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Great advice on the hernia diet! That is what I've been telling people my procedure is on Monday but didn't realize they were on a special diet afterwards too! That will for sure be my story for the times when people are wondering why I am not eating. Perfect!! Regarding the drinking thing, being 10.5 years out from the lap band I know that I'll be able to drink at some point down the road. I didn't drink on new year's even and thought people would say something or notice and guess what, no one cared! I was prepare to say I was driving if anyone brought it up but no one noticed. Granted I'm sure there will be situations where it will come up but my plan is to say that I've been working really hard to lose weight and one of the things i have given up for now is alcohol. I think people will understand that and given the fact that I will have lost weight, it's going to make sense. Personally I am going to try really hard to not drink for the first year. I understand the value of the honeymoon period a lot more than when I got my band. I also know I need to work really hard to create new habits over the first year, and keep those habits moving forward if I want to have long term success. I figure if I could give it up for having my daughter, I can give it up for me.

Ah, maybe that was related to the alcohol content? Alcohol seems to affect people differently post WLS and maybe she wasn't ready for it?

When I was banded the first time I waited a few weeks and then slowly drank just little amounts of alcohol like wine. I would drink it and Water at the same time ( not mixing) The second band around I drank a glass of wine a week after being banded and couldnt even drink half a glass it hit me hard. I think its better to wait a while ( guess I should take my own advice:P ) But of course ask your doctor first. My doctor says small amounts of alcohol is ok.

He took his life. I filled my hole with food. He filled his hole with drugs and alcohol. But just as we know now we could never stuff enough food to fill the hole he could never fill his hole.. He couldn't take it anymore.. He talked to her on the phone it wasn't good she wasn't nice.. The last thing she told him was "you are just like me! Don't think you are any different" (she feels great guilt now, she did really love him) he was found three days later.. Yes he was my only sibling. A year and a half older.. Sorry to dump. I'm an open book without much of a filter. It's been a long day.. And I feel some what bad. She is harmless now really.. An old lady just living out her years with her own demons.

No one made me fat. I did it to myself - but not on purpose. Food (and alcohol) was like medicine. It made me feel OK in a way that nothing else did (does!). Now that I don't drink, and post-sleeve I don't eat, I feel quite lonely. Like I have lost a good friend. I know food and alcohol weren't true friends, but I miss them anyway...

It has been...14 days since my last update. My 3 month surgiversary was on the 24th and I hit 50 lbs down!!! What a difference my entire life is from 3 months ago to today. I'm adding an updated photo for comparison. I'm still sometimes making some eating mistakes, for example eating too fast, But it is very few and far between. I pretty much eat whatever I want, but I concentrate on protein. The guy I'm dating really takes my eating habits into consideration when choosing restaurants and activities and so do all of my friends/family. Went to a party this past Friday and I did drink. I'm not a big drinker to begin with but I had this surgery to live a fuller life and sometimes that includes alcohol, I got pretty drunk, and it didn't take as much as it normally would but it still took a decent amount. I have found that I get a buzz fairly easily, but it is very short term. Just had a big NSV for me, I just spent the last hour going through my closet to pick out a cute skirt/legging/boot outfit and I actually had fun. I normally would try on outfits and feel completely annoyed, but now I feel optimistic and guess what?! I don't hate my knees anymore!! I was trying the skirt on the shorter side and I loved how it looked. I'm starting to get some really nice legs, collar bones, and shoulder blades. I have leaner ankles/feet/wrists and I'm happy with my progress. 50 lbs in 3 months and you can really see it. I am happy everyday that I chose this.

Those alcoholic drink alternatives sound really good. I'm not a heavy drinker, but if I go out to a bar I certainly don't want to be sipping on tap water lol. I'm glad to hear it hasn't been that bad for you! I hope I'm just as lucky. I'm glad you mentioned the bathroom habits, as unglamorous as it may seem haha. I am not regular in that department and am looking forward to some regularity on the liquid diet.

