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Soooo all my experienced sleevers do u drink wine or liquor??? Need to know miss.carter

Wow! I always thought I was a pretty savvy NFL fan, but I only recently learned that the Packers are a fan-owned franchise. I think that is absolutely fabooooooo! Sure, professional sports are big business...but it's great to see a fanbase that actually has more invested than the typical fair-weather loyalty that most clubs see. Win or lose, Packbackers seem to be loyal. I asked my dietician during my consult about the prohibition on alcohol after the band. She said that it wasn't just about it having empty calories. Since your stomach is so much smaller, you won't have much food in it at a time. Since there isn't any food to slow things down, the alcohol you drink goes straight into your system. She never understood how true this was until she did a guest speaking at a support group and heard that most folks get smashed on a single shot. She said that some folks have wine now and then, but since you cannot drink with your meals she said you'd have to keep an eye on how you tolerate the wine on it's own. :crying:

Let's see, my surgery was June 13. I quit smoking, after 37 yrs, alcohol & coffee on June 1. No cravings noted for any of them.

OH - and here are some posts from OTHERS...... danceswithforks 17:11my best friend is a nurse and she says it's bad to get a lap band. It's not fun to deal with either. You just need to join the rest of us who are dieting and exercising and not be in a hurry. We are a microwave society. You have to diet with one of those on so you can't escape dieting. I wonder what kind of complications they bring on? maybe you pass gas or you feel sick. No thanks. It's not normal. I'm trying to encourage you to do it the old fashioned way. tinav 16:19Unless you are at deaths door any weight loss surgery is not a good idea. Thats my thought on the subject. I have watched many tv programs and read a fair amount of information on these surgeries. As most of you already know, there are cases where the person has lost the weight and is as happy as can be. Others where they have lost the weight and now need a whole series of surgeries to remove skin. Some have replaced their food addiction with alcohol, drug or gambling addictions. Thats just too many risks for me. Besides that, Im a chicken and wouldnt opt for any surgery unless it were absolutely necessary. As beachwalkers friend said, if you can stick to the diet after the surgery then why not stick to it before the surgery. I think so many people in todays society want everything yesterday and they want it easy. Fast lifestyle, fast cars, fast food, fast fix. The faster we go the more we miss, the more we miss the less we learn, the less we learn the less likely we are to make good life decissions. beachwalker15:31Let me say this. I met a woman who had the proceedure. They gave her a diet to follow. Her exact words were "If I had followed the diet to begin with, I wouldn't have needed the surgery." shekitty13:36I am generally against weight loss surgery of any kind. I know four persons who had bypass and all but one of them has gained back a significant amount of weight. All of them had complications after surgery. I girl who works for me had lap band surgery about 7 months ago. She too has had complications and has had to have the band "redone" twice because it doesn't stay where it is supposed to. She has also only lost 30 pounds in the 7 months, which she could have done through traditional dieting. It is a diet surgery myth that these procedures will fix the problem. Unless you are experiencing a life threatening health issue and your doctor is suggesting lap band, I would try to lose weight without it. For the record, I started here at 280 pounds and am currently at 260. I am considered morbidly obese and a prime candidate for these procedures. Personally, I would rather be fat than to go through the hassles the folks I know have gone through after their surgery.

I had my surgery on 9/12/08 and my first fill on 10/21/08. So far, that fill has been the easiest thing since the surgery!! Before the PA did my fill she said "most people think the first fill is the worst"; so naturally I braced myself for pain. She wiped the area with alcohol, nothing to numb it. The only thing I felt was some pressure and a tiny "sting". Honestly, for me, a blood test is more painful. Nothing to it !!!!!! You'll be okay.

The support group I went to a couple of times right after banding discussed this very topic. It seemed the substitute addicition of choice for this group was alcohol. I had no idea giving up overeating could lead to substitute addictions prior to people discussing it at the support group meeting. I think LBT must be my substitute addiction.

The psychologist who did my pre-op evaluation very explicitly warned about this, and it was also in my pre-op information packet from the doctor. I think you mentioned the big ones: sex, alcohol, and gambling. Exercise would be the best of the options!! Good luck to you and keep safe!

