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I had a glass of wine at 4 months out. Tried a Bloody Mary at 5 months but it burned. A couple vodka cocktails at a golf tournament 6 months out with no problem. I didn't really drink any significant amount until my first vacation 9 1/2 months out. I was 10 pounds below goal weight at that point. I probably drink 3-4 times a month now. Which beats the EVERY SINGLE DAY for at least 2 years before surgery. (food and alcohol was how I dealt with my brother's death)

I can drink anything except carbonated beverages (ie beer, champagne, mike's). I've had wine, vodka, whiskey, various liqueurs, and twisted tea. I actually was able to sip on hard cider a bit because it's not quite as bubbly. I could out drink a football team before surgery, and alcohol doesn't really seem to affect me any different postop. I've had 3 cocktails fairly quickly and barely a buzz. As for my tummy, 1 night of drinking isn't too bothersome, but if I drink 2 or more days in a row I do get bad gastritis and I have to take Rolaids and sometimes start a round of omeprazole. The same thing happens if I eat too many sweets. It's kind of a perfect side effect, though. I can indulge "a little", but I know it will hurt if I do it too much, so I don't.

At 15 months here is what I can typically eat in one sitting.... 1/4 pound burger minus the bun. The smallest Chinese take out container lasts me 3 meals About 6oz of fish 1 cup of yogurt with 1/4 cup Kashi Cereal mixed in. 1/2 cup thick chili 2/3 -1 cup of most veggies 1/2 small apple/1/4 large apple with Peanut Butter 1 cup hot cereal or thin Soup I'm usually hungry after 2 hours but I try not to eat sooner than 3 hours. If I push it to 4 hours I'm STARVING and it's hard to eat slowly. On non-work days I tend to semi-graze and eat up to 8 mini-meals.

I've got the game saver deluxe plus.

@@Bufflehead and @@VSGAnn2014 your renditions of that "other" forum is spot on! And I know that guy and his worshippers. Obviously they never paid attention to his ticker to see that their God is still very much still overweight at almost 300 pounds, if I remember right. Yeah, THAT's who's advice I want to follow! Anyways, I've only recently visited back there only to realize why I left. And @@CowgirlJane, don't worry, I've managed to piss off a lot of people on BOTH forums! F**k em all I say! As for veterans on here, I don't know if I qualify, but am definitely OVER the "woe is me, I'm stalled" and "I only lost x pounds so I must be a failure" and "is it OK to eat this?" posts. I try really hard to ignore them, but sometimes I can't hit the back button fast enough. I'm thinking of posting a "STAY OF THE scale AND TRY USING THE SEARCH BUTTON BEFORE YOU POST ANOTHER STUPID QUESTION" thread on every subforum everyday to see if any of them actually notice.

I used unjury unflavored. It worked best to pre mix it with a little bit of Water in my Blender Bottle and then add it to the heated broth or strained soup. It does have a taste, but I found it to be mild and mostly covered up by the flavor of the soup. I still add it to pancake mix, hot Cereal and casseroles to add extra Protein. After researching GENEPRO and the company that makes it, I do not feel comfortable with the product claims. There is NO scientific research backing the product, it is not approved by the FDA, I can't find an amino acid profile to know if it's a complete protein, and the other products that company puts out are "male performance enhancers" and other quack "miracle" fad products. I feel better sticking with 100% whey protein which provides all essential amino acids and is the best and most readily absorbed form of protein (with the scientific evidence to back it up).

I was on liquids for a total of 34 days. I came up with a couple dozen different protein shake flavors. In fact, at 15 months post I still have one every day. You can also add protein powder to broths and dilute/pureed/strained cream soups....chicken, beef, spinach, French onion, mushroom, potato leek, lobster bisque, butternut squash, Mexican tortilla, wonton, hot and sour, etc, etc. There's no need to get bored.

Follow your surgeon's plan. I was allowed scrambled eggs when I started pureed food....18 days postop.

