Thaialina
New Member
Hi,
As most of you know I had my bypass last May and it has worked for me. Almost 10 months post op, I am now finding that I have returned to some of my naughty ways food-wise. I now snack more than I should and have discovered naughty foods that I can eat without dumping or making me dump.
I've gone to great lengths to keep my weightloss going; going to the gym and eating healthily. Although I've done all this my weightloss is still very slow in comparison to what it used to be. I really want to shed the pounds as I'm getting married in August and have a dress to fit into, so I was very excited when I heard about the 5 day pouch test website from Shel. This is designed to retain your pouch, to make sure that your pouch hasn't stretched andyou may lose weight at the same time. I had a good look at it, but had a few concerns about the protein as it makes me dump. Also in the neighbourhood, on the website, there were quite a few people who had done it over and over.
I spoke to Gordon, my fiancee, about the 5 day pouch test. After being ill, he knows everything about enzymes released by the pancreas and the absorption process that takes place in the upper stomach etc. He doesn't think that sticking to just a high protein diet is a good idea at all and disagrees with what the woman on the 5 day pouch test website says.
I know this is controversial to a lot of people, however, Gordon has seen one of the best gastrologist in the country who deals with all stomach related operations and pouch disorders as well as numerous top nutritionists. I know that he hasn’t had a bypass, but he has done the next best thing, going through my bypass journey with me! He understands how bad dumping can be and how easy it is to increase your food intake, like I have, by eating foods that we can eat a lot of and get away with without dumping.
He had a look at the 5 day pouch test for me and was amazed at how different it was to the post op diet. He was particularly amazed at the lack of vegetables and the amount of protein. I’m a vegetarian and he knows how much I can suffer if I eat a lot of protein (quorn in my case) and I was really worried about this stage of the diet. He also knows how the op has made my hair thin and knows that I, like many post op people, need all the vitamins I can get, so decided to help me out with his knowledge.
As I found his information really helpful, I asked him to type down his ideas so I could share it with you.
This is what he had to say:
“I disagree with parts of the 5 day pouch test because protein, especially complex protein from protein drinks and all the meat etc, take a long time to break down in the stomach and swell (yes, making you feel less hungry). However, it does no good for your stomach and your metabolism. In addition, protein has to be typically measured to your weight because if you have too much protein it can damage your liver, kidneys (causing kidney stones) etc. Your stomach has to work really hard to break down the protein and the protein swells and your pancreas has to work extra hard to release a lot of enzymes to deal with the breaking down process. Also, it does no good for your colon tract.
In addition, red meat is the worst thing possible for you pouch because it can take 24 hours to digest in the stomach and ferments. You should only have one piece of red meat a week and I would not have that. I have none at all. Just imagine, you eat red meat, it takes twenty four hours to break down, so in that twenty four hours food is just piling on top of it so you get a bigger pouch, a slower metabolism and end up in a sluggish mood.
You should not be messing with diets like this, they do more harm than good. The ultimate way to shrink your pouch back to normal size is to go back to when you had surgery: liquid diet, pureed food etc for two weeks... one week is not long enough anyway because your body will go into survival mode. It takes two weeks to adjust to the new intake of food. Yes, you will be hungry, but if you want your pouch to shrink and lose weight then tough because it will be worth it.
However, I can understand the woman saying about slider foods being carbs etc, but fluffy white potato and other certain carbs (not dead carbs and sugar etc) will not put weight on you at all and helps to speed up metabolism so they should be included in the diet with lots and lots of vegetables because the potato is full of fibre and roughage that your stomach needs. This is because these foods will break down really quickly in the pouch (reducing swelling and the size of the pouch) and the fibre and complex carb content of the veg etc keeps your insulin levels (sugar levels) straight without spikes or dumps. The food’s not particularly nice, but, again, if you want to lose weight and shrink the pouch to its original size, here is an example of what my diet would be:
Day one to three:
Clear soup, soft vegetables, mashed potatoes (plain, no skin, no butter or anything) pureed fish or pureed chicken, vitamin tablet and only drink water through the day.
