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I too bought the glogg. I have been adding a splash to my hot tea in the mornings. I love the fact that one of the ingredients in non-alcoholic wine. WTF??? wouldn't that be rotten juice then? Wine has alcohol....or so I thought. I was also told that the glogg is great added to a pork roast in the crock pot, I don't eat pork so I have no intention of trying it, but the lady at Ikea that was buying 2 cases of it swears by it. ~Mandy

WOW this is great to see people discussing their problems without trying to find excuses. I too have mental ilness and my main addiction is food. I quit smoking no problem -I don't care about any type of drugs including alcohol. But giving up the way I eat is an on going struggle. I compare it to the person that still smokes even though smoking is literally killing them.Thank GOD for WLS. I am losing slow but what is the alternative? killing myself with food? To me addiction is a fascinating subject.This is a great thread!! It's good to see people question and understand the reasons for their weight.No matter that I have a mental illness or addiction issues I am still the one that put me in this position.

Why am I fat? Wow, great thread. I, like some others, didn't have a very good childhood. My mom wasn't around a lot when I was little and to compensate, I ate. When she was around she would harp on everything I ate, saying stuff like "don't you know bread makes you fat?". I know in her mind that she was trying to keep me from being overweight, but it just made me feel bad and I started sneaking food. We lived with my great-grandmother and one time she had made two pumpkin pies. When they were cooling, I took a fork and ate the center out of both pies! I got chased around the house with a switch for that one! Another time when I was in the 4th grade, one Friday my mom bought like a month's worth of groceries. She and my stepdad went out of town for the weekend. By the time she got back on Sunday, I had eaten pretty much everything she had just bought. I even threw up, but that didn't stop me. I got into so much trouble for that. As a child and teen, I never learned to eat correctly. In high school, when I wanted to loose weight, I would starve myself. I was athletic and I would exercise like crazy. In the summer, I would gain about 30-40 pounds and then have to loose it all over again when practice started. I've yo-yo'd my entire life. After high school, I got married and stopped exercising. That's when I really started packing on the pounds. I've gained and lost the same 80 pounds numerous times. I truly believe that mine is an addiction no different from an alcoholic or a drug addict. I do it to medicate myself. Addiction runs wild in my family. My grandmother was an alcoholic as was two of her four children (not my mom, her addiction is food as well), my grandfather gambled, and several of my cousins have issues with alcohol and drugs. I thank God that my addiction was food and not drugs or alcohol. That could have so easily been the case. I still have issues but I'm working through them. I have been married to a great guy for 15 years. This has given me the stability that I so greatly craved as a child. My children, thank God, are growing up in a stable, loving home with both parents. When I have a bad day, the first thing I think of is food; however, after the band, I'm dealing with it in other ways. I don't think of food as often and I don't seem to want it like I did. I feel so blessed to have been given this great tool. My emotional scars are deep, but I'm working every day to overcome them. It will be something that I have to take one day at a time for the rest of my life.

