eating too fast?

Hi all,

I am doing well at about 6 weeks post op.  I am 100% on program and feeling great (except a pulled muscle in my back...don't even know how I did it....kickboxing I suppose).  I have not thrown up since I left the hospital (there was an incident with the barium swallow!)  and I have never had the dreaded foamies.  With that said, I eat about 2 - 2.5 oz of protein at meals, I chew small bites very well, but I don't eat "slowly"  That is to say, I can eat my meal in about 5-10 minutes.  After I eat I feel full with no problems.  Is this speed of eating problematic?

Anne

I'm the same way! I'm commenting so I can see what others have to say on the subject :)

I am almost 3 months out and I too find it hard to slow down my eating...
It's such a subconscious response thati have to be VERY mindful to put the fork down and wait...

It's about the same for me more or less.  The only problem I've found is how hunger gets managed.

Since it takes 20-30 minutes for the nerve/brain action to kick in and say "you're full, stop eating", and quicker meals can take 15 minutes or less, that leaves 5-15 minutes where you can feel hungry even though you know you've eaten what's needed for the process to work.

In those 5-15 minutes, while I sometimes can feel hungry, I've observed that the feeling passes once those spare minutes go by.  After that I'm good until the next meal which I try to space out every 3-4 hours.

The four ways I deal with this are:

1. Slowing down meals as best I can by following the guidelines we were given (like putting the spoon/fork down between bites). What you eat is a factor here so as the food get more solid slowing down is easier.

2. Diversifying foods at meals.  Yes we all eat small, but I might have 2 oz of meat, some cheese and some hummus to get to my total meal.  Nibbling back and forth between items forces some degree of slowing down on you as you clean your palette between switches.

3. Doing something non-sedentary.  Sitting at my desk during that windows tends to get me overly focused on the hunger feeling until it pass (which it always does, yeah!)

4. Lastly, grin and bear it until it passes .  Sometimes with work and such you just have to power through.  However, I like to remind myself that the amount of hunger I feel post sleeve is so easy to deal with compared to before the sleeve.  I don't know about others, but while I might get hungry, at the appropriate times, I never fell famished.

Hope this helps!

This is an excellent response. I have the same issue as all of you. I am still working on it 10 months postop. Some old habits die hard but it really will serve me well to learn this.

great answer!  At this point I don't have a very long window between last bite and restriction....and since I only feel "hungry" if I go longer than 3 hours with no protein that is not an issue at this point, but I assume as my ability to intake slightly larger volumes increases I will need some of you great tips on dealing with those 5-10 minutes of brain confusion