Dumb question ahead......Ok, so I know we aren't allowed to have beverages with meals and I haven't at all although it kills me. I am a thirsty person. I have a beverage near me at all times and always have. So I'm having a hard time fighting the urge to reach for my cup after each bite. My NUT told me not to drink with meals and I haven't but she didn't tell me why. Does anyone know why?

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First, @@gustavio, thanks for asking the question about drinking with meals - I was curious about this rule as well and the answers have been very educational. Second, in my humble, non-expert opinion, both sleeves and pouches absolutely do (and will) stretch. I honestly don't know (or care) if this is true medically / scientifically, but I CHOOSE to believe that my soon-to-be sleeve will stretch like a rubberband if I don't treat it will respect. If I allow myself to believe that my sleeve won't stretch, then I am allowing myself to think that the sleeve will drive weight loss and prevent regain without my participation - and we all know that this process takes hard work and dedication. It is therefore my philosophical, non-scientific, self-serving assertion that stretching a sleeve (or pouch) is absolutely possible and probable if the prescribed program isn't followed.

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I was used to drinking while eating and decided I'd try it anyway. I think the problem is that your stomach is really just too small to handle both. When you drink while you eat you just don't have the capacity to get in your Protein. I've done it before or drank too soon and it feels uncomfortable also. I'd shy away from anything more than a tiny (tiny) sip just to wet your whistle

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It's hard to decipher all the replies you have gotten I'm sure. So let me say one thing first. You have had several "Vets" reply and try helping you. You will also see a lot of replies that jump to conclusions and or from posters who are really new that honestly think they know all the answers. That's not a bad thing but there is a difference in information between not being sleeved yet, recently sleeved and years out sleeved. As well as different info from rny and bypass people. Everyone's body is different and will adjust their own way. My surgeon told me my sleeve won't stretch. However should I eat things I shouldn't and way too much of it my stomach will expand but it will contract back down. We have bunches of layers inside out tummy walls and that's what expands and contracts before and after you eat. If you eat a large meal and then eat a small meal it won't "stretch" however if you get to a point where you are only eating large bad meals it won't contract all text way back down because of the brain signals saying hey he/she is still hungry. And then you get the weight gain back. I was told (every surgeon and every persons body is different) not to drink for an hour before and an hour after my meals. I was to be finished with my meal in 15-20 minutes and if I still had food leftover to put it up and not pick at it. It's leaning to feel full not finishing what's on your plate. If you drink with your meal it will cause the food to slip through your sleeve making you think you are still hungry and washes away the good absorption that we need. You make feel hungrier sooner or sick with foamies, even vomiting. So what's the point in risking it when we all are using this "tool" to helps us get back to healthy. Just my 2 cents from a newb.

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@@jessjames I just chuckled to myself when I read your comment about getting the 'foamies' only because I know EXACTLY what you are talking about!! Sometimes I feel like I just need a little sip of Water after I have eaten something that hasn't set well, and it ends badly every time!

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It is a very difficult adjustment at first, but after a while it becomes second nature. Remember that this is a process that does take a great deal of time to get used to because you are changing years and years of eating and drinking habits!

As my bariatric team says, "Inch by inch, it's a cinch...yard by yard, it's hard." Take it day by day and bit by bit and you'll get there in the end!

I can tell you, at almost 6 years post gastric sleeve, drinking with meals does not mean you will regain your lost weight. i've been doing it for at least 5 years. None of the patients in my support group regained because of this. They regained because they went back to eating the way they did before they had surgery. Drinking with meals actually fills me up quicker and I end up eating less, and I always stop before I get full. If you don't overstuff yourself, whether it's with solids or liquids, you can't stretch anything. (Even though it is physically impossible to stretch your stomach to it's original size unless your surgeon is completely incompetent)