Hmm. Why AM I fat? I am thinking this one over. I think a little bit is genetic. Both of my parents had a weight problem. Emotional eating is the basis of it. One parent was a binge alcoholic and the other was just an alcoholic towards the end of life. Though us kids were provided for financially. The uncertainty of what you were going be greeted with when we got off the bus was a worry for me. Some of my brothers and sister compensated for it by either being "big drinkers" once they left home, or (1) being an overachiver in his business life (I think to prove he is "good" as the other people-BTW-he isn't fat), or being fat (me). Both parents passed away, my daddy was killed in an accident (when he was drunk) by driving into a moving train when I was 12, and my mom died of cancer 4 years later. I went to live with my sister at 16, and she was into her own thing at that time-drinking and partying due to a divorce-and she wanted me to babysit every weekend. I rebelled! I wanted to party too because of dealing with all of the emotional crap of losing my parents so young. I was thinking, "Party on, because you're next in line!" So I moved out and was on my own at a very early age. I should have stayed there and babysat, as it turned out! At that time I was wearing size 12-13. I thought I was HUGE at a size 12. My sister was a size 8, so to compare myself to her, I was huge. Now I don't see it the same way. So I left her home, partied til I was emotionally bankrupted, and finally called an end to the party at the age of 21! I met my husband and we got married. It's been a tough marriage in some ways. He would stay out when we were first married until midnight-1 am, and he had a hard time getting up to go to work. He would leave me without a car, money, diapers, and cigarettes. So we worked thru all that crap (I left him for about a month when I was pregnant with our second child). I guess he really did like having us around. He straightened up about his own partying and getting to work. It is amazing he didn't get fired. BUT, he turned it into passive agressive behavior. HE would not leave the house for anything! It was a big, big happening when he went to family things. I have gone to many family functions without him thru the years. Until I left him again just a few years ago over his personality issues, I guess with age he mellowed..... He will attend some stuff now, but he usually just sits in a chair watching tv or sleeping! so thru the years, I have tried to be both father and mother to my kids, and I guess I got into the "after the kids go to bed because all this junk is not good for them type snacking". And I drink a lot of Coca Cola. NOT diet Coke. So here I am, 27 years later, overweight by 100 pounds. That's my story. YIKES, I need really do need theraphy!!! I am really not sure I want to post this, but I am going to "Post Quick Reply"....here goesss....click!

I can tell you that my morbid obesity comes from many factors. The main one is family atmosphere. My first memory of life was being sexually molested along with my baby brother. My parents were teenagers and not very interested in responsibility. The molestation continued for 11 years. I sought the approval and attention of a 30 year old at 16 and became pregnant the first time. I was always at work to pay for my baby and my mom gave him to my older sister at 17. I became a heavy drinker and married at 18. I was by then a full fledged alcoholic. Three days before my 20th birthday I became sober through AA. I spent my 20's in therapy. It helped me tremendously! I gave birth to my second son at 25 and still continued with therapy until the age of 29. I continued to smoke as a crutch until I reached 36. On 4-01-2000 I quit smoking and by 8-29-2005, the day of banding, I went from 155 or so to 280 lbs. Eating had always been my source of comfort, but I was always able to keep within 20lb.s or so of a normal weight. This was only achieved through starvation, diet pills, coffee and many cigarettes. My mom always offered food as a source of comfort and it became a way of life early on. My dad was not in the picture and my step fatheres were alcoholics. My younger brother and sister are both practicing alcoholics and not interested in quitting. I am the outsider because I chose a different life and because I attend church regularly. They will come to me for help, but only on their terms and I don't hear from them unless they need something. It breaks my heart because they will probably die in their addictions. They and my mom are obese as well. My father died 3 years ago from a massive heart attack. He was 58 years old, obese and a heavy smoker and drinker. I had not seen him in 10 years. Fathering was not of interest to him. My brother still wants his approval-sad huh? Well I guess I have cried a river, thanks for listening-or reading. I love all of you, you are all great! Rose in Texas not a victim anymore! banded 8-29-2005

There are several issues with alcohol and WLS that will apply to varying degrees to different people. Healing time for the stomach is the first, which may not apply to those with the band which doesn't cut directly on the stomach, but will vary from a few weeks to several months or a year or more depending upon individual surgeons' perspectives. Transfer addiction, which BigUtahMan discussed, wherein an addiction to foods, to the degree one is afflicted, is transferred to another medium - alcohol, drugs, gambling, shopping, etc. This can affect anyone who is severely limiting their ability to indulge in an addictive behavior (i.e. any WLS patient irrespective procedure.) From this perspective, some will take a "never again" stand on it. The other alcohol biggie is liver condition; going into any WLS our livers aren't in the best of condition due to our obesity (witness the "liver shrinking" pre-op diets that many surgeons impose on their patients} and is further taxed by its role in metabolizing the fat that we are rapidly losing. The last thing that the liver needs is to be further stressed by metabolizing a known liver toxin - alcohol (that's not a moral judgement, just a physiological fact.) On this basis, some surgeons will suggest no alcohol during your weight loss phase. With my surgeon, this is part of the contract that we sign with him - that we will not drink as long as we are losing; it comes from his alter-ego as a biliopancreatic (liver/pancreas) transplant surgeon who doesn't want to see any of his bariatric patients coming back onto his transplant table.

