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I agree with all of you that our life experiences affect how we "behave" (eg. overeating/stress eating) but ultimately, its up to us what we put in our mouth. I grew up in an alcoholic, abusive home then moved into a 30 year abusive marriage but I don't blame anyone for my eating. It's my choice.

Sugar Blues Part 1 highlighted the poor health consequences that can result from consuming too much sugar. A list of words that also mean “sugar” was provided. Remember that naturally occurring sugars are in fruit and milk/dairy foods. When you read the Nutrition Facts Label, the sugars will be listed under the carbohydrates. To find out how to compare products to better understand added sugars, click on Natural vs. Added Sugars. Use the chart on the second page as a guide to compare products.The chart compares applesauce and Greek style yogurt. You will see the products with only naturally occurring sugars, products with added sugars and “light” versions of the product. You will also see that the product with the most amount of sugar has the most calories.The front part of the food label usually doesn’t have any clues that the product can have a lot of added sugars. You must be a detective and investigate the Nutrition Facts Label and the ingredients list. Start your sugar hunt by using foods and beverages in your pantry or fridge to discover where added sugars are lurking in your food choices. Like any hunting expedition, it will take some time and practice to find the healthiest products to use on your journey towards health. Sugar Comparison Chart We are born with a preference for sweet tastes. However, sugar carries calories without any fiber, vitamins or minerals. Sugar is basically empty calories. For bariatric patients, too much sugar can lead to dumping. Natural Sugars vs Added Sugars Naturally occurring sugars are in fruits (fructose) and milk and dairy (lactose). The current Nutrition Facts label doesn’t tell us the difference. A teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams of sugar. If you drink a 12 oz. can of regular pop or 12 ounces regular fruit juice, that means you’ve consumed 40 grams of sugar. This translates to 10 teaspoons of sugar. That’s almost 1/4 cup of sugar! Other names for sugar When you read the ingredient list, look for words like syrup (corn, high fructose, maple, pancake, maltose), corn syrup solids, agave, molasses, beet sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, invert sugar, cane juice, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, nectar (peach, apricot, pear), powdered or confectioner’s sugar, raw sugar, maple sugar, date sugar, malted barley, honey and anything ending in “–ose” (maltose, dextrose, glucose, fructose). These are all types of sugar. When you see these words in the ingredient list, look for foods that have sugar listed after the 3rd or 4th ingredient. When you see several sugar ingredients, look at the total amount sugar. Decide if it’s worth it to eat that food. Sugar alcohols These have less impact on your blood sugars. They are more slowly digested than sugar. Sugar alcohols have anywhere from 2 to 4 calories per gram. If your weight loss stalls, check to see if your “sugar free” foods have high amounts of sugar alcohols. You may be getting more calories than you think. Caution…eating too many sugar alcohols can laxative effect! Alternative Sweeteners Artificial sweeteners include Splenda (sucralose), Sweet ‘N Low (saccharin), NutraSweet (aspartame), Sweet One (acesulfame potassium) and Neotame. Stevia is extracted from the stevia plant and is considered a natural sweetener. Monkfruit is extracted from the monkfruit and is considered a natural sweetener. Natural vs. Added Sugars: Comparison Chart How do I find the amount of added sugars in a food? One way to find out what the added sugars are is to compare similar products. Comparisons of applesauce and Greek yogurt are detailed below. The order of appearance is the unsweetened, sweetened and light or low sugar version. Use this chart to compare other products you might choose. Remember that natural sugars are in milk/dairy and fruit. Is all that sugar worth it?

well i started my preop diet early, i've been working on it since october. I gave up chocolate, alcohol, and cigarettes. Though I've only been banded 2 weeks. I know that I have 2 new addictions. When stressed i used to eat. . IT was my comfort. Now that I've been losing weight my new addiction is sex. and the other one is checking myself in the mirror. I feel kinda vain though for looking in the mirror so much.

