I can't figure out how to eat right!

[TennJenn 9]

I've been on solids for a little over a week now (I'm 6 weeks post op). Almost every time I eat I get the stuck feeling...unless I'm eating something mushie, then I do okay. Last night I had my first episode of throwing up. :confused1: I tried to eat a bite of a chicken finger (I peeled the outside breading off) and a bit of a potato wedge. Well, it didn't go down well & I was in the bathroom getting rid of it.

I know I'm now chewing as well as I should be & I'm eating too fast. I feel like this is my biggest problem, not simply eating too much. The thing is, I keep doing it! I am scared that I'm going to cause a leak. After I threw up last night, that's all I could think about...what if I just caused a leak? :scared0:

I know I need to do better. I think I will try to go back to more mushie foods, butI don't think that will help me learn how to chew. Am I the only one that has done this? I feel so stupid!

[Malaika 50]

No Jenn, you are not the only one who has done this - it's all a learning process and it takes time -- I'm 2 months out and still learning -- don't beat yourself up and don't worry about a leak from throwing up -- Bearded threw up several times a day while in the hospital and Dr. Aceves and Campos were not stressed out about causing a leak -- I think it has to be something pretty significant to cause the sutures and staple lines to split and cause a leak - I believe it's a lot stronger than what we think - so quit worrying about a leak. Dr. Aceves told me to put my fork down between EVERY bite and chew until it was nearly liquid ... you might try it - concentrate on putting the fork out of your hand. See if that helps some.

[TennJenn 9]

Thanks, Vegas. I feel a bit better now. I knew it would be hard, but I never realized just how fast I ate & how little I actually chewed my food until now. I have tried putting my fork down between bites & it helps some. I seriously considered timing my eating...setting a timer for so many minutes and only taking bites when the timer goes off. I know that sounds silly!

The one time I did great with eating & felt no discomfort afterwards was when I cut everything on my plate up into "baby" size bites & only ate one baby size bite at a time (something recommended by Dr. Aceves). It all went down well & I guess I ate slower (not sure why, but I did). I've also noticed that I eat slower if I'm busy (like while I'm schooling the kids or on the computer). I guess if I'm simply eating & it's my main focus, I just get carried away.

I'm trying so hard to change my habits. That's one thing I like about the sleeve...it's forcing me to deal with some food issues that needed to be dealt with anyway.

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

Sometimes I do cut my meat into tiny little pieces before I put anything in my mouth . I think that helps a lot. Sometimes I make up a little game of it, like how much more can I possibly chew this. I do the best when I chew it up until it's complete mush in my mouth. If I take too big of a bite, I make sure I don't swallow all of it. It's definitely a learning experience.

[Malaika 50]

Another idea, too, Jenn, is eating with a baby spoon - it forces you to take smaller bites -- I was just reminded of that as Bearded is eating a cup of applesauce. Just little things ... eventually we'll all get the "swing" of it!

[MacMadame 81]

The staple line is at most risk in the first two weeks. That's why 99% of the programs have you on some sort of liquid for at least two weeks. Then, people tend to do what you do, so you go to softs because those don't need to be so well-chewed. So, by the time you are on regular food, the staple line should be pretty well healed.

No one can say exactly how long as it's going to be different for everyone, but the longer out you are, the more it's going to take to give you a leak. Most people's staple line is completely healed by 4-6 weeks.

Also, leaks happen less than 1% of the time. If it was that easy to cause a leak (just eating too fast), they'd happen way more often than that because we *all* do it eventually and most of us do it a lot in the beginning.

[TennJenn 9]

Thanks for the tips! I'll give them a try.

Mac-your post made me feel so much better! I really appreciate it. I tend to be a compulsive worrier...so my dh says! :lol0:

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

I know what you mean about being a worrier. I am one too and it gets difficult to worry all the time, but it's a really hard habit to break.

[Jachut 487]

The thing I find unique to this problem is the way you guys eat, cutting everything up, swapping your fork to your right hand and eating it all cut up.

