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I live in Vegas and, girl, I get it. I had my first sip of alcohol 6 weeks out and was fine. I drink Jameson on the rocks with a lime every now and again. I'll have one "shot" (sipping, not shooting LOL) and sip on that for a few hours. Usually that's all I'll need in a night. Saves on the bar tab and empty calories. Not a huge drinker, but we just vacationed in Ireland and was worried I'd miss out on all the distilleries! I was totally fine (that was 3 months out). The posts above are right, your sensitivity/tolerance will be much different than before. Just take it really slow, you should be fine. Martini's or straight up liquor would probably be your best bet. Try to avoid bubbles and especially sugary drinks like daquaris at all costs! Best of luck and enjoy your trip!

Fortunately today there are alternative to satisfying a sweet tooth such as low calorie natural sugars such as Stevia and synthetic sugars such as Splenda and sugar alcohols. And many of these are being integrated into products that you can buy in the supermarket.

By drinking, I mean alcohol. Don't stop general drinking hahaha ????

Webblarsk, do you buy this at the grocery store? Cranberry and cherry-lime are two of my favorite flavors ever, so I have a feeling that this would be right up my alley. Kind of like a non-alcoholic cape cod cocktail with a little grenadine.

Hello! I am new to this site, I just have to say first off.. I love your attitude and outlook on this all "the professor" I will be having my surgery for my lap band on April 7th!!! I am equally terrified and excited! I have struggled for so long and am ready to take the plunge. What is a realistic goal for weight loss?? I am 5'6 24 y/o and 234 lbs and at my heaviest. My lightest adult weight has been 149 and I miss being that size terribly. Just years of bad habits and depression helped pack the weight on. Also what do you choose to drink when you do have an alcoholic beverage? How long after surgery were u able to have a drink? I would just hate to give up my social life completely.

Oh good that's comforting..lol. I'll test my alcohol endurance at home first too... I'm so nervous about alcohol because little sister had gastric bypass years ago and after she became a raging alcoholic and now she just eats gummy bears, drinks and smokes. I'm shocked she's still alive. she's a mess but she hardly drank before the surgery. I recently quit smoking so the 2 weeks not eating pre op and not being able to smoke is gonna be rough... Did u find the pre op fast unbearable? I'm so nervous I have to start liquids only July 5. I'm trying to do low carb now also ...

Scar healing/fading will vary from person to person. You could probably predict where you will fall on the scale by how YOU healed historically. I am on the far end of the scale of slow/bad healing/fading. I am 2+ years out from surgery and my scars are still pretty dark. They have faded somewhat from the early months (and at least now they are flat!) but they are still very noticeable (see pic below...the scars pointed at by red arrows are my WLS incision scars which are 2 years, 2 months old. My belly button is also healing from scarring from plastics 1 year ago.) Generally though, for ALL scar care, it is often recommended to keep them clean and dry while healing, and then moisturize often when they close. Also, it's recommended to reduce alcohol during healing (as it may act as a blood thinner and prevent clots), and refrain from smoking (as it may affect healing as well: stress on heart, de-oxygenates blood, etc, etc...). Further, there has been some evidence of Retinol and Vitamin E topical applications to help by stimulating collagen growth which reduces the appearance of skin imperfections.... Edited to add: Just remembered! For really bad scars, I can vouch for steroid shots. I had some applied to the arm lift scars on my arm a few weeks ago and they have visibly improved. Still not to the level of near-invisibility like i've seen on others (i'm looking at you @sillykitty), but def much better than before.

I used to be an avid consumer of Quest Bars, but they changed their main ingredient several months ago and they just did NOT agree with me after that. Made me SUPER bloated and gassy. So I now switched to Combat Crunch. They are a little higher in calories and carbs than the Quest Bars were, but that wasn't a deal breaker for me since I'm now in maintenance. The one I have at my desk right now has the following nutrition: Calories: 210 Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 4g Carbs: 25g Dietary Fiber: 12g Sugar: 5g Sugar Alcohol: 1g Protein: 20g So it's basically 210 calories, 20g protein, and 12g net carbs. The Quest Bars were more like 190 calories, 23g protein, and 3-4g net carbs. So better nutritionally, but not worth making myself sick over.

its a little hard for such a young girl that is thirsty to live her life in fullest to have to deal with weight loss and to do not enjoy some alcohol.. Here in Europpe young generation is more into fresh juices! we dance in the heat of .. Armin Van Buuren but we drink only juices or Red Bull or soda.. (and a lot of natural drugs lol) well Xann the truth is that alcohol has a lot of empty calories.. its not good since you re in weight loss plan.. you dont have to excuse yourself to your friends to your decision to quit off alcohol since you re on diet..!you can enjoy .. Gabriel & Dresden with some coke light or and fresh juices!! :confused:

GO STRAIGHT TO TEQUILLA!!! LOL Im kidding....I too am young and go out occasionally....ok every weekend...but I try to keep under a certain amount of alcohol when I do drink it...I dont always win this battle but the only solution is for us to stop drinking it!!! LOL...I know it seems hard, but in the end we will be the ones that are looking good.....so my advice....dont know if it is good advice or will help but stay away from the alcohol monster.......or at least try to cut WAY back..... Try a vodka and diet sprite.......thats what i drink...I can drink those and the carbonation doesnt bother me........

