I have been practicing eating smaller bites and chew chew chewing. I have been practicing sipping instead of gulping and practicing eating my Protein first. I have been practicing everything we are supposed to do post-op.

Is there anyone else working on this as well?

I have found I do feel fuller on less food doing it this way. Must be that brain signal.

Hi, My Name Is Memom And I'm Doing All The Fun Stuff You Are.just Waiting For My Call,but Wanted To Be One Step Ahead Of The Game. Good Luck.. Memom

Good idea ladies because let me tell you if you don't chew well even if you don't have restriction yet like me it is painful!!!! Twice I was so starving I took big bites and didn't chew well and it felt like I swallowed a golf ball, not a pretty feeling!

I know I have noticed that if I am not paying attention that I tend to not chew well enough. It really takes effort to concentrate on chewing and I can understand now why some say that they "underchew" while their mind is on something else.

I have been trying to make a concerted effort to have whatever is in my mouth into completely ground to almost liquid form before I swallow. It really takes thought, especially when you are hungry to start.

Sometimes I remember to do it othertimes I don't - I know I'm definetly going to have to concentrate once I do get the band but funnily enough the only time I ever really concentrate and make sure I chew chew chew is when I eat chicken schnitzel, dunno why, as for the whole sipping water I have no idea how I'm gonna go with that, I usually take big gulps sometimes but only if I've just done something exhausting, I personally don't see why you have to sip, I mean after surgery for the first maybe 2 weeks yeah I definetly see why but afterwards I would have thought you could go back to the usual? Oh and I did try the chew chew chew with hotcakes that we have - works pretty good but I can't survive on just hot cakes and chicken schnitzel afterwards right? =( lol

I gulp and I haven't had any adverse reactions. I haven't tried a straw yet which some docs say is a no-no.

I haven't even gone in for the my evaluation appointment yet, but I'm not bringing diet Cokes into the house anymore and have been drinking lots of flavored waters. I've tried chewing things down to nothing, and it seems very odd. I know that'll be something I really have to concentrate on.

Hi Teri! Yes, I too have been practicing. I'm trying out a few Protein shakes/drinks to see which ones I like and want to start stocking up for pre and post surgery liquid stage. I'm thinking about ordering the samples on the powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury site. Chewing forever is hard for me to get. I know I have to get better at that. It's hard. Someone at support group said not to wait too long to eat when your hungry, as you tend to eat faster because your starving. And some tips I read here were to put your fork down in between bites. I even read to use small children's silverware so you can't fit much food on it. I haven't tried these tips yet, but I'll probably try them out.

Good luck to us all during these pre-band months.