I can't stress enough to STAY OFF THE scale. I only weighed about 6 times in the first 3 months. The NSVs are way more important than numbers. But if you want to compare, here's my numbers.... 0 pounds lost at 11 days 17 pounds at 7 weeks 30 pounds at 3 months. I've read so many posts about people whining over losing way more than that. It astounds me because I was thrilled and encouraged by every single pound I lost along the way, no matter how fast or slow. Of course dropping pant sizes and being out of pain and crossing my legs and my rings actually becoming too big we're all way more exciting. I still surpassed my surgeon's goal by over 20 pounds and my personal goal by over 10 pounds. And no matter what your rate of loss, if you are eating healthy then you are not failing. My plan was very simple.....60-80g Protein everyday. Minimum 64oz Water everyday. Vitamins everyday. Plenty of veggies as I could eat them, a little bit of fruit. Stayed away from white carbs (pasta, bread, rice, crackers, alcohol, sweets) until I was within 10 pounds of goal.

I tried to drive home from the airport day 3 but it was a blizzard and the visibility was shitty and the roads were icy so I ended up staying in a hotel. Drove the 5 hours home day 4. Plowed my driveway when I got home, drove all over the county running errands day 6 and back to work....which involves driving a 13,000 pound mobile veterinary office day 7. I could have driven the day after surgery but was in TJ and you gotta be crazy to drive down there!

No, I don't exercise. I hate going to the gym or pretty much any repetitive, structured exercise program. I'm not a runner or biker. I tried to get into a routine riding my recumbent bike, but that only lasted a couple months. But I'm also not a couch potato. My job is active, the activities I choose to do are physical, taking care of my mini ranch is VERY physical. I log 12,000+ Fitbit steps on work days and easily closer to 20,000 and 50-100 "flights of stairs" on the weekends (I'm not actually walking stairs, it's just the ups and downs in the mountains that get recorded like this). I lift 60-80 pounds on a regular basis. I've lost over 100% of my excess weight and kept it off with no exercise. I have excellent muscle tone and definition and minimal loose skin. But I have no doubt my daily lifestyle is probably the equivalent of many people's gym workout.

I was never given any driving restrictions but I was also never on pain meds after surgery day. You may check with your surgeon.

I hear ya! Like you, I've been chided on here for being too perfect when it comes to following my surgeon's instructions. I think those people make themselves feel better and try to rationalize their choices by saying "no one can do it". Like you, I say f***k em. But I've been dealing with those types my whole life...I graduated from high school and college with straight A's, and some people were sure it's because I must have cheated...teachers pet, suck up, brown noser, goody two shoes...heard em all and proud of it! @@CowgirlJane I know which kind of posts you are talking about. It's not the ones that choose to be selective about how they eat postop in order to be healthier. Its not the ones that do get physically ill from certain foods. It's the ones that try to use the "I don't like it" excuse for making bad choices postop. The ones that are too lazy to look up and try new recipes. The ones that want it to be easy. In essence, the ones that will fail because they won't change....But will continue to whine about it.

@@drmeow I LOVE my food saver ????. And yes, we do have some organic farmers that do what's right for the animals when it is necessary even if it means removing them from production. Those are the ones I support. And I kind of guessed you were a vet...love your user name ???? @@My Bariatric Life I was raised on home raised/grown food. My dad was a farmer and our neighbors raised various livestock. We had 2 huge chest freezers where we kept all the veggies and fruit and meat my mom froze to carry us through the winter. My mom did not buy candy except for holidays like Easter and Halloween. We drank milk, Water and juice, never soda. Each of us kids were allowed to pick out ONE box of sugar cereal/year. I always went with Captain Crunch Berries. My little brother always went with the one with the best toy. Fast food was a rare "treat"... Maybe 6-8 times/year when we were traveling. I think I was in high school before I had my first piece of white, store-bought bread. Oh yeah, and we were only allowed to watch 1/2 hour TV on weekdays and 1 hour of cartoons on Saturday morning! Mom was a badass When I went to college I rebelled and ate every kind of crap food I could find....along with lots of beer! Didn't care where it came from or what it was...as long as it was cheap and tasty. After college I went through a vegetarian stage. I was very conscientious about what I ate and really shot for healthy stuff. That lasted about 6 years before I went back to not caring anymore. I spent most of my 30's and early 40's eating unhealthy. I became so unhappy with myself I didn't care if I was doing damage by eating crap or not. It wasn't until I had WLS that I started making good food choices again. And I just happen to live in an area now where I have direct access to local farm raised food. Being in the veterinary field is a bonus because I can witness everyone's husbandry practices directly. I guess choosing to eat this way is just a cyclic state of mind for me. Whenever I get on a healthy kick, I research the latest and greatest, but I have witnessed so many theories and "food truths" change through the years, I always take the extreme claims with a grain of salt and ultimately just use common sense.