There are people who become addicted to alcohol after the first sip. I think that was me with food. I just loved it. I have eight brothers and sisters, and even though we all played sports and were extremely active, I was the only fat one because I could never, ever get enough. It was all I wanted, and I spent all my money on it from babysitting cash at 13 to a good portion of my salary in my thirties. I can't believe how much extra money I have now simply because I'm not heading to a local restaurant, buying 3-4 meals and eating it in the car. Now, when I go to the grocery store, I walk up and down to the aisles and still look longingly over all the delicious things I can't eat. I flip them over, look at the nutritional info, and sometimes I put them in my cart and then dump them right before the checkout line. I really miss food. Most of it makes me ill so I couldn't eat it if I wanted to, but that doesn't change how badly I still want it. I still throw away most of what I buy because I can't eat it, but it makes me feel secure to have it around for awhile. My vice was binging though. I usually only ate once or twice a day, but I could eat enough for 3-4 people in that time. And soda? Oh boy, I lived on mountain dew for 20 years.

I have been thinking a lot lately about all the habits in my life that in a way aided my food addiction and really bad eating habits. Now obviously the ultimate activity was eating for the joy of eating but now that I think about it, there are a lot of activities that I participate in that were in a way always affecting my eating habits. So I decided to make this post in order to list those activities and remember. In a way this is just a personal way to gauge what activities are bad for my new lifestyle as well as to keep in mind that I did pair these activities with food so that in the future when I do participate in them, I have that mental note. Can anyone else think of any activities that were partnered with excessive eating and in general a sedentary lifestyle? For me the primary ones were: 1. Video games. There were days were I would sit for HOURS and play online video games on my computer chair. In the mean time I would order large amounts of take out twice. Once for lunch, once for dinner. Sometimes I would also snack in between. Pair this with sitting in a chair all day, I started packing on pounds. 2. Same routine as video games but with TV and movies. I cannot watch TV or a movie without eating something. Popcorn, dinner, Snacks, beer, large coke. All kinds of unhealthy stuff. Now I am trying to re-train myself to not watch TV while I eat. 3. Pub crawling, going out excessively in the evenings with friends. Now this is an activity that almost everyone partakes in to some extent. Going out is just a natural social process but it was what I associated going out with which was damaging. VERY heavy drinking, decadent dinners, midnight mcdonald and snack runs. Typical college lifestyle only supercharged and would happen at least 3 times a week and included LOTS of eating. 4. I know I kind of mentioned this in my other post but drinking beer/alcohol EXTREMELY often. I lived in Montreal for a while, big drinking city, big college city. People in Montreal LOVE to drink. 2 beers with lunch, 5-7 happy hours, long nights of binge drinking. Buying packs upon packs of beer any and every time you went to a friend's house. It was very rare that there would be an occasion without drinks. As of now, after my weight loss surgery, this is something that I will hugely reform. I will not partake in 95 percent of the drinking that I used to anymore. Anyone have any they would like to share?

I had sleeve on 4/25/2018. Sw: 215 cw: 192 gw: 145. I’ve been struggling with depression and binging on the soft foods for about a week. Here’s what I’ve come up with: walking is my meditation. Bariatric is my hobby for the foreseeable future. Like an alcoholic I NEED support. Having low energy and being inside too much really brought me down. Also my hormones are whacked right now. Estrogen is off. Sex is off. So I’m sure our hormones and serotonin are off so walk. If you want to connect directly I’m kgbhalloween@gmail.com

I have a Vegas trip 6 weeks after my surgery I'm wondering if I can have a drink. Obviously not carbonated but an alcoholic one.

I am 6 months post op and had my first drink 3 months post-op. Yes, it does hit you faster, but it certainly wears off faster too. I can have two vodka drinks and feel pretty tipsy, but one hour later I am stone cold sober. My surgeon said the biggest concern with alcohol is the empty calories and transfer addiction. I am pretty much a weekend drinker and I haven't had to change my lifestyle much, I just had to give it up for a while. I do stay away from beer though because of the carbonation, and obviously sugary drinks are too high calorie.

