Question:
Not drinking 30 minutes before a meal and 30 minutes after

Why can't we drink 30 minutes before a meal? I understand that we can't drink while we eat b/c it will push the food down the pouch. I also understand that we have to wait 30 minutes after to drink. But I am not sure why we can drink before a meal. Lisa    — Lisa N. (posted on November 11, 2010)

November 11, 2010
The liquid will fill you up to much and by the time you eat you won't be able to eat enough to take in all your nutriment values. I learned how full I got with just liquid since I had my surgery.
   — sammyaime

November 11, 2010
You will become hungry faster if you do not wait the allotted time also. Also, you will not get your full nourishment from the food you are eating. My NUT said, you may also get sick if you drink and eat and not wait the time.
   — FSUMom

November 11, 2010
just had my surgery 10/25/10. You'll puke, pure and simple. The hardest thing for me to do has been t not drink while eating.
   — caxb2009

November 11, 2010
We CAN drink before a meal...we just have to WAIT 30 minutes to and hour before we eat if we do...the same rule applies as if we had just eaten...lol dont worry you will get the hang of it.... RULE OF THUMB: IF YOU DRANK WATER, WAIT AT LEAST 30 TO 60 MINUTES AFTER OR BEFORE A MEAL....(1)IF YOU ARE THIRSTY, DRINK BEFORE YOU EAT AND WAIT HALF AND HOUR TO AN HOUR BEFORE YOU EAT...(2)IF YOU ARE A BIT HUNGRY, EAT BEFORE YOU DRINK AND WAIT HALF AN HOUR TO AN HOUR TO DRINK.
   — Jovanna P.

November 11, 2010
It's good to practice not drinking 30 min before eating.. but you will find that not all doctors say that this is necessary. Some say 15 minutes, some say no waiting before eating. I did the 30 min before/none during/30 min after thing for a long long time. When my fills finally got to the point where I was starting to have issues with food, near the end of my first year of banding, I started to make changes. I've found that I can drink right up until the first bite goes in my mouth.. and that keeps me hydrated and less chances of food getting stuck. However, I try to wait at least an hour after eating to drink. Follow what your doctor recommends as closely as you can is my recommendation. If what I'm doing caused me problems or made me hungrier sooner than I'd like.. I'd go back to the 30/none/30 guideline.
   — Lisaizme

November 12, 2010
Lisa, you will find differing opinions on this. I've even seen one "rules of the pouch" posting somewhere on the internet by a surgeon who speaks of "water loading" on purpose (for RNY patients)... drinking a lot of water to "saturate" the intestine with water so it doesn't absorb food so quickly... all with the idea of feeling fuller longer. As another poster said, the very best thing to do is follow your particular surgeon's rules. My understanding of the "no liquids 30 minutes before" rule is that if there is liquid in your smaller stomach when you eat, the food will dissolve more quickly and pass out of the stomach before your brain has a chance to register a sense of satiety. It's part of the head game we must all learn to play in trying to feel happy with much less food than we used to eat. I can report that it works. In fact, I worked hard on the 30/none/30 rule even before surgery, and it worked for me even before my guts were redesigned. The point is, in this country, we have the odd habit of feeling we need to "wash food down," when in fact if we all ate more slowly, we wouldn't need to do that. What we're really saying is, "I need liquid so I can eat more quickly" and liquid does indeed oblige us in that goal. Unfortunately, eating more quickly means getting in more food before your brain gets the message that you've eaten, which I've read can take 20 minutes!! So, really, you could drink as much as you can stand and not hurt yourself surgery-wise, but you'll be forming bad habits for the long run that will sabotage your weight loss and maintenance. Best to just change your habits from "I need liquid to eat as fast as possible" to "I need to actually plan my eating and drinking well enough so that I have time to get in all my requirements, eat slowly and enjoy my limited portion so that I feel satisfied with it, and in the end eat smaller amounts of food without feeling deprived." Long answer to your simple question, but most of us got "super morbidly obese" by complicated interactions of head, heart and stomach... and to untangle all that is the real job of the post-op WLS patient. It's why so many of us choose to see a coach or therapist in addition to regularly attending support group meetings, so we can deal with making permanent lifestyle changes and feeling happy about it!
   — Greg K.

November 16, 2010
I know this is blastphomy but I drink before, during, and after without any side effects.
   — Jane W.

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