Question:
I Have a Question about Eating AND Drinking TOGETHER

Okay, I know drinking with my meal might push the food thru the pouch too quick, etc. But are there any other reasons why I can't drink right after I eat? For instance. I just love my coffee in the morning but it always seems like I have to make a choice.....coffee OR food. Food would be better but I always end up stopping at Dunkie's on the way to work and skipping breakfast. Then when I get to work I'm hungry. I have recently starting eating beef jerky. Is it okay to have just beef jerky for breakfast? since it takes so long to chew it it takes a very long time to finish one serving, Can I sip coffee at the same time then? Please help cuz I'm having alot of trouble with the eating and drinking thing here. thanks    — Peggy D. (posted on May 15, 2003)

May 14, 2003
I was given a big fat NO from my surgeon on eating and drinking at the same time. The reason was because like you said, it washes the food through the pouch and then you get hungrier quicker and tend to eat more. I was told that I could drink up to 5 minutes before eating or drink 30 minutes after eating, but not during. That was really hard for me to do at first, but you get used to it. Occasionally, if I am eating and I just need to take a drink, I will take a little tiny sip to wet my whistle, and thats it. No more. I have heard of other people on this site having beef jerky for breakfast, so thats probably ok, just dont drink with it. Good luck!
   — Kris T.

May 15, 2003
I usually don't eat and drink together but I have coffee first thing each day. I usually wait an hour or so before eating food or drink a protein drink right after my cup of coffee. Yesterday I ate a salad for lunch and sipped water while I was eating it because it was rather dry but most of the time I refrain from eating and drinking together. I eat a popsicle immediately after dinner most nights to deal with thirst.
   — susanje

May 15, 2003
Not eating and drinking together is a good habit to develop with WLS; IMHO, you lose a key opportunity when you don't develop that habit early on. :~) When you are able to eat more later, it will help you regulate yourself during the day (if you drink something, you can't eat for at least half an hour, and that helps fight head hunger). It also starts to teach you to distinguish between thirst and hunger, which sounds dumb, but I can't count the times I've noticed, as a post-op, that I was actually thirsty when I'd have sworn I was hungry. This question kind of surprises me, since I would've thought it'd be easier to find coffee at work than food (but hey ... maybe the work coffee is awful?). Can you have coffee when you first get up, and then get dressed and ready, and eat breakfast right before you leave? Or vice versa ... eat breakfast first, get ready, then pick up coffee on the way to work? I had to really think these things through in the beginning, but now they're second nature. Good luck!
   — Suzy C.

May 15, 2003
BE CAREFUL. It just doesn't push the food through, it makes food swell. All foods swell to a degree in water -- try it in a glass. I paid a high painful price this weekend eating and drinking together. Thought I was having appendicitis or something, only it was in the stomach area. Felt like childbirth - that is how bad it was. If you MUST eat and drink at the same time, drink first, wait a few minutes, then eat.
   — Kristy J.

May 15, 2003
Here's what I do: Have a protein shake in the AM before leaving, and then have coffee at work! Have a mid-morning snack after the coffee (sometimes), if I have time! (I try to also get in a big bottle of water before lunch.) Drinking while eating causes the food you take in to be mixed in your pouch into a sort of "soup" which empties out even more quickly than just food alone would be, causing you to become hungry sooner. Sometimes it is necessary to take a sip or two while eating, especially if it is something very dry!
   — koogy

May 15, 2003
Unfortunately, if you do drink with the jerky as well, you'll start developing a habit overtime and could start unconsciosly drinking with your other meals. That started to happen to me a few weeks ago b/c I'm on medication and my mouth is so dry and eating truly became horrible, I almost choked on some things- so I drank a little here and there with it, and noticed I was doing it alot. If you have to, keep an ounce of water with you when you eat, but never get more than that- that helps me, and I also won't go over that limit. Could you eat breakfast as soon as you wake up, say around 7am, then get ready and stop at DD and get coffee, by that time it'd probably be 8 and you can drink again. I know its hard to do, but its important- goodluck to you!
   — Lezlie Y.