I am suppose to have my surgery on July 11th. Any suggestions on any ways to slow my eating down. I have been a fast eater my entire life .

ok thanks I will try this...

I am 37 and have had 2 children and have only vomitted a handful of times. That is unil I got surgery.

I have thrown up 2 times from eating too fast. And have felt super sick several times from eating too fast.

I think I'm eating slow enough and I'm not. It's so hard. Your food is never hot because it takes so long to eat it.

My suggestion to you is start eating slow now. I didn't before surgery and I'm paying for it now. Feeling sick after you eat is the worst feeling ever.

By the way I'm almost 6 weeks out. Post surgery.

I still don't take the whole 30 minutes for one meal. I can't, really. At work we are given a 15 minute break to eat out of our 4-6 hour shift, so I have to fit it into that time period. I still get full and seem to be doing just fine.

_{I'm with you Lowe, this is my biggest fear, because I have always ate fast. Barely stop to chew. I will have to eat in private for a while, so I don't gross anyone out with my throwing up...uuggh. But this is a tool, You and I will learn to use it properly!}

I practiced eating slowly by using a clock. One small bite per minute. Try to chew for 30 seconds. I did this on and off before pre-op. Post-op I ate like this with the clock to make sure I didn't eat to fast and make myself sick. I also used a very small spoon and fork at first.

Gradually I was able to return to my fast eating habits. Hasn't seemed to hurt so far. My one year labs were great and I've been at goal a few months, maintaining without a problem.

Lynda

I managed to slow down by using one of those tiny shrimp forks... you know the ones with only three prongs and are smaller than a "kids" fork? Also, pre-op I would NOT cut up any of my food, I would do it inbetween bites. It forced me to slow down a little bit.

For some people, forcing themselves to sit down at a table and focus on their food helps them slow down. But for me, its the opposite. I have to keep my mind focused on something else. For a few months I would always have something to keep my hands and mind busy while I ate. So I would color (with my 6 year old sister... okay, maybe not always with her, but that was my excuse!) or read, or do some sudoku puzzles or a crossword or a word search. I would have to put my silverware down between bites in order to work on those puzzles. For some people it doesn't work because they slip into mindless eating, but for me it was perfect!

Now that I'm 8 months out, I know my limits really well and I am only super cautious when I eat new things. I don't eat super slow anymore. I can finish my meal at the same time that my family does... I just have less food.

It's worth a shot! After your surgery, I can pretty much guarantee you'll learn! You'll learn the hard way though... you eat too fast, it comes back up! This CAN be avoided though! I have not had anything "come back up" ever, so being patient and practicing is really important, and it does work!

Eating slow is really hard for me. Like crazy hard. My husband reminds me all the time, but it's really hard.

It's a challenge. You'll learn the balance between eating quickly enough for your time limit and eating slowly enough for your sleeve. It's a learning experience for a lot of us.

The most important thing is to rest between bites, if only for 30 seconds. You should not be scooping up your next bite while still chewing one. The reason for this is so that you have a second to gauge your fullness. A lot of time the difference is made with just one small bite and certain foods are real offenders for this: eggs, bread, tortillas and Pasta all do it to me.

Talk to the people around you while eating or flip through a magazine (so long as you won't eat mindlessly if you read while eating!) and take a short break between bites. You're going to eat such a small portion for a while that it's not likely you'd need more than 15-20 minutes to eat, anyway!

~Cheri