Your stomach

When was the last time that you thought about your stomach.  Weird question, huh?  But really, when was the last time that you thought about it?  I really thought about it Tuesday night when I went to the Bariatric Surgery Seminar with Pete.

Most people realize that their stomach should be about the size of their fist.  I say should because in reality most of us eat way more than a fist size.  It becomes a cycle - eat more, stretch stomach, need to eat more yet, stretch stomach...  You get the idea.  I believe that this is why most diet plans (gosh I hate the word diet), suggest that you eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day.  Your stomach should decrease and you should feel fuller longer. 

How much do you drink when you eat?  Did you know that you shouldn't drink anything?  And that you should avoid drinking for at least 30 minutes afterwards?  The liquid that you eat washes the food from your stomach into your digestive tract quicker.  Therefore, you end up feeling less full whole eating and generally eating more in each setting.

Did you know that it usually takes at least 20 minutes for the stomach to send the seratonin to your brain that says "I'm full."?  How long did your last meal take?  If it was less than about 20-25 minutes, you're eating too fast.  You're shovelling food in and your stomach has no idea that it's over full.

On another note, the seminar touched on the fact that people who have surgery tend to lose friends and have issues in their personal lives with relationships.  That hit me like a ton of bricks.  Here I was jealous of Pete and he hasn't even had surgery.  I was honest with him though when he asked me if I was.  I told him that I'd love to have a tool like the lap band to help me in my journey.  However, I don't meet he criteria.