Surgeon told me...

[unsupersizeme 43]

My surgeon told me to take one bite every 10 minutes while eating a meal. He said it will take me one hour to eat half of a sandwich. Is this true? Do sleevers practice this? This seems crazy to me. I'm willing to do anything if need be but this seems over the top to me. He also said I would eat around 1/4 cup of food each meal. Do you all eat this little? Are you satisfied after eating this little amount of food?

[Jessiegirl30 149]

Lol sorry my surgeon told me the same thing but it is un realistic ... I think the point is to get you to slow down and eat slowly but the amount you can eat is so small usually 2 mouthfuls is all you can manage anyway

[unsupersizeme 43]

Thank goodness. That would be awful! Love that I will only be eating a couple spoonfuls! Thanks for your comment!

[FairySleeve 297]

My surgeon also told me to eat slowly and for one meal I should take minimum 45 minutes (except Breakfast and snack can take at least 30 minutes) and I have 3 years to practice this so that I won't gain weight again for life.

(Now I'm so afraid of the after 3 years)

[WhoKnows 288]

I definitely don't take that long. I'd say I only take slightly longer than the "average" person would to finished my pittance of food. I guess I need to slow down. I measure out all my food in advance and weight everything, though sometimes if it's something like a little sandwich it's more than 1/4 cup. I should be more careful.

[Hoginona04 61]

I was basically told the same thing. Except the NUT told me to cut my food to the size of a pencil eraser and chew thourghly. Put the fork down between each bite and keep chewing. I'm at 7 weeks post op, and unable to eat more than 1.5 ounces per meal. It usually more like an ounce, of normal food. I can drink a bucket full of Water, but food fills me up so fast that I just give up. (Not that thats a bad thing ) I plan on just taking it day by day, and figure the food intake will increase with time. PS. 49 days post op, 47 lbs gone forever.

[LumpySpacePrincess 594]

I was told the opposite. Meals should not take longer than 20 minutes, because your sleeve will empty in about 24 minutes. If you're taking an hour to eat, you could reasonably eat three times as much as you should because you are waiting for your food to pass through your sleeve. You'll almost certainly overeat this way.

[WhoKnows 288]

If you measure your food out ahead of time, and you know you have the right amount on the plate, does it matter how long it takes? As long as you chew well enough and don't eat so fast you hurt yourself, what's the difference between 10 minutes and 50?

[LipstickLady 25,682]

I was told to take bites that would fit in a teaspoon, put the utensil down and wait one minute between bites. I should consume no more than 1/2 to a 1 cup of food at a time, or 4-6 ounces. After 30 minutes, I should put the rest of my meal away or I will likely overeat.

My reality is that I take my "normal sized bite" an cut it in half. I do put the fork down but I rarely wait an entire minute between bites because I am not that patient unless I am out to eat with friends and then I just do all the talking. I rarely take more than 15 minutes to eat because I can't hold much more than 1/2 a cup or 4 oz.

This is my reality 14 months out and it's a good thing. It's weird and I'm still not used to it after 42 years of bad habits, but it is what it is and I feel great!

[WhoKnows 288]

@@LipstickLady that sounds very realistic! I'm not up to 1/2 or 1 cup of food yet, but the general strategy sounds doable. From being on this forum for the past few months, I know you've had great success with this surgery, so I'm glad to hear your input in this.

[ShrinkyDinkMe101 82]

Don't overthink it. Measure out your food, eat small bites, eat slowly, chew thoroughly, stop before you feel too full, & don't drink before or after for the recommended amount of time. I set a timer. If you eat too much too quickly & don't chew enough, you will regret it

[Ava324 413]

I was basically told the same thing. Except the NUT told me to cut my food to the size of a pencil eraser and chew thourghly. Put the fork down between each bite and keep chewing. I'm at 7 weeks post op, and unable to eat more than 1.5 ounces per meal. It usually more like an ounce, of normal food. I can drink a bucket full of Water, but food fills me up so fast that I just give up. (Not that thats a bad thing ) I plan on just taking it day by day, and figure the food intake will increase with time. PS. 49 days post op, 47 lbs gone forever.

I was going to post the same thing! They told me pencil eraser size and chew that 20-30 times. I guess you heard it from Surgical Specialists/Vesta too?

I cannot stick to that at all, but I try to slow down and chew well. Sometimes I'll have to ask whoever I'm sharing a meal with if they can slow down, because I'll keep pace with them without thinking. 10 mins later it hurts. So far the only thing that feels like it gets "stuck" on the way down, no matter how well I chew, is chicken breast. Can't complain about being on a seafood diet.. Crawfish, shrimp, fish, and crab. Yum!

[Ava324 413]

I was told the opposite. Meals should not take longer than 20 minutes, because your sleeve will empty in about 24 minutes. If you're taking an hour to eat, you could reasonably eat three times as much as you should because you are waiting for your food to pass through your sleeve. You'll almost certainly overeat this way.

This makes sense to me. I've come across research recommending shorter meal times. My sleeve has a full "tell" that I try to obey. Some people get hiccups, and I get a gurgle. That's usually my stopping point, and it's around the 20 min mark.

[Hoginona04 61]

I was basically told the same thing. Except the NUT told me to cut my food to the size of a pencil eraser and chew thourghly. Put the fork down between each bite and keep chewing. I'm at 7 weeks post op, and unable to eat more than 1.5 ounces per meal. It usually more like an ounce, of normal food. I can drink a bucket full of Water, but food fills me up so fast that I just give up. (Not that thats a bad thing ) I plan on just taking it day by day, and figure the food intake will increase with time. PS. 49 days post op, 47 lbs gone forever.

I was going to post the same thing! They told me pencil eraser size and chew that 20-30 times. I guess you heard it from Surgical Specialists/Vesta too?

I cannot stick to that at all, but I try to slow down and chew well. Sometimes I'll have to ask whoever I'm sharing a meal with if they can slow down, because I'll keep pace with them without thinking. 10 mins later it hurts. So far the only thing that feels like it gets "stuck" on the way down, no matter how well I chew, is chicken breast. Can't complain about being on a seafood diet.. Crawfish, shrimp, fish, and crab. Yum!

I totaly agree with the Seafood Diet! I'm so glad I had my surgery done in Louisiana lol.

[amazon 579]

I've only been told to take small bites and chew chew chew.

I've been practicing, and I didn't realize how much of a chaange I'd made until going out to dinner with work folks last night.

I looked up from my half full plate to see everyone else done and I was still eating. I used to be the first one done!

They had the joy of talking while I finished my dinner. (I was careful what I ordered, knew my portion size, all ready entered in MFP, etc. so I was going to finish!)

I'm sure it will be different to a degree once I'm post-op because the portion size will be so much smaller. But I think there's something to be said for starting to apply these practices early on.