I just found out that I was approved for LapBand surgery yesterday. I am excited, I'm nervous, I'm anxious, I'm happy, so many different things are going on! I don't have a surgery date yet, but it looks like my office is booking into late July. Some questions: My office requires a two week liquid diet that I am dreading. I supposed it gets better as the days go on. Are there any helpful tips from anyone that is on the liquid diet to make it less... annoying? I know it is necessary for my liver to shrink and for me to be in the best shape I can be by surgery, so I guess that's a plus. I am 270 lbs. If I consume 800-1000 calories a day (which is required) how much can I anticipate to lose in 2 weeks? My BMI is 40.2 and I am a woman, which I'm sure will have an effect on my progress. I go out to eat and for drinks (coffee or alcohol) with my friends a lot. Of course I will not be consuming alcohol or huge meals, but how do I deal with social gatherings while on the liquid diet? I'm sure I'll htink of my questions later. If you had to do a two week liquid diet before your lap band surgery and are around my weight, please share your experience with me! Thanks

I don't think there is enough alcohol in the world to make me ready to see plain's, um, toys. Nope. Now, the pink wig and cone bra? I am so there!:thumbup:

I never count fat grams and never will. I ate and continue to eat full fat foods. The limited capacity I have limits my fat intake on it's own. I eat real butter, full fat dressings, miracle whip etc. The only thing I eat that is fat free is Greek yogurt and that's because it cooks better in casserole/crock pot meals and that way I can add stuff to it. And, my cholesterol was never an issue, and dropped even lower during my losing stage and my "good" cholesterol improved. I just did what worked for me. I truly believe we only have one chance to lose the weight, work on our food issues, and then tweak what we can manage in maintenance. Losing was not difficult for me, keeping it off is and will always be my battle. It's the same issue I had from dieting attempts in the past. I could lose like a champ, but then it'd come back with a vengeance plus some. I do not diet in maintenance by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have to watch junk food, carby foods and alcohol consumption or I will surely see a gain.

Everything Dress and Byebye writes is exactly the same things I have been going through since I got this band. I'd post some of the issues here and get some responses but it seemed like lots of folks are having issues so I thought it was "normal" and to just get used to the pain, pbing, etc. I went to the ER last week because I was vomiting everything I ate or drank for 4 days. They ran a CT and Barrium swallow and even had a lapband doc look at it and they said everything is fine. No slippage, erosion etc, but that 1 in every 500 bodies reject the lapband and I am probably that 1. So I need to decide if I can continue to live like this (never eating healthy, clean food instead of sugar and soup) or if I want the band removed. I'm waiting for a referral to a GI for an Endosopy to make sure all looks good and then make my mind up. I fantasize about eating a real meal and being able to cook again but on the other hand I'm terrified of gaining weight. Im also curious if smoking and alcohol has a negative affect on anyone? I was drinking the night before I had to go to the ER and started smoking after I was bandd. I've quit smoking to see if that was a problem and did have a few glasses of wine last night and have not been able to keep ANYThing down today. Glad that I found this post and that there are others like me! ps - Because I had my surgery in Mexico, I could not get the GI doc or General Surgeon to see me when I was in the hospital. They kept me there for 3 days trying to figure out what to do....... Bariatric and Mexico = doctorless patient in the ER :thumbup: I was finally transferred to a hospital that performs lapband surgery and as a favor the Doc came down to see me and tell me he would remove the band if I wanted...

I can see how this can happen. My neighbor had GBP while her marriage was in trouble. After the weight came off she partied and drank herself into a alcohol problems. Her husband stuck by her through it all and with therapy they are back to a happy place. She regrets her reaction to her success and is more thankful that at least one of them remained committed through the process. I believe my marriage to be strong and very committed. But quite frankly it's important to stay diligent through this process.

I have developed a plan. I imagine that with 26 people, they will start splintering off into smaller groups so I will gravitate to whatever group she is with. From there I will kind of gauge the situation. This thing ends around 10:30. Since it's a work thing, there's no alcohol. I'll assess the situation and see if an opportunity arises and ask her to go for a drink or something after. This is not something I have done before so it remains to be seen if I can follow through on it.

Psych just asks about your home situation as it relates to accomplishing the sleeve objectives, your childhood, your work, relationship with food, alcohol, etc as it relates to the sleeve. As long as you answer that you are on medication and go to counseling and are not suicidal, not being abused, not an active alcoholic, do not have eating disorders it should be fine.... If you do have issues that need addressing - they will schedule sessions to work through them.

OK Lipstick Lady... here's one.. I did not tell my husband's family. They live 1000 miles away. However my husband told his mother. Now this lady has never had a weight problem in her life.. she is simply too self disciplined and full of nervous engergy to become over weight, and I am sure, thinks anyone else should be able to control their own weight also. She is also very OPINIONATED and has on more that one occasion told me what she thinks... Once told me I was an alcoholic.( I am not). I wont see her until next Summer, a full YEAR after my surgery. And I avoid talking to her on the phone. However my husband calls her a couple times a month and I know they talk about me. He will even holler at me " HEY, how much have you lost?" to tell her. And Yes I have told him not to discuss me with her. I am a pretty private person, and I don't discuss my health with my mother in law. But it will come up when we go there. She won't leave it alone, I know her. She LIVES to Gossip about people. What can I say to this 80 year old woman? I can't be rude, but I do not want to be the topic of conversation while we are there. HELP!