DISCLAIMER: The following is what *I* did based on my own research and trial end error on how things affected *MY* body. I am NOT advocating to NOT listen to your team without educating yourself. With that said: Edited to add: I didn't realize this post would be so long, sorry! My program was to consume pre-defined "portions": each meal was supposed to consist of 25% protein, 25% starch and 50% non-starchy vegetables, and to work my way up to 1200 calories per day total with a min 60-70g protein. They also said to avoid added sugar. The didn't specifically mention to go low fat, but I mean if I followed the guidelines listed above, it would naturally be low-ish fat. Needless to say, I didn't do that. First, I couldn't get that amount of food in, Second, I tried it out, saw a swoosh in weight, and figured that going low-carb was very effective in weight loss for ME. I kept losing weight, so I just kept doing it. Why fix what ain't broke, right? More on this later... So for the majority of my weight loss phase I went ultra-low carb...was averaging less than 20 NET g of carbohydrates per day (i don't count fibre nor sugar alcohols), aimed to reach 60g protein per day, and let the fat fall where it may. My cals were about 300-400 in the first couple months, and by the time I reached goal, I was at about 800 (yes, I know this is on the low end compared to most, but it worked for ME). P.S. I feel the need to add that my nutritionist was made aware of what I was doing. And while she tut-tutted me about it, she didn't overly object. Also, all my labs came back satisfactorily during this period (and still does), and my surgeon was pleased. ***WARNING, MATH TIME...*** Given the total calories I was achieving, I wasn't truly doing KETO proper, as my fat consumption did not reach the levels required for my protein intake. True KETO is 70-80% fat, 10-20% protein & 5-10% carbs. Since I was doing 60g of protein, I would have needed to do ~75g of fat, which would have put me in the 1100 cal range...and I wasn't even coming close to that level. **** So really, I was probably doing more a version of Atkins Phase 1 (ultra-low carb). Now that I'm 3 years out, I am no longer so strict about my macros. I still *kinda* limit carbs, but not really. I eat bread on occasion, and sugar pretty regularly (in small amounts)...but i very rarely eat pasta or rice. I think its just habit now? Looking back, here is my take/opinion on going this route: TRUE Keto is very difficult to achieve in weight loss phase while keeping cals low. There is a relatively big drop in weight in the beginning of each period of going low carb. There is a bunch of science to explain this, you can google it. Going low carb makes a difference in how my face and body looks. While it looks good on my body, cuz you can see more muscle definition, its not so great on my face cuz I look gaunt. I've come to the conclusion that FOR ME, in terms of weight loss/maintenance ONLY, the ingestion of carbs has much, much less impact (if any) than calories consumed. It doesn't seem to matter if 1000 calories is made up 5% carbs or 50% carbs, I'll lose weight on it either way. Good Luck! ❤️

No hangover, never... I have a drink about once a month now post 6 months, just as a way to socialize when eating out. Seriously, over in 10 minutes for me...now driving home, just kidding. Wife driving home. I am surprised at how quickly the alcohol metabolizes. I just know my run tomorrow is going to be a b***h with this alcohol . Maybe not? It was Pre sleeve. I always suffered day after drinking when trying to run.

OK...i want to stress that this is my personal experience only and do not advocate what I do/did to others. Do as I say, not as I do!!! lolololzzzz. I am 2+ years out and I can definitely eat much more than I could the first year (in terms of volume). BUT no where near what I could pack in pre-wls. Pre-wls I could easily eat 2-3 full plates at an AYCE resto (plus room for dessert!). Now a meal that is under my barf line is about 1 to 1.5 cups in volume (more if its salad greens, less if its dense protein or fluffy bread). I went through my logs to see if I ever went over 4000 cals. According to MyFitnessPal, i came close in June 2019 with 3896 calories. Though after looking through the list, it probably was well over 4000 cuz i notice I didn't log any alcohol that I KNOW I drank that day. Further, I did my logging after the fact as it was one of those morning-to-afternoon-to-night-to-the-next-morning backyard bbq parties. I was basically eating/grazing all day (and night) long. I also recall being sick a couple times in the evening. Now, I had just reached maintenance the month prior, and was concerned about my continued weight loss at the time so I figured, what the hell, I'm gonna go all out. It was not pleasant. Since then, I counted 9 times that went over 3000 cals in a single day (cheese, alcohol or dessert where the main contributors). But a normal day for me now is about 1800. My restriction is still alive and kicking, but I can definitely eat around it if I wanted to by grazing all day. In case you are interested, here is the log for that day (again, my alcohol consumption is glaringly missing from this log, so I would guess add another 800-1000 cals on top of this)

Hi Shedo / others, I think alcohol for sure has played a part for me however im just curious if any of you after a certain period of time had a moment where the sleeve almost turned off? If I can use that phrase, and felt you had to revert back to full manual control so to speak?

