What the hell? Eating grits...

So, I made a tiny bit of grits with fake butter, a Laughing Cow swiss cheese wedge and fake salt.  I ended up with about a half a cup of grits.  They were DELICIOUS...only problem is this (or is it a problem?)  I have a tiny baby spoon for like when babies first start eating food.  After the second bite, I IMMEDIATELY began to feel pressure in my chest like I need to burp, like I had swallowed a ton of air.  I thought I had to burp so I kept trying to and nothing happened.  The pain went away so I took another teeny spoon full and the same thing happened.  I'm ASSUMING that's my body's way of telling me me to stop, which I promptly did.  It's actually quite discouraging to think that I spent way more time preparing my food than it took to eat those 3 bites.  It was PROBABLY a tablespoon total.  Is this normal?  Does this mean that I won't have the capacity to hold more than an ounce of fish/chicken/etc.  I think it's good for losing weight but not so good for the head hunger.  :) 

Btw, this feeling of the need to burp happens almost as soon as I swallow my first or second bite.  I don't THINK I'm swallowing air.  I never did this before the surgery except on rare occasions so it has to be because of the surgery.  This might be a crazy question, but do we need to retrain ourselves to swallow without swallowing air?  I still haven't burped and that was about 20 minutes ago.  It must be the elusive full feeling that everyone said we'd have after eating heavier/denser foods.  Some have said to stop BEFORE getting that full feeling..but if I do that, I'll stop at one baby spoon of food which is about 1 tsp or less.  Once I figure out my capacity and what all these new feelings mean, I'll be okay.  Until then, I'm stressing a bit about what it all means. 

 Its normal. You are still swollen- hence the pressure. When that swelling goes down, food will go down smoother. I would suggest going back to liquids for a few more days and not try to keep eating since it's causing discomfort. 

 It's probably not air. I had (and still do sometimes) the same issue. I can't eat rice at all. I'm in California so grits are not something I know anything about but I am assuming they are all carbs. Your stomach is still healing. As you get farther out from surgery you will be able to eat more and more comfortably. At this point I would stick with more protein and eat really slowly. Don't worry about what you can eat in the future. You may just find that you can eat just about anything which is not necessarily a good thing. 

Great idea about going back to easier to eat foods. I do still feel this need to burp after eating other things but not ALL things. I didn't think about the swelling still being there. You can see the swelling so it's not something that readily comes to mind. Thanks for the wonderful advice.

MMMMM grits :)  I can't do the corn anymore ...bad carbs for me, but I did google and found brown rice grits!  I might have to try it.

I am experiencing the same sensations even when drinking liquids, so I just wait and it gets better.  I even was able to eek out little burps today when it happened and it did help.  I'm wondering if my pain has anything to do with the fact that I also had a hernia repair.

Grits are like cream of wheat.  You should be able to eat them but at this stage of your recovery you should water them down with a little ff milk like runny hot cereal.  Don't be shocked at the amount you eat.  Rejoice!  I'm 2 months out and still chicken to eat lots of things so head hunger doesn't have a chance against my fears...lol.  It will get easier and you just have to keep trying different things.  Before you know it you will settle into a return and eating will get easier.  Pay attention to that tightness and burping.  You don't want to force eat or you will end up with foamies!  Yes, that's experience talking...

 I feel the same way a lot... I only had surgery 2 days after you. I can eat cream of wheat which is similar to grits ...but I seriously dilute it with an extra cup of skim milk - which adds 9 grams protein and eliminates the "brick in your throat" feeling which is what I feel like you are describing as trying to burp? Diluting it with a bunch of milk makes it really soupy - I split it into 2 portions and eat the rest the next day.

In the beginning, once I was cleared for pureed food, I could only eat a bite or two of anything, and I was done.  Yogurt, pudding -- one or two bites and I was full.  I also would hiccup or burp, and that was my signal that I was done.  Whether my head was done or not, whether I wanted more, didn't matter.  My tummy had had enough!   I remember thinking how unsatisfying (mentally) just a bite or two is.  Don't worry, you'll be able to eat a bit more as you heal more.  You're not *doomed* to a life of one bite!

LOL!! Thanks Jaded. I'm happy to hear that.