I was sleeved Oct 2013 & lost 90lbs (gained back 20 lbs) but never got to goal weight or close. I really committed to changing my lifestyle; exercising (running & weight lifting) & used myfitness pal to log food. I felt great & looked great. Then, life unraveled. In 2016 found out my husband of 20yrs was cheating on me, I realized he was an alcoholic & we divorced, I was laid off from my job & then diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. My kids were 10 & 12 at the time & I had no family to help me (both parents deceased & brother lives 3hrs away by plane). I went through 9hr surgery to remove a foot of my colon & then 7 mos of chemo & steroids. I put on 60lbs during chemo & have not been able to lose it. I had a bad fall after last chemo treatment from neuropathy in feet. I have so much pain in my knees I can’t run. Don’t know if all due to excess weight, arthritis (I’m 54), chemo, menopause? I finished my ins requirements for a revision & scheduling revision to bypass is next. But, I am so hard on myself & questioning if it will work and if I shouldn’t be messing with my body especially surviving cancer? I have regained all my weight &depressed. I hate the way I look & struggle with trying to be happy I am alive after cancer. I have heard weight loss is slower after revision. Is that always the case? Anyone else have cancer after wls & regained and had revision? I feel lost. I miss the adrenaline I used to get from working out.

Lunasa, I know what you mean about the dredded alcohol! I'm finding that although I no longer drink beer, cider and G&T's, I've switched to red wine, I can still get exactly the same quantity in as before and unfortunatly this leads to the most humongous desire for food. I just try my best to stay out of the kitchen when I come in from the pub, but I know that I am better able to do this at the moment as I've just parted with my life savings and this is fresh in my mind and quite a motivator! This is not a long term solution. I too drank wine 3 times last week and I'm feeling guilty as a result but it would be nice to limit or even eliminate the drink during the weight loss stage - I even acted as the designated driver on 2 occassions over the weekend to avoid the temptation! I am good at the walking and walk in Marley Park a few times a week and I have been known to go to the gym on an odd occassion. This is something I need to increase too though as I have not had any weight loss in 2 weeks despite the exercise and this is getting me down. However, I got my first fill today and I am hopeful that this will restart the weight loss. I have just finished a whole container of Soup from Dunnes - 3 & half ww points if counting! I really didn't think that I would be able to get that much in so soon after a fill. I was expecting great restriction to the point that I wouldn't be able to get food down, but that hasn't happened. I will keep to the Soups until Thursday and then see how restricted I feel after a chewed meal before I make judgement.

I think it's reasonable to say that the do's and don'ts after WLS are not one size fits all. Not trying to cause an uproar, just saying that everyone is different. For example: Some of us may drink through a straw, smoke weed, drink some alcohol, and eat popcorn with no problems at all. Personally I have, and continue to, do all of these things and have taken this same approach since day 1. Ok ok it was probably 3 weeks before I ate popcorn and drank any alcohol but not once did any of these things cause a problem. You are not certain to regain weight, slip into problematic addictive behaviors, stretch or tear your sleeve, or become an out-of-control lunatic by following the rules that are reasonable for you personally. It could be that some people will experience some of these problems by not following the generally accepted rules of post op life. It also could be that some people are able to live a less restrictive lifestyle and still be successful. Just sayin.

Hi! MCCLB ...... Well meet your sister....I am the exact same....I actually put on weight too....and have yo yo'ed ......It is funny as you joined the site on the 16th of March which is my birthday.....Like you I suffer from depression....I was not on medication until later in life....but was depressed on and off during my college years.....a lot of my depression is caused by my unhealthy relationship with food.....a lovely lady on this site told me before she thought of junk food as an alcoholic does with alcohol....she said to clear my house of the junk food....and as we are human it is okay to indulge and taste junk the odd time....but to go out and buy it not store it in my house....this was really helpful.....I am actually decreasing my anti depressant medication....it seems I was over filled and regurgitated a lot which can cause damage to the band....I actually would throw up and then try eat a few minutes later....it was a physical and psychological battle that needed to be fought....I am with a therapist and learning not to feel so negative about myself....food is a reward and also a punishment for me.....so now I have to divorce food and remarry it all over again in a more loving relationship if that makes sense.....we are human so who cares what the doctor thinks....you are the important one...and it is really brave of you to acknowledge and accept that you were sabotaging yourself....that is the battle half one....thank you for cheering me up.....I have been in the same position....but feeling a lot better now that I accept my strengths and weaknesses