Hello everyone! So, I've been banded over three years. Been maintaining for over a year now. Recently my scale has gone up a few pounds and I have been in a fair bit of freak-out about it. My eating habits have been the same. So, I am thinking maybe I need a fill, but with my hunger unchanged, I really didn't think I wanted one. My scale is a Health-O-Mether scale that has a non-digital read-out that is elevated to waist level. So, I do enjoy some alcoholic beverages from time to time. So I stopped that. The weight was still going up ever so slowly. I also noticed that the scale wasn't zeroing out as it should be, so I wasn't totally convinced that it was accurate any longer. My clothes have been fitting the same, which is how I normally keep track...but still. All those familiar games were coming back....oh, I had salt...oh it's TOM coming...I must be "backed up." Have I change medications? No. hhmm...not drinking enough Water? No, that is OK. Then WHY is it creeping UP??? So, after I'd put on about 5 pounds. I looked very closely at the scale. I noticed it was closer to the wall than usual. So, I decided to move it away from the wall an inch or two, I re-zeroed it and BU-BAM!!! 5 pounds gone, just like that! Apparently when DH cleaned the floor he moved it a bit. Lesson to be learned....? scales are fallible, and not the only measure of success--which I already knew...But I could not believe that as soon as I moved it a hair away from the wall, it was fine! It was just close enough to the baseboard to mess it up!

So i am only 2 weeks out , i know i cant drink till month 3 , but i am curious , do you get drunk faster like they say? one shot? one drink? or ? let me know about your experience with it please

I appreciate your responses... I still have not heard from my insurance..surprise surprise.. my surgeon's team says that my insurance only says I can't abuse alcohols or drink regularly. So they want to fight it on that. I'm just in shock and can't believe they waited until 3 freaking days before, to tell me they have an issue. How do I find out if I have a or who my state insurance representative is? Like an advocate? I have a case worker but they never let me talk to the. I don't even know who it is. Very small town, plus, I'm the first person in my area to get bariatric surgery on state insurance. So I should have seen this coming.

Wine is full of sugar and carbs. Most surgeons and nutritionist will tell you to stay away from wine or any alcohol. I'm surprised you were told it's okay. Alcohol enters sure system faster after WLS and you don't feel the effects for very long but it does stay in your system like normal and shows it blood tests or breathalizers. So I would say use your better judgment if it's worth it and those empty calories.