I had surgery on a Friday and was back to work (I'm a vet tech) the next Friday. I was walking 20-30 min (or more) starting the day after surgery....put a couple miles in, actually. Drove myself home from the airport 3 days postop. I could have driven the day after as well, but I was in TJ and used the OCC and Marriott shuttles and a taxi to get around.

I'm a vet tech and am on my feet all day...walking, bending, squatting, lifting, and restraining sometimes uncooperative animals. I went back to work at 7 days but had a lifting restriction of 20 pounds for 3 weeks, so we couldn't schedule any large dog surgeries or farm calls that involved horses/cows. I was back to lifting up to 60 pounds at 3 weeks. I never had any problems doing my job, just really tired at the end of the day.

I seriously don't remember....but I'm sure it was delicious!

I have had a Protein smoothie every day for the last 16 months. Here are some of my favorites.... Syntrax nectar Lemonade, cherry, apple, peach, vanilla bean torte, orange and cappuccino Syntrax Matrix Vanilla and chocolate Premier chocolate and strawberry (I don't like the vanilla plain, but it works good as creamer in my coffee and tea) Spirutein banana, vanilla, chai latte, strawberry and blueberry Raw Fit original Raw Protein Vanilla and Chai BSN Syntha 6 vanilla, chocolate and banana Chike Banana and coffee Muscle Milk cake batter, red velvet cake and banana cream I did NOT like Bariatric fusion, Bariatric Advantage, Isopure or Jay Robb egg Proteins (the Jay Robb whey were OK) I usually mix the powders with twice as much Water or milk as it calls for. I dilute the premier RTD 1/2 and 1/2 with milk. I also use Torani and Davinci syrups to mix up the flavors. I've got hazelnut, almond, raspberry, English toffee, gingerbread, pumpkin pie, Irish cream and caramel. You can buy single serve samples of dozens of protein powders from Nashua Nutrition to try before you commit to a whole jug.

I was the same way....I could handle surgery and everything that went with it, but it was the postop complications that scared me. Not only could they threaten my life or at the very least, make me feel miserable, but I would have been financially ruined. My insurance wouldn't cover anything and owning my own business means no work = no income. And that is why I researched the hell out of my options and went with who I felt was the best surgeon at the best location. I did not let $$$ play a prt in my decision. Fortunately I had a wonderful recovery and my PCP has taken care of my followup bloodwork. As for complications, he would have directed me to the appropriate specialist if I had needed it.

GNC, Amazon, Quest website, lots of health food stores, many bariatric and body building websites, I even found them in the snack kiosks in several airports. 20g protein/under 200 calories. Some people claim they are too high in carbs but they obviously aren't reading the whole label.... 18g of the carbs are actually fiber.

When I had it done in Dec 2013 this was my plan... day 1-3 clear liquid day 4-17 full liquid day 18-27 pureed day 28-40 soft food day 41 + solid food except crunchy stuff like chips, nuts, seeds, grains, celery until 3 months. (I actually had to progress slower than the recommended stages because I had such tight restriction) Postop plan called for a minimum 64oz fluid/day and minimum 60g - 100g protein. There was also recommended vitamin doses, but I adjusted those based on my post labs.

sorry duplicate post

I didn't bother to tell my PCP until after surgery. Besides my doctor he is a good friend of mine and I didn't want his disapproval. I finally told him about a month postop and of course I got "the look". But He still supported me, takes care of all my followup, and now over a year out and looking and feeling great with perfect labs, he has admitted I made a very good choice. It's just that he had seen so many failed WLS patients in the past that didn't take the lifestyle change seriously or have lost weight but failed to maintain their health. I'm thrilled to be his "good example" Having someone frown at WLS should motivate you to be an ultimate success and disprove their misconceptions.

Stay off the scale. Period. Follow your meal plan. Concentrate on protein and water and vitamins and STAY. OFF. THE. SCALE.

Make sure you check with your doctor before crushing or cutting up pills. Some of them, including OTC Prilosec tablets cannot be crushed. Their special coating must remain intact or stomach acid will inactivate them. How far out are you and when can you take whole pills? Have you discussed the issue with your surgeon? If you are suffering from reflux and have a hard time with taking your PPI, you may try Rolaids or liquid Maaloxx for some relief.