A guys turn to bitch. I caught a burglar in our garage on christmass eve, we sold our house and I alone got to pack it all up and move it since my wife was pregnant with twins, get to the new house, tons of crap ensues getting the electric turned on, the well ran out of Water blah blah blah, twins came 10 weeks early, suprise, i was banded to tighltly the entire time, could barely drink water while she was in the hospital, now were all home, kids won't sleep, sick of hearing advice on what to do, I swear if one more fwackin child care know it all parent tells me to cram this holistic goop down there gullet or asks if they are sleeping through the night or trys to share any fwacking piece of advice that they have not been directly and personally asked for, I'm gonna start whackin people. LET ME RESTATE THAT, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY OF YOUR F@CKIN ADVICE ABOUT INFANT CARE AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME. Add sleep deprivation onto a having to disassemble the engine on my wifes car and rebuild it between evening feedings, giving up my suv so she has something reliable to drive the kids around with, drinking to much just to settle my nerves because I walk in and she and the two infant daughters have all gone ballistic, alcoholic mother won't sit the fwack down and shut the fwack up you looney repressed psychoctic demented old bag, pressuring myself to stop drinking cause it's just unneeded calories and you don't want to end up acting like your mother, eating around my band regularly because I'm searching for the littlest something to help alleviate the stress and pain. Having coworkers whine to me that i need to be nicer and not so angry all the time, (they are all so close to being beaten they just don't know) a go no where job where idiocracy and inefficiency ooze at every turn, no time to ride my motorcycle to try to sooth my soul, trying to excercise on the elliptical but now i've develop a agonizing knee pain 15 minutes into it. Great, my knees are gone at the age of 33. FWACKIN PERFECT. What does it all add up to? Jumping on the scale and finding out I'm up 12 lbs and continuing to look dumpy in my clothes. AAAAAAAAA$RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Alcohol stretches your stomach? I don't really think that's true. Never ever heard that before. How? Has anyone actually watched the video Babbs put up here?

What they told us in our Support Group is that two things can cause stretching: Carbonated drinks and Alcohol. We are not talking once in a blue moon but on a continuous basis. Otherwise not much else will stretch your stomach. I found i can eat a bit more that when I started after surgery but that is due to the stomach healing. I am now four months post-op so I am sure it has healed as much as it is going to.

This was my day to day life for years! I loved to meet the girls out for some margaritas and wine, few beers by the pool and fire pit! Barbecue grilling and restaurant dining!! For the past six months I've been struggling with the smoking part and well the drinking and eating! I am smoke and alcohol free for now 30 days alcohol hasn't been a problem but the smoking is an extreme addiction! I think I want a cigarette more than I want food being in my two week liquid only diet! The main question for everybody is what do with myself now that drinking smoking and food are no longer a part of my life! During work is fine but my weekends are killers, i've been hiding in my bedroom all weekend too afraid to leave the house to fall back into bad habits! I am single and 40 and I live in Wisconsin with temperatures at freezing! I need to find a new hobby or something to do with myself anybody have any suggestions!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

OMG I had to sign a piece of paper today at my pre-op procedures stating that I agree to never have any alcohol for the rest of my life. The weird part is at the support group meeting this week. The Coordinator talked about not having to give up alcohol for ever, just know that it is empty calories Also to make better alcohol choices like Wine vs a margarita. Did anyone else have to sign a paper like that.

Drinking alcohol has been strongly discouraged in my nutrition counseling sessions but I haven't been asked to sign anything. Since I can take it or leave it, I would not resent being asked to commit to such llifestyle. What I have been asked to sign is that I will never smoke again. Since I never did, that is cool also. Giving up caffiene is the hard one for me. But I am doing much better than I was and plan to be down to zero come surgery time. All of these restrictions are for our safety and ultimate good. Every doctor has their own treatment expectations. If this is an issue, maybe you need to find a surgeon you can work with in agreement on the alcohol restrictions. All the best to you. You may find that you hate the taste of it after surgery. Melinda

