I am going to have to give you a little tough love here. If your surgeon and his team recommend that you do something, do it. They know what they are talking about and they know what works. Also, didn't you know prior to surgery that you would be instructed not to drink while you eat? That's part of WLS basics. I know you say you can't help it - but help it. You know what you signed up for. All people here can give you is opinion, not professional medical advice. Talk to your surgeon if you are having a problem with this. I am not trying to be mean, just honest.

ETA - Most of us prior to surgery drank while we ate. We had to learn to change. That's what this is all about, doing things differently because we weren't successful with what we did before.

Hi, Paula. I know how hard it is to not drink when eating. I'm almost two years post- RNY. And I still have to remind myself to stop drinking before meals! If I recall, I was a little behind the learning curve when it came to eating. I was still doing Greek yogurt and protein shakes at 7 weeks.

You might want to try more moist foods - things that can be moistened with broth or salad dressing might help, even blended soup can be used as a type of gravy. The suggestions might sound a little gross, but eventually swallowing gets easier.

Hope this helps a little!

Maggy

I was told the reasons behind the drinking/eating rule are because 1) you either get full too quickly (drinking before/during eating) and don't get enough nutrition/want to snack later or 2) overeat (drinking during/after eating) because it washes your food through the stomach pouch instead of letting the pouch fill up and signal you that you are full. Obviously this can severely hamper your ability to lose weight.

Eating more moist foods should help (I'd add soft scrambled eggs and fish to the suggestions already posted), but especially since it is a physical issue, you really need to contact your doc's office or your nutritionist for suggestions and approved ways to compensate. I don't know how your doc is setup, but a lot of them have staffs just to answer questions like this, even when they aren't available themselves. They know people don't always have the same issues after surgery and they are there to help.

Yeah, the tough love thing here might be the best route. I'm 21 months post RNY, so yeah, I get it. I get wanting to drink during or after a meal, especially if it was salty. Here is why you don't want to, ESPECIALLY at only 7 weeks post-op.

1. You still have a very small pouch. It starts out the size of your thumb from the tip to the first joint! You should be eating no more than about 2 oz of food in a meal at this point. Drinking while eating, or even for 30 minutes afterward ensures that you never get all that food in there. The liquids (if they don't flush the food) will fill you fast, and help to expand your pouch faster than normal. Neither of those are good! Not to mention you can very quickly get to that very uncomfortable full feeling, or even getting sick. Personally, I'd rather not drink then be out of commission for a few hours while my pouch punishes me for being bad.

2. Drinking during or after a meal basically flushes everything down. Think of a funnel. You put moist, well chewed pieces of food in it, and they will slowly trickle down through that funnel. Now, put that food in, then dump some water in. Watch how that water flushes everything quickly down the funnel. That funnel is your pouch. If you drink during or after a meal, you flush all that down allowing you to eat more, and feel hungry more often. Is that really what you want to accomplish? Personally, I didn't go through all that time, effort, money and pain to simply continue my bad habits after the surgery.

So, either way I see it, you lose when you drink during or after a meal. The drinking before is not as important. My doctor dropped that requirement about 4 months post-op. It's the drinking during and after that is the problem. If you have a problem with getting the food down, or it getting stuck, then try to moisten the foods. At your stage was wasn't eating anything raw, including fruits or veggies. I wasn't eating anything made with processed carbs (bread, rice, pasta, crackers, potatoes etc). I would eat meat, however it would be ground meat, either beef, chicken or turkey. Once I switched to chicken breast, I would moisten it with a bit of mayo, yogurt, marinade, dipping sauce, etc. Just be sure to watch the sugar when doing that! Additionally, you need to make sure you are chewing properly. My doctor told me to chew to peanut butter consistency.

I quit the drinking thing cold turkey after surgery. We always eat as a family at the table, so we simply don't put out liquids. Even my 3.5 year old daughter doesn't drink with her meals at home. Not having it even on the table makes it so that you don't forget and by habit reach for the glass. Yes, it took time to develop the habit, but now it's just that a habit. I keep track of when I'm doing eating, and I wait at least 30 minutes before I take a single sip of water. Sometimes, I forget and don't even drink anything until an hour or two after a meal. You'll find that as your pouch matures, you can slack on this some. Yes, on special occasions, such as at a restaurant, I'll drink with a meal, but it's rare. Yes sometimes, I'll only wait about 20 minutes before having a drink, however again, it's rare. For you, at 7 weeks post-op I recommend following what advice your doctors office has given you to follow. I followed my diet guidelines to the letter until 6 months post-op.

Instead of drinking while eating, moisten your food more and chew thoroughly and slowly in order to get it down. If you are choking or gagging, that may be you hitting the limit of your intake. Maybe you are not ready for the foods you are eating. We all recover differently.

Is it swallowing solids that is the problem? You could try leaning forward when you swallow. That used to help me. Still, That could be a sign of Dysphagia. It's an issue with the muscles in the esophagus that move food to your stomach. You might want to check with a doctor about that.

Well said.

I agree with every post! Drinking while eating is a hard habit to break...but one that HAS to be done. I have found it the most difficult step in the process. I do it though. I know if I drink when I eat, the only thing it does is hinders my progress. I need all the help I can get and will not screw it up for a drink of water!

I was also someone who struggled with this... But I think I could've tried a bit harder... I saw a very good explanation - maybe if you have time, watch this: http://formerfatdudes.com/friends-dont-let-friends-drink-and-eat/
I have been getting back on track and today is day 6 of no drinking with meals - it started off to be rather difficult, but it is getting easier with every meal...