how sloooooow do you have to eat and chew for real?

rachelmom · March 23, 2007

hi there everyone. just me still suffering with daily bouts of pbing and so am wondering just how tiny a bite is supposed to be (say a teaspoon, half a teaspoon?) how many times are you chewing before swallowing? could not eating slowly enough be the reason i am having problems? i mean, i do try to eat slow and little bites, but i know i could chew longer until it was absolute paste?

in terms of portion sizes--can you eat a slice of pizza (no crust)?

can you eat a hamburger?

or have your eating habbits completely changed? pre-band i thought i would be able to eat my favorite foods, just in less quanity (so instead of an entire pizza i would eat say a slice,,,, but my frustration seems to be that i can't eat anything other than soft mushy food without pain. so i don't know if i need an unfill or if i am just doing something wrong, and not eating rediculously slow?

do you eat REDICUOUSLY slow???

ugh. thanks.

i'm at 1.5 cc fill now and debating having an unfull to 1.0

i don't know

this is so much harder than i thought it would be..!!!!

banded 1/16/07

preband 220 lbs.

current weight 190 1bs..

yea, big surprise if you are not eating and barfing what you do eat, you WILL loose weight!! but it is not healthy and not sustainable long term. i need to figure this out sooner than later because i am getting so frustrated!

thanks for reading my gripe story!!!! please don't write anything mean!!

marjon9 · March 23, 2007

I can't answer right now, I'm still eating dinner (from last night).

nataliec · March 23, 2007

My doc tells me to chew until it is liquid and will almost go down your throat without having to swallow. He says even a paste consistency may be too thick.:gluck:

Jachut · March 23, 2007

You sound pretty tight.

I have 3ml in a 4ml band. I can eat "normal" sized bites. Not huge hunking fat person gobfulls like I used to.

I'm always the last one finished at the table, and I dont usually finish. But I"m not ridiculously slow either. I have to chew carefully and sometimes I forget but I dont have to chew to liquid either. Its more I have to take a bite, wait, make sure its down and then take another because I find I can get in 3 or 4 more bites before pain strikes from the first kind of thing. But this rarely happens to me, when it does its normally from the very first bite of food. I suffer a bit from first bite syndrome and then no restriction after that.

If I had even ONE more fill, which I'm contemplating on Monday, I think my bites and chewing will have to become more particular. I dont have great restriction at 3mls.

ReneBean · March 23, 2007

My doc says think 1/2 inch cube - like a boullion cube for bite size and then chew it until your could practically snort it through your nose. (my translation)

Stop eating after 30 minutes and don't drink for an hour.

If it has been over a week since your last fill and you are doing liquids for min. 24 hours after each PB and still having the problem, you probably need an unfill - although you might want to consider just removing .2 or .3 cc's instead of the full half. It's amazing what a difference that tiny amount fill can have.

Good Luck!!

NVgirl · March 23, 2007

I can't answer right now, I'm still eating dinner (from last night).

I laughed out loud at that!

Kat817 · March 23, 2007

I eat small bites....about what ReneBean said---and I do try to chew it well. When I put a bite in my mouth I sit my fork down. I chew, and swallow, THEN I pick up my fork, and get another bite ready. Not taking it until I know the other bite went down fine. It seems really slow if I am alone. But if I am talking to DH, or out with friends eating, it isn't so noticeable. And yes, now it is habit. I occasionally forget to chew well enough---but sitting my fork down after each bite is normal to me now. I pay attention to how I feel. Usually after I'd say what would amount to abour 2/3 to 1 cup of food, I start getting sniffly---feeling like my nose is going to run. That is my soft stop signal---I better quit then--or I will be too full! One of 2 more bites and I get loud painful hiccups, and one more bite, and I am hurting!!!

So yes I eat small bites---but not pencil eraser small like I have heard. I too have eaten bigger bites, just chewed well, and swallowed in parts. Like to take a bite of a hamburger---I chew and swallow in stages. But slowly---speed is the key for me.

