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Kool aid I do ok. Also if I drink through a straw. I asked Dr. He said straw was ok. It's so hard to quench my thirst, Idk why. I drink like I'm a fish (no alcohol lol). New Life Started 07/24/12

I am not a goal yet, but I am almost at a normal BMI. I agree exercise and tracking helps. I work out 5-6 days per week unless I'm travelling. I'm not good at exercising while on the road. I track my Protein, calorie, and Fluid intake every day. I also measure my food with a scale or measuring cups and spoons. Otherwise,it's too easy for extra ounces to creep in portions and then my tracking can be off. And I have not returned to drinking alcohol yet. I've heard that slows down loss. Lynda

There are SO many to choose from. For me, the Unjury is great and I do not experience an aftertaste. It is different for everyone. On previous tries with protein powders/mixes/drinks I notice I cannot have any with the sweeteners which are stripped down sugar alcohols: any of the ose's sucralose etc. Also maltodextrin, maltitol, mannitol etc cause me upset. Splena kills me. The unjury has aspartame in it. I was a diet coke "addict" for years so the aspartame doesnt bother me. If they have samples of the drinks youwant to try I would suggest getting them first. By volume they do cost more but you save so much not having bought the whole container just to not enjoy it.

Hello! My surgery was on 8/6/13 and I am currently down 27.4 pounds. I am not sure if I am on target but it seems slow going. I lost most of my weight early on and have only lost a little over 4 pounds in the last month. Is this typical? Im being honest here, I have struggled with the Protein and the Water intake, even though I love to drink water. I just cant seem to get it all in. I have been experimenting with just about any kind of foods and seem to be able to eat most things, just not too much of anything at once. I have had some foods I shouldn't, but even though I dont think I have consumed more than 1000 calories any given day. I have had drinks containing alcohol a few times. It doesnt seem to bother me or affect me different than before. My family are big beef eaters and so I have ate ground beef a few times, I havent had issues with that. I havent exercised much due to the fact that I am prepping my house for moving and that is a lot of physical activity. I am tired as can be at the end of the day. So, looking at this, there are many areas I can improve on, but I am just living my life as normal as possible and not constantly thinking about the sleeved stomach or when to eat. I would appreciate any feedback and advice. Thanks All, Joan

What sugar free Popsicles do you eat? The ones I found have Sugar Alcohol.

I'm 5 months out and still do shakes. As for alcohol....most doctors say 6 months. Me personally, I've seen what it can do to a rny patient that wasn't carful and it scared me so I won't touch a drop. HW: 331 SW: 11/26/12 319lbs CW: 229 04/23/13 GW: 157

Does alcohol cause ulcers??

Well i am just doing a healthier diet. No soda or sugar drinks, no alcohol, five to nine servings of fruits and veggies. No simple carbs, high Protein, Breakfast everyday. Limit dairy. It's been pretty doable. I'm also going to the gym 2_3 times a week and wearing my bodymedia arm band

thanks. the dr did say that this could potentially develop into cirrohsis of the liver way down the line which struck a chord with me since my father past from that at age 42 (granted he was an alcoholic and i do not drink). so i have to take care of this immediatley

I feel your pain.....my MIL is the same way.....with her, if you toast in the New Year....you are an alcoholic! It is only one of many of her judgemental ways----and she is a strict Church of Christ member who berates my family for attending a Methodist church with a woman pastor. My DH and I got into a huge fight last week, and part of it was me unloading about things that had been said to me when we were helping his parents the week before. He thought it over, and agreed with me amazingly!!! So the last couple of times we have been at their house, we can be sitting and visiting happily, and the second she says something negative in regards to our kids, or my family, he pops up from his seat and says to me "time to go" and we are outta there like a shot. We always hug them and tell them we love them and just leave! I know we should tell them why rather than hope they would figure it out.....but he is quick to react---------by leaving! I think I would just tell your Mom "I've heard this before, we will never agree, so I guess it is time for me to leave" and leave. If she sniffles and cries, she will get over it, it isn't as it what you said to her was mean. Then go back to see her soon, so she can see it is not HER as a whole you are avoiding, but her unwanted critisism of your friends....and stay until she says something again, repeat and leave. Soon if she really wants time with you she will reign in her opinions, I would think! I was shocked, yet pleased at my DH's response to his mother. She is extremely opinionated and unfair. She dogs on everyone except her perfect few, and even they get it on occasion, she come loose on his sister with us a few days ago, and cracked us up!!! That was before we began taking our leave when she went on a tear! Good Luck! Kat