It's been one week that I've been home from my surgery experience with Dr. Kelly. Mine was August 19th and to be honest - you have nothing to be worried about. Going alone was freaking me out. I barely remember the 4 hr plane ride to San Diego but now I see I was wearing myself out all for nothing. Your driver will confirm your time you will get to airport and he will be out front waiting for you. You get driven across the border (no issues there - guess they don't care much about who goes INTO Mexico) and on a short ride to the hospital. The roads in mexico are TERRIBLE. Bumpy and dirty but people are whizzing around like ants on an ant hill and I didn't see ONE accident (don't know HOW cuz it would've been like bumper cars here in the states. You are never in any danger. You spend the first 2 nights after surgery there in the hospital and even the first night if you come the day before. The nurses are very nice and come in a flash when you need something or your IV is beeping (that happened to me a lot). Even Dr. Kelly comes in to check in on you. I came in for same day surgery so I was in the hospital and on to the initial tests as soon as I got there. After your hospital stay and drain removal (which I didn't feel being removed at all), it's on to the leak test at another hospital (you're driven again) and if all is well, off for 2 nights stay at the fence surrounded hotel. Very nice place and a room/balcony with a view. I was facing the noisy traffic side of the hotel which didn't bother me at all. It was fun looking off the balcony at all the hustle and bustle going on down on the streets. There are american television stations and you should be very comfortable - I was. The weather is so comfortable I walked around out by the pool and even around the whole hotel just to make sure that gas threat didn't sneak up on me. I rested a lot and was even on line since I brought my laptop. I used my cell phone (Verizon and probably all the others charge "data" fees and 99 cents per minute on calls) but I had to call and let my family know I was fine. There are no phones in your hospital room. Trish was my patient coordinator and since I felt GREAT and didn't want to sit around, she was either coming to get me to go shopping or checking in on me. She supplied me with gauze and tape to change your bandages after your showers and even some Gatorade and Jello (which you probably won't even want but she insists you eat something and keep hydrated). I'm telling you - I was terrified of going at all and going alone - I thought I was gonna lose it but I'm glad I did. I concentrated on ME and was never afraid or felt abandoned. The driver contacted me again to confirm my flight time and set up the pick up time for the next day. The border crossing takes more time going back into the states (long slow lines) but I made it back to the airport in PLENTY of time. Pack light. There's no reason for more than 2 changes of clothes. You can wear the ones you came in as the "Going back home" set if you wear something loose and comfortable. No jeans. Other than that, you should keep it simple. I brought about $100 cash, my driver's lic, and my passport card. I tipped the driver and the hotel concierge who brought my suitcase up and showed me around my room. I did some shopping but not much - all places LOVE & accept dollar so don't worry about converting money. You'll be in gowns or pj's while in the hospital. Bring flip flip flops for your many trips to the bathroom and shower. I forgot to bring but wish I had brought some antibiotic cream to apply to my incisions before applying the bandages. Alcohol pads, something. I just had to wait to get back home to really start "tending my wounds". Sorry I wrote so much but I was in the same shoes you are in and wish someone had broken it all down for me - it makes it all so much more real and I could process the whole experience better. I read so many posts and was a sponge filling up with so much information I thought my head was gonna pop. Let me know if I can help you in any way. Other than that - you've got Trish who takes care of you and really cares! Then Dr. Kelly - he's a really good doctor and is so down to earth, he makes you feel safe in his hands. You will be fine.

I heard and read both, forums and group,Thing is most are told its all no for a start I guess. Those who drink coffe seems usual they waited a month post surgery only but more longer even over a year feeling right with it, also heard a few didn't wait so much. coffee alone has no calories though. They can be comforatble with one cup,some more is that they drink it 1/4 cup at a time and so on. Some have other sources to replace like green tea might be maybe.Some still just do not. Soda is a no no because it aids in what expands the stomach and makes it stretch faster and more. Most soda's have no nutritional and Vitamin content and the ones with sugar are no good to more doctors these days. Some one banded said that alcohol can not be drank in any normal quantity and will get you real drunk very fast, I am unsure that it efects stretch of stomach or what I might imagine to use for another example at all. It may be that alcohol will be absorbed to quickly to just have a couple rounds and and personaly did I do it I wouldn't ever think to just use straight liquoer unmixed again. Couple rounds seems filling to me from listening to others too. One thing on that you must know already I'd bet is that alcohol is a heavy calorie drink on its own too, beer more so than others with no say cream additives ect.. My thing is smoking, cigs that is, I may if fully quit last the longer year or what have you added to anything I do after quit for time.

