I got this from my bandsters email.

"question:

Has anyone been told by their Doctor or nutritionist to stop eating

after a half an hour- I just saw a post that someone was

told to stop eating after a half an hour - Has anyone else heard this?

- I thought the 20 minute rule was a minimum so that your head(NOW HANDS) and stomach get signals and hormones are cued? _I'm really trying to dine instead of just eating

and that takes a lot longer"

answer:"After 20-30 minutes, your food will be dropping out of the pouch into the larger stomach. If you continue eating past 30 minutes, you are

just replacing what's already passed through, defeating your purpose. "

"I've been told to stop eating after 20 minutes. I have gotten into

the habit that when I sit down with my meal, as I chew the first bite

or 2 I continue cutting up my 'protein' so that I save a little time

during eating.

Jessie told me that if we take longer than about 20 mins the food

starts to move down the band and the pouch isnt staying full. I told

her that it was taking me longer to 'eat my whole meal' and she

suggested that in the 20 mins I was getting 'enough'. So now I stop

eating at 20 mins no matter how much I've eaten. If I get hungry a

little later I have a bit more :)"

"The logic is sound. When you eat, the food is constantly going through

the stoma to the lower stomach. If you continue to eat for unlimited

amounts of time you will be eating and emptying the pouch and therefore

will be eating more than your pouch was designed to hold. If I feel

full, and wait a few minutes I could continue to eat. Kind of like

shampooing your hair, shampoor, rinse, repeat. I eat,get full, wait,

and repeat. Using this method you could eat much more than bandster

portions. Take it from me, I do it often."

Have any of you heard this?

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I agree with the concept of limiting the time for eating, but I don't think it should be rigid. Obviously, you don't want to graze, because you can certainly eat more food that way. But, if you put yourself into a mindset that you *have* to finish eating within a certain amount of time, then you run the risk of eating too fast. I think most people naturally *do* eat within 30" or so. If someone is taking longer than that on a regular basis, I'd wonder if maybe they're a tad too tight!

Tami

I eat fairly slowly and am always full in 20 minutes or less. I'm very happy with my band and the way it "tells" me "thats enough". I eat perhaps 4-5 times less than I used to in one sitting, which is awesome (I was a pig!).

I was told to eat no more than 15 min.. so I do just that- it works out fine- i have 2 meals a day and a coffee in the morning. no snacks... i love my fill, and i stay too busy to eat. it's great!

I was told that about 20 minutes was a good guideline. I find by that point, I often feel full. If not, I try to make myself wait about 10 minutes, then have a little more if I still want it. Usually I don't.