Ahhhhh. Mother issues. Gotta love 'em! My mother was extremely judgmental as well. It didn't matter what I did, my mother found a way to degrade me. And my friends as well. It would upset me to no end. I would always go crying to my best friend over the latest drama she'd put me through. One day he said to me "Why do you give her the power to upset you?" At first I was angry. "Didn't you hear what she said about me?!?! :cursing:" He said "Of course I did. She says the same kind of thing about everything you do. Even when you do something great she can find a negative in there." He was right. She upset me because I let her upset me. Having a couple of drinks a month doesn't make you an alcoholic. Even if your mother says it does. From the time of my enlightenment I played into my mother's negativity and learned to turn it around. Like this for example: "Your friend is an alcoholic." "Yeah, but she knows all the best places to buy cheap booze!" "You'll end up just like her!" "I hope so. She's really popular and knows had to throw a great party." "Too many wild parties will get you in trouble with the police." "Not if you're good friends with them and invite them to the parties. They know how to avoid getting in trouble with the law because they are the law." "She's still an alcoholic." "Yeah I know, we already agreed on that." After a few conversations like this, it will be your mother who will end up being frustrated and wanting to rant about everything. If you continue to agree with everything she says and add your own spin on it, she can't continue to argue against you. After all, you're not disagreeing with her. You agree with everything she says. After a while I used to enjoy "arguing" with my mother. If she complained about what a horrible child I was, I always brought out the standard "I blame the parents." excuse. :thumbup:

Its perfectly normal for your body to go through "withdrawals" and I put quotations around it because sometimes it probably feels like you are an alcoholic who had his last drink, and other times just an annoying itch to having something bad. Things improve post surgery. Your cravings will lessen, along with your appetite. I gave things up in a very methodical way. I gave up sugar and most carbs first, soda second, and then all caffeine last. Most things post op are too sweet now, so I don't crave sweetness at all. Everyone's different. This surgery is HARD. Every aspect is hard. Giving these things up now will mentally prepare yourself for after surgery.

I know I'm not supposed to drink but I have been and nothing has been happening. I don't get sick, I don't have any issues getting drunk fast. I have 2 drinks and that's it. Is it really that bad?

How far out from surgery are you? My surgeon suggests no alcohol for first six months because of healing, empty calories. Then he has stressed to be very careful because you can get drunk faster and transfer addictions. what are you drinking?? Depending on how far out you are from surgery would determine how I would personally answer the question is it really bad? As long as you are far enough out and not drinking a lot I don't see a problem. I just wouldn't make it a habit and if you can go without alcohol it would be much healthier and better for you

Diet soda is a no no for almost every program but maybe yours is different. Only being two months out is usually too early to even think about alcohol. I know most program suggest at least six months. I would really talk to your surgeon regarding this. liquid courage is usually not a good thing anyway.

Don't know if you'll gain weight, but ALL alcohol turns into carbs...alcohol is transformed into sugar in our bodies.

While I am not a healthcare provider, I work in liver disease. The goal of the pre-op diet is to help shrink the liver and alcohol is the worst toxin for the liver (and causes inflammation of the liver). I hate to tell you this but I'm worried that drinking could affect your liver and therefore the ease of surgery. I'm not saying I was perfect on my preop, but I was really careful the last two weeks and my surgeon said that he could tell by my liver. I don't envy you, this would be a tough decision for me as well. Best of luck

3 months...that was OK'd by my doctor. You should always follow what your doc says. I've read some docs want you to wait 6 months or a year to start consuming alcohol. I wasn't a big drinker before surgery, but I did enjoy a drink every once in a while. My drink of choice now is a vodka cranberry with a twist of lime. I can only have one at a time because I can feel the effects right away. I'm a cheap date now!

I would like to know how long you guys waited to have a drink?????

My surgeon requires a 2-week pre-op diet of essentially Stage 1 of the Atkins diet, with the big stresser being keeping carbs below 20g/day. Then, 1 day before the surgery, clear liquids only. Then nothing 8 hours before surgery. Also, the day before surgery, at around noon, drink a full bottle of liquid Magnesium Citrate, followed immediately by 8oz Water, to help clean the system out. If it doesn't work by 6pm, then drink a second bottle (and water). 1 week before surgery hold all NSAIDs, hold Fish Oil, hold alcohol, prioritize sleep.

Sure--like an alcoholic missing the drinking and the zoning out/buzz. I don't think that urge to eat mindlessly (for me anyway) ever goes away. And like Sue Magoo said, we can still eat yummy food--just not as much of it. Plus, an odd thing happened with me: my tastebuds changed. Some things that I used to love really don't taste that great anymore--and other things taste wonderful now. Go figure.

