What rule(s) do you not follow?

It does help. Laura one of our vets told us to drink before we eat so we know we are actually hungry not just thirsty.

I've been doing that too. I try to drink right up until I start to eat. ?Early days for me so whatever I can do to get the fluids in. 

Not drinking with meals I have to say was one of the hardest things before surgery. I knew I had to work on. I was the person who would house all of her food then wa**** down with something to drink.

I know I will have to work on this one for a long time. 

I do the same thing....  after every meal, I set a timer for when I can drink again.  I do the same thing for my vitamins and prescription meds so I don't forget to take them.

While I follow them all- I can't say I follow them all 100% of the time. I'd be a robot otherwise. If I had to guess- I have a 5% margin of error on any given day- whether it be missing a supplement, carbs being high, or protein being low, not tracking a stolen bite...

but not accepting any of these flaws are key. None can happen two days in a row in my world- cause that puts me on clear path to a habit. Spiritually, they say people should 'die daily'-- I so get this now. I have to let those flaws die each day- so they don't grow into a bigger issue. 

Haha! I was just thinking about "being a robot" by following each rule 100%. You are so right.

PeachPie -- that's pretty much where I am.  I'm 2.5 years post-op (VSG), and I am still pretty good (meaning 80-95% good) on following the WLS eating/drinking behaviors I learned very early on.  

Re the drinking with meals -- when I drink wine I do drink it with meals.  But my sips are teensy tiny.  Frankly, I'd rather enjoy the wine in a very leisurely fashion before my dinner than with my dinner.  Actually, it's weird how much more slowly I sip my wine than I used to pre-op.  

Hiraeth, I can offer you the encouragement that, if you're like me (and you may or may not be ;) ), you'll find that the longer you practice a behavior the easier it will become.  By that, I mean months and months and even years.  

The things I used to "not be able to do" pre-op I swear have become second nature to me now.  

I guess we CAN build new habits.  Thank goodness!  

Ann

I'm just as far out as you and I can't even think about drinking while eating. I only have room for one or the other. If I do both it feels awful. I can't drink after I eat for almost 2 hours usually.

Sometimes, it does hurt. I guess my pain tolerance is different. But I do feel full more quickly, which is probably bad since they say that drinking and eating at the same time can flush the food out of the sleeve, and cause you to become hungry more quickly.

I almost never come to a complete stop at stop signs. I exceed the speed limit on the highway whenever traffic is light enough.