“ The wound is where the light enters you.” - Rumi When I work with pre and post-op bariatric surgery patients, I consistently go over this idea of being "full from within." Many people question, "what does that mean for me? What does that look like?" My response is that for one to be truly full, we must first clear out the old toxicity, wounds, and hurtful schemas we've picked up throughout the years. How does one get over a hurt? There is not "getting over." You go through it. You have to feel it to heal it. If you have underwent gastric sleeve, bypass, or balloon surgery and still feel like there is a missing piece- it is likely that there are some deeper psychological toxicities that need to be cleared. The first step to doing so is sitting still, sitting with the feelings, and it is in stillness that our heart finally starts to answer the questions our mind has failed to thus far. Yet so many have been taught not to feel. That there must be an easier way- a shortcut. 1 in every 8 Americans is on some form of psychotropic medication. 1 In his book, Anatomy of an Epidemic, science journalist Robert Whitaker states that since 1987, the percentage of the population receiving federal disability payment for mental illness has tripled; among children under the age of 18, the percentage has grown by a factor of 35.1 While Whitaker recognized that in the short-term, these medications help people to feel better, he started to realize that over time- drugs make many patients sicker than they would have been if they had never been medicated. 1 He does not make the argument that all people should stop their meds. He believes in the utility of them, just more sparingly than they are currently utilized. However, throughout my years in the practice of therapy- I have noticed a trend of moving people away from feeling. Crying is actually a symptom in the DSM-V. We have pathologized a human feeling! When psychiatrists and therapists witness a patient tearful too many times in session, their next conclusion is that something must be wrong and they must be medicated. This frustrates me so much as a clinician and as a person who has done her share of work in her own personal therapy. When we are broken, we are broken open. Being broken is a starting point, not a symptom that something has gone awry. It is at the point of our deepest pain and grief that we have the greatest opportunity for growth. I find myself telling patients over and over- “you can’t “get over” it, you must “go through” it.” Yet, so many of us have been indoctrinated to think that if we spend more than a day being sad, we must have depression, or if we feel nervous a little bit longer than we’d like to- we must have an anxiety disorder. We definitely “are Bipolar” if we have a mood swing. We have been taught to not feel the yin, only the yang of our emotions. It’s societally acceptable to talk about how happy your weekend was, or how much fun you had on vacation- but watch the uncomfortable shifting in chairs that takes place when you open up about how you just haven’t felt like yourself lately. In our world of quick fixes, where we can have a conference across the world, over a computer, communicate a message in two seconds via text, or post a picture that all of our family can see instantly- we also want instant relief for our suffering. Yet, suffering is part of the human condition. It is through experiencing our deepest sorrows, we are able to appreciate our greatest joys. But we must first be willing to sit in the muck. "Out of the mud, grows the lotus." -Thich Nhat Hanh Part and parcel of any addiction (food, drugs, alcohol, etc.) is that the addict is particularly uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. However, the cure is right there for the taking. “So what does this look like in real life?” you ask. “How do I open the wound, bring in the light, and clear out the infection that started all of this in the first place?” You start with presence. You start with a still and open heart. You start with a spiritual vulnerability that allows you to be at peace with not knowing what will happen next. You sit broken open and wait for the light to enter over time. The most important piece in all of this is being able to create a consistent forum where you hold the space. This could be a therapist’s office, it could be a weekly walk with a friend, a journal practice, or it could be as simple as a prayer every night. You set the priority to hold the space and to sit in the muck. Maybe it starts with emotions that have no words? Maybe it starts with visceral, physical feelings, that you have to simply sit with for a while? Maybe you are lucky enough to immediately put in words where your wound all started and its just floating around in your thoughts, waiting to be articulated? Perhaps it starts with a behavior you tend to do all of the time that you know comes from a place of pain? Case Study: I had a client who continuously posted on social media sites. She had a constant need to feel recognized and admired. She knew there was something behind it and wanted to get to the bottom of where this was coming from. Session over session, we sat with that need. We talked about what she wanted to get from each of those posts and why she was still “on E,” left with an empty psychological tank. The short story of Narcissus goes that he disdained people who loved him. After Nemesis noticed this he lured him to a pool that cast his own reflection. Narcissus fell in love with this pool, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, he lost his will to live. He stared at this reflection until he died. 59 Growing up, this client never quite got the love and admiration we all need from our parents. When we love something so much and don’t get that back- it is that unrequited love that leaves a narcissistic wound. It doesn’t necessarily always start with parents. It can be a formative romantic relationship, but it usually starts with parents. When we are flying from couch to couch saying “look at me mommy I’m superman!” and our mom says “get off that couch now!” instead of “look at how strong and powerful you are,” we begin forming the wound. Unfortunately, without recognizing this- many people will go throughout their life trying to heal it through other people or other things instead of within themselves. (recall the wizard of oz’s moral of the story). It was up to this client to stop the instinctual need to post and each time she had this inclination to look within for what she needed. Eventually, she developed a muscle for self validation, and the posting behavior stopped. The lesson in this case study is to hopefully help guide you to your wound. If we have a food addiction and feel out of control, you can bet we have a wound. Instead of distracting through bad habits, addictions, unhealthy relationships, or external wants- it is time to finally create a place of presence to start the healing process. Mind Meal: Sit in silence for at least 15 minutes. Visualize in your mind’s eye your heart with a bridge of white light to your head. What does it say? Where is the pain? Where is the wound? How might you start filling yourself up for good? Want to learn more about how to be truly full from within. Check out Dr. Colleen's latest book aimed at helping one focus on why they eat vs. what they eat, and stop the "diet yo-yo" for good. You can also sign up for her free course : Full From Within, here. 1 Retrieved: June 2, 2017 https://www.madinamerica.com/author/rwhitaker/

