Hello all.

Simple question but I can't seem to find it with keywords:

As the weight loss continues and let's say, more into the maintenance phase-do you always have to extend your meal to 30-45 mins?

I can see myself still taking smaller bites and chewing thoroughly, but not so much that I'm staring at my food for half an hour. (I actually find this length of time to cause me to obsess over food more so than if I was just mindfully chewing.)

Don't even stress about that

I'm seven months out, and find that I can eat faster, but my body definitely lets me know when I'm going too fast. Listen to your gut (literally!), and just follow what it says. I find making that extra effort to keep it slow means eating less and getting to full more quickly.

nope. I eat at about the same rate as I did pre-surgery, I just don't eat as much (I did eat much slower when I was really early out, though)

OMG, I was a notoriously slow eater..I took well about an hour to an hour and a half to eat a meal for the better part of the first year post-op. I learned I had to eat slowly because my “full” limit sneaks up pretty fast and if didn’t eat slowly I’d be past over-full and need to barf.

Now, I guess I’m still a pretty slow eater compared to others around me, but its not so ridiculous now. I take maybe 40-45 mins to finish a meal now.

P.S. The bulk of my mealtimes is made up more of “waiting”’ than actual eating/chewing. I tend to wait long between bites. And again, this to make sure that the next bite (should I choose to accept it, lol) will not put me over the over-fill line.

At 3 months out from surgery it still took 20-30 minutes to eat and egg with 1/4c of cheese and 1/4 cup of bell peppers. Around 5-6 months I could finish that in 15 minutes. At around 1 year I can eat that amount and maybe a half piece of toast in 10-15 minutes so a normal pace.

If it is slider food like soup or yogurt even with some fruit mixed in I can eat a cup of yogurt in 5 minutes. A 1-1/2 cup of salad with toppings in 10-15 minutes. I am still limited to a dinner of 2-3 oz of meat and 1/4-1/2 c of veggies and can eat almost all of it in 10-15 minutes on an empty stomach but if i had something to eat an hour before that then I can only eat half of the dinner and I go back in 20-30 minutes and finish it.

Awesome-thanks all for your responses. It seems to vary which logically makes sense.