Just to you know... that wild, crazy night out doesn't have to have alcohol and the 6 month thing is something I take very seriously but thanks for your concern Leona

Thanks for that link Kristin - we used to get these daiquiri (sp) mixes like that and have not found them in 2 years, guess they quit selling them in our area. That is about the only thing I would ever have if I drank anything - parties at our house we made those and everyone else brought other drinks. I was a bit bummed when I read no alcohol after banding - 3 or 4 times a year we have bbq's and I thought NO ALCOHOL at all was allowed. Going to order some of those now yummm -A Mai Tai is an exotic pineapple, lemon, lime, orange, rum punch... very tropical and lightly fruity.

LOL I am a big supporter of partying purely because people who do it right do not become alcoholic (please stop pm'img me) they have a good time, if there is a dance floor you usually workoff the calories you have taken in, and man is it a stress reliever LOL I know working inside my home with a 3year old and a 4 yearold running around, and watching reruns of spongebob and dora and oswald and yakkity yak I need a lot of drinks by the time saturday night rolls around. LOL It is the only time i get to talk to an adult and do not have to say phrases like "please make sure you wipe your butt after you go potty this time". At least not too often LOL

That's exactly it. When we met, I was about 150. Could have stood to lose about 20 pounds, but the food wasn't as big in my life as it became over time. When we dated, everything revolved around eating out. And often during our marriage, we'd eat out 3-4 times a week, which is waaay too much. Sometimes it was just because neither of us felt like cooking, other times it was because we wanted to try this or that new restaurant. I willingly went along for the ride and enjoyed it. Then "one day" I woke up more than 100 pounds over where I was when we met. When you are trying to eat chicken and fish and he's talking about going "just this once" to have that steak dinner or other delight at that restaurant we both love, it can be easy to eventually succumb because you really WANT to have that instead of another. night. of. chicken. It's MY fault for eventually saying yes. I take FULL blame. But at the same time, when he knows that you're trying to behave, why tempt? Because HIS wants come before YOUR needs eventually, that's why. That's my frustration. This time I have essentially laid down the law -- where *I* am concerned, not him. HE can go out whenever he wants, but I won't join him. But that wasn't good enough in our last conversation because he was trying to convince me I can still go. It's like taking an alcoholic to a bar and saying you can be safe and order Water. Yeah, but... When one is in a close relationship like this, the other should not do anything to try to sabotage the other. If he had to do some new training for work over the weekend, I would not put my needs to be paid attention to over his need to do his work and go upstairs and bother him and harass him, you know? This isn't just about vanity or what I want. I NEED to do this. I was staring major health issues in the face, and I was afraid I wouldn't live into my 50's if I didn't do something. I didn't just get the band for vanity's sake (well, that will be a nice side effect, but that certainly wasn't the reason). I NEEDED to do something more drastic, something that would help me. Too many people get the band and feel like, whoopee, I can do anything I want now and eat like before. Wrong. Sadly, I guess so do some spouses. Again, WRONG. One day food may not have the hold on me that it does. Until then, I at least need some support from him in the form of understanding that this is MY cross to bear and I don't need him becoming a stumbling block for me. That isn't really too much to ask, and anybody in any kind of relationship should understand this, no matter how block-headed they are.

I think your analogy to alcoholics is close to the issue. He's probably reacting to the fear of how his life will change because of your lap band. He needs to learn how to adjust, eventually he'll realize that you can still go out to dinner and he can normally even though you will eat differently. He may feel "pressured" into dieting with you, but if he doesn't want to diet, he'll go back to his old eating patterns soon enough. Look at the bright side, if he's loosing weight, your band has worked for both of you. Would he have the initiative to loose weight if not for your decision? Stay positive and give time for him to see that you're only changing your own eating patterns, and I bet he'll calm down soon. i.e. ignore negative comments for a little while and hopefully he'll tire of making them. If that don't work... good luck.

I think the hard part about stopping soda is the fact that besides water (usually only at the gym) and wyler's (bascially tha same as crystal light, but I like the taste better)raspberry flavor, it is the only thing I drink. I don't like ice tea, or stuff and I don't drink alcohol, yeah, so it will only leave 2 things I drink and basically only one, since I only drink plain water at the gym.

