To swallow or not to swallow
I haven't been banded yet but I am wondering about this. How hard is it to chew, chew chew before you swallow your food. I was noticing yesterday than when I eat , as soon as I have the food in my mouth I am already starting to swallow some of it. Some gets chewed a little but some just goes on down. I'm sure this is a habit from eating on the run. How did yall handle this ? thanks
Hi. I have learned/trained myself to take much smaller bites. When I was first banded, I bought baby spoons and forks to use as my guidelines. I chewed the heck out of my food but in smaller bites, making it easier for food to go down. It's been almost 3 years for me and I still find myself taking those smaller bites/spoonfuls. I usually don't eat with a tablespoon anymore, I tend to go for my teaspoons.
Good luck to you!
Take care,
Jan
Good luck to you!
Take care,
Jan
all the weight has been lost post-op..I LOVE MY BAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
highest weight: 333 pounds (I know I gained after my last "weigh in" in the doctors office so probably it's more like 340 pounds)
current weight: 151 pounds (7/12/11)
I've been at goal (165 pounds) for 6 months now and now on maintence. I tend to go up and down depending on time of the month and such! 
This is something I've really been working on and being mindful of as I've been preparing for surgery. One thing that I make sure I do is set my utensils down between every bite. I'm not sure that that would help with the chewing but it does help me eat slower in general. The chewing is hard but I think that once you are banded, you only make the not chewing mistake a time or two, I'm pretty there unpleasant consequences to not chewing!
Good luck!
Good luck!
Think "eraser" size :)
5.0 cc in a 10cc lapband (four fills) 1 unfill of .5cc on 5/24/2011.
.5 fill March 2012. unfill of .25cc May 2012. Unfill of .5cc June 2014.
Still with my lapband with no plans for revision. Band working well since
last small unfill.
HW: 267lbs- size 22-24 LW:194lbs CW:198lbs Size 14-16
(deactivated member)
on 1/20/11 4:21 am
on 1/20/11 4:21 am
Yes -- this was me to the max! My nutrionist calls it stacking bites too. Before the first bite is down I was already putting another one in. Don't worry, once you get to a good restrition level your band will FORCE you to take tiny bites and chew well. I learned this the hard way. With every fill it was a new learning curve because my eating had to keep getting slower and slower or I would be in lots of pain.
There are still times when I accidentally (out of the old force of habit) take too big of a bite. At that point I can do one of two things. Try to chew as well as possible and only swallow a little of it at a time or spit it out. Kinda gross, but hey, it works. Trust me, if you don't work with the band by taking it slow you will be miserable and wonder why you keep getting stuck and giving your food back. : )
Trixie
There are still times when I accidentally (out of the old force of habit) take too big of a bite. At that point I can do one of two things. Try to chew as well as possible and only swallow a little of it at a time or spit it out. Kinda gross, but hey, it works. Trust me, if you don't work with the band by taking it slow you will be miserable and wonder why you keep getting stuck and giving your food back. : )
Trixie
Pretend you are a Victorian lady. Take small bites, put down your fork in between bites, and chew thoroughly before swallowing.
Also, another one of my pretend scenarios is that the human mouth is the world's best food processor.
Chew on your back teeth at first, but when the food begins to near your palette, use your tongue to push thefood up toward your front teeth and continue to chew.
As soon as you move the food from the back of the mouth to the front, more saliva comes up from under the tongue and immediately dissolves the food in your mouth. It literally turns the food to pulp!
Then it can safely slide down the throat.
If you learn to do this successfully, there won't be any food in the whole world you can't chew and swallow.
And I too resurrected my son's baby utensils ( he is in his 30s now) to eat my meals with.
Good luck!
Also, another one of my pretend scenarios is that the human mouth is the world's best food processor.
Chew on your back teeth at first, but when the food begins to near your palette, use your tongue to push thefood up toward your front teeth and continue to chew.
As soon as you move the food from the back of the mouth to the front, more saliva comes up from under the tongue and immediately dissolves the food in your mouth. It literally turns the food to pulp!
Then it can safely slide down the throat.
If you learn to do this successfully, there won't be any food in the whole world you can't chew and swallow.
And I too resurrected my son's baby utensils ( he is in his 30s now) to eat my meals with.
Good luck!
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