lroever

Oh, yeah @Tony B - NJ, eating out or eating with others can be challenging. I too find myself eating at their pace sometimes & then suffered the side effects of doing so. It really has to be a conscious thing to pause between bites & take small bites. I’ve learnt to do things like put the cutlery down & sit back in my chair. Wait for whoever is speaking to finish & then take my next bite. I do tend to stop eating or only take another bite or two when the others finish. Can’t overeat that way.
I quite happily take 30-60mins to eat a meal when at home. My meals are larger now of course but I employ the same tactics. I don’t chew to excess. I just take smaller bites. I cut my meat before staring to eat into bite size pieces (small cubes). I’ll also wait for an ad break or a scene change, read a couple of pages, play a game on a device between bites. I should explain I live alone so I’m not being rude. I also keep an eye on the time & slow down if I’m going to fast. Oh, & as I’ve said many times before on other posts, I ask myself if I need the next bite or just want it.

I don’t mind too much if my food gets cold except it can make the meat dry. If it bothers me, I’ll just zap it in the microwave for a few seconds. Easy.
It does get easier & more just how you eat in time

I literally had to sit and watch the clock second hand in order to eat slow as they expected. Fortunately I was not one of the people that the speed of my eating caused me any discomfort. I do still measure my food though and eat slow if it’s something I’ve never had just so I don’t eat past full.

I have to reheat all the time too - especially soup! I know I still eat too fast and I know I don't chew enough but I get so hungry I just wolf everything down or at best remember halfway through to stop and wait. My stomach has tolerated everything so far - I've had mild discomfort when I ate steak without chewing enough but it passed in a few minutes. I do eat little and often though - probably the most Protein I've had so far is half a (big) chicken thigh or a quarter of a chicken breast. I am so afraid of stretching my pouch (I know, I know) that I'd rather do it that way for now.

Oh thanks,
I think I have a yeti cup somewhere in my kitchen I will see if it is still there. I did not think about that one.

You can get a warmer (designed for coffee mugs) that you can place your food on to keep it warm. I would think a ceramic bowl would be better for keeping heat in because it's more insulating.
I hate eating cold food too. I use containers that are the size of my small servings, not huge plates that have a lot of room for air to dissipate. Like, you could use a smaller mug for Soup. I use small fake tupperware to heat up my meals and then just eat from there. It's also less depressing - if I put food in a big plate/bowl, my serving looks so pathetic.

I am having problems slowing down too, all the doctors blame my discomfort to the fact that I eat too fast.
One of the issues is that I do not want to eat cold food, especially when I am eating a Soup or mushy food, I found that using paper plates keeps the food warm a little longer but I have to microwave it again during a meal, what do you guys do about it?

I don't count chews. I tried chewing a LOT and it was so gross and sucked all the joy out of eating. I tend to stick to things that are easier to eat - ground meat dishes, fish, etc.
I think you will have to see whether counting chews works for you or whether it's better to try other strategies.

After 6 months I still struggle with this. Especially if I am out with others at dinner or lunch. I get involved in conversation and eat at the pace everyone else is at. I really have to slow down, count 30 chews, put my fork down between bites and take my time. I think time does matter as much as how much it is chewed up, for me atleast. I think I have to give the food time to work itself down into the stomach. When I go too fast, I get sick and either throw up, or honestly, I feel so bad I induce vomiting to get it out. It is a work in progress.

Put your fork down between each bite. That's the easiest way to slow down. Only after you've swallowed your food should you start to cut/pick up your next bite. Take small bites.
You will learn once you have surgery because you will be in pain if you eat too fast. I'm six months out and I still have trouble with it occasionally.

Some people like to try to start some of the things you will need to do post op now like making sure you get in 64 oz of Water, no water 30 minutes before or after food, Protein first (measure your protein your doctor will tell you how much you will need), eat much slower, and smaller bites. Also, it’s easier for some people if you wean yourself off caffeine, sugar and carbs before the pre op diet. Caffeine is depending of if you have to go off of it (doctors vary on this) a great deal. You don’t have to do any of this if you don’t want to and you have plenty of time to do it if you do but some like to and many have lost a pretty big chunk of weight while waiting on surgery that is just less you have to lose afterwards.