Dionna, I frequent buffets a lot and I don't have a problem anymore. I have learned how much I am able to eat and I stick with that guideline. I hope you will be able to learn how to eat more easily. I don't even have to grab small plates anymore because I can only eat the amount that I am able to eat. It may help you to rethink why you eat. I eat to live and not live to eat............ Please don't think that I am a sassy pants but I get it now. I know what it takes to be of a normal healthy weight. I have a certain food type that is my enemy and like an alcoholic I will never eat it again and I am okay with that also it isn't healthy food. It is unfortunate that we see ourselves having to pay the full price on food but think of the people who eat like us and never had a weight problem. They have always paid the price without question so why should we be any different. I know this is very touchy but why should we be any different than others? Josephine

although a stricture would cause vomiting - not diarrhea. At least that would be the case with RNY (I had two of them early out). I agree with what you said about fluids, though - and artificial sweeteners. Those give a lot of people G/I problems - esp sugar alcohols (those whose names end it "-itol" - like xylitol.

I was so scared about starting back smoking again that I avoided alcohol. coffee and excercize helped me quit also. I ended up losing a significant amount of weight about 20 lbs. Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

Jodie- you can start by going to AA it is free and it will help you evaluate whether your alcohol use is negatively impacting your life. It's free and confidential. Good luck to you.

