My NUT told me that a good bite was the size of a pencil eraser and I have been studiously working at making every bite that small. Hard to do, I always felt like one of those dogs that inhaled the food, I could not get it in fast enough.

Interestingly, although it took much conscious effort, it is becoming much more natural to eat tiny little bits. when I saw others eating and saw the size of what they put in their mouths I was aghast! was that me in the past?

the twenty chews still needs work but I am close. I need much work on the timing between bites. I need to learn to pause. However, the effect it has already had on me is dramatic. My stomach has time to tell my brain it is full, I rarely get that horrible pain from overeating. I feel satisfied easier with much less food. So far I am continuing to lose prior to the liquid diet.

They want 12 more pounds lost by surgery date, my plan (shhhh dont tell) is to lose a good portion of that prior to the start of the liquid diet and shorten the period of time I take the Optifast. I have already lost 30 pounds in preparation for the surgery! The research regarding the preop weight loss indicates that 5% of body weight helps a lot, I am already over 10% lost.

OF course if i gain weight over then next week I will do the full two weeks of Optifast, but I am quite motivated. I figure 12 pounds is 12 pounds, it does not matter how it came off.

BTW- it is amazing to me that my dear wife of 36yrs who has seen me struggle with food all my adult life ( since we met 39 years ago) still suggests things that are so unhelpful. I know she is one of the chosen few that can keep her weight within a few pounds of goal with very little effort, but suggesting that one day of overeating ( at a party one week prior to surgery) can't hurt, is rather unenlightened ( sounds better than dimwitted).