I'm really enjoying being able to eat again! I think the whole liquid stage then puree stage then mushie stage kinda made me feel a little fragile and helpless and I really don't like that feeling. It's still a daily struggle to get all of my Protein and fluids in, but at least its getting better!

My real confession is that I'm still eating and drinking at the same time. I don't mean like purposely ignoring my NUT and surgeons instructions just to be defiant, but when things go down that don't sit right, or they get stuck in my throat or go down the wrong pipe, I take a small sip of something to help settle it. My NUT said that even if that happened I wasn't supposed to drink, but I just can't allow myself to be in pain or uncomfortable like that. I'm eating slowly and chewing well, I think it's probably more psychological than anything. I'm thinking as Steve heals and starts feeling better it won't be as much of an issue...

I know that I want to drink while eating but now I do not even bring them to the table at the same time. I sometimes get a full pressure feeling while eating but if I just wait a little the feeling goes away. Maybe you could take smaller bites when you eat as you said that you are chewing things well. I know that certain things that I eat are more difficult than others so I have moved them back on the to eat later list. I hope that things get better for you and that this problem subsides. The reason for not drinking and eating is that is pushes the food through the pouch faster thus taking away the full feeling. I know that I struggel with this daily.

Hey, I am doing the same and I think it is probably fine. My nutritionist said that the reason they don't want you to eat and drink is that the Fluid washes the food through your stomach so you don't feel full for as long. I do notice that I am a bit hungrier sooner when I ate and drank at the last meal, but as long as you're willing to deal with that it is fine...just don't compensate for the extra hunger by eating significantly more!

It seems like you're doing great! Also, if my math is right, we were sleeved on the same day!

Hey, I am doing the same and I think it is probably fine. My nutritionist said that the reason they don't want you to eat and drink is that the Fluid washes the food through your stomach so you don't feel full for as long. I do notice that I am a bit hungrier sooner when I ate and drank at the last meal, but as long as you're willing to deal with that it is fine...just don't compensate for the extra hunger by eating significantly more!

It seems like you're doing great! Also, if my math is right, we were sleeved on the same day!

I don't notice that I'm hungrier any sooner, but then I never feel hungry. There's definitely head hunger, which I not so politely tell to take a hike, but when I eat it's because a little alarm on my phone told me it's been 3-4 hours since my last meal/snack and I'm really trying to stick to my surgeons "3 meals and 2 small Snacks per day" guideline.

It does indeed look like we were sleeved on the same day! How cool! We're sleeve buddies!

As long as I know there's a glass of plain water sitting there and I can take a tiny sip if I NEED to, then I usually don't. I hate plain water so it's not a major temptation for me to drink it, but since I have a choking phobia, I need it there just to ease my mind. I never need to drink it if I eat very slowly with tiny bites and chew it really good. I think it's important to get in the routine of NOT drinking while eating. Even if it doesn't seem to be affecting your appetite or eating now, later on it could make a difference with how much you can eat and affect your weight loss. I started practicing this before surgery and got in the habit, and it wasn't near as difficult as I imagined it would be. We eat so little, it's not at all like it was back in my heavy eating/drinking days.

I always wait 30-45 min before and after eating to drink. To ease the stuck food, my doctor said to drink pineapple juice since the acid in it helps break up the food. I'm trying to find the juice in those tiny cans so I can keep them in the car in case there is an emergency but couldn't find them anywhere. My mom used to give me them when I was little.

Wow I'm surprised you are able to do that. I can't. It literally hurts.