:girl_hug: I understand that when I go on 'mushies and solids', I have to chew, to a liquified state for my food, in order to avoid problems. I realize that different foods will chew down faster; steak vs. banana, etc. Someone had mentioned 30 chews. So I've been paying attention to myself, preband, to see what my eating habits are. I can wolf down just about anything in 6 chews. But now that I'm aware, I am trying to go with the 30 chew rule. What it does is slow me down; and if you notice, how many thin people eat nice and slowly. I'm just trying to get into a habit before surgery, so its more 2nd nature to me. So my question is; do many of you count your chews? Or do you just wait for the liquid feeling?

Now for the bites. I keep hearing that everything should be cut into pea sized bites. YIKES!!! What I have been doing to prepare for that (seems to be impossible for me! hehehe) is taking my bites with a shrimp fork. A cocktail fork. It works, prevents large humungeous bites!

Have a good night. :eek:

I do not count how many times I chew my food. I know it is a great deal more than what I did pre-band though. I just chew until my food is completely mush and almost in a liquid form.

To get used to taking smaller bites, I followed a suggestion that another bandster posted on here months ago. I ate with baby utensils until I learned the proper size bite I should take. I felt silly for about a month, but it worked and it is a habit that has stayed with me.