Fast and Unaware Eating Behavior After Gastric Sleeve Gastrectomy

The most common and most prominent misbehavior in my interviews with our patients before sleeve gastrectomy surgery is 'fast and unaware' food consumption.

Considering the fast living conditions, people are of course right to think that they should be fast in the pace of life. But what they are wrong and what causes their behavior to be wrong is that they try to gain time from eating behavior that should be gained from other activities.

At the same time, another problem we encounter is that our patients are not aware that they are trying to continue in the same way after gastric sleeve surgery because they have made this wrong behavior a habit before gastric sleeve surgery. Eating fast and without realizing it also causes psychological wear and fear of food consumption after bariatric surgery.

There is a rule that is mandatory after bariatric surgery but is actually valid for everyone, which is that eating behavior should be a special time. With the changing habits over time, not only this behavior is performed in the environments where food is eaten. Adding different stimuli to this special time decreases the quality of food consumption. (For example, eating in front of a computer or in the presence of television). At the same time, since these habits prevent the consumption of food with awareness and automate the behavior, it also causes an increase in the amount of calories people take in.

The duration of a main meal should be at least 30 minutes. This time is needed for blood sugar to rise and for the brain to receive the “you are full” signal. At the same time, eating times should be specially planned and different stimuli should not be interacted with during these hours. Main meals consumed in a short time and with too many stimuli cannot transmit the “full” signal to the brain. After bariatric surgery, our patients experience both eye hunger because they consume limited amounts of food and may think “I am not full” when the meal is over because they cannot experience the satisfaction of the food consumed in a very short time. The fact that this signal does not reach the brain also increases the level of anxiety in people and leads them to want to consume more food than necessary.

Suggestions for Controlling Eating Speed

• Lower your fork between bites.
• Chew thoroughly before swallowing.
• Prepare only one portion for each meal.
• Leave some of the food on the plate.
• Take a break in the middle of the meal.
• Do not do anything else during the meal (such as watching TV, reading the newspaper, talking, attending a meeting).