I finally can go without a drink at dinner. I just don't put out a glass so I basically forget about it. If its there...I reach for it! One habit I can't seem to break is coffee with my Breakfast. Those 2 go together!!!! I would skip breakfast all together if I had to choose between the meal & coffee!

1 question...I can understand why you shouldn't drink after a meal since it will just "wash everything down" but why can't we drink before the meal? I always have Water and sometimes I forget and I'm drinking away and realize that I'm going to have a meal shortly. Now what??

There's a wide range of doctors' opinions on this one. Some say you can drink up to the first bite.

I cannot break my milk with dinner habit. I told my surgeon, and he was more concerned about the liquid with calories than the fact that I wanted to drink with my meal. I have experimented with drinking and not drinking when I eat. For me, it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I often wonder what studies the banding rules are based on. I just don't see how sipping a few ounces of liquid could wash solids out of our stomachs any faster than the grinding action of our pouches. Gastric Bypass pouches do not grind, they depend on chewing fully and gravity to empty. I don't know...just some thoughts, and my own...written here for discussion, not to encourage anyone to not follow their doctor's orders.

The fact that there is no consensus on the 'rules' makes me wonder ......

There are times I drink right up to the first bite; sometimes I wait 5 minutes. I also don't see why we can't drink before. Water is going to flow right threw. I have my one cup of regular coffee every morning before breakfast.

My NUT said we shouldn't drink before we eat because it lubricates our stomach which causes us to digest faster.

ThinSIstaSoon, that makes sense. I never heard that before. I always wondered why we couldn't drink before, also. Now that's the first statement I heard that sounds completely true. Thanks for sharing!

Something about the not drinking with meals thing I don't understand: If the point is to prevent you from digesting too fast, and therefore help prevent you from overeating, is it still a problem if you drink with meals, and DON'T overeat? Am I missing something?

I have trouble breathing through my nose (it's more than a deviated septum) so I'm forced to breathe through my mouth. As a result, my mouth and throat are always very dry. I drink liquids all the time. If I don't sip liquids while eating, I can't swallow. So I've been drinking all along. I don't overdo it, but I don't restrict fluids with meals. I eat till I begin to feel full, and I stop eating. In four or five hours I eat again. I don't get sick, I don't get stuck, I don't graze, I don't eat junk food or empty calories, and I feel fine. So to me, that's in keeping wth the larger point of being banded.

They say everyone has a personal journey with their weight loss, and they have to learn how to work their band to their best advantage. I don't recommend others do as I do, but this seems to be working for me. My weight loss would seem to support that. :thumbup:

Dave

Dave, my opinion. You answered your own question. You are losing weight.

I drink with meals, also. My surgeon is not against it if it doesn't bother me. I don't find that I get hungry sooner.

Thanks everyone!! So happy to see that my drinking with meals isn't really going to screw me up! Until recently, I've been taking sips from a tiny 5 oz. dixie cup. Its just that morning coffee that is a bad habit for me...gotta have it!!!

Glad to see these posts. Not drinking with my meal will be my biggest hurdle (2 weeks post op). I'm okay if I can just take a small sip or two during the meal, but I will actually stop eating because of not drinking. My family has become the drink police everytime I sneak a drink with my meal. I have no fill at this moment so its probably not going to effect me, but I'm still not doing it just because I know its a habit of mine.

I can also drink up to the first bite, but my Dr. would prefer me not to drink at least an hour after eating or longer. My NUT said the rule about not drinking a half hour before eating was a throwback to the bypass rules.

In my experience the only time I get thirsty is if I eat something that is really salty. So the question becomes if it's that salty should I be eating it anyway. In fact the one time that I was uncomfortable because I was so thirsty was at a birthday party where the I did'nt have many food options. There was finger tip sandwhiches (ate the fillings ham salad but not the bread), shrimp cocktail (the best option), bite size pieces Greek Sausage (realllly salty).

Since I drink Water right up until eating I don't really have problems at restaurants. I drink two glasses of water before the food comes then stop.

I try my best not to drink while eating but sometimes it's very hard for me to wait a full hour to drink something after I finish eating. Once a Dr looked at me like I was crazy because I still eat cereal with milk and she claimed once you have the band you can't do that but my NUT never told me that. So I wasn't too worried about it.

I think you do what's right for you - its not actually dangerous as long as you're not overloading your pouch - you know, eating/drinking together so that you feel utterly stuffed.

For the first two years of my banded journey I drank moderately while I ate and I personally never found it washed the food through and made me hungry sooner. My band worked just fine and I lost over 100lb.

However, that didnt last. When you reach a certain level of restriction, you'll probably find that anymore than a few sips will make you pb anyhow. Many's the time I've eaten something like a piece of cake, a cookie or even crackers and cheese for a snack and then not been able to drink my coffee, which is what I wanted more than food in the first place. I quickly learned to choose between snacky foods (which are no good for me anyway) and a coffee to get me through between meals.

Now I have a temporary ileostomy and am having chemo so am having some problems with gut mobility and obstructions. I am instructed to drink PLENTY with food to wash it through, lol. I'm finding that the habit of not drinking and eating together was well established and is difficult to break.