Hello! I had my surgery March 25th and am only a week post op. Now I understand right now I cannot take normal sized bites and cannot drink with meals but will this be a forever thing? Will I ever be able to take normal bites of food again or be able to drink water with meals? I had a gastric Bypass

3 hours ago, Aloo77 said:

Hello! I had my surgery March 25th and am only a week post op. Now I understand right now I cannot take normal sized bites and cannot drink with meals but will this be a forever thing? Will I ever be able to take normal bites of food again or be able to drink Water with meals? I had a gastric Bypass

hi dear, first few months it will be difficult to eat and drink at the same time. im currently almost 7 months post op and i still cant really eat and drink at the same time. i can take a sip of water while eating but thats about it. however by time you will be able to dont worry about it!

normal bites - yes. Drinking while eating - no. That rule is for life.

Edited April 2, 20242 yr by catwoman7

Thank you guys for the insight it means a lot!

am 5+ years out, can eat "normal" sized bites (but not normal-sized PORTIONS).

also, nope, i still cant COMFORTABLY drink and eat at same time.

you get used to it...

I am three years post op and I can drink while eating but I don’t recommend it. For one, I’m pretty confident my pouch was left bigger than most since I was always able to eat more than expected from day one. For two, I gained my weight back and this could have contributed. I am thinking I am doing a revision and the PA reminded me I should be doing all those things such as the 30:30:30 (30 before and after with no water and take at least 30 minutes to eat your meal). They haven’t checked it yet but if it is possible to stretch the sleeve in any way, I worry that I have stretched mine. Regardless, he explained that the purpose of not doing both even once you have room is because the liquid flushes the food through your system quicker so you don’t feel full as long. In terms of the size bites you can take they will gradually increase BUT, ideally you will still stay with “normal” sized bites but with time in between so that full signal can get to your brain. Hopefully others can Learn from my mistakes. Apparently they make these rules for a reason ?

Edited April 2, 20242 yr by ShoppGirl

In time, yes you’ll be able to take normal sized bites (whatever that is) but not big mouthfuls. You’ll notice as the weeks pass you can take more than just part of a teaspoon until you work out what size bite you are able to take. For me, it’s more not swallowing too much than the size of the bite. But smaller bites do help ensure you to take time to eat your meal & allow the message you’ve had enough to get through (takes a good 20+ minutes) & to think about your eating not mindlessly shovelling food in.

You may find you don’t have to wait 30 mins before & after eating to drink & can get away with less time. Or you may be able to have the odd sip while you eat. Again this is an in time/eventually thing & working out what you can do as against anyone else. But remember, fluids will temporarily fill you & will flush food through your digestive system more quickly.

Edited April 3, 20242 yr by Arabesque

21 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Regardless, he explained that the purpose of not doing both even once you have room is because the liquid flushes the food through your system quicker so you don’t feel full as long.

i have heard/read this reasoning many, many times on this forum. im not sure, but i *think* this may be something relevant only to those with bypass (or any other surgery where the pyloric valve is not is use?).

im a sleeve, and the reason i don't drink while i eat is because mixing liquids and solids results in making me feel overly FULL to the point i need to vomit.

i've learned that (starting with an empty stomach) i can have liquids immediately followed by solids, with no issue. But under no circumstance can i have solids immediately followed by liquids (or both at same time)...otherwise, the aforementioned barfing results.

so for ME, i don't need to adhere to the no-drinking-30-mins-before rule , but i definitely need to follow the no-drinking-(at least!)-30-mins-AFTER rule.

YMMV.

good luck! ❤️

2 hours ago, ms.sss said:

i have heard/read this reasoning many, many times on this forum. im not sure, but i *think* this may be something relevant only to those with bypass (or any other surgery where the pyloric valve is not is use?).

im a sleeve, and the reason i don't drink while i eat is because mixing liquids and solids results in making me feel overly FULL to the point i need to vomit.

i've learned that (starting with an empty stomach) i can have liquids immediately followed by solids, with no issue. But under no circumstance can i have solids immediately followed by liquids (or both at same time)...otherwise, the aforementioned barfing results.

so for ME, i don't need to adhere to the no-drinking-30-mins-before rule , but i definitely need to follow the no-drinking-(at least!)-30-mins-AFTER rule.

