This is still not entirely natural for me to do, after 42+ years of bolting down barely chewed food pre-op, and I still sometimes eat too fast, but I HAVE gotten better (
much better) at it. It just takes time and attention.
The best suggestion I can make is to go back to the basics. Don't eat on the couch, in bed, or while driving. Eat each meal at the table, if at all possible, with a small plate and a small fork (e.g., a baby fork, if you have one) - don't have the TV on, don't read, don't pay bills or leaf through your mail or do anything else while you're eating. Nice conversation with the BF is fine
, but pay attention to your chewing during the conversation - someone here on TT has mentioned recently that she chews while listening and only speaks when her mouth is empty, and that's a good idea. Chew each bite at least 25-30 times. Count each chew in your head. Chew to a liquid or paste consistency. Roast beef should probably get 30-50 chews per small bite. It sucks, it's tedious, but I'm not kidding! You can make chewing your food a
habit.
Here's a useful tidbit I learned at an excellent WLS conference that I went to while I was still pre-op: the enzymes in our saliva will break down carbs but not proteins, particularly animal proteins. That's why we can dissolve a potato chip in our mouths, but not a piece of chicken breast or steak. Chicken, beef, etc., require digestive juices - hydrochloric acid - to break down. Post-VSG, I
have stomach acid, so I have a little help from my sleeve if I don't chew enough, but RNY patients
don't have digestive juices in their pouches anymore, so they have nothing that will break down dense proteins in their mouths or pouches except their teeth! That's why chewing beef, chicken, whatever, is crucial, and why RNYers who don't chew well enough either have to throw the food up or wait in agony until gravity pulls the food out of the pouch and into the intestines. Either option is far worse than the tedium of chewing.
As an aside, I hate beef now, post-op, especially steak, and one of the major reasons is the excessive amount of chewing that I have to do - by the time I've chewed it properly, the taste is loathesome...
realization...
.
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