HI all. DAy 6 and felling almost human today. A little hard with a get together and I cant eat or drink alcohol. But I got through it and am happy. Energy returning finally only a short nap today. How is everyone else feeling?

You have a good point. I'm sure the best thing to do would be to avoid alcohol as long as possible or forever, especially if you have an addictive personality. I'm hoping that I can indulge in the future at social events but cut out all of my evening glasses of wine at home. Sent from my SM-G920T using the BariatricPal App I'm with you. My days of "weekday" wine are over. I hope to enjoy a glass here and there when the time comes. Thankfully, it's just not that appealing anymore!

Smartcakes - monkfruit and sugar alcohols for sweetener, and they are 38 calories each (76 calories a package). No net carbs, fiber-rich, and they are tasty.

I read a lot about constipation prior to my surgery. While in the hospital they gave me sugar free jello, which I know has Sugar Alcohol which side effects is a laxative. So I ate one at every meal. It worked when I got home. I've had some form of diarrhea since being home every day. About the gas, oh my, it's horrible and at times very painful. I think I'd rather have a loose bm than constipation that I've read hurts really bad. I just try to keep up with my liquid requirements so that might help you. Also adding Benefiber to my protein shake helped. Today is one month since my surgery and I've lost 18 post op. Got really sick for the last 2+ weeks and I stopped losing even though I didn't eat much. I was dehydrated that entire time and still get my liquids but it's on the lower requirements. Now I'm losing again. As for your hiatal hernia, as much as you didn't know you had one prior to surgery, it won't give you any pain afterwards either. I had one 6 yrs ago and it was repaired when I had lap band surgery. Never felt a thing and my doctor said I wouldn't. With this sleeve surgery he said he did a few stitches with the hernia to help support it (I had a blockage last year which they think stretched it). Be sure to eat and drink slow or else you can backed up or the stomach get full too fast and hurt. I've only had a few times where I can feel it wanting to come up but I slowed down, stood up and it went down. I haven't yet get anything backed up to my throat or throwing up. I have a bad habit of eating too fast so there's been times I have and my new sleeve really hurts and I have to deal with it. Now I've backed off eating some things, went back to softer foods and stopped eating before I feel I'm full. That's helped. I don't think swallowing has to do with the hernia but maybe go back on shakes only and see if that helps.

I'm still having some problems with that. Just because it's Rant & Raves doesn't mean "everything goes" - or does it?? It's one thing to rant & rave about whatever topic but I always get a sour feeling when the rant & rave is about "all of these stupid board members" (and lets face it: there are enough of these threads). I can't really put my finger on why I feel this difference but the later gives me a bad feeling. During my time on this board I've read lines like "I'd like to see some of these people publicly fail" or that "they didn't deserve surgery" and that just makes me want to scream out loud. It's disgusting. Even worse, it brings out the mean b**** in my personality. I've even caught myself thinking "I'd really like to see some of those smug, arrogant users fail in the long run. Maybe that will cure them of their superiority-complex! Pride before fall and being a few months or one or two years out give them still pretty much time to fail." All of these "lets bash stupid users" threads smack of "I'm a better WLS patient than you!" - reminds me of the alcoholic drinking only two bottles of wine a day acting superior towards the alcoholic who drinks two bottles of hard liquor a day. Add in the numerous posts of "good WLS patients" who are eager to post how strict they are following the rules and what really good girls/boys they are (or are going to follow the rules once they had surgery - LOL) and I can only shake my head. Or laugh out loud. Depends on my mood. --- Oh, and if someone thinks this rant of mine is out of place or something because he or she might not like what I've said: look at the section!

