Who said you need to break up with Alcohol? I did not have any alcohol during pre-op and about three weeks after... But that was it!! The hardest part was before... because you feel fine - you are just hungry . Afterwards ( post op ) you will have no desire to drink, or at least I did not. And when I did have a drink in a social setting, I was kind of afraid.. for a couple reasons.. I had dropped a ton of weight in a short time - so how was it gonna effect me and I had not eaten any "real food" so was it gonna get me wasted? Which believe me was not my goal..

But now, as I have become more comfortable with my band ( banded Sept 1 ) I can enjoy the occasional cocktail.. In doing so though I do see a difference in the scale... but I am ok with that. I am a firm believer that you can NOT stop living... however appreciate your band and take care of it and you!! Just think... you will be a cheap date!!! My hubby loves that!! ha ha Good Luck!!

There is always non-alcoholic beer! The weight loss is really more important, but you are a grown up and your priorities are your own.

I understand your dilema. I have a weekly girls outing at the local bar for open mic night and a variety of fried food chicken wings, cat fish, french fries, onion rings, etc. I was never a heavy drinker so I would always order a pepsi, well now I can't do that. It took some adjusting but you can do it.

The best thing is to eat before you go, or at least have a protein shake. That will stop you from being hungry and will curb your desire to munch. Having never liked beer, i can't tell you what a good substitution is, but you can always add a shaker to your water bottle for a little extra taste.have fruit juice or some other type of drink to get you by. I often order cranberry juice at the bar so it looks like i have a coctail when I really don't and the juice is good for you anyway in moderation.

The reason they say not to drink is you have less food in your stomach, and your stomach is smaller, so you will absorb the alcohol much faster and once you're tipsy/drunk you will make poor decisions including what to eat. I've learned each doctor's recommendations are different so follow your doctor's advice.

Why can't you have alcohol. I am only 12 weeks banded but I have had alcohol twice (a friend's birthday party and New Years Eve) with no problems. You just have to be accountable for the calories and make choices about what you are willing to do (either accept the weight gain or work it off). No whining if you don't lose weight the week you chose to drink alcohol.

Also, who says you have to sip your water. I drink pretty healthy drinks of water and am downing a 16 ounce glass in about 10 - 15 minutes. This will probably change once I have restriction but for now, I drink at whatever rate I am comfortable with.

I know I don't need to drink and I plan on making good choices. I just know it will be a little bit hard when everyone else is drinking and eating and I'm sorta sitting there.

I was told carbonated drinks are out and the only carbonated drink I have is beer....so non-alcoholic beer won't work. I was also told that you cannot gulp water...that you have to sip and you cannot use a straw? This is from NUT clases.

The most important thing to me is that I am successful with this band. I am not happy or healthy being obese and able to eat/drink everything so I am going to have to make lots of changes.

I appreciate the suggestion for drinking the protein drink, etc. My life will be changing in so many ways. :-) It's all good!

Thanks for all of your replies!