5 day 'pouch test' help?

Ok so this is the typical 'oh my gawd help me get back on track' post. I haven't been horrible with eating around the holidays. Most days are great, but some are overload with badness. So Monday I would like to do this 5 day pouch test.

What does this consist of? Shakes all day? Cheese sticks as snacks?

It's easier for me to get started on a Monday because I will be at work 8 hours plus driving plus my night job so I will be working from 8am to about 8 or 9pm. I wont be home where I could sit and munch. Not like I really do that anyway at home, but just saying.

It's nothing more than a fad diet and we don't even have a pouch.  I'd work on getting back to basics instead - which does not involve fad dieting. 

If you're not already tracking everything you put in your mouth, start doing that with something like MyFitnessPal.  That'll help you figure out what you're doing right and what needs to be changed.  

From there, work on getting back to your basics.  Here's the list of mine, yours might be slightly different.  

1. Prioritize protein and water
2. Deprioritize carbs, especially the refined and processed ones
3. Make the most of healthy fats
4. Eat three meals a day with no snacks
5. Avoid liquid calories (breakfast protein shake is the exception)
6. Weigh portions
7. Eat mindfully and with no distractions aside from real live people
8. Move as much as possible
9. Weigh myself daily
10. Be kind to myself

Exactly why I don't like calling it a 5 day pouch test, its not technically a pouch, and its more of a diet. Ours is just a lifestyle change as I think of it.

Thank you for all of that! I do use MFP. I need to REALLY use it. I did today. One NUT told me/us (my 2 co workers also had VSG after me) that a 'snack' is considered 100cal or less. I know we should cut out snacks but for the future how true is this? I have these shakes that are 100cal 3g carb and 17g protein. I had that for breakfast today since I grabbed that one and not the PP shake by  mistake but still okay. I don't weigh anything. I eyeball, that's what I need to change as well. I normally just have a fingertips full of lettuce and like a veggie  burger with hardly any bluecheese chunks and small amounts of diced veggies and home mad balsamic dressing for lunch. Maybe I will do a veggie / morning star burger with cheese and a 100cal protein shake for lunch instaed of all that extra veggies and stuff.

I always get that hunger for a mid morning snack around 10 1030. I will do my best to cut that out. I will just drink. I use a 33oz water jug and put in a packet of crystal lite for taste because sometimes plain water gives me heart burn ( I know, wtf?) Monday is the REAL deal but I am tracking as of now and being careful. THANK YOU

Are you vegetarian?  

Are you taking a PPI?  

You might be getting hungry around 10-10:30 because the shake isn't filling.  Are you hungry when you wake up?  I tend to have my first meal around 10-10:30 because I'm not hungry until then.  And that helps me to space out my meals so that I'm eating them when I am hungry instead of eating them when I'm not hungry only to get hungry at other times.  (If that makes any sense.)  

It sounds like you would be better off if you worked on getting more dense protein into your diet, since those things are more filling.  

No and no. I love meats and chicken, I eat only tuna salad, not a big fish eater. I don't take anything except my vitamins.

I am not hungry when I wake (unless I stupidly eat and then go right to bed). I am up 6:15 and at work by 8 so by then I am 'hungry' for breakfast. Sometimes I make a frozen protein smoothie and use a shake blended with a tiny bit of frozen banana and strawberry. Sometimes that helps my 'hunger' last but I still feel I need to eat a string cheese before lunch. I will try and see if I can eat or drink breakfast until after 8, doesn't hurt to experiment. That would benefit better and cut out a mid morning snack too.

Heh - just wanted to check before I suggested that you eat more dense meats like chicken!  That might fill you up more than the veggie burger does - something that might be worth experimenting with.  

For many people, stomach acid can mimic hunger so a PPI such as prilosec or nexium can help remove those feelings of hunger.  (And you say you feel heartburn when drinking water, so that might be a stomach acid thing as well.)  I took a PPI for the first month after surgery and I've taken two 14-day courses since when I've felt I flare up of acid or hunger, and it has helped significantly.  So that also might be worth experimenting with.  

The problem with shakes is that they just go through our systems, so they don't make us feel full or satisfied in most cases.  So replacing the shake with a meal of dense protein might help out some.  Again, something to experiment with!

Sooo helpful, thank you!! Maybe I will do the lower cal shake with 17g of protein and have a half an egg with some cheese. That may be better. I want to make sure I get in the right protein amount as well. I will experiment with everything! I love chicken, steak, and ground beef or turkey. So many choices, just needed the extra 2 cents from others to help.

What is PPI? I'm brand new here and hope to learn everything I can. I'm post op 12/18/14.

A PPI is a proton pump inhibitor like Prilosec or Nexium.  It helps the stomach acid issue and most of us take one for at least a few months post-op.  

First 2 days all liquids, day 3 soft protein, day 4 and 5 solid protein. Liquids- protein shakes. I do a variation of this- instead of just liquids I will do only protein shakes or dense protein. Within 3 days my restirction is in full force and then some. 

I think what the benefit is will be the restriction kicking in, but also stabalizing your blood sugar. This can be accomplished without doing the true 5 day pouch test though. Sometimes though, I am the type that needs "rules" to follow for a short duration. Clear specific targets to launch me getting back on track. Other times, I need to ease into where I need to be by improving choices a bit at each meal.