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chewing, chewing chewing.... ack!



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when exactly, or how, does it become a habit? small bites and chewing food into nothingness? decades of gulping food and now I am supposed to know how to do it carefully and slowly?

Its fine when I am having a proper meal with other people, dinner time and stuff, but grabbing lunch, with my 2 year old hanging from my pants demanding to ( fill in the blank, park, food, Water, tv....) i go back to my usual bad habits, and it hurts! I dont want to damage this thing by doing something stupid... If i could just concentrate....

tellie

on my 4th week

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Well, if you're as slow a learner as I am :ermm...when not chewing means a big lump of unchewed food ends up blocking your stoma and your brain starts The Saliva Thing, and you have to stand over a toilet and spit for 30 minutes is right about when you start to learn new habits. Because even a wiggling, squealing toddler cannot stop the saliva and because there's nothing you can do until it stops, you will eventually do whatever it takes to make it not happen.

Most of the time.

Sue

*whose baby sister has grandchildren older than two and who has several more decades of bad habits to unlearn than anyone rearing a two-year-old*

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I've only had good restriction for a few weeks so I am feeling brand new at this - and evidently I'm a slow learner. So I definitely understand what you are talking about. But Sue is right about the motivational factor. The blockage/saliva thing is a harsh teacher, but an effective one.

Nancy

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Yeah, it's hard when you're in a hurry. With stuff that's really tough to chew (like meat) I cut it into bite-size pieces with a knife first so I can't gulp it down. :rolleyes:

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Hi Everyone,

I have found a technique which works well for me. I eat with my fingers a lot!!! I find that if I put a piece of chicken or fish between my fingertips instead of cutting everything to baby size portions, I am able to control the portions better and eat faster than I can picking up a fork and knife and cutting. Also, I never put anything in my mouth bigger than something that can fit between my thumb and first finger, so I wind up with really small quantities. I hope that makes sense......

Babs in TX

334/263/180

-71 and counting

6/23/03

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I use a tea spoon when eating and fill it only 1/2 way with food. You can also try eating with a small fork. I found that it also helps if I don't wait until I am absoloutly starving to eat. Because then I tend to stuff my mouth and pain sets in really fast.

Hope this helps,

Mary

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thanks for the tips! I will be sure to try them, and avoid eating in a hurry....I am just sooooo happy that salads go down well, and raw vegetables ( so far).... i have been careful to only eat soft, ground beef ( skirt and girello are good to as they shred), chicken is fine, fish no problema, but i gave up on the idea of crisp pita bread.... ugh, that was bad....

so much to learn....

tellie

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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