Mindful eating?

[Neostarwcc 29]

So I have one more thing to pass before my surgery and that's being cleared by the nutritionist. My surgery was going to be scheduled for November but it's being postponed for a few weeks because the nutritionist failed me this morning because I haven't been practicing mindful eating and that apparently can completely reverse the effects of my surgery. I've been trying to practice mindful eating now for months but I honestly just don't get it and I've never gotten mindfulness in general. Being schizophrenic myself they've tried to teach me about mindfulness several times and I've never gotten it and it's never worked for me. So is this it and the end of my journey and I'll have to try to lose 150 pounds on my own (I weigh 440) or is it not as hopeless as I think? I've got two weeks to learn mindful eating before my next appointment with her so is there any tips from people who've struggled to learn mindful eating in the past?

[NickelChip 1,173]

Can you explain what you have to do to "pass" mindful eating? What is the nutritionist going to do to determine if you pass? This will definitely help in figuring out how to get you to the next step.

[Neostarwcc 29]

51 minutes ago, NickelChip said:

Can you explain what you have to do to "pass" mindful eating? What is the nutritionist going to do to determine if you pass? This will definitely help in figuring out how to get you to the next step.

Sure. She was concerned that I was eating too fast when I told her that I was eating my meals within like 5-10 minutes. She said that I can't do that with the surgery because not only will I be miserable with vomiting and diarrhea and nausea and the like but I likely would undo the gastric sleeve surgery. She said I should aim for eating my meals in 20-30 minutes preferably 30-40. This seems like an impossible goal for me especially when I see her again in just 2 weeks.

She also wants me to savor each bite and focus on the food or something like that. I don't really understand it to be completely honest with you. Mostly I just wanted to work on eating slower over the next two weeks so that when I do get the surgery I don't get sick and undo the surgery and "pass" with her so I can get the surgery. I can fake my way out of the mindfulness part of it or just tell her that it won't work for me and if it's a crucial part of the surgery than maybe bariatric surgery isn't the right option for me.

Edited 1 hour ago by Neostarwcc

[NickelChip 1,173]

Okay, first, once you have the surgery you will not physically be able to eat that fast without throwing up and/or being miserable with pain. So you'll learn real quick to slow down when the time comes. Trust me.

In the meantime, here is what you do to practice and start training yourself. First, if you can, make a commitment to only eat from a real plate while sitting at an actual table for the next two weeks. No eating standing up in the kitchen with two minutes to go before you have to leave or grabbing a handful of something from the pantry as you walk past. Second, get yourself a timer. It can be a kitchen one, or one of those little sand ones that go for a minute, or just the timer on your phone. Whatever works.

When you sit down to eat, take a small bite of food. This means something about the size of your thumbnail, or even half that size. Set the timer for one minute. Put your fork and knife down. Chew. Keep chewing. Chew more than you have ever chewed before in your life. Your food will be like paste. You should feel no lumps in your mouth. At this point, swallow. If there is time left on your timer, sit and wait. Only when the timer goes off do you pick up the fork for another bite. Before you take that bite, ask yourself if you feel like you need another bite. Presurgery, your answer is probably going to be yes. But post surgery, this is a point where you might start to think wait, I feel pretty satisfied. This is when you want to stop eating, because with a limited capacity, you will fill up really fast and might overshoot and feel ill.

If that's all you do, you will be fine. If you want to be more mindful, ask yourself some questions as you eat. Maybe ask what you like about this food and think about that. Think about the texture and taste. Think about how your body is responding to eating. Do you feel tense? Are you relaxed? Are you feeling any emotions as you start eating, and do those emotions shift as you eat? Use some of your time between bites to write down some observations.

You don't really have to do all of that, but on the other hand, you might be surprised by what you learn if you do.

Also, I will say that I struggled a lot with this presurgery but the slow eating is second nature now. When I forget, I don't feel well, so I have a lot of incentive to slow down. You will too! Just do what you can to practice now so your nutritionist is happy with your progress. I will almost guarantee if you keep a notebook for the next week or two with what you ate and when, how long it took from start to finish, and some reflections on the food and how your body was feeling while you ate, you will pass with flying colors.