The small bites Jiffy mentioned is the key, plus chewing really really well. The WL Clinic I am attached to recommended using a baby spoon to eat with. I did and still do. I don't have to worry about the bite size then. As far as meats, I found that some of the things I thought I couldn't live without (such as beef steak) no longer taste good & are harder to eat/digest and I have replaced them with new favorites (grilled shrimp & crablegs are to die for!).
The Clinic also recommended eating only 3 meals a day & not taking longer than 1/2 hour to eat. Now I have to tell you, when they made up that rule, they hadn't put it to practice themselves with the size bites we take & the chewing we do. They are still swallowing huge pieces of unchewed food like I used to before surgery. I have found that it many times takes me closer to an hour to eat (depending on the food choices). I also have found that for me 4 meals a day (about 3-4 hours apart) works better. I don't get overly hungry that way and make better choices.
Now the sipping thing--I never did figure that out. It's like all the adult sippy glasses that they have today. I CANNOT drink from them. I have observed how others do it, I have tried, but it just does not work for me. I tip my head back, let the water flow in my mouth, my dentures (full set, wearing them for 30 years now) loosen up and flop around in my mouth, so I can't shut my mouth, the water flows out of my mouth on my shirt & I now have a stain everyone can see that is proof I never learned how to drink from a sippy cup!
The eating small meals/bites is not the problem initially--It is all that you are able to hold. It is after a few months, when you have stretched your new tummy to hold more than 1-2 ounces, but by that time you have started to form some new habits & ways of eating. My goal was always to get off meds (most anyway), be able to walk without a cane, not have to have a knee replacement right away and have an eating plan that I could live with for the rest of my life. I have accomplished all that and more. God is Good!