I'm not yet banded but the whole waiting an hour after eating is a bit concerning. I'm definately a drinker while I'm eating my dinner. And the thought of waiting an hour to drink something seems like an awfully long time. I could imagine waiting 15 minutes or so but one hour. Does everyone follow this one hour rule?

I follow the rule very closely!! After I eat, I try to get up and do something so I am not tempted to drink or eat something more. My dietician suggested at the end of a meal, take a couple bites of applesauce, yogurt to wash down food without it being liquids. On occasion if we are out to eat, my husband will save me a couple of ice cubes to chew on. It's not that bad... thought it was going to be harder, but it's OK.

i have never followed this rule & have not had adverse side affects or lack of weightloss because..it also was not a "rule" of my surgeon.

there have been several threads on this subject, and i still dont' buy into the NO drinking w/meal policy - when one is tracking their calories & working out. that's me, and how i have followed my progress w/my surgeon....the majority i read here, don't drink w/meals - and that's their directive...a candid conversation w/your surgeon and how you want to live a WLS life is probably a good thing.

You'll get used to it. I PROMISE. I did and I SWORE it would be a huge crutch for me. But I broke the habit and don't even think about it anymore.

Try to get used to it now. I know it seems impossible, but you can do it. My doc told me if I had to drink, to suck on ice. I have followed this as well and have had good luck. If I drink while eating, I literally can FEEL the food wash through the band. NO JOKE. So, if I even 'get

stuck' a drink usually fixes it but I know I've just also set myself back.

LOL, you sound just like me! I was so tortured by this revelation that I almost gave up before my surgery. When I first had to wait I would set a timer and by the last seconds I had a glass of water ready in my hand waiting for the buzzer! But I did get used to it. It is so much easier than I thought. I had built it up into this tremendous road block in my mind that was really a phantom mountain. I now enjoy not drinking with my meal. I find that I can concentrate on the quality of my food and that diligently chewing my food has made drinking with my meals less desirable than I could ever imagined. I still wait thirty minutes to drink but my body AND my mind has adjusted and rarely do I drink any sooner. Good Luck! Trust your surgeon!

I tried taking a few small sips after eating once( I was so thirsty wish I had thought of the ice cube thing) and all of my food came back up. Certainly not an experience that I plan on repeating .

I have read other posts where ppl. state that they feel as though the food is being pushed through their pouch leaving them hungry sooner.

Yet I have also read about a lucky few who can sip and seem to have no problems

Now I wait until I feel as though the food has passed through the band to sip

Wow! you are an inspiration!

I went to a nutrition meeting right before my surgery and they did a demonstration with yogurt. It was a great lesson to see what happens to your food when you add Water.

At about 40 minutes the yogurt was still in the pouch and slowly moving down the tube. When they added water to the pouch, the food immediately slipped through into the stomach. No more food in pouch, no more feeling full. That was the point of the demonstartion was to let your food move slowly out so you don't feel hungry immediately after eating.

Everyone's advise has been fabulous. I know this will be something I definately have to work on cause at time I enjoy eating spicy foods and the drinking part worries me. But I will definatley take the ice cube advice, I would have never thought of that. I'm meeting with my surgeon today so I will ask her how she feels about this topic. Thanks again to all who responded.

i have never followed this rule & have not had adverse side affects or lack of weightloss because..it also was not a "rule" of my surgeon.

there have been several threads on this subject, and i still dont' buy into the NO drinking w/meal policy - when one is tracking their calories & working out. that's me, and how i have followed my progress w/my surgeon....the majority i read here, don't drink w/meals - and that's their directive...a candid conversation w/your surgeon and how you want to live a WLS life is probably a good thing.

Hi Luluc, how long after you eat(ate) were you hungry? Just curious, as my Dr says one of the main reasons is to keep the food in the pouch longer. Also, Water dilutes the digestive juices making it harder for the body to utilize all of the nutrients in the food.

Hi Luluc, how long after you eat(ate) were you hungry? Just curious, as my Dr says one of the main reasons is to keep the food in the pouch longer. Also, Water dilutes the digestive juices making it harder for the body to utilize all of the nutrients in the food.

hi betrhnever - your question is interesting, but drinking w/my meals has never affected my hunger for the next meal, mind you i don't slam ounces of liquid w/a meal. it might be a few sips of water or wine w/ a meal or none....just depends.

my surgeon suggests a more realistic life w/the band, and banning drinks w/meals is futile if your tracking your calories & exercising.....he seems to be in the minority.

for me - i eat 3 meals a day w/1 snack....maybe 2 if i have a hard workout..again, not had adverse affects w/weightloss following this approach,

The not drinking with meals has been a lot easier than I thought. It has become physically difficult.

Occasionally I am able to take very small sips right before or during a meal. If I try to "guzzle" a beverage, I end up throwing up. It seems to create some type of a bubble that gets stuck, since there is already food in the pouch. It happened a few times in the beginning, and since it was kinda unpleasant, I dont "guzzle" a glass anymore.

You will do fine!

I totally remember dreading that too. i used to drink like crazy while I ate - I could easily drink 3-7 diet cokes, iced teas or Water when I would eat out. I was unsure how I would handle this after banding.

At first I found that it was not a problem (except the diet coke) and so I got a false sense of enjoyment - now having had a few fills - it is a big problem (unless I start to like pain and the occasional re-emergence of the chosen beverage)

I have gotten used to not drinking for awhile after eating - there are times if my meal is a softer meal where I might only have to wait 20-30 minutes before drinking - BUT BEWARE my Dr warned me - that this practice may lead to lower weight loss / less success. The reason - if food moves through faster you do not get as much satiety and if you don't feel full then you want to eat more.

(brief disclaimer before I make this next statement: do what your dr says and everybody has a reason for why they do what they do)

The importance of feeling full on the success of your journey is why my Dr has his patients eating normal food by 2-3 weeks post-op.

Good luck and hopefully you'll find a way to deal with this and other issues.

hello, my dr. told me that the rule of an hour after is not true. He gave me a handout and told me that you can drink 20-30 minutes after eating because sometimes the food can dehydrate you.

I thought it was going to be really rough but I have adjusted well and have only missed it once. I don't drink for 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after.

you all are lucky. my dr. reccomends no drinking for 2 hrs after eating. he explained that it takes 2-3 hrs for the food to digest, and this is for optimum results with staying full between meals. i thought this would be a huge problem because i drink so much, but its not that bad. drinking too soon is bad if your willpower isnt so great and you may be tempted to eat before next meal.