Day four, five, six, seven, eight, nine to ten:
Vegatables, mashed potato, chicken, fish, water, vitamin tablet and soft fruit (if you don’t dump from the sugar).
Day eleven to fourteen:
Slowly introduce solid foods on the digestion process.
Please remember that carbs don’t swell your pouch or make you gain weight. Calories put weight on. Your body can’t tell if you eat a potato or a plate of veg. It is the total amount of calories you consume versus the calories that you burn a day. I.e. if you eat 1000 calories and you burn only 800, you have 200 calories left that your body stores as fat.
Also, carbs don’t make your pouch grow (except slow digestion foods which makes food pile on top of it as it takes longer to digest). “Plate size” IS THE ANSWER (SIMPLE AS THAT). You should be grazing like a cow "lol" yes like a cow. Little meals often, proven everywhere to keep sugar levels constant, speed metabolism up and the best way to lose weight. This is just what you did after the operation. Also, by eating little and often your pouch will not grow because your stomach is never completely full so it will shrink. Yes, you will be hungry, but DO YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT AND REDUCE POUCH SIZE? Also, do this for two weeks and your body will adapt and you won’t be hungry. If you are well it’s in the head!
Also, have no water at all for at least 15 minutes before or after your meal because this fills your stomach and reduces stomach acid. So it takes longer for food to digest because the body has to make more acid and enzymes to counteract the reduction of stomach acid, hence longer transit time...
So, if you want to lose weight and reduce the size of your pouch it’s simple. Graze like a cow, eat loads of vegatables, mashed potato, chicken, fish, no water before and after a meal, NO POP, No bread, no sugar etc for two weeks. Try to have four little meals a day. No snacking at all. Basically you’re back to a fist full of food maximum. Take at least fifteen minutes to eat your food.”
I'm looking forward to see what you all think about the 5 day pouch test and whether you agree with the healthier alternative that Gordon has kindly come up with.
As most of you know I had my bypass last May and it has worked for me. Almost 10 months post op, I am now finding that I have returned to some of my naughty ways food-wise. I now snack more than I should and have discovered naughty foods that I can eat without dumping or making me dump.
I've gone to great lengths to keep my weightloss going; going to the gym and eating healthily. Although I've done all this my weightloss is still very slow in comparison to what it used to be. I really want to shed the pounds as I'm getting married in August and have a dress to fit into, so I was very excited when I heard about the 5 day pouch test website from Shel. This is designed to retain your pouch, to make sure that your pouch hasn't stretched andyou may lose weight at the same time. I had a good look at it, but had a few concerns about the protein as it makes me dump. Also in the neighbourhood, on the website, there were quite a few people who had done it over and over.
I spoke to Gordon, my fiancee, about the 5 day pouch test. After being ill, he knows everything about enzymes released by the pancreas and the absorption process that takes place in the upper stomach etc. He doesn't think that sticking to just a high protein diet is a good idea at all and disagrees with what the woman on the 5 day pouch test website says.
I know this is controversial to a lot of people, however, Gordon has seen one of the best gastrologist in the country who deals with all stomach related operations and pouch disorders as well as numerous top nutritionists. I know that he hasn’t had a bypass, but he has done the next best thing, going through my bypass journey with me! He understands how bad dumping can be and how easy it is to increase your food intake, like I have, by eating foods that we can eat a lot of and get away with without dumping.
He had a look at the 5 day pouch test for me and was amazed at how different it was to the post op diet. He was particularly amazed at the lack of vegetables and the amount of protein. I’m a vegetarian and he knows how much I can suffer if I eat a lot of protein (quorn in my case) and I was really worried about this stage of the diet. He also knows how the op has made my hair thin and knows that I, like many post op people, need all the vitamins I can get, so decided to help me out with his knowledge.
As I found his information really helpful, I asked him to type down his ideas so I could share it with you.
