I need advise on the whole drinking and eating separate. Surgeon and Nut told me to drink liquids 30 mins after eating. I've been practicing as I'm still in pre op and my surg date is April 30. TIA

Hi Butterfly,

You need to stop drinking 15 minutes before a meal and after the meal, you have to wait 1/2 hour because after surgery if you drink and eat at the same time your stomach will feel an extreme uncomfortable feeling as well as feeling a false sense of being full.

Not everyone feels uncomfortable when drinking with meals. But it will cause food to move through your sleeve faster which increases the amount of food you need to eat in order to stay full which in turn can harm your weight loss efforts.

DONT DRINK!! Ive been at this now for like 9+months.. No problem getting used to it. I odnt drink for 15 minutes before and 45 minutes to an hour after. Its no biggie except for the odd looks you get when you go out to eat and they say "Not even a Water???",,,,

Youll be fine.

Every once in a while i have to take just a sip or two to get some food down. I am only three weeks out and sometimes the food feels like it's stuck...... even soft food. I never take more than a couple of sips and never a lot of liquid with a meal but for the most part I never drink and eat at the same time except in those rare situations. I did forget one day and ate too soon after drinking a lot of Water and I felt so bloated. I'll NEVER do that again.....

You guys are lucky - my provider says no drinking 30 minutes before and for an hour afterwards. Given the number of meals and amount of Water i'm supposed to do post-surgery, I'm not sure there will be time to sleep or work!

I'm on the soft food stage, and my nut actually said that we are NOT to not drink 30 minutes before, during, or after. Mostly because right now, getting fluids in is so important and to not drink for an hour and a half each time you want to eat just isn't feasible, unless you stay up all night. This will change when I'm 2 months out and eating "normal" foods. But for now, if i want a sip of something while I eat, I take one. Or after, or before.

Edited March 19, 201412 yr by Sarahjane79

Hi all, so I was thinking, wouldn't the no drink rule help those who haven't had surgery? It seems to me that with all the water I drank with meals before surgery, it's no wonder I rarely felt full! Can anyone even believe how much we could eat? How big portions were? I have to admit I dream of a Big Mac (of all things!) when I can finally eat solids, but I know it will be a tiny slice out of the middle lol

I can drink prior to eating with very little issue. But... I cannot drink while eating or at least 1/2 an hour after. (usually longer) It physically hurts to do so for me. So getting used to the "no drinking" rule was much easier than I ever expected it would be!

I drink up to about 5-10 minutes before eating and not again until about an hour afterwards. Drinking with food is still uncomfortable for me which is fine. You get used to it. Somewhere on here is a post with pictures that shows foods going through a funnel - with and without liquids.