Chapter 3: Maintaining Healthy Eating for Life 39
Avoiding angering your pouch
Ever heard the expression “try to fit a square peg into a round hole”? When
you find yourself nauseated or vomit after eating, you’ve tried to do the same
thing. You may have committed one of the following no-no’s:✓ Eaten too much. We discuss portion sizes in the later section “Being
Mindful of Portion Sizes.”
✓ Eaten too fast. Put your utensil down between bites. Learn to savor your
food and don’t be rushed. Take 20 to 30 minutes to eat a meal.
✓ Not chewed your food thoroughly enough. Chew each bite 25 to 30
times to a puréed consistency. Otherwise, chunks of food can get stuck.
Trust us, this is very uncomfortable!
✓ Continued drinking with meals. Stop drinking 5 to 10 minutes before
you eat to make sure the pouch is empty and wait about 30 minutes after
you eat to begin again. If your pouch is full of liquids, you won’t be able
to eat. Drinking too soon after a meal may overfill the pouch.
✓ Experienced a food intolerance. This is very individual and can be
frustrating. Introduce each new food one at a time so you know which
food you didn’t tolerate if you don’t feel well later. Wait a few weeks and
reintroduce the food. The following foods may give you a problem:
- Stringy or dry meat
- Bread or biscuits, especially if made from white flour
- Pasta, especially if made from white flour
- Rice, especially white rice
- Peanut butter
- Membranes of citrus fruits and vegetables
- Peels, seeds, cores, and skins of fruits
- Fibrous vegetables such as corn, celery, spaghetti squash
- Nuts
- Popcorn
- Coconut
- Greasy or fried foods
- High-fat meats such as sausage, bacon, bologna
- Carbonated beverages
Texture can be an issue with intolerances. You may be able to tolerate
finely chopped celery in a recipe but munching on a celery stick causes
problems. Be sure to follow recipe directions in this book closely.