I'm so scared that I will not chew my food good. I will get banded in june, so I practicing my chewing now. I hear it takes some people and Hour to eat there food. I think that I'm a pretty fast eater, and try to eat slow,, some how I have train myself to eat fast expectly if the food taste good. My big fear is that I'm going to hurt my body and my band.:puke:

Sorry about the mispells !!!

I still don't chew my food well sometimes.

This is a process...so don't ever beat yourself up about not doing something right.

But I have noticed I have been able to train myself to take a few bites and walk away, literally. I get up to get such and such for the kids, or something to get me away from the table.

If I want more, I have more...but I try to wait a bit, like a few minutes.

June? Great! I was banded last June, so you can expect some good weightloss within a years time. Keep us posted!

Thank you, so your saying take a bite of food and then walk away from the table. I very scared messing up the band

I don't think that you will mess up the band. I think that if you take too big a bite or don't chew it well enough you will be taught the lesson the hard way with a not so fun PB. And I bet you will be more careful after that!

I haven't gotten any good restriction yet so I take big bites and don't chew well but I know when I get my next fill I will have to be more careful or I will be sorry.

That was my biggest fear because I was a super fast eater before the band. I tried eating slower before I was banded and I just couldn't do it but I have no problems now. The band will let you know when you are eating too fast. I am now a very slow eater. Occasionally I will eat too fast but I get a pain under my left shoulder and I wait a few minutes before I continue and slow it down. If you don't listen to your body you will more than likely get stuck and possibly PB. You will learn.

This is very interesting my doc says it should only take 10-15 min to eat since you only have 4oz or less of food. He also says that by eating over a long period you eat more then you should because the pouch starts to empty. They also day to chew chew chew. I'm not banded yet but I really can't imagine taking and hour to eat 4oz even chewing well. They also teach us not to put anything larger then our pinky nails in our mouths. Which should help with laying down your fork after every bite. I wish you lots of luck I am 10 days and counting down to my date.

I always eat more than 4 oz of food. It normally takes me 30 minutes to eat. I eat slow and listen to the warning signs my gives me to determine when I should stop eating. My doc wants us to listen to our bodies instead of eating a set amount of food. Some people need more than 4 oz and for some 4 oz will be the right amount. I'm not saying your doc is wrong but just pointing out that some bandsters do eat more than 4 oz so taking longer to eat is very possible. There are also times when my band is really tight that I have to take a bite and wait several minutes before I take another. It really takes a while to eat when you are waiting a minute or 2 between very small bites.

I was also told by my nutritionist not to chew "too" well or take "too" long to eat. Her theory was that by over-chewing and liquefying your food, it'll pass through the band too easily and that taking too long to eat would cause the food to pass through your band, enabling you to eat more in one sitting. I guess a lot of this is trial and error, as well. I remember being surprised when I heard that I shouldn't take super-long to eat.

I was a fast eater just like you. Once you have the band, your own body will tell you what to do. i now eat slow and have no problems with it.