What the heck is a "Cast Iron Pouch"?

One of the key points of bariatric surgery is restriction, how much food can a stomach hold at one time. In the case of my surgery (RNY) the stomach is sectioned off so that the piece I actually use now, called a pouch, was "about the size of my thumb" said my surgeon. We all know stomachs stretch, he said that at about a month it would be about the size of a large hardboiled egg, and could get a bit larger than that. He told me that Post Ops should pay attention to how much they eat of solid food at one time so as not to stretch the pouch too much.  Since I am 7 years out now, I don't actually know the size of my pouch, but based on what I can eat comfortably, I'm going to guess that it's about the size of my fist. I have average woman sized hands. *shrug*

In addition to the size of the pouch, many post ops, myself included discover foods that make them feel extremely ill.  In my case, anything with more than 10g of sugar (natural like from an Orange, or refined, like in a slice of cake) has the potential to make me sick. In addition to that, anything breaded and friend, that combo of white carbohydrates and grease can make me ill. When I say sick, I mean physically sick - heart palpitations, sweats, shakes, the urge to vomit, sometimes even dizziness and fainting. Years ago, I tried to have a few bites of an amazing coconut cake, it's made as a tres leches cake but with coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk as the "soak" and then frosted and coated with sweetened shredded coconut. No, I should not even have tempted fate, but I did, and OMG it was awful. Well, the cake was delicious, but the way I felt after just 2 bites was horrible. Never again.

Now, how can I say I have a "cast iron pouch" after just telling you about 2 types of foods that my pouch just can't tolerate?  Well, because there's soooo much more that other Post Ops seem to be unable to eat that I don't have any issue with at all. Spicy foods? Bring on the Inferno Sauce. Steak? Medium Rare, please. Celery? I prefer it with crunchy natural peanut butter. Carrots? I can eat a whole serving (10 baby carrots)!  Apples? Skins and all!  From what I've read in online support groups and forums and people I have personally talked to who are Post Op, this isn't always the case. I guess it's a good thing and a bad thing. I like all these foods, and they're all healthy, real, food choices. The bad thing is that I have no fear, unless it's super sweet or fried, and will eat just about anything. Not nearly as much as I once could, but there are still TONS of unhealthy things I am able to eat. It's hard to make "bariatric friendly" choices all the time when your brain still craves the comfort of Doritos and your pouch does nothing to prevent you from eating a serving. Ok, not nothing, at least I can no longer eat the whole bag.