I was reading the board last night and came across one of the long diet links that had been posted here. I can't remember which one it was. It said straws are a no no. Can anyone tell me why please? Is it because of not being able to control the "gulping" of drinks and overpowering your stomach w/ liquid?

Right now I'm in the learning/reading phase. I had my first appointment on Wed and my surgeon won't touch me until I've quit smoking for 3 months so I'm looking at a surgery date of sometime in July. *sigh*

I've already got my appointments for all the pre-screenings with the different drs..psych eval & medical so I'm at least on the path now.

You will be able to feel it once you are sleeved, but that gap at the top of straw where you are just sucking in air before you get to the liquid, is about how much my stomach can hold. You will just be filling you belly up with air if you use a straw and getting liquids in is already very difficult.

It all made more sense to me - quantity wise - when I looked around online to see, in inches, how big the new stomach is. I believe it was about 3-4 inches long and as big around as your finger. If that is correct, no wonder we are stuffed after just a few bites!

We do Friday lunch for our employees and it will take me all afternoon to eat my little plate of Mexican goodies!

It was hard to take the little sips at first. Now I can take a decent drink and I have used a straw a couple of times. My favorite Water bottle has a built in straw so I am anxious to get back to using it.

All of this makes sense. I'm a straw addict. Every drink I have is with a straw. Granted, I do feel when I'm "chugging" from the straw but most of the time I'm sipping all day long.

I guess what I'm trying to do NOW before I get sleeved is getting used to the every day adjustments (like no straws.. Proteins first.. etc etc) that have to be made while sleeved. Trying to do them now while I have the wiggle room so they'll be already in my brain by then if that makes sense. Any others yall think would be good to try to get into place now aside from kicking my straw addiction?

A few things:

If you are a soda addict I would get rid of that. It is not something that can come back into your life at least until your at goal and for many of us its something we won't be welcoming back at all.

Also, others may disagree with this statement but I am speaking from my own opinion, don't get too obsessed with the food changes just yet. Learn everything you can, but be careful to not get into the mindset that you are saying goodbye to everything. I did that and ended up absolutely obsessed with eating all these foods because I felt like I needed to really grieve their loss, its not true. You will be able to eat everything, just in small, small portions! I think making some gradual and small changes is great. Practice having a Water bottle with you all the time and staying hydrated.

Also, if you can get into even a simple exercise routine, whether it be walking or something more advanced, you decrease your risk of so many surgical complications, especially blood clots. Good luck to you!

I use a straw all the time. Every time I go out to eat, I ask for water with a straw. I use a straw at home. You can use a straw as long as you aren't gulping air when using a straw. It's not hard to do that.

A few things:

If you are a soda addict I would get rid of that. It is not something that can come back into your life at least until your at goal and for many of us its something we won't be welcoming back at all.

Also, others may disagree with this statement but I am speaking from my own opinion, don't get too obsessed with the food changes just yet. Learn everything you can, but be careful to not get into the mindset that you are saying goodbye to everything. I did that and ended up absolutely obsessed with eating all these foods because I felt like I needed to really grieve their loss, its not true. You will be able to eat everything, just in small, small portions! I think making some gradual and small changes is great. Practice having a Water bottle with you all the time and staying hydrated.

Also, if you can get into even a simple exercise routine, whether it be walking or something more advanced, you decrease your risk of so many surgical complications, especially blood clots. Good luck to you!

Thanks for the tips Wannalise. My Big Reds are definitely gonna have to go. I've been playing with "alternative cokes" that aren't cokes or fizzy. I found the Fuze Slenderize decent enough. A friend of mine has also recommended a few others as well. I'm also trying to drink more water during the day too.

You know, I don't feel like I'm saying good bye to food. I'm honestly not worried that I'll never be able to have X Y or Z again. I chose the sleeve so I could learn to have a healthy relationship with food and to me, that doesn't mean saying sayonara to everything I love. It just means, in my mind, we'll become "acquaintances" rather than "BFF" :tongue_smilie:After I'm at that checkpoint where I'm cleared to have those things within reason (on that blue moon) of course.

I know I'm going to gain some weight with quitting smoking for the next few months but this time around I'm not worried about it because we'll be taking care of that later. I just need to quit and focus on getting healthy in that respect so I can have this surgery. (Which translates to: now is the time I rot my teeth out of my head using DumDums Kojak style to help me quit smoking again!)

I was planning on starting my boxing work out again soon since the weather has pretty much leveled off. I was doing that last summer and fell in love with it. Since you mentioned that it does help complications, I will definitely be getting back into it with a passion. I feel lucky I've found something that I love doing and have no problem doing it nightly. That definitely gets you breathing hard & sweating! :redface1:

Thanks again for the input Wannalise! I'm glad to know I'm on the right track.

I have also used a straw & have not seen any negative side effects. I too worried about the air in my tummy, but it doesn't seem to be a problem. For some reason, I seem to be able to get more fluid in if I am using a straw.

I think it's easier for me to drink with a straw too. I definitely drink more when I have a straw in my glass.

Well I may have to give it a whirl, cuz liquids have been difficult and I LOVED drinking with a straw.

I was reading the board last night and came across one of the long diet links that had been posted here. I can't remember which one it was. It said straws are a no no. Can anyone tell me why please? Is it because of not being able to control the "gulping" of drinks and overpowering your stomach w/ liquid?

Right now I'm in the learning/reading phase. I had my first appointment on Wed and my surgeon won't touch me until I've quit smoking for 3 months so I'm looking at a surgery date of sometime in July. *sigh*

I've already got my appointments for all the pre-screenings with the different drs..psych eval & medical so I'm at least on the path now.

I love straws and use them. . . don't gulp either way though. . . but that is me. . . some people say that you'll get too much air into your tummy, but i don't . . . don't take my advice, but i have used them and have had no problems. . .

I've seen some people say that their doctors say NO straws because of swallowing air, and I've also seen some people say that their doctors advised using straws in order to swallow less air.

Haven't tried a straw yet (used to always use them!) but I think I may soon, 'cause I sure do seem to have a TON of air moving around inside me these days! :scared0:

Okay, I tried with a route 44 sonic ice water (I love their ice, weird I know!) I had no notable difference inhaling air with our without it and I end up drinking more, so...to each his own!

I also use a straw, but I could not early use one early out. Some patients can and are given straws shortly after surgery. I found that using a straw helped me get in my fluids.

Thanks for all the input guys. Last night I kept an eye on myself while I had my straw drink and tried to make myself aware of how I drank with it. I don't think I'd have any problems. In all honesty, I feel like I inhale LESS air when I drink with a straw rather than drinking directly from the cup or bottle or whatever. I rarely burp with a straw, but I can burp like a champ without using a straw. BTW I love Sonic's ice too! I call it "chewie ice".

Well yay!!!! If I only I could meet you in Texas and we could go for a Sonic run together!!!