So can someone tell me more about this drinking with meals rule....

I am getting banded in ~ a week and am starting to have all these last minute questions.

Tonight I was at a dinner with a bunch of co-workers and thinking about how hard the not drinking with meals will be at social events. Is this a HARD set rule to always be applied? Or if I go out to a social dinner occasionally (once per month or so), can I sip Water or wine like everyone else? What will happen if I break this rule every blue moon?

Does anyone "cheat" with this"

So can someone tell me more about this drinking with meals rule....

I am getting banded in ~ a week and am starting to have all these last minute questions.

Tonight I was at a dinner with a bunch of co-workers and thinking about how hard the not drinking with meals will be at social events. Is this a HARD set rule to always be applied? Or if I go out to a social dinner occasionally (once per month or so), can I sip Water or wine like everyone else? What will happen if I break this rule every blue moon?

Does anyone "cheat" with this"

it will hurt.

try it once and you'll see. youll probably spit it back up

i drink water when i eat all the time. it's no big deal, and i don't think it makes a difference in "feeling full" in the long run.

I think it's probably the only rule I wouldn't put into quotation marks. It's hard-and-fast--the one that EVERY doctor seems to have.

Your stomach capacity is limited. Drinking with meals initially (early in the meal) serves to fill the pouch. This limits your ability to get in the Protein and other nutrients you need. This effect is short-lived; the Fluid then causes your pouch to empty more rapidly---defeating the entire purpose of the band.

I don't find the rule hard to live with. My doctor does not permit drinking with food, or for a period of time after, but i can drink right up to the first bite. I don't gulp, but in social situations, I can sip up until mealtime...then focus on the food. (Another behavioral modification that's positive :w00t:)

It can be difficult, sometimes, not to drink AFTER a meal--that's where sugarless gum is my friend. NOT ALL DOCTORS PERMIT THIS. (If swallowed, it can cause obstruction.) Mine is okay with it.

Some of my family members have adopted the no-drinking rule at mealtime and report that it helps them feel more satisfied---sooner and longer.

I practiced it preop, and found the same thing. If you're not convinced, give it a try now--maybe you will understand the rationale better once you experience the difference.

What I was told about the reason you aren't supposed to drink while eating is this: the liquid will "wash down" the food and therefore, it will be like not having a band. I've seen this to be true. I have great restriction now, and if I sip water while eating I can actually feel the food washing past the band. Without drinking, it stops where it's supposed to and keeps me feeling full, like it's supposed to.

I agree w/the previous poster who said that it works even pre-banded so give it a try right now. Its something I learned from previous diet attempts so I was already in the habit of not drinking much w/meals. I would tend to fill up a glass, but not drink much out of it. Now the hard thing is just to not compulsively fill up a glass for no reason. LOL

As for special occasions, at my current restriction, I do have a glass or two of wine with my meals when I am out w/friends or my husband for dinner. I do this maybe once or twice a month. Its not going to hurt your band, but you do have to realize that this is not the 'ideal' and will slow your weightloss (unless you compensate w/extra exercise). So, do it if its really important to you, but then if you see the scale not moving down as fast as you'd like, you know what you have to do.

And, I say 'at my current restriction' because I have heard that for a lot of people, once you are at your sweet spot, sipping a drink with meals is not even comfortable. I'm not quite there yet so I don't have that as a deterent.

I "sip" water all the time with my meals with no problem. I cannot eat a meal without it!

So can someone tell me more about this drinking with meals rule....

I am getting banded in ~ a week and am starting to have all these last minute questions.

Tonight I was at a dinner with a bunch of co-workers and thinking about how hard the not drinking with meals will be at social events. Is this a HARD set rule to always be applied? Or if I go out to a social dinner occasionally (once per month or so), can I sip Water or wine like everyone else? What will happen if I break this rule every blue moon?

Does anyone "cheat" with this"

OK, I've sworn off the word "rule" (you'll know why if you saw the thread I started - do you break the rules?http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/banded-living-do-you-bend-rules-110679/ ) At any rate, it is really important to understand how the band works, here's how I picture it, imagine a funnel, the narrow part of the funnel is where your band is. If you liquify what's in the funnel it will slide through faster, and it will limit the bands ability to help us with Portion Control and satiety. That is why we are not supposed to drink with our bands. That being said, my surgeon does not discourage, sipping an occasionall glass of wine with dinner. Notice the words sip and occasional. But when I do sip an occasional glass of wine with dinner, I take accountability and understand the trade-off I'm making. Does this help?

