Hi all:

I'm sure this question has been asked before but I am currently on the mushy stage and I'm just wondering for when I get to whole foods stage how long should it take to eat a meal? Obviously I realize that everyone is different, but if you think of a typical dinner with eating slow and chewing well, how long does it take??

It really depends on what the meal is. Steak could take me 45 minutes. A bean dish would probably be more like 20.

My surgeon is adamant that we eat in 30 minutes. Not scarf...but after that it can negate the effects of the band. I eat my 2-3 ounces of steak in about 15 and then am full and done.

i know this is kind of off the subject of this thread, but Restless- do you use a kitchen scale pretty regularly?? does this help to figure out how much i can handle eating/preparing?

katwnm63...no I truly don't! I weighed my steak dinner just recently out of curiosity...and it was about 2 oz. Somedays I get 3 down, sometimes less.

Everyone has a different approach once they have the band and have healed so I don't presume that my way will work for anyone else, but I'm a "mature" adult and have dieted off and on since I was 16. I have found that dieting makes me totally food obsessed. Weighing and measuring and counting every bit of food makes me insane. I am constantly fretting over how much and when and OMG what if I'm still HUNGRY etc. And the thought of having to weigh or measure out every meal for the rest of my life would almost send me into tears!

(don't mean to be dramatic but when you need to lose a lot, it gets REALLY old)

I have after doing WW many MANY times got a good eyeball to "guess" how much I'm eating but I don't sweat it or weigh it. Tonight for example I had a chicken thigh and a couple teaspoons of corn. I ate until satisfied and quit...left a little chicken. As long as I'm doing well i don't feel the need to weigh.

This has gotten easier as I've gotten restriction but before I hit my sweet spot I still didn't weigh, I just "listened" to myself and tried to learn new signals of "satisfied" rather than relying on a unit of measure to tell me to stop, or rather than eating until I was "full". It's hard to learn but I think I'm getting there; we all have to do something we can live with.

Some people like to calorie count, chart their meals, etc. Not me. I just want to be able to eat to live, not fret over it. So far, so good! I find I often go HOURS without even thinking of food now (miraculous in and of itself, especially in the evenings when i used to really graze) so the freedom from "food" is wonderful to me.

So far my doc is pleased as punch with my medical condition and progress so I guess what I'm doing works for me!

A person who isn't so obsessive about counting weighing portioning etc might do better to use the scales, a measuring cup, etc...we just all have to work it. I know 4 oz of meat is about palm sized...but I just eat until satisfied, not until a portion is "used up".

Thank You RM! I was really curious about that also. Good answer.

I've been on solids for 1 week, and I am embarrased to say, even though I try to slow down, I usually finish my meal in 10 minutes. I haven't been banded yet, and am hoping that will slow me down.

I've also been on WW too many times to count, and have a fairly good eye for portions, however I am still measuring at this stage, and am also keeping track of what I eat & the calorie, Protein & fat count. I am always amazed at the fat count in cheeses and nuts. When I did WW, I found I had better sucess when I kept track of what I ate, although it does become obsessive at times. I also think its good to review it when I meet with the nutritionist, and if I start to plateau or gain weight.

My surgeon is adamant that we eat in 30 minutes. Not scarf...but after that it can negate the effects of the band. I eat my 2-3 ounces of steak in about 15 and then am full and done.

I would say that's malarky about negating the band if you take over 30 minutes to eat a steak. I doubt he has any research to base that on. I might be wrong, but I know there are times at work that I take an hour to finish a meal and I still stay full for 4 or 5 hrs. I don't understand his reasoning. I guess it all comes down once again to our using common sense and finding what works for us that's not going to be detrimental.

jms...I didn't post that to insult you, just in case it seemed that way. I trust my doc a lot but he is a human. He also says "snacking will cause the band to fail" and I know from my readings on here of many successful bandsters who snack. In weight loss, as in life, so often there are no hard line, easy answers!

HOWEVER...personally when I have allowed myself longer to eat, I find I tend to graze. I can eat a LOT more if I take longer. And I don't eat a whole steak...although if I took an hour I could probably get an 8 ouncer down. For a former grazer, that "small meals throughout the day" line of thought, or "3 small meals and a few snacks" thought, doesn't really work. I've tried it. My own personal best success I've found is when I (who am quite hard headed) have finally done what my Doc told me to do. So the advice my own surgeon gave me is NOT "malarky". It just may not work for you.