Addiction gets such a bad rap societally. It is one of the most difficult things to recover from, yet it is so socially stigmatized that we don’t often talk about it freely. Food addiction is the most difficult addiction, in my opinion. Think about it: what other addiction do you have to wear on your sleeve? Alcoholics can drink to excess without anyone being the wiser. Pain pill addictions go unnoticed for years. Even people with addictions to cocaine, methamphetamines, and other hard drugs can go unnoticed for years. Gambling and sex addicts also go freely into society everyday without anyone raising as much as an eyebrow. In addition to having to “wear their addictions on their sleeves,” - food addicts can’t ever have the luxury of quitting “cold turkey.” We can’t quit food. In OA they say, with drug and alcohol addiction recovery- you slay the dragon, with food addiction recovery- you still have to take it for a walk three times a day. This is why understanding why we eat vs. just focusing on what we eat is so paramount in re-establishing a healthy relationship with food. If you’d like to take my free online course that helps you with this very concept, click here. Author Laura McKowen talks about the concept of the “pregnancy principle,” when people are recovering from alcohol addiction. She talks about the idea that when a woman is pregnant it is societally acceptable to say “no” at any time. A woman can go to a party for a mere 15 minutes and say “hey I’m really tired, I think I am going to go home now,” and everyone responds with “of course, you need the rest,” or “you are caring for two now- you have to listen to your body.” So why can’t one treat themselves with the same courtesy when recovering from food addiction. If you are at a party that has a bunch of triggering foods, a co-worker’s birthday party, a potluck, a restaurant where everyone has decided to order dessert- why does it feel so unacceptable to say “hey guys thanks for the great time, but I’m going to head home now.” This is much in part due to inherent shame surrounding addiction. One feels that they should just be able to be like everyone else. Yet study after study has shown there are key genetic factors that often play into overeating, food addiction, and obesity. We shouldn’t have to have another person inside of us to give ourselves permission to take care of ourselves. Aren’t you enough? Whether you are in the beginning stages of your weight loss surgery, or 6 years post- this month, try to look at your recovery the same way a pregnant woman looks at taking care of herself. If you know something is going to be too triggering, not fun, exhausting, mentally draining- either bow out politely, or go for a short period of time and excuse yourself when you’re no longer feeling it. If you are interested in receiving more free weight loss help with the psychological part of recovery, please check out my free course here.

<rant> Okay, I'm sitting here, contemplating my caffeine addiction. I had been pretty much off of caffeine for many months - not a conscious effort to avoid caffeine, but a conscious effort to drink more Water and do herbal teas - the herbal teas I was choosing just happened to be caffeine-free. Anyway, the last several months of this fill I got in October I have gotten into the habit of drinking a big mug of hot tea with half-and-half and artificial sweetner first thing in the mornings, and that has snowballed into about 4-5 big mugs of hot tea each day that I am at work. My big mug holds two of those cardboard coffee cups worth. I am only using one teabag per mug, however the teabag sits in the mug until it's empty. So figure at least 4-5 teabags worth of caffeine each work day. Monday and this morning I woke up with a rip-roaring headache. Headaches are unusual for me. So I've been trying to figure out why, initially thinking it was a lack of sleep, but now I'm thinking it's overnight caffeine withdrawal. On to the rant. I have been sweetening my tea with a liquid sweetener called Huxol that I got from Germany. I like it a lot, and my friend brought me 4 bottles when she came to visit last year. I can't get it here in the U.S. because it contains saccharin. Remember saccharin? It's been banned in the U.S. for forever, it seems, after the FDA determined that it could cause cancer at very high doses (doses that seem impossible for a human being to consume each day for the length of time it would take to get that result). So, because of my caffeine addiction, I have been running through this sweetener like there is no tomorrow. I am now on my very last bottle, and I only have 2 inches left. I figure I am going through about .25 inches a day. My DBF has been tasked to get me some more, but he has been to 5 different stores in Germany, now, and has not seen hide nor hair of Huxol. I could ask my friend to send me some more, but she's on the German economy, and it would cost a fortune in postage, where as DBF can use the U.S. post through the military. I am starting to panic... without the Huxol, the tea will just not be the same with SweetnLow, or Equal. I cannot stand Splenda. I am facing.... (da da duuuuuh!!!!) the end of my caffeine habit as I know it. This displeases me (in spite of the suspect headaches :sick ). So, I'm pissing and moaning to myself about the fact that saccharine is no longer available in the states (sing along with Gilda Radner: "Goodbye, saccharine..."), thinking that I'm not that thrilled about being protected from myself and my bad habits by the FDA. And then it hits me - alcohol and cigarettes are legal, and cause waaaaay more damage everyday, at everyday usage level than saccharine ever did/could, and THEY are not illegal!!! (no offense to drinkers/smokers out there). Now I am doubly pissed! I could not possibly drink enough saccharine to be afflicted with the diseases those poor mice came down with. Does anyone else see the irony here? I think these caffeine withdrawals are making me downright mean and unreasonable... Caffeine should probably be banned, too.... shhhhhhh!!! Don't tell the FDA!!!! lol </rant>