I am brand new here and i would like to do as im told ,my PCP put in a consult for me on wednesday , i went through pre screening procces and passed , is there anything you can reccomendwhile i go through this long proccesi would truly appreciate it

I have my pre-op procedures of upper GI and chest X-ray on Tuesday morning and my pre-op primary care physician appointment for clearance on Tuesday afternoon. I’m getting closer! After I had finished my nutritional class requirements at the first of January I thought surgery was imminent as we were told in the doctor talk that we were about a month away. But as I’ve read on here, enjoy the journey. Don’t rush. Be patient. Be gentle.

I haven’t been very patient which is very evident by how little I chewed my food! I’ve been working on that.

I’m turning 60 this week! I am excited that this milestone and my wls are close together. I feel ready for some good changes. My bmi is 44. I think at my highest weight it was 46. I feel so roly-poly. I want to kick my type 2 diabetes to the curb. I want to be able to be more active without the constant pain in my arthritic knees and ankles. I want to keep up with my two little granddaughters. I want to fit into seats!

I am very glad to find this app/support group. My doc said that they had one on Facebook but I’ve given up that so I was glad to find this better alternative.

I was very anxious prior to surgery, and I had a really long time to wait - 7.5 months. When I decided I wanted surgery, I immediately started to eat like I would have to after surgery, except for the tiny meals. I increased Protein and decreased sugar and carbs. I lost 50 lbs prior to surgery which is 50 lbs I don't need to lose now. Keeping focused on healthy activities really helped me feel more in control and less anxious.
Good luck!

Same here, he got a "passport". It had all the tests and classes we needed with a spot to write the date/tine of it. A box to check off when it was completed. Also, it had all the numbers to call to schedule your appointments and in what order to do them. My team is awesome, from day 1. I have ZERO complaints. They make the process as easy as possible and support your every single step of the way. I have read so many bad stories about people's teams. I am greatfull I found a great team/surgical center!

I'm impatient for my revision, but I don't have anxiety over it. I've never really been an anxious type person. But I've read enough about anxiety to know that it sucks for those that battle it. I hope your anxiety eases up and pre op passes smoothly and quickly for you. 🤗

I had to wait 8 months to get my surgery, It seemed so long but I wasn't give a date until 6 weeks before the event. Its out of your control so you just have to do what you can to get by. I found this forum and in my free time , I picked a date in the last 20 years and started reading the posts from then on. I gained so much knowledge, it gave me confidence. I researched menus for all the stages and prepared my home for the things I would need, which wasnt much. It will soon pass..

my bariatric center gives you a binder with all the required info, doctors names, labs and such and we are required to take it to every appointment. Found it very nice and convenient.

Another thing I forgot to mention that happens to help alot with anxiety is organization. What Suzannethemom did by making all her lists was to control what she could and that helps a great deal with anxiety. I was advised to do that during a medical issue that was very stressful by a nurse. I kept a binder with all my appointments and labs and scans, etc and it helped tremendously with my anxiety.

Waiting was very annoying... What has held me up was the long wait for a appointment for the psyc evaluation (over 2 months for the next opening) EKG is quick and easy takes just a few minutes, sleep study is no big deal if you get a at home kit you just wear it to sleep and that is it. The Endoscopy i had one done last year (not a part of bariatric surgery) and It was actually quick. They put to me to sleep for it since i had a colonoscopy done as well. What you get all your lab orders and such get to making those appointments to get it done. I personally had a abnormal EKG so i am having to get a extra test done a Nuclear Stress Test but after that if it goes well which it should i should be able to move forward. hopefully you can get appointments quick for your labs. Good luck! Dont stress

The waiting has been the hardest part for me. I’m a stay at home mom, so I don’t have work as a distraction. I spend A LOT of time online researching anything and everything about bariatric surgery. I also go to YouTube and search for “my bariatric story” and watch those videos. Another good YouTube search is “what I eat in a day” to get examples of meals and shake ideas. I take a lot of notes. I have a list of tips, a list of things to buy, a list of questions for the dietitian, questions for the surgeon and finally a list of projects to do before surgery since I will be recovering for a while.

It goes by faster than you would think. Just take it one step at a time in terms of the procedures and evaluations and hang out here in your free time learning as much as you can to make things a little easier and less stressful post op.

I had a sleeve 7 years ago and wish I would have known about the high prevalence of damage due to acid reflux after the sleeve. I now need to revise to bypass to stop the damage from getting worse. If you have any history at all of reflux, I'd be talking to your doctor about doing a bypass instead

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