Grazing?

Can someone please explain to me a little about grazing and the dangers of grazing? My plan allows for 3 meals and 1-3 small snacks daily and as I try to transition to real food, I've noticed that I can only eat about 1/2 of what I could eat  at  a time on puree so I really do seem to need all six meals/snacks to even get close to getting all my protein in. I feel like I eat, wait 30 minutes to drink, try to get some liquids in, and then it is time to eat again.  I find that sometimes I have great plans for 1/4-1/2 a cup of food at dinner, but then I'm full after just a few bites. 

I also saw a post that a meal should not last more than 20-30 minutes. Shoveling food in was one of my worst habits previously so I am really trying to eat slowly and sometime 20-30 minutes isn't enough. Am I overdoing the slowness? At this point I am getting all my vitamins, around 50-70 oz of water, and around 65 grams of protein daily but still rely pretty heavily on protein shakes, protein water, and Unjury chicken soup.

Are protein supplements just a reality until I get more comfortable with food? I don't mind them and have actually found a nice way to work them into my liquids, but know that the eventual plan is to get the majority of protein from solids.

For me I have found that often my snacks are the meal I did not finish earlier. So if I measured out 1/3 cup of food and only ate half of it, then at snack time, I would eat the other half.

Tonight I had to be on the road a good bit and I had a scoop and a half of the Syntrax Roadside Lemonade mixed with 16 oz of unsweetened tea and had a high protein Arnold Palmer as I went about my errands. Normally at night, I chew my protein, but sometimes I just need a shake to get my grams in for the day. My breakfast and lunch typically have 60-70 grams total protein, so at night I could reduce the protein count and increase hydration if needed. I am supposed to have about 80 grams a day, per my doctor.

My personal opinion is that, yes, you are overdoing the eating slowly.  It is one thing to eat slowly so that you have time to recognize when you are full and don't overeat, but if you spread a meal out over more than 20-30 minutes, the first couple of bites of food that you ate 20+ minutes ago have already exited your pouch (which means that by eating too SLOWLY, you can ALSO overeat).  It also means that you are, indeed, eating then waiting to drink, and then turning around and eating again.

Some people choose to keep protein shakes and/or protein bars in their diets long term.  Some use them regularly, some use them only in certain cir****tances, and some don't use them at all.  Many people like their shakes, though.  It is jsut whatever YOU want to do and what works for you.

Lora

The danger of grazing is that you eat all day and take in more calories than you really need.  Someone with RNY can easily grab a few chips here and there, snag a couple of nuts, then eat a bit more later.... so if you allow yourself to snack a lot you can keep the little pouch full all the time.

Eating small meals on purpose is not snacking/grazing.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. Good point about the pouch emptying after a certain amount of time anyway. It sound like as long as I keep my meals/snacks purposefu/plannedl and around 20 minutes at a time or less, I don't have to worry about developing a grazing habit.