Kat

Lisa99 · March 23, 2007

If you'll use tiny forks and spoons it's hard to take too big of a bite.

We use seafood forks and tiny espresso spoons for meals eaten at home.

And the amount of chewing depends on the time of day. Mornings it's sometimes hard to get a Protein shake to go down, but by evening I can eat way too much food and don't have to chew to liquid.

ras141414 · March 24, 2007

IF you dont check enough,, you end up barfing it up. That leads to OTHER BAD HABITS....AND THEN BAND SLIPPAGE COMES ALONG

THEN YA HAVE REAL PROBLEMS...TAKE IT FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN THERE:help: :help:

jahair · March 24, 2007

hi there everyone. just me still suffering with daily bouts of pbing and so am wondering just how tiny a bite is supposed to be (say a teaspoon, half a teaspoon?) how many times are you chewing before swallowing? could not eating slowly enough be the reason i am having problems? i mean, i do try to eat slow and little bites, but i know i could chew longer until it was absolute paste?
in terms of portion sizes--can you eat a slice of pizza (no crust)?

can you eat a hamburger?

or have your eating habbits completely changed? pre-band i thought i would be able to eat my favorite foods, just in less quanity (so instead of an entire pizza i would eat say a slice,,,, but my frustration seems to be that i can't eat anything other than soft mushy food without pain. so i don't know if i need an unfill or if i am just doing something wrong, and not eating rediculously slow?

do you eat REDICUOUSLY slow???

ugh. thanks.

i'm at 1.5 cc fill now and debating having an unfull to 1.0

i don't know

this is so much harder than i thought it would be..!!!!

banded 1/16/07

preband 220 lbs.

current weight 190 1bs..

yea, big surprise if you are not eating and barfing what you do eat, you WILL loose weight!! but it is not healthy and not sustainable long term. i need to figure this out sooner than later because i am getting so frustrated!

thanks for reading my gripe story!!!! please don't write anything mean!!

You've gotten some good feedback from the others, but I wanted to add another area to explore while you consider how much to put in your mouth per bite and how much to chew. I'm finding that the longer I have the band the more definite it is about foods it doesn't like, such as Pasta (noodles), rice, soft breads like biscuits, soft tortillas,etc.

These are really sneaky foods because it isn't the first bite or two when you find out you are in trouble, it's on bite 4 or 5, especially if you are talking to someone else. Then you notice that things aren't going that well anymore and then you figure out you have the makings of a splendid BP.

Ugggh!

Best of luck in getting this sorted out.

Jo Ann

suzy · March 28, 2007

I hear what you are saying!! I have been having problems too and am going in tomorrow to be unfilled from 1.5 to what? I don;t know yet. But I am sick and tired of this! I read where someone suggested eating bites the size of a pecil eraser and chewing to nothing. I know at times I eat too big of bites and too fast. That usually happens when I get overly hungry. The last few evening I have been eating a lot of ice cream mostly bc I get soooo hungry and I know it will go down easily. Unfortunately despite the fact that I don't eat much 'food' I am not losing weight bc of the ice cream. Yeah I know I could be eating Jello or yogurt........Anyhow- thanks for letting me vent- hang in there. And even though you;'re having problems congratualtions on your weight loss!

AngieM · March 29, 2007

At first yes, you do have to over do it. Then later on you learn how to take a full bite and make it last 5 min! You will loosen up a little after a while too. Don't worry it will become second nature and you won't have to work at it so hard. As for still eating dinner from last night... I eat one dinner for about a week!

niki · March 29, 2007

I guess we all spent so many years eating the «wrong way» and not even paying any attention to what we were doing, that now we're banded to have to re-learn to it correctly. At home I use a dessert/small dish, tiny fork or coffee/dessert spoon. Put fork down between bites. Never go for the second bite before seeing if first one went down well. Never drink Water or any other liquid during meals. Ant then, yes - chew, chew and chew some more till its almost liquid stuff going down your throat. Try seeing if there are any particular foods that don't go down so well - chicken breast, Pasta, bread, ...

niki