 1/2 cup.

Foods that chew up " liquidy, " like ice cream, lettuce, etc., move through

the pouch and out the stoma VERY quickly. For some people, they hardly stop at

all on their way through. In some cases, you can eat practically and

unlimited volume of those things.

Another factor is time -- how long you are eating. Over time, the

food is moving out of the pouch and through the stoma, making room for more

food.

If you are taking a long time to eat your meal, those initial bites may have

already moved out of the pouch, leaving room for you to continue eating --

ultimately putting away a lot more food at one sitting that you might have been

able to do if you had only taken 10 or 15 minutes to eat. Also, if you graze

(grab a bite or two of something every half hour or so, then you are

constantly refilling the pouch and can eat a large quantity of food over the

course of

a day.

Another factor is liquid. If you turn " firm " consistency foods into

liquid by drinking with your meals, you are pushing the food out through the

pouch and making room for more food. People who drink (or sip) liquids with

their meals can eat a much larger quantity than those who don't. This also

holds

true for those who don't drink during the meal, but have something right

after the meal (say coffee after dinner) and then, gee, there's suddenly room

for

dessert!

So, how much you can eat depends on the mechanics of your pouch (how

large is it and your stoma), the consistency of the food you are ingesting, the

amount of residue that is left when the food is in it's chewed state, the

time it takes to eat and the amount of liquid contained in the food (or added

while eating).

However, the volume of the food eaten does not always predict how

successful you will be over all. For many people, it really comes down to what

food choices they are making -- are they eating huge quantities of chicken

breast, green beans and protein shakes? Or crackers, cookies and candy?

Beth

Houston, TX

VBG - Dr. Srungaram

05/31/00 - 314 lbs.

11/01/02 - Abdominoplasty

11/29/02 - 160 lbs.

5'10 "

[Guest guest]

Thanks Bridget, your a sweetheart!!!!

Laurette

4/23/04 open rny

309/290/231/150

St. Charity

Cleveland, Ohio

[Guest guest]

Hey Kim, Amy, everybody . . .

Since we've been talking about what is or isn't okay to eat, I

thought it would be good to remind people of the files we have in the

group's site for " Pouch Rules " . I think we all should review the

pouch rules now and then just to stay on track with our weightloss.

I posted the link to the files below, hope it works:) Kim, if you

can think of any other good files for Amy and others to look at let

us know. The " Pouch Rules " explain how wls is a tool and how to stay

on track.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Bridget

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Gastric_Bypass_Family/files/