SJ - the most important part of the band is the followup. Seriously. If not for my monthly trips to Dr. Ren in my first year I would not have lost the weight I did!! You know, it takes a while to detox from the reality of being obese. When I would go for follow ups, I would have that "Weight Watchers Anxiety." You know what I'm talking about - wearing the lightest clothes possible, crash dieting the day before, hoping and praying you're not judged cause maybe you only lost 4 lbs in a month. You know I got lectured - and I mean LECTURED - for losing too much weight? The nurse at Dr. Ren's told me if I didn't slow down he was gonna unfill me :huh2: That was a first. I pranced. I liked not being lectured for eating too much. It's just *such* a different world. It's hard to describe. Instead, even if I lost a little, I'd be sitting there nervous, feeling like I'm failing everyone, failing myself...and when they weighed me and talked to me, they just wanted to know if I was hungry. Sometimes I'd say yeah, but I don't know if its PMS or not. They'd tighten me and fix it. Can you eat more than a cup of food without Water in 20 minutes? Yes. OK you're getting tightened. They just cared about me, they cared about the band working properly. My favorite thing about Dr. Ren is that she thinks of obesity as a disease, like alcoholism with as much genetic roots as social and behavioral roots. Not many doctors see it that way. And god! Wait til you get The Magic Fill. My first four months on the band I was still fighting hunger, able to eat a whole burger and fries meal from Wendy's, despite monthly fills. I was totally resigned to this taking forever. Other people were dropping like crazy, but my fat stubbornly clung to me like barnacles on a sunken ship. I was actually depressed at this point, thinking I made this huge change and dammit, it didn't WORK. As usual. Then in April I got this fill. I was on liquids for two days...typical deal. Feeling like it was useless, the third day I popped a small piece of a Cinnabon in my mouth. I mean, small. Maybe pea sized. Well, I didn't chew so well and had my first regurgitation. I thought I was going to die. It's actually funny now. There I was, alone in the house, panicking and pacing around frantically crying because something hurt in my chest - the pastry was stuck, oh THIS is what they've been talking about, that golf ball feeling...THIS SUCKS!...I'm gonna DIE I'm gonna DIEEEE...and I jumped, raised my arms, did everything I could not to barf it up...and I did anyway. it was incredibly unpleasant, mostly because I didn't know HOW to regurgitate properly if something was stuck and it turned into full scale vomiting, with the lower stomach. Painful, forceful. But then it was over, and I settled down. I slunk to the kitchen and made some hot tea and next thing I knew, it was seven hours later and I realized with a start I had not eaten all day. {{{NEWS FLASH: KATE FORGOT ABOUT FOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER}}} The hunger WAS completely gone. Gone. Not nausea, but very close to it, where you're just turned off by ANYthing. Holy crap! I kept thinking, "Is this what skinny people feel like ALL THE TIME!?!?!?" No wonder they thought I had weak willpower. It was so SIMPLE to forget about food - or if I was forced to eat, choose something like broth or a small 1/2 cup of tuna fish. Then I cried again, laughing and dancing with the lightest joy because this was the Magic Fill my mentor had told me about that I never believed...and couldn't comprehend. Four months after surgery, I was finally in the zone. Accidentally. That's when the weight loss really began...I lost 80 lbs over the next 6 months. Just remember...it is a process. I know you're sick of the weight. I know you want it to be over already...but it's coming. There's nothing like feeling in control for the first time in your life :cool2: NOTHING. Maybe on one of your fills we'll hike up to Dr. Ren's together, if I need one too. I just got mine done so I'm good for at least a month or so.

I can relate to all of the above. Drinking a bit too often, occasionally drinking too much and eating way to much and too often. The more I would eat, the hungrier I would get. Obviously and especially carbs which I was totally addicted to. Am and always will be a carb addict, but luckily at this point I cannot consume them in an adequate quantity to fuel that addiction. I also recently saw "End of the Tour", a movie about the great author David Foster Wallace. It was fabulous. It briefly touched on his alcoholism and potential drug addiction (tho in the movie his character claims that he was not on drugs). It also very briefly touched on what he called a tv addiction. He did not have a tv in his house, he said that he had to give that up. Then when they were on a road trip for a book signing, he overslept one morning because he had stayed up late watching tv the night before. When they went over to a friend's house, all the friends were falling asleep on the sofa but he was wide awake and his eyes glued to or fixated on the tv. I find myself also procrastinating on things I need to be doing so that I can watch tv or just finish this one episode that turns into another and another. Then its like 4 or 5pm on a Sunday afternoon and I still have to do my grocery shopping, house cleaning, laundry etc which I should have been working on all weekend. This bad habit got really bad when I was broke and unemployed on and off during 2008-2009. I could stay up till 2am (or 3, 4 or 5) watching endless movies, and since I didn't have to go to work the next day. But now I do. But I still like to lose myself and veg out in front of the tube. Don't know if I'd ever have the balls to give it up like David Foster Wallace. But sometimes I wonder if I did, how many other books I would read or walks would I take? As far as socializing, eating out, vacations etc...I can now enjoy all these things and the company without being a member of the clean plate club. And after eating less than half my meal everywhere now what do I notice? That the thin people I'm eating with don't even notice because they only ate about half of their food too. And they did not plow through a whole basket of bread like I used to. No wonder they are skinny. I used to eat like it was a contest that I had to win. But now, for the time being, and hopefully forever, I have broken free from the grip my addiction once held. While I know that I am still an addict, I'm not in an "active" addiction right now. And I am so grateful to my sleeve for giving me that freedom and giving me my life back:-)