I am staying off my scale until next Monday--scary thought!!! I'm going to be out of town without scale access... I'm sort of freaked out by the thought of not jumping on there in the mornings and I don't know why. On the up side, I'm heading to a professional conference where I'll be seeing old friends for the first time since surgery. Looking forward to it!!! LOL What a change from previous conferences, where I kind of dreaded seeing everyone and actually looked for reasons not to go or to leave early. I think the additional salads/fruits/veggies are paying off. I feel good, and I seem to have dropped a pound over the last few days, although whether that's a "real" weight loss or just Fluid moving out (I do dehydrate really easily) remains to be seen. I'm about to get in lots of walking and more alcohol than usual (conference!), so I don't know what that combination is going to do. Planning to be careful but also to enjoy myself. Hope y'all have a good rest of the week!

Here I am thinking that I need to get back to basics. We celebrated our Wedding Anniv. on Friday so I gave myself a pass for supper and we were at a comedy club so we ate fried food. I'm not mad at myself. Not the healthiest, but a special occassion. Yesterday my cousin got married and I ate cake and drank alcohol and after I was tipsy (okay...more than tipsy) I ate a sandwich. My first piece of bread in 6 months. :smile: Today I haven't done much better. Covered dish at church on the first Sunday of the month. Some things you can't control, but I haven't stressed about it. All of these things put together makes a bad several days. So back to basics. I've got to get these carbs out of my system to start the losing again.

I received my syntrax Nectar Fuzzy Navel today. I mixed it up added frozen strawberries, blended. It tastes like I'm drinking a fuzzy navel without the alcohol :-) I think these will work for protein for a while. Can't taste the strawberries. Gen :-) 12/15/12

I got sugar free vanilla pudding & it only has 5 grams of alcohol sugar. The chocolate & other flavored have more. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

Law school is awful. I put my husband through. He graduated in the top 5% of his undergraduate class and struggled with his grades in law school. The not being able to work thing almost killed us. I was working a crap retail job that really didn't pay enough. He didn't get any scholarships and now has $150k in student loan debt because we took every cent possible to make sure we had a roof over our head (seriously, DC area is freaking expensive - my paycheck didn't even cover our rent). When he got out, it was right in the middle of this last recession and no jobs were available. He interned with all the public-interest groups who were all in hiring freezes. The situation is pretty bad when you go to a tier I school with no employment prospects afterwards. All the people who got hired when they graduated had family firms and connections, which we had none of. When the freezes ended, they only wanted people fresh out of school. It really didn't prepare him for anything afterwards at all. He does criminal defense and he had to learn pretty much everything. Like right now, he just started a new firm and is learning the civil sides because trying to get people to pay their bills is nearly impossible sometimes. I'm just glad his stuff is doing well enough so that I can go to school full-time and not work, especially since my college is tough (it's an honor's college). The kicker is, his school keeps begging us for money. We haven't even started paying his loans back. And the fact that they changed their name to "honor" one of the biggest disgraces to the legal profession (and Supreme Court - sorry to get political, but yeah, not happy about that name change) means they can go well.. uh.. yeah. If they had the money to do that, then they don't need the money we don't have. Relax, breathe, relax. Drink a glass of wine (if that's your thing). Don't go overboard: law school almost made my husband an alcoholic. Yes, an F can be catastrophic. But it sounds like you've done pretty well other than that class. Fingers crossed for you that it pulls you up over that hump. If they try to kick you out or pull your stuff, appeal it. Explain your situation: your life, stress / mental health factors, etc. They might have programs to help with that (my husband's law school did). I have to keep a 3.0 to keep my scholarships and get into the graduate program I want to do. The pressure is on there. I feel ya. I couldn't afford to stay in school if it weren't for my scholarships. Oh, and the way classes are graded are terrible. I remember his grades being determined 100% by the final exam. Nothing else mattered except that exam.

I drink 4 oz red wine every night before bed. Got my cholesterol down to 133 (from high 200's) so something is helping. I personally HATE the taste of alcohol and drink this concord grape stuff that is like Welches Grape juice with a shot of Everclear in it It's sickly sweet but I down it in a few slugs. I've been told that this stuff doesn't have all the goodies a more regular dry red wine does but I can't stomach the other stuff.