Carol..looking at your starting wegiht , were started at almost the same weight. After reading your tips on Water aerobics and what you eat..I have lots of hope I will be as successful as you. I do the water aerobics every night in my pool, I just got out of the pool after 30 minutes of aerobics.I have all the gadgets to do it with my best friend is a wter aerobics instructor and has given me many exercises to do as well as helpful web sites on it.... and I eat almost exactly what you do everyday minus the alcohol, I have yet to drink since being banded. I have had a couple bites of ice cream since banding though . Thanks for your post, you have inspired me!! You have done an awesome job and you desreve lots of praise! Please post some pics if you have them!

i keep coming back to this thread and it makes me shake my head as a newbi it also makes me want to watch what I post honestly- what if I slip up and say I did and that’s it its full on your stupid get help tut tut bad girl?! I just want to say to no one in particular diet/zero soda ARE liquids they are mainly Water which you CAN drink in the liquid stage of the diet so frankly the day after the op you can drink it if its flat. Yes it happens to be fizzy unless you let it go flat, and yes it has alot of empty calories and some crap and crappy sweeteners but its still Fluid. Some of us have been told while it’s not ideal BECAUSE of the crap and empty calories in it but we can still drink it if its flat. Its in my paperwork on the pre and post op diets that I can drink it how it comes pre and flat post right there in black and white just because some of your were not told that doesn’t mean your right and we are wrong or vice versa! i mean god I was told not to drink tea or coffee or full fat milk all they give me in hospital was tea with full fat milk! I don’t get why people are jumping so hard on a person assuming he is chugging gallons of fizzy soda and dismissing everything told to him and being told in not so many words he is gonna stay fat or get fat again or going to stall so tough luck and we warned you! That’s pretty shitty to me honestly its like a bunch of ex smokers who go around telling you how bad it is for you all the time when they smoked 80 a day! Yeah we want support yeah we offer support where we can but frankly I am over the tutters and shamers! Please do not tell me not one of you tasted, licked, nibbled, drank a single thing you shouldn’t have since the op or never ever will for the rest of your life! No one is that perfect weather its alcohol a sweet treat takeaway whatever there is bound to be a slip somewhere along the lines no one is perfect and there is a reason within all of us that we got to the point of needing this in the first place! I think people who have been out longer than others forget their old life their habits and mindset. (not everyone just some i have seen around the forum) How hard it is sometimes to adjust and forget the head cravings or the emotional ones of just years and years of ingrain habit instead they are all knowing and just preach to the new people and scold them like kids. I have seen posts on this forum what people eat in the first week out and yes I shake my head and say F’ing hell! But I also know each person has their own struggles and own ways of rebelling in frustration and own demons with food and its pretty safe to say self sabotage. You don’t get to the stage we are at and not have tried diets and healthy eating before this is a brand new way of life some learn quickly some take longer some have more issues to work out before they get it but throwing digs and coming down on people not at your stage or not doing exactly what you did just hurts the person more than it helps. Say your concerned say they shouldn’t do it in your opinion, don’t get mean and personal and snide it doesn’t help anyone.

those who eat well are also foodies - unless you are strictly bound to meat & potatoes or cafeteria eating I like anything sweet - so as not to taste the alcohol is my deal!