Hi there! I'm 9 1/2 months post-op, and my husband is almost four months post-op, so I can answer your questions from our experiences...I understand your fear of death, but neither my husband nor I had any complications, if that helps. Six weeks seems like a long time, but do whatever your dr. tells you to do...it will, like you said, make the surgery go easier on you. My husband lost 25lbs. before surgery and he recovered much better than I did (I only lost 11lbs.). The more you can do to prepare before surgery, the better! I can't really answer about the ins and outs of the liquid diet - I only had to do that one day before my surgery, and it was Protein drinks and water only. I've heard the liquid diet is hard. My one day was pretty hard! Someone posted some advice on this site I held onto and found to be true - "The first month sucks." The first month was really hard because you're recovering from surgery! You won't feel good for about a week or two, then have less energy for another week or two, then you'll be fine (please remember that I'm just basing this on my experience - everyone's experience seems to be so different! But my hubby's experience was very similar, although he did bounce back quicker and easier than I did). I did feel regret the first few days, but I really think that's because my whole world had changed - food was such a big part of my world, and it was gone! The "head" part of surgery was a bit of a struggle for me, and after a couple of days, that feeling of regret was gone. My hubby never regretted it. I waited three months, but now I drink coffee and alcohol (alcohol only occasionally). I haven't tried beer or soda because of the fizz - I hear the fizz does not feel good. My hubby drank a beer about a week ago, and he had to drink it really slowly, and couldn't finish it. So you can drink those things, but you may not want to. We eat tiny portions...we like fish, so we'll pan fry some salmon and I can eat about 2.5 oz and he can eat 2.8ish...it's fun and amazing how little you can eat and feel full! I just hit 100lb weight loss, and after almost four months, my husband has lost 50lbs. It will be the best thing for your family that you're doing this! Good luck, and if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to share!

I am down 200 lbs! You don't lose that kind of tonage drinking alcohol! It is full of empty calories. If you have solid restriction the kind that causes you difficulty drinking cokes and beer the you will find that Vodka or Jack or whatever will sit and burn. A little each sip. I know people that have had serious trouble because they "tested" their bands. Its not worth it. I say don't do it. There is a guy that owns one of the Bandster boards. He Drank and not only got the burned stoma from drinking but lost his band as well. All from drinking. The question initially was is it ok to have a drink. If you are asking me I say No. All for the reasons above. P.S. Good advice is priceless doesn't matter from whom it comes. Sheesh!:whoo:

My surgeon/nutritionist team strongly recommends severely limiting alcohol intake. They've never said anything about irritating the stoma, but their biggest concern is the carbonation from beer causing stretching, and the 'empty' calories from any alcoholic drink. They say a very occasional drink isn't horrible, but they don't want me to get in the habit of drinking frequently. I try not to give people medical direction unless I'm relaying it from my surgeon/nutritionist, and I try to be careful to point that out. Not sure if Mattintosh is relaying policy from his surgeon or from the company he apparently works for (getbandednow.com)

Personally, I don't even bother with the empty calories of alcohol... I'll have an unsweet tea...if they don't have that, an iced coffee... I keep sugar free flavoring in my purse, so I'm ready... don't need the alcohol to have a good time... but that's me... never was much of a drinker anyway...

It might be the erythritol or sugar alcohol in them that has that effect on some. I don't have any of those issues with Quest Bars.. I like them and use them for extra Protein on days I am in a hurry.

@@ktscott Hi and welcome! I actually had gastric bypass instead of the sleeve because I suffered from severe reflux. I have an automatic immune disease as well called psoriatic arthritis. Every 8 weeks I get an injection of Stelara which helps with both the psoriasis as well as the joint damage. I try to avoid steroids because it makes the skin condition much worse however I recently had spine surgery and was literally forced to take both IV steroids and oral steroids for a number of weeks. I had no problems with it in terms of my new tummy but of course the steroids kicked up my psoriasis very bad,y and now I am taking a daily dose of Cyclosporine. Hopefully it won't be for too long but it is liquid and if I don't eat something or drink a Protein shake it tends to burn my tummy. I have not had that sensation in the last 11 months since my bypass. It cured my reflux. I suspect there is something like alcohol in that drug which causes the burning sensation. Anyway, there are plenty of people with RA on this site but I would not be overly concerned. If you are taking NSAIDs that won't be allowed. They can cause severe ulcers in your new tummy so they try to have you take Tylenol instead. I found after this surgery that Tylenol based pain relievers actually work. Before surgery that was not the case so I was worried about stopping Aleive. I have not missed it at all. Good luck and let me know if you have further questions!

