Hi everyone. I’m 8 weeks post gastric sleeve. As per surgeons orders, I started solid food (that isn’t puréed) 2 weeks ago and I’m just wondering how slow to eat?
Everywhere says eat slowly like taking 30mins to eat a meal but somewhere I read to have a bite every 5 mins. Is this right? I’m just worried I eat too quickly sometimes and it’s hard differentiating pain from eating too quick and not tolerating the food or being full.

I think every 5 minutes is a bit much imho, but 1 bite every 1-2 should work. That way 20 bites is about 20 mins which is the time needed to "feel" your stomach which may not happen for you for a while.

My whole slow eating approach is to take small bites and keep it mentally slow. In the beginning I was literally nibbling on things. So eating half a banana took forever. To help me along the way, I also bought smaller kids/dessert sized knives, forks and spoons. (Ikea has a dessert set called Dragon which looks very nice and has a matching normal size as well.) I also use only small dessert plates which research shows fools the mind.

(https://sparq.stanford.edu/solutions/use-smaller-plates-smaller-waist)

Just some ideas..welcome to the club!

Thank you so much Krestel!

I've always eaten more quickly that I was supposed to. 30 minutes to eat a tiny meal always struck me as a bit ridiculous. I concentrate on taking very small bites and chewing very thoroughly. Between those two things, I've managed to avoid making myself uncomfortable when I eat (most of the time).

For the first few months I just snacked- Not into timers and small plates and weighing stuff. I took the snacking grazing method. For example my go to food was popcorn shrimp. So i would cook out about 7 oz and put them in a bowl under a heat lamp. then I would just grab a few while doing other stuff and by the time you know it they are gone. I still to this day do not sit down and eat a meal, My kids do and i stand near by but find it much easier to eat very very slowly throughout the day

I was also told to take about 5 minutes between bites but I find that impractical - especially for hot food, I want to eat it while it's hot! I do my best to be mindful however - not to eat while distracted (watching YouTube, etc.). I focus very much on what I'm eating and I chew thoroughly until there's nothing left to chew. I also try to put my fork/spoon down between bites - it's amazing how much that one simple action does in terms of forcing me to slow down and remain mindful. It doesn't last long however (!) but it makes the difference between me finishing my meal too quickly (which can result in pain), or not chewing enough (again, pain).

I'm about 3.5 months post-op and I still struggle with this daily. I think every 1-2 minutes is a great idea, and I should try that as well. I do notice when I'm eating something heavier (red sauce, a lot of cheese, etc.) that I have to take breaks.

12 hours ago, biginjapan said:

I was also told to take about 5 minutes between bites but I find that impractical - especially for hot food, I want to eat it while it's hot! I do my best to be mindful however - not to eat while distracted (watching YouTube, etc.). I focus very much on what I'm eating and I chew thoroughly until there's nothing left to chew. I also try to put my fork/spoon down between bites - it's amazing how much that one simple action does in terms of forcing me to slow down and remain mindful. It doesn't last long however (!) but it makes the difference between me finishing my meal too quickly (which can result in pain), or not chewing enough (again, pain).

I ditto this comment. I don't want to eat a cold meal that was intended to be hot. 5 minutes between bites is a tad excessive and obvious as a secret sleever, in addition to my drastically reduced portions.

I use the Baritastic app and it helps you how long to chew a meal should last 30 min.