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 am so impressed!!! alcohol, cigarettes and food. Every minute of every day, you should pat yourself on the back. I smoked for 25 years. Quitting is very hard. That advice about the first 2 weeks being the hardest is BS. It is hard for much longer so keep your guard up. It is not just the physical addiction but it was such a part of your life. It was a reason to take a break, it was something to do with your hands when you were bored, it was something to do with your mouth instead of eating. right? I promise it does get better. At first you will be preoccupied every minute of the day and think of nothing else. Gradually the time between will get further and further apart until one day you'll realize you went a whole day without thinking about a cigarette. It helps to remind yourself that never again will you have to go stand outside in the rain or snow to smoke, never again will you need to wake up on a Sunday morning and run out to the store because you ran out, never again will you have the awful smell on your breath and clothes, and best of all you will not develop those deep vertical lines on your lips as you get older. so proud of you!!!!

It's so hard for me to go out to eat these days. It's just not that enjoyable as it use to be.... I don't want to eat junk, I want to eat healthy and the restaurants sabotage my eating if I'm not careful. so I just prepare my meals at home. I do have a margarita when out but can only drink a few sips. I realize now that I was totally misinformed by the bariatrics department telling us that alcohol will kill us. I realize they were talking about about GBS mostly. So I haven't pushed the limits with alcohol..But from what I'm reading from the posts, alcohol will not kill me....So instead of ordering food at a restaurant, I'll just order and drink and have some fun with it, especially in Maui.......I still have stricture, I discovered yesterday, and I felt horrible the rest of the evening. I realize that I think about what I'm going to eat all the time and when my stomach feels empty, I will eat something......This is my obsession and it's time to break the pattern......Sorry for the rant! Everyone here is doing really good.......

Ok, so i had my GB removed years before my LB. I have to still agree with Mis73. I ate and still do eat: Dairy Products Especially cheese Peanut Butter Red meat Raw Vegetables (i don't eat these because i don't like them. and now because of the band) Caffeine Alcohol I removed the fried and high fat, because those are correct. I also had trouble in the beginning with eggs & corn. Each person is different. I have a friend that still... 10+ years later still has to take a power every day or she will have diarrhea. some doctors will remove the GB at time of LB surg. due to the weight loss, most people will develop GB problems. But, the LB it self does not cause GB problems....

Gall bladder issues ARE and CAN BE related to ANY weight loss surgery, it's a FACT. Now as far as waiting to have surgery to get the lap band, ASK your Doctor ...GB surgery recovery is usually 2 weeks There are some foods that should be avoided after gallbladder surgery. Generally, any foods that gave you pain before surgery will need to be avoided. It will take awhile for your body to learn how to digest fats so you should stick to a low fat diet for at least a few weeks after surgery and reintroduce them very slowly. Dairy products and too much Fiber can also cause problems. The BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast) should be avoided if you are having problems with constipation. However, if you are having diarrhea you may want to eat more of these foods. Every one should avoid these: Fried food Dairy Products Especially cheese Peanut Butter Red meat Greasy Foods Raw Vegetables Caffeine Alcohol (especially if you're on prescription pain pills!) It's not uncommon for a Doctor to do a H. hernia repair while doing the Lap Band, seems like gall bladder could also be removed at the same time BUT....most surgeons aren't going to do that due to insurance limitations, especially when they get have the surgeons do 2 surgeries and get paid double

I am so sorry for your loss, I am new to this forum so I will make this comment brief. I have a rule that I have applied to my eating that I hope will help you. it goes like this....Feelings are not right and not wrong they just are, let them be and choose how you will react. Grief, loneliness, and anger are all powerful feelings that will take our control away from us if we let it. Ice cream for you, pizza for me or a drink for the alcoholic will destroy all of us and I really can't believe that this is what your lovely little dog would want for you. Sugar free popsicles would be a better choice for me but if I were you and I kept grieving I would go into a deep depression and just keep eating without knowing what I was doing to myself. I hope this advice helps. God Bless ttfn

