Question:
I drink with my meals is this really horrible will I fail?
I'm 6 weeks post-op and I've tried and tried, but I just can't eat w/o drinking. I always only drink water, and just little sips but I drink about a glass per meal and I know that's horrible. I've heard it can hurt the pouch, it can wash too much food down, etc.. I've lost 42 lbs and according to my doctor that's pretty good. I make the meals stretch real long (45 min to an hour) and I stop when I'm full... Has anyone made it to goal while still drinking with meals? — Leah S. (posted on March 17, 2003)
March 16, 2003
There are two reasons that you should not drink with your meals. Number
one it will push the food through your pouch faster, that will cause you to
become hungry again faster and encourage grazing throught the day. The
other reason is the food will move so fast that your body will not have
enough time to absorb the vitamins and minerals in the food, which could
lead to deficiencies. I am not saying that I have never done it, we
probably all have. But I do try to limit it. Only one or two sips here
and there.
— Linda A.
March 16, 2003
Actually, you are probably doing some harm by eating over such a long
period of time (45-60 minutes) along with drinking with your meals. I
think that you should be taking 30 minutes tops for your meals. If you
take too much longer, food will be leaving your pouch while you are still
eating (especially if you are drinking while you are eating) - allowing you
to eat more than you otherwise would be able to. Even at 8 months, I
measure out my food and don't eat more than that (but I do drink while I
eat though *G*). It hasn't seemed to have affected your weight-loss at
this point - 42 pounds in 6 weeks *is* pretty good - but it might affect it
later on...JR (open RNY 07/17 -157 lbs)
— John Rushton
March 17, 2003
Hi Leah! Your profile doesn't give any information on how much you can eat
at each meal, but I can only assume you can eat more with these eating
habits than if you ate without drinking.
<p>
I agree with John, the amount of time you are taking per meal is way too
much! What I've found is if you take longer to eat a meal, you can eat
more.. sometimes twice as much, and if you are drinking with your meals,
you are probably able to eat ALOT more than if you follow the pouch rules
for dummies. Limit your meals to 10-15 minutes and try to drink up until
the meal and not for 1 hour afterwards. I know the drinking part is hard
to do (It is for me too!) but maybe you could make your food moister and
not too spicy, that might help. By the way, you are losing weight great
right now, but you don't have to do much to lose weight that early post-op.
What if you could lose MORE? Good luck to you!!
— thumpiez
March 17, 2003
I think it would be interesting for you to post why you can't stop drinking
with your meals. You said that you "know that's horrible," and
you listed some good reasons not to do it, but you didn't say why you can't
stop. That may be somthing important to think about. I suspect that as
the other posters mentioned, if you ate more quickly, you would fill up
faster and perhaps not need to have the water to keep the food going in.
In fact, I find that I can't drink with my meals, because it hurts, but I
never take more than 20 minutes to eat.
— Amber L.
March 17, 2003
Some things that may help you are to consume more water throughout the day
so maybe you won't be as thirsty at meals. Also try sucking on some ice
cubes with your meal instead of drinking liquid. (I am 10 months out and
still have to do this sometimes.)
— sheltie
March 17, 2003
Personally, I have drank with my meals from Day 1. It's been a little over
10 months since my surgery and I've lost over 155 pounds so far, so I don't
think it has hampered my weight loss at all. I weigh around 165 now and
I'm only 15 pounds from goal. I honestly could not get nearly enough down
if I didn't wash everything down with water. I still occasionally have
problems eating, and if I didn't drink with my meals, I'd be eating way too
little, especially for my activity level. My labs have come back with
excellent results too.
— R. P.
March 17, 2003
The reason I follow the no-eating-and-drinking rule (at the same time, that
is), is because I think it does help us feel fuller, longer, if we don't
drink with meals. Also, in terms of long-term success, I think it helps to
have developed a habit that necessary slows down, or interrupts, your
ability to graze all day. If I feel like eating again, because of
"head" hunger, I drink something instead -- which then means I
have to wait 30 minutes to eat. Often, I really do find this eliminates
the hunger (though this never worked before, when I was a pre-op). So,
weight loss aside, I think it helps with maintenance, as one of many coping
mechanism to help you avoid overeating and regaining in the years to
come.<P>And as an aside, I don't believe it makes any difference
whether you drink or not with meals in terms of vitamin and nutrient
absorption. If that were true, people would be achieving weight loss by
deliberately drinking a lot of liquids with their meals. Not even The
National Enquirer has tried to sell *that* diet!.