I thought of several things as I was reading your post. I've been battling chronic depression and anxiety since I was 14 years old. You have done an awesome thing getting yourself through college while dealing with depression, anxiety and weight loss surgery. You deserve a round of applause! When I was your age, I was chasing that "high" or any good feeling with a lot of self medicating with food, alcohol and other things. I don't suggest going that direction because it just made me more depressed than ever. I went through some therapy but that didn't really help much either. I finally sought help from a good doctor. He explained that some people have severe chemical imbalances in their brains that cause depression. I started on antidepressants at that time. I was really really really lucky that the first one we tried worked well for me, we have adjusted medication over the years when needed. The truth is that science does not know enough about depression yet, as in doctors really have to guess what medication to start you on and sometimes it can take a while to find the right one. Another thing that came to mind is that I always have to carefully watch myself during February because I also have Seasonal Affective Disorder. The theory is we get less sunlight during the winter months which affects our brain chemicals. During the winter months, and especially February, I can't watch movies about anything depressing. Like I usually enjoy movies about World War II but I do not watch them right now. I started watching a movie about civil war in Liberia during the '80's and started crying in the first five minutes. I watch comedies in February. I go outside several times a day when the sun is out and just stroll around with my dog. Or sit out in the sun. It doesn't take long for these things to help me. So, I'm just relating my experiences here. Not trying to be an expert, just saying what has helped me. I hope and wish you the very best and that you will find something to help you through this time.

The key to losing fat - (I say fat because even muscle loss = weight loss and who wants to lose muscle?) is understanding and applying the energy balance PLUS understanding how your body uses food as fuel and how those fuels differ (carbs, fats, proteins, alcohol). Your body has a strong will to survive. It will not voluntarily give up its' fat stores. You have to coax and burn them off. You do this by creating a calorie deficit created by BOTH exercise and reduced food intake. Creating this deficit by intake alone will not take an obese person down to a healthy body fat percentage - at best, it will create a skinny fat person. Calories In Vs. Calories Out is a bit too simplistic. 1000 calories of cotton candy and 1000 calories of skinless chicken breast are profoundly different. The difference in insulin response alone (not to mention other body chemistry) is huge! All calories are not equal. Ponder this... "Joe" eats 1000 calories a day, day after day. He needs to lose 100 pounds. This low calorie diet gives him a deficit of 2000 calories a day. By this calculation he should be able to completely lose his excess body weight in 175-200 days....(Bet he doesn't)... But what if he continues this trend for several years? Does he completely disappear? Of course not. Because it's not just about calories in/calories out - it's about managing your metabolism via your energy balance. I eat 1000 calories some days - I eat over 3000 other days. I still have challenging food demons, but I manage them. If I'm going to eat cheat foods, I do so on planned high calorie days. By cycling calories this way - combined with a challenging exercise schedule consisting of both strength and cardiovascular training - I keep my metabolism white hot. My body fat percentage continues to fall, while the scale stays relatively stable (small lean muscle tissue gains). This lifestyle allows fat loss on calorie deficit days and muscle gains on calorie surplus days. There are several scenarios of posts on LBT that leave me grumbling... One of them is very low calorie diets. People who eat very low calories (600-1000) love the weight loss they initially see. But how much of that weight is lost muscle? Your body is a machine. If it's being starved is it going to give up metabolically active lean muscle tissue which is high maintenance to keep - or fat stores which costs next to nothing to maintain? Some of both, but the ratio is going to tip toward the lean muscle tissue. As muscle tissues decline, your body adjusts it's metabolism in a fight to avoid starvation, the weight loss slows and then comes the unavoidable - yet easily predicted plateau. They havn't lost weight in months, but hey, plateau's are normal right? No... they aren't normal - they mean your body has adjusted your metabolism accordingly to try to stave off starvation. It won't give up without a fight. But their doctor prescribed the 800 calorie low carb diet, so that must not be it... :rolleyes2: Here's another one... I've read a lot of posts where people are eating 1000 calories and gaining weight and they try to suggest it's muscle gains... Not a chance... It is physiologically impossible to maintain that large of a calorie deficit and gain muscle tissue, which actually requires a calorie surplus. One person is starving themselves eating 800 low carb calories a day, while at the same time I sit here on a high calorie day snacking on Peanut M&M's dipped in peanut butter. "So Brad, if your so damned smart and think this is so easy, then why did you get so fat you needed WLS?" Because I didn't understand the energy balance and how my body used fuel and how those fuel types differ - BUT now I do... And I want everyone else to know too... It may be simple - but it isn't easy... The band is a great tool to help you achieve your goals. Your body is a wonderful efficient machine when properly understood. Fuel it appropriately and it will reward you! Good Luck! Brad

Alcohol dehydrates you. Most people when dehydrated find that their band tightens and it is harder to eat.