One of my biggest struggles
I'm pre-op but practicing this too. I definitely have struggled with this. My NUT said it's because I'm not drinking enough during the rest of the day. So I'm desperately trying to walk around with a glass of water ALL the time, and I don't put a glass on the table for myself anymore. Since I'm preop, if I need to cheat (as I'm still learning) I do. But I'm trying to develop the right habits to be successful postop. Hopefully with 6 months of practice I'll be able to sail right on through this one postop. Hopefully but I'm guessing undoing decades of habit is going to take a while for sure.
Good luck. Vent away any time!
I have been struggling with this too. What is weird, when I do wait the 45 minutes until I can drink (my rule is 15 min prior and 45 min after), I am not wanting to drink like I do right after I eat. Still trying to wait and most of the time I do not drink with my food, but every once in awhile I do take a swallow or two, just to quench the thirst.
“Not many of us are living at our best. We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains. The steepness and ruggedness dismay us, and so we stay in the misty valleys and do not learn the mystery of the hills. We do not know what we lose in our self indulgence. What glory awaits us if only we had the courage for the mountain climb. What blessing we should find if only we would move to the uplands of God.? JRM
I did not start the 30 min before or after drin****il i had my surgery. I will always keep water on the table incase you choke or need a sip and i stress sip wash something down with. Not that im trying to drink during my eat time but you nevery know when you might need it. You should discipline yourself to always have your water be know when you can and cannot drink . remember this is a part of your live that is never going to change.
jen
You know what I find the hardest - going out. I don't know what it is about our culture, but it's somehow become completely unheard of, unfathomable, and even downright alien to not drink with your meal. When I first got my band I thought the best thing to do, since if there was a glass near me I would tend to reach for it, just out of habit, was to not order anything to drink.
Waiter: Can I start you off with drinks?
Me: Nothing for me thanks.
Waiter: Not even water?
Me: No, thanks, I'm fine.
Waiter brings drinks for everyone and water for me. "I thought I'd bring you water, just in case."
Really, I think to myself? 'Cause I didn't order the filet mignon either, but you didn't bring me one of those "just in case." 
Finally I learned to just give up, order a water, then put it far away from me until I got more used to not drinking.
Lap band July 2008, revised to VSG November 2012.
