Struggling with slow eating

So I am still on puree for another week and am trying to take a half hour to eat my 2 ounces of food.  It is so hard! I eat so little so when I get to eat I want to scarf it down. 

How do you eat so slowly? I set a timer but I just sit there and stare at it. 

I used the Eat Slower app on my phone when I was in the phase where I had to restrict my eating speed. I set it for 45 seconds between bites. It worked well for me.

LORD HAVE MERCY  A EAT SLOWER APP? IS THERE ANYTHING THAT ISN'T ON APP? PRETTY SOON THEY WILL HAVE WLS 'S ON APP LOLOL

I JUST DOWNLOADED THE  S HEALTH TO TRACK MY WALKING BUT I FORGET TO CARRY THE PHONE EVERY WHERE AAARRGGGG LOLOLOL

THANKS GOING TO DOWNLOAD EAT SLOWER TOO  LOLOLOL

I can't find the app :(

mE EITHER BUT OTHER THINGS CAME UP LIKE BARIATRIC EATING BARIATRIC iq  bARIATRIC pA  BARIATRIC PAL  SLOWMOW EATING TIMER     TIME YOUR BITES AND I FOUND A CROCK POT SLOW COOKER RECIPI   BUT THAN I WENT TO DOWNLOAD AND I HAD NO MORE SPACE SO I HAVE TO UNINTSALL SOME THINGS OR USE MY OTHER PHONE   SO I WILL DO THAT MAYBE TUESDAY WHEN IM SLOW AT WORK..LOL  OR MONDAY WHEN IM OFF MAYBE EAT SLOWER WILL POP UP FROM SOMEWHERE  LOL

hmm, I checked and it comes right up in the Apple Store. I can't check on Android but it is supposed to be an Android app as well. If it isn't, I think there are similar apps like SlowMow?

I'm a couple months out and still struggle with eating slowly. I've found a happy medium where I eat at a mildly quicker pace, but I've worked to train my head to be content with the small portion disappearing quicker. 

Be be careful to just properly chew all of your bites and always measure and weigh your proportions. The worst thing that happens to me is when I eat much too fast. I get the foamies, a very unpleasant feeling of being on the brink of vomiting and having foamy slime creep up your esophagus.

Oh yes, I use my scale religiously :) I'm still at 2 ounces 3 times a day. It's not even that I'm hungry, I just want to enjoy the small amount of food I do get to eat :P maybe I will try 20 minutes,  that might be a happy medium. I haven't had any foamies, not sure what they are but the sound icky! 

IF YOU HAD THE BAND MAYBE YOU WILL KNOW BUT IF YOU DIDNT AND DONT KNOW THAN GOOD FOR YOU ITS THE WORST THING GROSS AAARRGGGGG...   AND IF YOU WANT TO KNOW KEEP EATING FAST IF NOT LETS CONTINUE TO EAT SLOWWWWW AND CHEWWWWW MY DOC SAID WHEN I HAD THE BAND WE ARE SUPPOSE TO CHEW I BELIEVE IF I CAN REMEMBER 30 TIMES PER SPOONFUL.   I USE TO COUNT THEN I DIDNT ANYMORE..LOLOLOL

I HAVE A NICE SCALE THAT I BROUGHT FROM TARGETS I HAVE TO GO LOOK FOR IT I BROUGHT IT WHEN I WAS DOING WEIGH****CHERS THAT LASTED ABOUT 2 WEEKS I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE IT IS .     I HAVE TO FIND ALL THESE THINGS AND PUT THEM OUT TO GET READY FOR MY DATE.  I HAVE A LIST OF THINGS TO EAT THAT I HAVE TO GO SHOPPING FOR ....  SOMETIMES ITS SO HARD CAUSE I HAVE A PRETTY BIG FAM  A HUSBAND     2 ADULT BABIES (27, 25)  AND A TEENAGER 15  SO THERE IS FOOD HERE ALL THE TIME THE TWO OLDEST LOVE TO COOK AND MAKE A MESS AND HAVE COMPANY AND THE 15 YEAR OLD LOVES TO EAT ACTUALLY DAD TEACHES HIM TO COOK SOME BASIC THINGS TO MAKE IF WE ARE NOT HERE.. AND HUSBAND IS NOT PICKY SO I CAN MAKE ANYTHING FOR HIM BUT IM GOING TO BE SMELLING FOOD ALL AROUND ME EVERY DAY I HOPE I CAN MAKE IT.... I KNOW I WILL AS LONG AS I HAVE MY FOOD AVAILABLE AND HUBBY CANT WAIT TO PUREE EVERYTHING IN SITE IN HIS MAGIC BULLET..... LOLOL

I was never successful at making that 2 oz meal last 30 minutes. EVER! I think for those of us with easier recoveries it is quite difficult to manage that 30 minutes. 

I was mentored by a WLS patient that had a great way to look at the slow eating. Rather than worrying about how long it took to eat a meal, she taught me to work on the behavior of eating. I practiced taking small pencil eraser sized bites, putting my fork/spoon down, and savoring those bites. Then I chewed (even on the purees****il the food was basically a liquid or simply disappeared from my mouth. Sometimes it seemed that I wasn't even really swallowing. Lo and behold, I did this enough and suddenly, my meals were lasting about 20 minutes. 

I still have to practice eating slowly. It's not in my nature. I say focus on the actual eating behavior for a while and see what happens. Worrying about the time can be stressful. Small bite, chew thoroughly, rest and repeat. 

BTW - you should always enjoy your meals. When they stress you out, you know that something has to change.