I meant only good carbs, I think at this stage bad carbs (refined sugars cakes chocolate ALCOHOL) shouldn't be part of are diet. In fatsecret.com the carbs come out when you log you're food in. I do agree though you need to see what your doctor recommends. As I said earlier I wouldn't recomend the bad carbs at this stage

My surgeon said if I want to follow calories that my intake should be around 900 to 1200 calories a day. I average 1000 to 1100. Sometimes I have days when I eat 1600 or more. (Usually due to alcohol intake). I do not eat my exercise points back. I am losing pretty fast. 62 pounds since December. Not everyone wants to lose that fast or be as strict with what they eat. Fast is not necessarily better. With the amount of exercise I'm doing, sometimes I feel I may not be eating enough. Find what works for you.

You look fantabulous. .. Im 1 year out and only lost 55 pounds. I went from a tight size 18/20 & wear size 6 jeans now that are a little to big, i even have a size 4 white denim skirt. My only problem is my tummy, i look about 5 months pregnant. I can exercise much due to 2 back surgeries. I can't eat much, but i have been vacationing & drink8ng like a fish daily. As of this week alcohol is out during the week. Im thinking about a tummy tuck. Keep up the great work.

The "no drinking" rule is mostly so that you don't wash the food through your band quickly and end up hungry again soon afterwards. Having a glass of wine with dinner on occasion shouldn't be a problem, but if you find yourself snacking when you get home because you are hungry again, you should probably rethink drinking with meals. Also, as you get good restriction, you may find that drinking anything while eating is actually difficult - I am finding this now. I tend to have a little sip of Water just after a meal to wash my mouth out, but drinking anything more than that can lead to PBing :drool: All things in moderation is the name of the game! One of the benefits that I have found is that my tolerances for alcohol have GREATLY reduced. One or two glasses of wine over the full course of the evening is the most I can manage now without getting really tipsy, whereas previously I could easily knock off the bottle on my own - yay for cheap highs! Be really really careful in a "drinking session with the girlfriends" though - the alcohol does hit you much faster and you can easily overdo it before you realise it. The LAST thing you need is to end up with your head in the toilet bowl throwing up; that is a HUGE no-no! I had a glass of wine on Xmas Day, which was 2 weeks after surgery.

Carnie Wilson had bypass. She was just on the Oprah show about transfer addictions, she became an alcoholic after her bypass surgery apparently.

Your original slant had nothing to do with legality. It was a broad sweeping statement about people who use any drugs or alcohol. Pick a soapbox dear, you're backtracking on yourself.

Yes, it feels great to be able to go down in sizes! From a size 28 to an 8/10 and 5 pounds to go. But, sadly, for me, I have become somewhat of a shopaholic (online). It is really ridiculous, especially since I am currently really only able to get to doctor's appointments and out for some quick grocery trips on Saturday. I mean, with my now extensive wardrobe, how often am I really going to wear all of these clothes? I really came to grips with my clothes buying problem a few weeks ago. Yes, it is true, food addiction can be replaced with shopping addiction, gambling, alcohol, etc, etc. Along another line, I am really pissed that I bought so many of these tops that billow out and make me look pregnant! Why did I buy them? Those are the style of clothes that I used to buy when I wanted to hide because I was so overweight. Is anyone else tired of all the billowy styles?

So rude! My night nurse after surgery made a comment that I wasn't that big. I just told her that it was a decision that I made with my doctor based on my health. What gets me, though, is that no one would tell an alcoholic or cocaine addict to not go to rehab. Or that they don't use enough drugs to get outside help.

Even caffeinated beverages count to your fluid intake. It's outdated thinking that caffeine dehydrates you more than the fluid hydrates you. They've done new research on this. So, if you drink coffee or tea, include this. The only drinks that would NOT count would be alcohol. Have you considered taking lactaid pills with your dairy? For some people that completely solves the problem (you have to take it each time you have dairy). Or drinking lactose free milk? It depends on the person, because some people have a slightly different lactose-related problem. One of my friends can eat dairy just fine as long as she has lactaid pills with it, or uses lactose-free milk, but my neighbor can't have dairy at all. I agree with adding beans if you can digest them, and foods like farro, quinoa, chia seeds, vegan protein powder (it doesn't have dairy - only if you decide to increase protein again), etc. There is also a snack I've found called Bada Bean (I don't think that's the exact name), which is toasted fava beans in different seasonings, and I think they're great. They are high in fiber and have some protein and fat. I agree with others who say to find a different nutritionist, but I would suggest finding one who specializes in bariatric needs. I'm so sorry you had this experience.