Edited July 3, 200917 yr by RestlessMonkey

RM, we are miles apart but our doctors sound the same. Mine said the exact same thing about eating. He would like to see me take 20 mins, three meals a day and no snacking. We are pretty much the same age and both at our sweet spot. There has to be something to be said about a good doctor! I do take your advice as gospel since you always give the best and I have learned I can depend on what you say. Malarky? I don't think so!

blklab70!! thanks for your words of support...

but don't take me as gospel! LOL

I didn't get to 405 by knowing it all! LOL

I just think I realize that while some things are pretty cut and dried (like if you stick your hand in an open flame it will PROBABLY burn unless you have an asbestos glove on or are a superperson) lots of this is kind of, um, fuzzy?

My doc did take about 10 minutes (which is HUGE in a busy surgeon's practice) and go over the science, and his thinking, with me, maybe partly because he knows i was a nursing student and interested in the "why", and partly because he knows me well enough to know I am a hard sell! :eek:

So I'm not trying to promote an agenda but what he told me made sense and its working for me (and you! and your smart doc!) so I have to say his point may be valid for some people who are struggling. :smile2:

But I'm just out here trying to figure it out like everyone else. If I'm wrong (and GASP it does happen! LOL) call me out, ok?

jms...I didn't post that to insult you, just in case it seemed that way. I trust my doc a lot but he is a human. He also says "snacking will cause the band to fail" and I know from my readings on here of many successful bandsters who snack. In weight loss, as in life, so often there are no hard line, easy answers!

HOWEVER...personally when I have allowed myself longer to eat, I find I tend to graze. I can eat a LOT more if I take longer. And I don't eat a whole steak...although if I took an hour I could probably get an 8 ouncer down. For a former grazer, that "small meals throughout the day" line of thought, or "3 small meals and a few snacks" thought, doesn't really work. I've tried it. My own personal best success I've found is when I (who am quite hard headed) have finally done what my Doc told me to do. So the advice my own surgeon gave me is NOT "malarky". It just may not work for you.

I wasn't insulted at all! I respect your answers and expertise on this board. I just think for the most part Dr's should stick with the surgery which they are expert at and leave the food part to the nutritionists. That's just my opinion. I would never eat more than the 3 or 4 oz of steak over the longer period of time as that is all I would have available to me, but you are right......we all differ in what works best for us. I only do one real meal a day usually, Protein shakes and a latte in the morning, and a protein snack or two when hungry.

I wasn't insulted at all! I respect your answers and expertise on this board. I just think for the most part Dr's should stick with the surgery which they are expert at and leave the food part to the nutritionists. That's just my opinion. I would never eat more than the 3 or 4 oz of steak over the longer period of time as that is all I would have available to me, but you are right......we all differ in what works best for us. I only do one real meal a day usually, Protein shakes and a latte in the morning, and a protein snack or two when hungry.

Yeah, you have to do what works for you. Having been told this works NO this works No do this NO NEVER do that all my life (LOL) I want science. In that respect, my surgeon is a "go to" guy. The nutritionist was not so, um, up on things. That isn't always true. I think she's since moved on because I never see here at his office; but again my doc gave me science and I respect that. He's way more than just a "cutter".

Bottom line, though, they still don't really "know" what works. It's a thorny problem, and we just do the best we can (and what works for us) while the scientists thrash it out.

My nutritionist said that it takes 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that it's "full." Therefore, I'm supposed to take 20 minutes to eat my one cup of food. I can't do it! I didn't think I was a fast eater, but I guess that I am. I set the timer for 15 minutes and really, really try to stretch out my meals (like putting my utensiles down and just sitting for a minute or two). I can't make it to even 15 minutes let alone 20! But I'm still trying. I've only been banded a month and even though I've had one fill, I still have no restriction. When I finally sit down and eat one of my three meals, I feel like I'll never eat again and I guess I eat too fast. Aren't 3 meals a day and no snacking between just part of the "bandster rules"? That was my impression. My BB (Before Band) life was just one long graze from morning to night. Actually, I think I'd read somewhere that grazers and fast eaters aren't "good candidates" for lapband. But I've got the band now anyway and so it's time to make it work (at least that's what I tell myself when all I want to do is EAT)--I've got to learn a new way of living because the old way wasn't working that's for sure!

Thanks for the responses...I also am trying to stretch my eating out over about 15 mins...it's easier when I am at work and can do other things to distract myself in between but when I'm at home it seems like it takes forever and then the food gets cold! Anyways like everything else guess its a learning experience...