Drinking and eating

Okay people....I'm hitting a wall or something and I'm determined to do this right....the proper way...not the way I have been since surgery.  Only took me 4 months to get it right eh? 

So with this new goal...what is the deal with the no drinking a half hour before or after you eat... I don't get it so I never paid much attention to it.  BUT a friend mentioned to me yesterday that if I'm drinking while eating, I could be flushing my pouch and so my body is not getting the nutrients from the food that it needs....true? not true?

Your friend is absolutely right...you are not supposed to drink 30 min before and after eating.  You can take little sips of liquid to help whatever you are eating go down but that's all.  If you fill your pouch with liquid you are creating a "soup" of the food and it will make it empty faster and  any of the nurtients that you need from the food is not absorbed.  Another pitfall is that if you make "soup" out of your meal by drinking it also moves through your body faster and you will become hungry faster and run the big risk of gaining that weight back that we have worked so hard to lose.
I was lectured by Krista many, many tims about this before surgery and just as many after and thankfully so because it makes eating so much easier.  She also told me that I should be eating every two hours so that my body can adjust to the new eating and it also will prevent us from getting over hungry and eating too fast and getting sick from eating fast.

I hope this helps.

It does.  Thank you.  I knew not to drink a half hour before or after I eat and not to drink and eat at the same time, but I am having a very very hard time with it that I just kind of threw that advice out the window.  But when it is explained to me (my dietician didn't do much explaining of anything for me) that way, it makes complete sense.  And makes me wonder if that is way I'm having a hard tme with a few things.....hmm.  Interesting.  Thanks so much!

Food is absorbed in the intestine, not the stomach. That's why when you have a bypass, part of the intestine is bypassed to cause malabsorption. Your stomach just breaks the food down. In my pre-surgery nut class, whi*****luded both sleeve and bypass patients, it was NOT said that fluids will affect nutrient absorption. I think you should double check that point with your nut to be sure.

There are two issues with drinking with your meal, as explained to me by Krista... both as my nut and as the pre-surgery nut instructor.
1 - you are pushing food through faster, so you get hungry faster and therefore create the possibility of intaking more calories.
2 - the plugged toliet issue.. (Krista's analogy, not mine) Once you've eaten, your pouch is full. Adding fluid is like adding water to a plugged toliet.....it's either going to push through....or come up.

I don't really drink with my food, but I do have a glass of water to sip on. I wait the full 30 min either side before "drinking" but I've found that I do sometimes need that extra moisture. My best advice is to simply be mindful of your fluids at meal time and why you are drinking. Is it habit, or do you actually need that sip?

In all things, YMMV, and this is my experience. Try to separate out your fluids and see how that works for you, you may find that it works fine, and you don't need to drink at all. On the other hand, know that there are some of us that have incorporated minimal liquids into our meals without derailing our journey.

Dawn

Perfect..thanks Dawn.

I have an apointment with the clinic on Nov 25, and I have a list for them.  I don't know who my NUT will be as Riannon is still on Mat leave and Tara, who was replacing her, is no longer there. 

I have been trying really, really hard to separate my fluids from my eating, and so far, it isn't too bad - but I'm finding that I'm not getting nearly as much fluid in as I was before.  We'll see how it goes. 

I too have found that it is hard to keep my fluid intake up and find that I have to make a really big effort to remember to drink more.  My hubby suggested that I set my alarm on my watch to a specific time and when it goes off it reminds me that I need something to drink (even if I don't really want it).  I get a glass of milk, water, coffee or tea..depending upon what I want. and I give myself fifteen min  to drink it.  Once I am done I set my watch for 30 - 45 min later and try again. 
Now after doing this for a month I don't have to set my watch to help me as I have trained myself to want that glass of whatever liquid and I am no longer getting as dehydrated. 
I also take a travel mug of coffee/or tea with me whenever I leave the house and have to go to town for shopping.  It makes it easier too.
Maybe this may work for you.

Take care
Leanne