How difficult is it to learn to not eat and drink at the same time?

[Simone21943 14]

I'm getting sleeved on April 8, and feel I'm well on my way being mentally prepared for post-surgery life. I've been practicing taking small bites and chewing forever before swallowing and think I'll be okay with that. But, what I really cannot get my head around is the idea of not drinking and eating at the same time. I'm not sure I can eat a meal with out drinking Water. I've tried practicing this a couple of times over the last few days, but I just feel like I still need to 'wash' down my food - it's so ingrained!

I wanted to see if there is anyone that's already had surgery and had felt like I do to see if they were able to 're-train' themselves? Is it one of those things that I'll learn quickly once I experience the effects myself?..or is this something that I'll really need to focus some mental energy on? I will admit that this is pretty much the only thing that is causing me angst about my surgery.

Thanks,

Simone

[ebonisekim 1,713]

The smaller the bites are its not that bad I don't bring a drink to dinner w me that helps but I heard of ppl trying to drink at the same time and vomit but honestly you don't have enough room for both

[VSGKirk 855]

I was the person that would have 4-5 refills of diet coke while eating out.

I've had no problem retraining myself (so far) - you quickly learn every ounce is precious space in your new stomach (and you are eating so little) you won't want a drink while eating.

We stay so hydrated, that eating and swallowing is no problem.

[PdxMan 4,292]

I don't think it was terribly difficult. When you are early out and move off of purees to regular food, your restriction is so great, you are conscience of every bite you put in your mouth because they are so few and far in between compared to before.

You'll be fine. It will happen.

[Shears2012 7]

Hi Simone21943. I got sleeved march 4. It was very difficult to stop drinking while eating because yes it is very ingrained into us. But before I was sleeved I tried many things to for example: I would not even put a Water glass out for myself at meals. If something was "dry" I would chew it the appropriate amount of times but also put something, just a little something, like mashed sweet potato with it to help it go down. After the sleeve I'm not finding it difficult at all because you get full so fast you don't have enough room for water.

[bobheist 85]

I was sleeved on 12/19 and this has been probably the hardest aspect for me.

What I have found is that I have to physically move my drink away from me while I'm eating. Actually, I move it ahead of time and don't move it back until I've been finished eating for half an hour or so.

It's also tricky when I'm out with friends... I try to just not order a drink or move it away from me.

[buplee 556]

I was sleeved on 2/19 and don't bring weather to the table when I eat. I am up to not drinking for at least 45 minutes after a meal.

[brutiemama 22]

had my surgery on 2/25. I was on purees for a week and just started soft foods yesterday. Today was the first time eating with friends since surgery and I was so busy talking and laughing I didn't even realize that I was sipping my Water along with my tiny bites of food. I didn't realize what I was doing until I felt the horrible pressure in my stomach, chest and throat. My poor tummy couldn't handle the load and I was miserable. It took over an hour before I was sure I wasn't going to throw up. NEVER AGAIN! On top of the pain, I was terrified that I’d done permanent damage to my sleeve. This is a lesson I only need to learn once. From now on I won’t have liquids anywhere near me while I’m eating.

I get wanting to wash the food down after eating. It was second nature before the sleeve. But for me after being on liquids for three straight weeks pre-op and post-op (and still getting the majority of my Protein through them) it didn’t seem as important anymore. It takes some getting used to but after a while it will seem like second nature. Good luck on your surgery!

[buplee 556]

I meant Water. Did anyone have trouble getting in three ounces of Protein when you started on soft foods? It is taking me about an hour to eat something soft? Is this normal?

[MichiganChic 3,262]

I wasn't sure about eating without drinking, either. In fact, I didn't practice it before surger either, because I didn't want to (and I'm mosty pretty compiant). But after surgery, I knew I had to do it to be sucfessful, so do it. Mostly I don't miss it too bad. It was easy at first because eating/drinking was a chore for about the first month. That time helped me establish a new habit. I'm about 3 months out, and I am adjusting. I do set my clock for 30 minutes when I'm done eating though, so I can start drinking again! For me, it's a small price to pay. Good luck with your surgery.

[notmeanymore 629]

I thought it would be hard to learn not to drink while eating. I could easily have 2 or 3 diet cokes when eating out so before surgery I started getting used to not having liquid within reach while I ate then waiting 30 minutes afterwards to take a sip. It was easier then I thought. Now its second nature not to drink while I eat. If I really need to, I just take a small sip of Water if my food is on the drier side. Its amazing what you can get used to if you really want something bad enough. Youll do great!

[devichan 79]

I'm early in the process of getting ready, but I know this'll be a big one for me. I'm starting to practice now (with no surgery date in sight yet). When I'm at work I set a timer on my Outlook that tells me when I can next drink. Next week I'm starting to set timers to do it on the weekend on my phone. It's getting easier as the days go by.

[delta_girl 931]

I'm getting sleeved on April 8' date=' and feel I'm well on my way being mentally prepared for post-surgery life. I've been practicing taking small bites and chewing forever before swallowing and think I'll be okay with that. But, what I really cannot get my head around is the idea of not drinking and eating at the same time. I'm not sure I can eat a meal with out drinking Water. I've tried practicing this a couple of times over the last few days, but I just feel like I still need to 'wash' down my food - it's so ingrained!

I wanted to see if there is anyone that's already had surgery and had felt like I do to see if they were able to 're-train' themselves? Is it one of those things that I'll learn quickly once I experience the effects myself?..or is this something that I'll really need to focus some mental energy on? I will admit that this is pretty much the only thing that is causing me angst about my surgery.

Thanks,

Simone[/quote']

Boils down to how much you comply. If its important enough to you then you'll do it, or you won't if its not.

[Simone21943 14]

Thanks to all for the replies and appreciate the suggestions. I'm definitely going to put more effort into practicing to get along with our drinking while eating, and was relieved to see that there were others that had the exact same mental struggle with this as me.

[Lissa 2,631]

I'm 18 months out and still can't really drink while I eat. One thing that helps, though, is making sure you have something moist on your plate. I believe it was Egg Face who said that the key to eating Protein post-op is moisture and she has tons of dip-type recipes that are high protein. I make greek yogurt based ranch dressing and will often put a dollop of that on my plate to dip meat. I have actual physical pain if I drink liquids while I'm eating and it's a good way to make me slime or vomit if I drink with a meal. I'd prefer to skip those two things.