PrincessPeach

Ah I see. I think that’s a good idea in principle but I’d recommend looking up the nutrition in your balsamic vinegar first. There’s quite a lot of sugar in it when you condense it in a reduction, you may end up better off with the 3g sugar in the pre packaged offering. But hey, good on you for being so diligent with your diet :)

Lucylovesnormal if you’re not taking small sips to slow your rate of Water intake, I’d guess that’s a very likely cause of your stomach pains. A gulp of Water hitting your stomach, especially if you’re not careful to eliminate swallowing air, is likely to be too much and cause discomfort. By stretching your stomach out, as it empties your hunger feeling can be more intense as well. Just because you “can” drink water fine, doesn’t mean you should. Plus drinking and eating slower makes it less torturous because you can do it constantly for like 40mins per meal.  Btw I don’t understand you wanting to eat half as much as you did before… you had around 80% of your stomach removed… I don’t know your personal situation but halving your diet is unlikely to be enough to maintain a healthy weight. With this type of surgery our metabolism slows and that means we will forever need to eat significantly less that “normal people” to maintain an identical weight as someone who hasn’t undergone surgery. Your surgical team should have hopefully explained all this

You could try stretching. Compressing your abdomen in a seated position for a long time isn’t great. Try stretching your torso and taking long deep breaths, holding your breath at max extension to prolong the stretch in your chest. Works for my kinda pains

Have you considered other options like the gastric balloon maybe? It’s a temporary change of up to six months and could be a good way to test his personal resolve and commitment to changing his eating habits without surgery. Plus he’ll lose some weight, which might be enough motivation for him to live a healthier lifestyle

Balsamic vinegar is sweet because it has sugars in it. Things that taste sweet has sugars in it, unless it’s artificial. I don’t understand this distinction of using a balsamic reduction instead of sugar… The body just sees sugar as sugar