You will probably get to the point where you cant do it, it hurts and makes you vomit.

But that is 'drinking'. I can sip a glass of wine with dinner easily enough.

I didnt realise till I was banded that I never really drank alot while I ate anyway, and i've never had a Coke habit either, so I didnt find that rule hard at all.

I just find it annoying when I want my coffee and i've had a bite of toast and ouch, and then I have to wait ages till I can drink my coffee!

I am reading a book about Muhammad Ali's daughter. She writes about her struggle with weight and how she decided to go ahead and have the Lab band surgery back in 2004. She cowrote it with her doctors who performed the surgery. Khalia writes of her experiences and then the doctors write blurbs about different things that Khalia says. One of the things the doctor comments on is how we need to still interact with people and how hard it is over meals. He said that it is okay to "skip" the rule of not drinking with meals occasionally if it helps you "feel" more comfortable. You just have to know that you are defeating the purpose. I don't think it has anything to do with not feeling well while drinking with food, it is just that you will fill up on the liquid and any food in your pouch will push thru faster and therefore you will be hungry again faster. He still thinks this is a good policy to follow but sometimes a bandster wants to feel more comfortable in a social situation that includes a meal.

It was hard for me to not drink with meals in the beginning. I am a positive person but for awhile, I had a very negative attitude about this rule!! I thought "Oh man how am I supposed to not drink with meals and still drink 64oz of water a day"? I followed the rule however, and I learned that it was not hard at all. I wait 30 minutes or so before drinking after eating. One poster mentioned not being able to drink coffee after toast. I spend the first 30 minutes after I wake up drinking my coffee, then I am ready to get ready for work and eat breakfast. I do however drink a glass of wine when out on special occasions with my meal. For me, it hasn't made me more hungry, but I can sure see how it would. It just didn't happen for me. The poster who said they can not eat a meal without drinking water, I wonder if you are too tight!! Unless it is for a different reason you are unable to eat without drinking. Just a thought!! Hugs!!!!

I Cant do it. When I have it hurt and made what I ate come up and then the pain goes away. As one poster said try it you will learn real quick. Now I dont think about it I do order a glass of water just to make the server happy but I dont touch it.

Good Luck

I consider long term effects when thinking about what my surgeon says and the restrictions such as not drinking while eating. My concern is the long term effect of drinking while eating with the band in place. My concern is that it will cause slippage long term due to the fact that you are forcing liquids with solids and stretching the pouch which is not the intention. Since I have begun a very stringent exercise routine during this latter part of my journey however, I had to discuss hydration and protein with my surgeon. The supervised gym I go to and my personal trainer strongly urged me to eat a small amount of protein before and after I work out along with hydration. This was in direct conflict with what I was taught. Having said this the outcome of the conversation with my surgeon was I can hydrate during my workout and have a small and she stressed the word small amount of protein before and after such as a couple of wedges of apple with a little peanut butter. She also stressed that I have to sip very small amounts of water during the workout. She explained sipping and not gulping.

I consider long term effects when thinking about what my surgeon says and the restrictions such as not drinking while eating. My concern is the long term effect of drinking while eating with the band in place. My concern is that it will cause slippage long term due to the fact that you are forcing liquids with solids and stretching the pouch which is not the intention. Since I have begun a very stringent exercise routine during this latter part of my journey however, I had to discuss hydration and protein with my surgeon. The supervised gym I go to and my personal trainer strongly urged me to eat a small amount of protein before and after I work out along with hydration. This was in direct conflict with what I was taught. Having said this the outcome of the conversation with my surgeon was I can hydrate during my workout and have a small and she stressed the word small amount of protein before and after such as a couple of wedges of apple with a little peanut butter. She also stressed that I have to sip very small amounts of water during the workout. She explained sipping and not gulping.

She also said the obvious which was this will not make me full and is not intended to be meant to make me full as I would with a meal and does defeat the purpose of the band.

When I do go out with friends I order the wine or whatever & I just drink it before my meal comes & no one seems to notice that I don't drink with my meal!

I won't drink with my meals because I am afraid of esophogeal (sp) stretching. Water is high volume and with a limited volume pouch, I don't want to chance it.

That being said, it is simply habit that we drink with our meals and if you force yourself to not do it, soon enough it will change your eating habits. And as far as I know, that is what the band is about. Changing bad eating habits.