How slow do you guys ACTUALLY eat?

[qtdoll 536]

My handbook, every YouTube video, every blog states that it should take 30mins to finish a meal. However, I'm finding that I'm eating faster than that & I feel fine. No stomach aches, no dumping etc. (maybe it's bc I'm still in the soft food stage)

How long has it been since your surgery & how long does it take you to finish a meal? Do you find certain foods take longer to eat than others? If so which ones.

[kcuster83 1,505]

I am 7 months post-op:

I eat pretty slow but I do find myself eating quicker sometimes and remind myself to slow down. I don't get sick from eating too fast but sometimes not chewing enough hits me slightly. Like a lump in my stomach but passes if I take a break for a few minutes then go back to eating.

It depends what I am eating as for how long it takes. For example: solid Proteins (meats) slow me down because they are "harder to chew" then say Pork rinds which kind of dissolve while you are chewing, if that makes sense.

I don't know if it is just me but sometimes as I am chewing the food just falls down my throat and I have to swallow before I normally would. It's like the food is done being chewed and escapes. haha hard to explain.

[oldandtired 238]

I find that I feel full after 4-5 bites. I push it away, and find I want to come back to it in 5 to 10 minutes, eat another bite or two, then push it back. There is a ?feeling..? when your tummy has had enough, and it's like a dog with its hackles up..back off or you will be sorry.....

[ShoppGirl 5,076]

I slowed wayyyy down early out, watching the clock between bites and while I chewed, but I never did have any issues from eating too quickly. I am a year and a half out now and I eat pretty fast. My husband is always joking with me that nobody is going to take my food. Lol I do also measure out my food though and my pouch is on the larger side so I don’t really have a chance to overeat. It is really ideal to eat as slow as you can so that your full cues have a chance to warn you before you overeat.

[SuziDavis 549]

If I am eating alone, I have a very hard time sitting and eating slow... It's boring. But if I am with people I will make sure i am eating slow so I don't sit there the whole time.

It's hard though, I generally only eat 2-4 oz of anything and 2 oz of food over 30 minutes is not even feasible to me.

[Smoothiegal 1]

Hello All,

Newbie here, 22 days post op and can only eat half of a scrambled egg. Is that normal? Protein Shakes with some fruit in the blender is easy to get my Fluid in . I add ice as well. I found mozzarella cheese melts in your mouth easy. 1 oz Cottage cheese and yogurt is all I want to eat.

[liveaboard15 1,294]

eating slow is not something i can do lol. I did for the first month after surgery but i been eating normal speeds like i use to before surgery. Difference now is its much smaller portions before i am full. I hate having a nice hot meal and taking 30+ minutes to eat. by that time its freezing.

[ShoppGirl 5,076]

2 minutes ago, liveaboard15 said:

eating slow is not something i can do lol. I did for the first month after surgery but i been eating normal speeds like i use to before surgery. Difference now is its much smaller portions before i am full. I hate having a nice hot meal and taking 30+ minutes to eat. by that time its freezing.

Yea when i did try to eat way slower immediately post surgery I had to heat my meal back up several times

[mheyer1641 43]

I eat faster than I should but my stomach will let me know it's too fast, I am still measuring my food though. 4 months out.

[NovaLuna 710]

I have EOE and was diagnosed with it in 2015 so I was already used to taking about 45 minutes to finish a meal and chewing my food to mush so that I don't choke so... nothing has changed there. It sometimes only takes me 30 minutes to eat now since I eat about 1/4 (or less) of what I used to. I tend to stop after a few bites to let it settle a bit in my stomach due to my eating too 'fast' a few times and overeating and since I can't vomit (no idea why, just have not been able to vomit since my surgery and trust me I've TRIED) it's incredibly uncomfortable to eat too much. So yeah. On average it's about 30-45 minutes for me to finish a meal.

[Tomo 1,196]

I eat relatively fast. One exception: If it is dense meat, like steak, and especially if I am in a social atmosphere, I slow down and chew really, really, really well. Nothing is worse than not feeling good in a public event.

[BigSue 1,434]

When I first re-introduced solid food after surgery, I was really diligent about eating slowly. I used a tiny fork/spoon and a timer on my phone to time 30 seconds to chew each bite and then 60 seconds before taking the next bite. It probably took 20-30 minutes to eat a very small meal.

I’m 2 years post-op now and I am not nearly as careful about eating slowly (I no longer use a timer), but I’ve gotten into the habit of chewing well and taking time between bites. I use normal utensils and take full-sized bites of most things. salad and most other veggies go down quickly and easily, but I still have to make sure to chew dense foods like meat well. I used to have frequent problems of a bite of meat feeling stuck on the way down, but that rarely happens anymore (maybe once every few months).

I feel like I eat at a pretty normal pace now, maybe a little slower than average, but I usually eat alone, and when I do eat with other people, I notice that I take much longer to eat than everyone else, which was not the case before surgery.

I like to eat meals that require some assembly (e.g., tacos on low carb tortillas) or have multiple items (e.g., chili and salad) that I can switch between. I find that helps to naturally slow me down. I also do other things while eating, like watching TV or reading, which some say is bad because you should focus on your meal, but I would go crazy if I tried to eat slowly with nothing to do between bites! It still typically takes me 15-30 minutes to eat a meal, but I am eating much larger portions now than right after surgery.

[Arabesque 7,622]

Almost 3.5 yrs out & I still eat slowly, 30-45 mins, leaving a couple of minutes between bites. Sometimes I take longer depending upon what I’m eating & how I pace myself. Salads with lots of leaves, yoghurt & prawns can take 50-60mins. Gotta allow time for the message you’ve had enough to get through.

In the beginning, because you’re eating so little you won’t take 30mins to eat a meal more like 20. I used a teaspoon & only dipped into what ever I was eating, never a spoonful. I also used a cocktail or buffet fork (spork) & again only used the tip.

There are little things you can do to slow yourself down & take breaks between bites. Take a bite during the ad break, or play a game on your device, respond to someone on this forum or read a thread, read a couple of pages of a book, etc. Eating with others? Then take a bite in conversation breaks, put your cutlery down & sit back from the table between bites. You’ll work out what strategies work best to help you slow down your eating.

eggs can be a little rich & filling @Smoothiegal which is why some people struggle with them. I used to scramble two eggs which would take me three days to eat so only being able to eat half an egg at your stage isn’t that unusual. At 6-8 months I could barely eat one egg. I ate two scrambled eggs for the first time last month.

[shawncotton 60]

7 months out and i find myself not eating 5x a day and im not chewing my food like i should , and my stomach hurts....but im getting back on track...ive lost 105 pds had sleeve done march 31 2023

Sent from my SM-A326U using BariatricPal mobile app

[ms.sss 15,860]

omg i was a notoriously slow eater during weight loss phase. it used to take me an hour to an hour and a half the first few months (despite the fact that i ate fractions of fractions of those around me).

i learned to eat slowly by necessity. if i didn't, i would be in pain (or barf). turned myself into a grazer, and still basically am 4 yrs post.

nowadays it takes me about 30 mins to eat about a cup of food in volume...but usually what i don't finish i'll get to later after some digestion.