You have to make a permanent change to your mindset or you will regain. I am focused on my health period. Everything I think and do supports that. I changed my mind, the sleeve was a tool. I am 2.5 years out and down 118 lbs. permanently. My hobbies are cooking healthy foods and being active in dozens of ways. I don't have any unhealthy habits as I have determined to eliminate each one step by step. I got honest with myself about what made me fat to begin with and fierce about changing mindset. I do not self indulge on food, alcohol or negativity. I am a different person. Tackling the mental/emotional is the real key to success but without the sleeve as my tool I would have lost hope and incentive. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

The only thing I can add to the excellent advice above is this: We sleeved our stomachs, not our heads. Doing the sleeve work on our heads is just as important as the surgery we went through, but it's WAY harder, IMO. At my psyche appt, the counselor told me that I have an addictive personality and I will always be addicted to something. She went so far as to tell me that I WILL become an alcoholic, but she still gave me the approval for surgery! I started seeing a counselor several weeks ago, for the addictive behavior and some other issues related to my weight. WLS is not her area of specialty, but she's helping me see where and why I mistreat myself. Once I know those things, and it takes time to learn, then I can remove the bad stuff. I agree with removing the temtation foods from the house if you can't bring yourself to use moderation with them. Maybe, once you're back on track, you can learn how to work those things into your diet in a healthy way. For me, knowing that I can have sweets or chocolate later makes it easier to give them up now. Good luck on your journey! You've done great so far, so this is just a bump in the road for you. You will succeed!!!

Just pulled this off the internet - I believe it's by Michael Murray the alkaline diet proponent. It does make you think - don't see many thin people drinking diet soda and it never helped me lose any weight... Why "Diet" Soda Makes You Fat Many people see diet soda is an innocuous, harmless beverage that can't possibly cause any harm to their waistline since it doesn't have any calories. Think again. Research published this summer in the medical journal Circulation shows that people who drink more than one soda a day -- whether it's regular or diet -- have an almost 50 percent increased risk for metabolic syndrome, which doubles their risk for heart disease and diabetes. Two years ago, a study at the University of Texas Health Science Center found that there was a 41 percent increase in the risk for being overweight for every single can of diet soda a person consumed daily. But how can something with no calories increase the risk for obesity and heart disease? There are several possible ways. First, my own theory is that the sweet taste works in the brain to create a conditioned response. The body responds as it usually does to normal sugar -- with insulin, the fat-storing hormone. Those circuits in the brain are pretty primitive and ancient, and they can't immediately distinguish chemical fakery. As far as your brain is concerned, sweet means sugar. It's entirely possible that physiologically, you would respond to aspartame in the same way as you would to table sugar. It's only a theory, but it makes sense to me. Second, sugar creates its own cravings. Just as a taste of rum creates an unstoppable craving in an alcoholic, it's entirely possible that the taste of sweet, even if it's fake, creates the same cascade of cravings in a carb addict that regular sugar does, leading to overeating and binging and all the rest of the reasons people put on weight. Third, many people think that by drinking diet beverages they're "saving" calories. They subconsciously allow themselves to eat more, figuring it's not doing as much harm since they're drinking a diet drink. The diet drink gives them subconscious "permission" to eat more. What's worse than making you fat, aspartame may be toxic. Aspartame is made primarily from three ingredients: aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. Methanol, an alcohol, breaks down in the body to formaldehyde, a poison if there ever was one. Apologists for aspartame say that it doesn't create enough formaldehyde in the body to cause any damage, but I'm not so sure. Exposing children to formaldehyde levels as low as .75 mg daily for several months has been shown to cause gradual toxicity. Plus, diet soda is frequently stored in hot warehouses, causing chemical breakdowns that went undetected in the original safety studies that looked at "ideal" conditions. Soda is bad news, whether regular or diet. Period. Note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He's a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master's degree in psychology. Dr. Bowden is also a life coach, motivational speaker, former personal trainer and author of the award-winning book, Living the Low Carb Life. [www.jonnybowden.com]