HOW did you slow down your eating

I completely agree with RagamuffinB. Your DS will control your eating habits early out. You'll overdo it at first a few times and believe me, in no time you will eat the way you have to in order to avoid that uncomfortable over-full feeling. I've been fortunate in that I have  (thus far) not vomited from my hasty eating but I sure have been bucu uncomfortable. Now I think about it a little more while I am eating because pain/discomfort is a good motivator for me.

I would never have recommended someone practice beforehand ! When your restriction changes it causes you to change your eating style and you will learn as you go. That is one thing I like about the DS is that it seems to have some built in behavior modification features! 

I had a big headstart tho as I had my stomach stapled 25 years before my DS so I was used to chewing everything to liquid and not getting much in. With the DS I could eat a lot more too so it was great. But I remember long ago getting used to a little pouch and a lot of chewing. If I didnt chew enough it came back up.

One time I was eating chili while out to lunch with a friend and not focusing on my chewing and one chili bean lodged in the opening from the pouch to the stomach. It wouldnt pass in almost a wee****il I had to go get an endoscopy. Luckily that was the one and only time I had that happen! I had a few barfing sessions tho when I ate beyond my comfort zone tho until I learned my new capacity.

I meant to add- go slow at first as you dont want to barf all day everyday while learning!

I've always been a slow eater taking small bites. However I had to eat even slower and smaller bites post op, this surprised me!

Chopsticks might help, especially if you're not used to them. Even if you're talented with them its difficult to get a large bite of food with them.

On the other hand, as long as you don't eat so fast that you puke, and you're stopping when you feel the "pressure" feeling to warn you that you're full- then in that case you're not doing too bad at all. Just make sure that when you snack, it's high protein.

 WOW~!

I posted this question, and then I got called away, and when I came back, Voila! I have all of these great answers!

I think I will try practising putting my fork down between bites (Ugh!) and try to tell if I am hungry or not before I pick it up. (Double Ugh! of course I am hungry!)  Otherwise, I will be scarfing down my food as soon as I get something solid, and probably rip out all of my staples while I projectile vomit across the dining room! (TMI, I know, but I liked the picture so much I just had to share it. Actually, I will let that little bit of imagination be my motivation to put the fork down, LOL!)

I am awfully glad DS stomachs can handle food better than those silly pouches. I always was suspicious of those things. "Pouch" sounds to me like an euphamism for "junction between your esophagus and your intestines" because there doesn't seem to be anything to it except a junction box.

But I digress... 

Thanks for the suggestions. Are there any more??

Lisa

Yes: if you feel pressure inside your tummy. Stop. Feeling full feels different post-op, learn to sense the pressure feeling and recognize it. It takes practice to get to know when you're full when swtiching to solids. Give your tummy several minutes to digest what it's got in there and wait for the pressure feeling to go away before you're tempted to take another bite.

Sometimes your tummy will digest things well, other times it may not like what you feed it and the food will "sit" in your tummy. Don't force any food on your tummy. If something hurts or doesn't feel right, stop eating- your tummy is trying to tell you something. Never force your tummy!

If you've eaten too much you'll puke. If you've eaten something your tummy isn't ready for, you'll puke or be in pain.

Also make sure you take your acid blockers. Acid reflux (which can be pretty bad in the early months) can make you puke after eating.

i'm a few years out, and every once in a while, a larger bite or a certain type of food doesn't go down right.  i can tell right away when this happens, and when it does, (even if i'm still hungry) i have to stop eating for a bit.  if i pile more food on top of a bite that didn't go all the way down, i'll hurl.  if i even drink on top of that bite, i'll hurl.  i have to wait until it goes down (could be an hour or so), and then i can resume eating.

I found putting my fork down between bites really helped me slow down... yes years of eating quickly are hard to erase, but it can be done. Use small plates, small spoons, don't eat while watching tv if you find it makes you eat mindlessly. Find what will work for you and run with it! Once you've done the one bite too many and feel like crap that'll be a motivator as well!
Good luck!

For some reason the only times i ever overeat to the point of wanting to throw up or feel realy gross is
1. At restaurants or 2. when i am really hungry.

And this almost never happens anymore b/c i just eat tiny mealls periodically. Like some cheese and a few sips of protein shake for example, so i never truly get so hungry where when i sit down i feel like i want to enhale all the food.

At restaurants i just eat 1/3, and then take a break, i just conciencly learned to moderate my eating in restaurants. I almost would always feel gross after b/c i would eat too fast and too much and because the portions are always too big..... and b/c usually if it is relaly delicious unique food i want to eat moer of it.

I never chew abnormally slow until stuff dissolves, the only times i chew extra is for heavy proteins