I know that I am not supposed to drink while I eat. I have just started eating solids so I am trying to follow the golden rules. Today for lunch I left the Water away from my table to take away the temptation.

After my first bite the problems began. I have NEVER in my life attempted to eat food without a drink so I knew that this was going to be hard. Nothing wanted to go down my throat! It just stuck there! I felt a dry pastey feeling like everything was clumping together and not wanted to go down. I ended up having to run over and sip some water so that I wouldn't choke!

Ok, what now?? What am I doing wrong?? How can people eat without water?? The food just clumps up and feels dry in my throat. I need help guys. Any ideas?

Hamu,

You can do it! I just takes getting used to.

First, make sure that you are adequately hydrated. It is difficult to make saliva if you've not had enough to drink before a meal. I try to really get a good drink of a non-caffeinated liquid about 30 minutes prior to my meal.

Second, take TINY bites and swallow before you put the next one in your mouth. Tiny bites cannot clump, unless you eat lots of tiny bites at the same time

I hope this helps,

Eat wet food. I use dipping sauces, veggies, stuff like that. There's no way I could eat dry chicken or bread wihtout food-lube.

I find that the problem is not that I don't chew enough. It is that I need to wait about 3 minutes after each swallow before placing the next food in my mouth.

Hi,

I encountered the same problem, mentally, right after banding. In the past, over a course of a meal, I would generally drink about 2 liters of Water. I love water lol. When I started eating without it, I found everything to be dry. It took about a week to overcome this.

Remember to take small bites (I eat bites smaller than my 7yr old daughter) and chew chew chew. chicken breast, bread and a bad cut of steak will always taste dry - I've learned to avoid these foods and apart from the chicken, don't really miss them. Salty foods such as potato crisps make you want to have a drink as well.

Most of the issues I've encountered with the band so far, are habits that I've just had to break.

Good luck with it all

Ok, I have another question. How long after I eat can I drink? 30 mins? 1 hour?

I was told 1 hour

The standard answer is 1 hour. However, Band Guru, Jessie Ahroni, simply says that you can drink once you feel that your pouch has been expanded long enough to turn your appetite switch off. For me, that's somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes.

Hugs,

I have the same problem, I cannot eat without drinking.