When you decide to undergo gastric sleeve surgery, you only anticipate one result-weight loss. However, what happens when you notice weight gain after the surgery? Weight gain and stomach stretching are likely results after gastric sleeve surgery. Fortunately, with the right diet, you can ensure successful weight loss and management. A dietary plan, popularly known as a pouch reset, is essential to “reset” the stomach to a small size by controlling calorie intake.
How Does Your Stomach Work?
It’s best to know what happens in the stomach when you eat to understand the pouch reset. The stomach is a muscular organ that changes size depending on the amount of food. It can move from the size of a fist when empty to a four-liter bag if necessary. More importantly, remember that even after your surgery, your stomach can stretch. Once everything heals, your stomach goes back to normal function and stretches if necessary.
Therefore, this means that your stomach is not related to your body’s size, and it can stretch if required to. This also means that your stomach can shrink if necessary. By “shrinking” the stomach early, you can restrict your food intake and control your hunger. Some common mistakes you may make that stretch your stomach include:
- Consuming food too frequently
- Eating too fast. Take time to chew your food properly.
- Consuming the wrong foods. Unhealthy carbs and sugars only add to your weight.
- Overeating to the point of feeling too full
- Drinking within the 30-minute window after eating
As the stomach stretches, it can accommodate more contents, which causes hunger, even after eating. When you give into it, you may exceed your calorie intake and gain weight. A pouch reset is an excellent way to control your stomach’s size and enjoy the benefits of your gastric sleeve surgery.
The best way to know if you need a pouch reset is to see what it takes to satisfy you. If you’re eating right, you should ideally feel full three to four hours after consuming a small plate of food, with the right nutritional balance, or carbohydrates, proteins, and vegetables. If you find yourself feeling hungry even after consuming a balanced meal, especially one recommended by a doctor, it’s time to recheck your feeding habits.
When you start the pouch reset diet, you shrink your stomach by reducing calorie intake, which helps you lose weight. It relies on your diet and enables you to create a healthy, long-lasting relationship with your diet to manage your weight.
How Does The Pouch Reset Diet Work?
The pouch reset is a dietary method that shrinks your stomach after a gastric sleeve surgery by controlling your calorie intake. Your diet after the surgery matters because, without a proper diet, you are likely to gain weight. The pouch reset happens over 5-10 days and introduces food into the stomach in a specific order.
Usually, patients move from liquids to pureed meals, and finally to solid foods. There are several benefits to adopting the pouch reset:
- First, this approach helps your stomach go back to a small and tight position, especially if you stretched it using the wrong diet after gastric sleeve surgery.
- A pouch reset also helps you overcome weight-loss plateaus and create a sustainable method of weight loss.
- Furthermore, with the pouch reset, you can restore your mental and emotional state and regain the confidence you need to continue your weight loss journey.
- It induces behavioral changes, especially if you struggle to avoid certain foods and diets. It’s short enough to act as a test for your disciple and instill you with the confidence for long-term dietary plans.
While you may experience some weight fluctuation after surgery, it shouldn’t be a progressive weight gain. It’s also crucial to remember that the pouch reset is different from the gastric sleeve post-op diet. The former usually lasts 5-10 days while the latter can go for ten weeks. However, you can undertake both diets under the guidance of a dietician or a doctor.
The Stages For a Pouch Reset
- Day 1: Consume clear liquids such as water, broth, decaf coffee and tea, sugar and carbon-free drinks, and sugar-free Jell-O.
- Day 2: Consume heavier liquids such as yogurt, thinned sauces, protein powder mixes, thin cream soups, sugar-free juices, and non-fat ice cream.
- Day 3: Eat pureed foods such as scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, hummus, soft cereals, almond milk, and soft noodle soups.
- Day 4: Introduce soft foods such as mashes, steamed fish, ground meat.
- Day 5: Eat solid foods. Focus on healthy foods such as lean meats, vegetables, and limited fruits. It’s also important to drink liquids 30 minutes before and after meals. Usually, your diet may focus on proteins and vegetables, but it’s always wise to consult your doctor.
What Is The Origin of The Pouch Reset?
The pouch reset started with Kate Bailey, a bariatric surgery patient that wanted to control her diet in 2007. Though only anecdotal evidence exists, the pouch reset is a great way to restart your relationship with foods and manage your weight.
The best part about the pouch reset is that you can track what you eat in terms of calories. It gives you better control over your meals and gives you a testing period for a healthy diet that nourishes your body without contributing to weight gain.
Restart Your Relationship With Food
Weight loss after a gastric sleeve surgery, especially when you’re not feeling confident about your food consumption, is challenging. If you’re having a tough time managing your weight, it’s time to consider the pouch reset. If you’ve fallen out of the diet plan after your gastric sleeve surgery, it’s easy to feel embarrassed and upset. It’s also hard to find the right approach to a reset because it’s not easy.
However, you can always count on professional doctors and dieticians to help you when you want to create a pouch reset plan. Talk to your doctor at My New Beginning, and find out what the pouch reset can do for you.