Nobody does that in the rest of the world and I really think its problematic with fast eating, I've watched a friend do it and its FAST. She gets teased so much here for having "bad table manners", lol. Cutting a piece of food off, using your fork in your left hand, eating a bite, then having to cut another piece off really does help to slow you down.

[PhotoSteve 0]

I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in here as well.

I am at 6 weeks as well, and I have found that my body does definitely let me know when it is happy, or, as is more common, when it's unhappy!

I have found, for instance, that my body does not tolerate solid food in the morning at all (at least for now) so I usually drink a muscle milk and maybe a light mini-baybel cheese to hold me.

For lunch I usually do something like Soup, chili, chicken salad, and I have once had part of an enchilada and once had part of a tamale, both wet (shhh! don't tell anyone). In essence, solid but mostly moist food.< /p>

dinner is when I have tried things that are more solid, and I have had my successes and failures. I have found that the drier something is, the more I have a problem with it - and it has been amazing what I think of now as dry and moist. chicken is a big problem for me. I don't know why, but it is. Ground beef/turkey in meatballs or a hamburger patty is kinda hit or miss. But I had fall-off the bone ribs the other day and they went down perfectly.

I have stolen a few bites of bread here and there (I'm human, and bread has always been my Achilles Heel. I have found that if I can make it mush, it works, but have learned when I do try it to save it for the last thing - and more often than not - I regret it. So, I endeavor to not do bread at all.

Anyways, my advice is to try and do small bites and try moister things. I guess we are all in this together and learning every day!

[TennJenn 9]

Thanks again, everyone.

Today & yesterday have been better. We had several dr. appointments today so dh picked up Chick-fil-A for supper tonight. I ate 1/4 of a chicken salad sandwich (I took off one of the pieces of bread). I guess I did a good job eating slowly & chewing well because it went down great & I never got that stuck feeling. :smile1:

I've been trying to choose more moist foods as well. I have found that drier foods don't sit well with my new tummy yet. Anyway, I'm feeling more confident today & actually feeling quite normal (whatever normal is! :laugh0:)

[Finally! 0]

Thanks again, everyone.

Today & yesterday have been better. We had several dr. appointments today so dh picked up Chick-fil-A for supper tonight. I ate 1/4 of a chicken salad sandwich (I took off one of the pieces of bread). I guess I did a good job eating slowly & chewing well because it went down great & I never got that stuck feeling. :thumbup1:

I've been trying to choose more moist foods as well. I have found that drier foods don't sit well with my new tummy yet. Anyway, I'm feeling more confident today & actually feeling quite normal (whatever normal is! :laugh0:)

Jenn, hey sleeve sister! I was just about the write to you and tell you to try chicken salad and then I saw this!

I've been having hit or miss days. I've been eating wheat crackers (entertainers go down easily) with sliced turkey - it goes down well, gives me a crunch, some Protein - and not too many calories to really worry about it.

The other thing that I find helps me enormously is better whey of life yogurt. If I can start my day with a good hit of Protein, I'm much better later in the day. I've tried other things for Breakfast and they just don't work for me. (Believe me, I KEEP trying bacon and it just makes me feel gross.)

My weight loss is sporadic at this point but seems to be going down. I'm not tracking it too closely - just knowing that I'm not eating enough calories to NOT lose weight.

Otherwise still trying to get enough Water in. Not great with that.

I do find more often than not that after I eat just about anything I'm just uncomfortable and really really antsy (kinda vagus nervy feeling) - even if I'm not overeating. I'd be curious to hear what MacMadame thinks about it.

[DownInSocal 12]

I do find more often than not that after I eat just about anything I'm just uncomfortable and really really antsy (kinda vagus nervy feeling) - even if I'm not overeating. I'd be curious to hear what MacMadame thinks about it.

I would bet from a physc standpoint this is anxiety about what is going to happen after you swallow. All the negative things that happened right after surgery taught your brain to be cautious about eating. I am 3 days out and I wonder what will happen with each small sip.