All the advice says cut your food into tiny pieces and chew 15-20 times. So how tiny is "tiny"? I am on the pre-op diet (Optifast and steamed veges) and have been trying to practice cutting my food small, chewing thoroughly and waiting between bites, as advised but how small is small? Say for example, a slice of carrot approx 1" diameter x 1/8" thick - cut it in half? Quarters? Eighths? More??? Should I aim for 1/2" square pieces? 1/4?

I know I don't need to do this until after the op, but I want to get in practice because I really don't want to have problems "getting stuck" later on...

Think pencil eraser.

LOL! Pencil erasers come in all sizes!! Or do you mean the little ones at the end of a pencil? That small? Like less than 1/4" small?? Wow! I was going for under 1/2" pieces last night and it took me over 45 mins to eat dinner! And it was cold by half way through

yeah, the end of what you find on a pencil. However, as I'm eating that's a little smaller than I really go. My cube is smaller than a piece of bubble gum but bigger than a cranberry.

Yeah, food will be cold....could be worse.

Go for pencil eraser (or bubble gum/crandberry, haha!) for now. Develop that habit really well, then I'll tell you a secret. You'll figure out a way to not look so ridiculous eating such small bites. You'll figure out how to take a lady-like bite but swallow it in even smaller sections. People will actually comment on how you take such reasonable portioned bites. You'll feel tiny and adorable, I promise! Wink.

But for the early days (say the first 4 months), just do the eraser thing. It'll serve you well in the long run. I know that seems ridiculously small, but just do it.

Man, I'm really going to have to practice this! Although after the op, I guess it will only take one or two mistakes to learn my lesson. I'm hoping to avoid that though, with the practice. Also, I'm finding it really makes a difference already to how hungry I feel on the Optifast/veges, so it's worth it just for that.

Yes, I'd best describe it as ladylike eating, nothing more. Just stead, small bites, put down your utensils between bites, chew well.

I truly think the difference between the way you eat and the way we eat here helps too. In the US, it appears table etiquette dictates that you cut up your food, then swap your fork to your right hand and eat it? Here, table etiquette is to keep your knife in your rigth, fork in your left and you cut off a bite at a time, so its much easier to slow down between bites, which is what I find makes the real difference to getting blocked or not. When I get stuck, its ALWAYS because I've taken bites too fast together, no matter how small or well chewed they were.

Just another note, you'd be amazed at how little people really notice. I've acted like a kid who didn't like dinner, pushing things around my plate, buttering a role for many minutes with no intention of eating it....

That's when I'm eating with people. When I'm alone, I typically get up and do stuff while I eat. And I do try to stick to the 20 minute rule. If I've not eaten it in 20 minutes I wrap it up and eat it at my next snack/meal time.

Yes, pencil eraser.

My doc suggests to cut foods... especially meats into Pea size bites. Chew each Pea size bite about 30 times... or until it is the constancy of apple sauce.

What helped me was something someone else on this board recommended to me. I went out and bought a set of baby utensils. That is what I used until I learned the right size bite I should take. It worked great for me.

Pea size. That's all.

wow - I have been definitely failing in this area!!!! I take almost normal sized bites. I do occassionaly get the golf ball / sliming issue so I try to eat slower.

I love this journey - so back to chewing!!

hi fanny,

it's great that you are asking this question pre-banding.

3 rules that i read before banding and thought would be easy....were not as easy as anticipated.

1. small bites

2. eat slowly

3. dont drink with meals.

1+2 were especially hard. i ended up having all sorts of problems because i thought i was following this but was not. i had aspiration pneumonia because of reflux.

this was NOT the fault of the band...at all. it was my fault because i didnt focus properly on this.

so good for you for getting this sorted out ahead of time

good luck with your surgery

My doctor said the size of a dime.