Ke Bear, I have to admit first thinking about the band 6 months before I made the call. I too kept thinking if I exercised more and ate better, I could do it all on my own. In fact last year I ate well and exercised and lost 10 kgs. But then I broke a bone in my foot and gained all 10 kgs back and then some. I realised that every time I've EVER lost weight I put it back on eventually. I was sick to death of it. To me, it was the realisation that to have some success, I needed help. And there is no shame in that! If we quit smoking, we use nicotine Patches. If we quit alcohol, we need support. If we quit drugs, we need medical help. food is my addiction, and I needed help with my addiction. Being banded means that I cannot physically give in to any cravings to eat more than I need. Of course, I can still sabotage myself by eating 'around' the band with milkshakes and high fat 'slippery' foods like potato chips, but if I am honest with myself, hunger was my problem, both physical and mental, and at least with the band, I'm not fighting both physical and mental hunger, just mental hunger, and with 50% of my 'enemy' being kept at bay with the band, it gives me a fighting chance of conquering that other 50% of my enemy - the head hunger! Yes, I still get cravings, but tbh when I know I can only eat x amount of food, I really don't want to waste that space on junk. So I tend to eat well, because I want eat like a queen, and queens don't eat KFC. I know some people can lose weight with exercise and diet and keep it off forever. But there aren't many of them out there. And once I admitted I wasn't ever going to be that sort of a person, the band became a no brainer. I've lost 10kgs already, and I'm only 1 month post op. My only regret now is not doing this sooner.

My surgeon said no alcohol for one year post-op and that's exactly what I did. That said, I seldom drink anything other than a glass of wine before dinner and I've had no problem with that. Tropical drinks and eggnog with rum are definitely out - late stage dumping. A very high percentage of folks experience a dramatically lower tolerance for alcohol following surgery. Always a good idea to be at home the first time you try it and you never want to drive after even one drink. There are some real horror stories of patients getting DUIs after a single drink. It should be noted too that surgery patients as a whole are at a considerably greater risk for becoming alcohol dependent following the surgery. Moderation is more important than ever.

From experience... Watch the sugar-free items with sorbitol, malitol and the like. They are called sugar alcohols, and your body does not digest them, thus they do not add to you like sugar... unfortunately, they tend to pass through your colon rather vigorously, and can cause major gas and diarrhea when eaten in larger quantities (larger being the relative term). I unfortunately speak from experience dealing with sugarfree candy and maple syrup on low carb pancakes (it was sooo good I used a nice sized portion).

Well, now that Im 2 months post op I guess its good to revisit this thread .... What's working for me is journaling ... I use my fitness pal ... if i don't journal then my calories will get away from me. I try to stay under 1200 calories a day ... sometimes less. Its very hard as I only have 4.25 cc in an 11cc band. I exercise a lot more than I ever did before. I try to walk/jog a few miles a week. I also know that I need to stay away from alochol, even if its only 2 small drinks. Alcohol slows my weight loss and even makes me gain weight. I also don't count my grams of Protein a day. If i have too much protein, I gain or stall. Lastly, Im reading a book called "The Beck Diet" ... its helping work on my addiction to food and overeating. Its like $10 on Amazon.

Have you drank at all? If not I would suggest drinking something before the big day because your body is going to respond to alcohol a lot differently than before! I personally don't drink that much but if I do decide to drink it is usually vodka and Water mixed with either a splash of pineapple juice or lime. Lots of people don't drink because of the empty calories but i think having a drink every once and a while is perfectly fine, just be careful with sugary drinks such as daiquiris or margaritas... You will feel terrible afterwards. Also, I have experienced that it is nearly impossible for me to drink after I have eaten, I have to wait at least an hour afterwards to drink anything with alcohol in it! Best of luck to you on your big day!! Hope everything is exactly how you have pictured it!

My surgeon advised not to even attempt alcohol until after 14 weeks I believe? It was in the same category as red meat. After posting here I realized my surgeon allowed foods post op that other surgeon's do not. For example, Cream of Wheat the same week as mashed potatoes. So I can't say if that's normal or not. I can absolutely guarantee you that 3 months out, you may take a few drinks and still lose weight. However, give it another month or 2 and it will slow or stall weight loss.