YMMV.

good luck! ❤️

Idk because I had the sleeve and that’s what he told me. But then again this was the PA and we discussed a resleeve, bypass and Sadi that day. It’s possible he misspoke?. It sounds like you understand the anatomy a lot better than I do. I didn’t know enough to question it. If I remember I will ask the dr end of this month though cause now I’m curious ?

3 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Idk because I had the sleeve and that’s what he told me. But then again this was the PA and we discussed a resleeve, bypass and Sadi that day. It’s possible he misspoke?. It sounds like you understand the anatomy a lot better than I do. I didn’t know enough to question it. If I remember I will ask the dr end of this month though cause now I’m curious ?

I was told the same thing too @ShoppGirl. It could be just another one of those some can & some can’t or depends upon what you’re eating (more or less dense food) or how far out you are. Like @ms.sss I can drink fairly close to eating, have the odd sip while eating solids but have to wait a while after to drink again. I still eat soup by drinking most of the broth component first then the solids. lol!

One reason for having to wait 30 minutes to drink after eating or not consume liquids while eating is to prevent the diluting of digestive enzymes. These enzymes are vital to the process of digestion. Watering down the enzymes will disrupt the process and can cause problems like acidity and heartburn damaging your throat and stomach. If the enzymes are watered down - less broken down food - less nutrients are absorbed.

Also, liquid added to your new stomach (sorry I refuse to call it a "pouch"), causes food to flow through the stomach quicker than your stomach nerves can trigger the " full" feeling". It also causes the stomach to empty quicker leading to less absorption of nutrients and possibly eating more because the full perception isn't achieved. At least this is how it was explained to me. As you are always going to have (hopefully) a smaller stomach and the need for as many of the nutrients you eat to be fully absorbed - waiting to drink should be a lifetime practice. Although, sometimes I find it difficult to stick to this as well!

I'm 13 years out. Yes, you can drink while eating, but I chose not to as I want to have that full feeling longer. I know that if I am feeling too full, because I ate something that expands in my stomach like breads/rice/pasta, I can take a few sips and I get relief. That is because, as mentioned, having a liquidy slurry of partially digested food will alert the pyloric valve to open sooner to pass to the intestines. The negative part to this is if you do drink while eating, you will be able to consume more food/calories, which I have discovered my body doesn't really need. It was a new habit, but once you get into the groove of things, you will soon discover you don't need it.

There is an old video out on YouTube which gives a great example of what happens when you have applesauce in a funnel, then add a little water. The applesauce loosens up and goes right through the funnel. I believe this to be true for me. Search for WLS - No Drinking With Meals! He didn't have VSG, but as I mentioned, I found this to be true for me.

I was told about the 30:30 Rule by my team. For all of the reasons stated above. It can cause fullness and washing the food out of the pouch. I am 14 months out, and I will say this is one of the cons of RYGB. I don't like it but I get it. But it is a lifestyle change for life. In February, I had a bottle of water almost 30 minutes after lunch. What happened next was dumping where I didn't eat for the rest of the day. I was still a little shaky the next morning. Luckily for me, I was going to see my primary doc that morning. All in all, it turned out fine. So now I wait at least 45 minutes to an hour before drinking again. It may not be that way for you. But is the risk worth it? Especially, the chance of stretching your pouch? Where you may have to get it revised.

On 4/3/2024 at 9:10 AM, ShoppGirl said:

I am three years post op and I can drink while eating but I don’t recommend it. For one, I’m pretty confident my pouch was left bigger than most since I was always able to eat more than expected from day one. For two, I gained my weight back and this could have contributed. I am thinking I am doing a revision and the PA reminded me I should be doing all those things such as the 30:30:30 (30 before and after with no Water and take at least 30 minutes to eat your meal). They haven’t checked it yet but if it is possible to stretch the sleeve in any way, I worry that I have stretched mine. Regardless, he explained that the purpose of not doing both even once you have room is because the liquid flushes the food through your system quicker so you don’t feel full as long. In terms of the size bites you can take they will gradually increase BUT, ideally you will still stay with “normal” sized bites but with time in between so that full signal can get to your brain. Hopefully others can Learn from my mistakes. Apparently they make these rules for a reason ?

I'm in the same boat as you, my weight is regain at an alarming rate. To those who say don't weigh yourself everyday it was weighing everyday that kept my weight in check