This is what he had to say:
“I disagree with parts of the 5 day pouch test because protein, especially complex protein from protein drinks and all the meat etc, take a long time to break down in the stomach and swell (yes, making you feel less hungry). However, it does no good for your stomach and your metabolism. In addition, protein has to be typically measured to your weight because if you have too much protein it can damage your liver, kidneys (causing kidney stones) etc. Your stomach has to work really hard to break down the protein and the protein swells and your pancreas has to work extra hard to release a lot of enzymes to deal with the breaking down process. Also, it does no good for your colon tract.
In addition, red meat is the worst thing possible for you pouch because it can take 24 hours to digest in the stomach and ferments. You should only have one piece of red meat a week and I would not have that. I have none at all. Just imagine, you eat red meat, it takes twenty four hours to break down, so in that twenty four hours food is just piling on top of it so you get a bigger pouch, a slower metabolism and end up in a sluggish mood.
You should not be messing with diets like this, they do more harm than good. The ultimate way to shrink your pouch back to normal size is to go back to when you had surgery: liquid diet, pureed food etc for two weeks... one week is not long enough anyway because your body will go into survival mode. It takes two weeks to adjust to the new intake of food. Yes, you will be hungry, but if you want your pouch to shrink and lose weight then tough because it will be worth it.
However, I can understand the woman saying about slider foods being carbs etc, but fluffy white potato and other certain carbs (not dead carbs and sugar etc) will not put weight on you at all and helps to speed up metabolism so they should be included in the diet with lots and lots of vegetables because the potato is full of fibre and roughage that your stomach needs. This is because these foods will break down really quickly in the pouch (reducing swelling and the size of the pouch) and the fibre and complex carb content of the veg etc keeps your insulin levels (sugar levels) straight without spikes or dumps. The food’s not particularly nice, but, again, if you want to lose weight and shrink the pouch to its original size, here is an example of what my diet would be:
Day one to three:
Clear soup, soft vegetables, mashed potatoes (plain, no skin, no butter or anything) pureed fish or pureed chicken, vitamin tablet and only drink water through the day.
Day four, five, six, seven, eight, nine to ten:
Vegatables, mashed potato, chicken, fish, water, vitamin tablet and soft fruit (if you don’t dump from the sugar).
Day eleven to fourteen:
Slowly introduce solid foods on the digestion process.
Please remember that carbs don’t swell your pouch or make you gain weight. Calories put weight on. Your body can’t tell if you eat a potato or a plate of veg. It is the total amount of calories you consume versus the calories that you burn a day. I.e. if you eat 1000 calories and you burn only 800, you have 200 calories left that your body stores as fat.
Also, carbs don’t make your pouch grow (except slow digestion foods which makes food pile on top of it as it takes longer to digest). “Plate size” IS THE ANSWER (SIMPLE AS THAT). You should be grazing like a cow "lol" yes like a cow. Little meals often, proven everywhere to keep sugar levels constant, speed metabolism up and the best way to lose weight. This is just what you did after the operation. Also, by eating little and often your pouch will not grow because your stomach is never completely full so it will shrink. Yes, you will be hungry, but DO YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT AND REDUCE POUCH SIZE? Also, do this for two weeks and your body will adapt and you won’t be hungry. If you are well it’s in the head!
Also, have no water at all for at least 15 minutes before or after your meal because this fills your stomach and reduces stomach acid. So it takes longer for food to digest because the body has to make more acid and enzymes to counteract the reduction of stomach acid, hence longer transit time...
So, if you want to lose weight and reduce the size of your pouch it’s simple. Graze like a cow, eat loads of vegatables, mashed potato, chicken, fish, no water before and after a meal, NO POP, No bread, no sugar etc for two weeks. Try to have four little meals a day. No snacking at all. Basically you’re back to a fist full of food maximum. Take at least fifteen minutes to eat your food.”
I'm looking forward to see what you all think about the 5 day pouch test and whether you agree with the healthier alternative that Gordon has kindly come up with.