— Suzy C.
March 17, 2003
I agree with Rea, I am 20 months postop and have lost 215# and am at goal.I
have drank with my meals from the start and it never hampered my weight
loss..nor did it make me feel any less full..or for a shorter amount of
time..I think it's different for everyone..my theory is..whatever works
best for you! we're all different and make different choices but as long as
we're losing, happy and healthy..thats all that counts :)
— [Deactivated Member]
March 17, 2003
JMO----but I dont feel drinking water with your meals is soo bad, however,
i wouldnt drink a glass with your meals cuz you want your body to be able
to get full with the food and not the water, and also you want your body to
get the vitamines it needs from the food, if your drinking alot of water
you could be pushing what you need out before it settles. does that make
sense? i sip water during meal time cuz i cant NOT do that, I dont do it
all the time just when i need to sip..I have lost 135 pnds and so with that
said, i dont feel it hampers with your weight loss. Just be carefull to not
deprive your body of the vitamines it needs.
— Deanna Wise
March 17, 2003
I take some sips with my meals...I am 3 months post op and down 65
lbs....so far doesn't seem to hurt anything. I do recommend you spend ALOT
less time with your meals though...Eating that slow turns into grazing, and
grazing is the main thing that can cause us to gain our weight back
— thekatinthehat
March 17, 2003
At 6 weeks post-op, you are not getting in enough food/calories right now,
nor do you probably have alot of hunger at this early stage for drinking to
make a difference. The goal though is to develop good pouch habits early
on so that later on you will have a routine down pat when you need it.
Many months from now when hunger is an issue, and it is important to keep
food in the pouch as long as possible without washing it away in order to
keep that full feeling, you will have already developed this good pouch
habit. Sips with meals is OK, a whole glass of water is not. Those who
say they drink with meals, I'd like to see them at 3 years post-op to see
if they have kept the weight off. The others are also right about
shortening meal time. Again, not a big difference at 6 weeks, but
important down the road-15 minutes max per meal.
— Cindy R.
March 17, 2003
Cindy, I don't necessarily agree with that..I am almost 2 years postop..and
am at goal..i've lost 215# and exercise 6 days a week..tyhe support group I
attend which my doctor started has over 145 members and many of us have
drank with our meals..our surgeon never told us we couldn't..and many are
more than 5 years postop and have done just fine..I think it's a personal
decision..you have to do what works for YOU..everyone is
different..everyone's doctor gives different instructions..doesn't mean
that any of our choices are wrong..just different..and we can always agree
to disagree..have a great night :)
— [Deactivated Member]
March 17, 2003
If I drink with my meals I get hungry MUCH faster. Do what works for you,
but be aware that it could slow down your weight loss if it causes you to
eat more often. It's probably too early for you to see the difference now,
but after the honeymoon period is over and hunger returns it could affect
you.
— mom2jtx3
March 17, 2003
Hi all... first thanks for all of your answers/suggestions you guys are the
best... Second as to why I drink the water even though I know this is
wrong, honestly I have no clue. Lately, I like to chew my food up to a
pulp before I swallow, and a little sip of water helps me mush it up real
good (sounds kinda gross). I guess I'm kind of paranoid about swallowing
something in too big a piece since I'm eating "real" food. As
for the grazing (and taking way too long at meals) If I'm lucky I eat tiny
bits of food three times a day... honestly I haven't had a hungry moment
since surgery so I don't really think I'm grazing yet. But I can see that
I may develop this habit when I do have the hungries. My biggest problem:
I think in my head, I come from a big Italian family... and when I eat with
them (almost all the time) a meal is a very long production... I feel kinda
stupid eating up my little medallion of meat and tiny bit of salad then sit
there looking at everyone (especially since I know they're watching me
BECAUSE of the surgery). So I guess this leads to another question... If I
shouldn't eat meals that go on for more than a half an hour what do I do at
the table when everyone is still there? (Dancing and singing are out!!!
LOL)
— Leah S.
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