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Day 3 here. Definitely not getting enough protein. Only bought vanilla premiere protein and can barely get it down because of the aftertaste. I ordered protein powder online Thursday and because of the holiday, will not receive it until Mon/Tues. I'm waiting on my husband to get home so I can do some liquid food shopping. Took another test, negative and have cramps so that is the last I will be writing about that. Went out last night and brought my crystal light with me. Did not miss the alcohol; but had major food cravings. There were snacks all over the place. My toddler has been having tantrums all weekend. He's non verbal with limited vocabulary so that's how he shows me he's upset. Despite that I've been trying to give him as many hugs as I can besause I will not be able to hold him for a few weeks. Ive been having creamed soup for 1 meal each day and its the only thing that holds me if only for a couple of hours but I feel like I'm cheating, each can has 9g of carbs plus the 1% milk I use. So I'm looking for alternatives. Oh and I have had no BM in 2 days. But, I'm down to 281 Sent from my SM-G930T using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm not a drinker but normally I'll have a glass of wine or martini on my birthday or special occasions (so about 8 glass of alcoholic beverages for the year). My surgery date is April 19 & I celebrate my 30th bday in June. Also my brother getting married in Jamaica (island) in August & I'll be attending. Read a diary entry online that after bariatric surgery no alcohol for one year. It's Saturday so my nutritionist is not in office. Is it true? Did your surgeon or nutritionist said that no alcohol for one year? Thanks Sent from my SM-G925T using BariatricPal mobile app

@@VSGAnn2014 Thank you for your response! I'm not a nutritionist, or a physician, but I'll answer each of your questions from my perspective and having worked in a bariatric center for the last 12 years. But please consult your physician and nutritionist. So you're anti-alcohol of any kinds for WLS patients and think all WLS patients should be or become tee-totalers ... right? Personally, I am against alcohol for all WLS patients for the reasons mentioned in the article, including: alcohol is a toxin, it is empty calories, it is empty liquid calories, and there are potential nutritional absorption issues that could be made worse by drinking alcohol. Do you feel the same way about alcohol for patients a year out (and in maintenance) as during the weight-losing phases? Yes, for the same reasons as stated above. Do you also recommend no-Cookies for WLS patients? Ever? Even in maintenance? Recommend? Yes, I would recommend no cookies, although I wouldn't expect in reality that a person may never have a cookie again. Four cookies at a time? I would never recommend that. Unlike alcohol, however, a cookie is not a toxin that interferes with absorption of essential nutrients. What about cake? Recommend? Yes, I would recommend no cake, although I wouldn't expect in reality that a person may never have cake again. Unlike alcohol, however, cake is not a toxin that interferes with absorption of essential nutrients. Barbeque (and all the sugar in those BBQ sauces)? Chili? There are no toxins that interfere with absorption of essential nutrients in these foods. There are carbs in all foods other than lean meat, so people will eat some carbs. I do not recommend going carb-free. Breads? If not all breads, which kinds / brands? There are no toxins that interfere with absorption of essential nutrients in these foods. There are carbs in all foods other than lean meat, so people will eat some carbs. I do not recommend going carb-free. Always the healthier the better. What about coffee? Tea? Marijuana? I would ask your doctor and nutritionist about coffee and tea. I believe there are other reasons they suggest to limit these. Marijuana? No, I would not ever RECOMMEND that someone use marijuana (unless POSSIBLY in the case of medical illness). What about sweet potatoes? White potatoes? There are no toxins that interfere with absorption of essential nutrients in these foods. There are carbs in all foods other than lean meat, so people will eat some carbs. I do not recommend going carb-free. Fruits -- with or without sugar? There are no toxins that interfere with absorption of essential nutrients in these foods. There are carbs in all foods other than lean meat, so people will eat some carbs. I do not recommend going carb-free. So - those are my thoughts. Again - please consult your physician and nutritionist as those are not my areas of expertise. Be well!

My doctor told me 90 days... And I think even after that you have to be careful because absorption is different, so basically you become a cheap drunk Not to mention you don't want to transfer 'food' addictions to 'alcohol' addiction... I'm going to visit my dad in June, and he always has the nicest bottles of red wine with dinner... I will definitely smell them, but no drinking for me

I'm glad everyone has been respectful too. Be careful with the claims in the popular press on health benefits of wine. It's actually much more complicated than "the flavonoids protects you from cancer." Here is an interesting presentation summarizing some of the major studies: http://kisefront02.ki.se/sites/default/files/alcohol_women.pdf The health benefit might be from one glass for women...but that ends with more than one. There is a very slight increase in morbidity as you drink more. But so little that British health officials said to effect "nothing alarming, just warn people to be careful." The most interesting question some researchers are asking is "wine drinkers seem to be more social, and having friends seems to be more important than the wine itself." Wine has been a medicine for 5000 years. Paul in the bible told his protege Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach. But I'm under no illusion that having a glass is going to make me healthier. Hanging around with friends and enjoying laughter might be great medicine, but that is not my motivation ...my motivation is I really enjoy it. Enjoy life, but don't fool yourself over this, I can look at my own family and see the dangers of abuse of alcohol and drugs, but I also enjoy the relaxing properties of drinking. Just be a responsible adult and keep your eyes and mind open.

Look, food can't replace real freinds and lovers, you just want it that much and that's an addiction. Just like an alcoholic or drug user the addiction drives you and controls you and all you know is you need it. Fear of failing or succeeding? Probably more likely afraid to take the first step on the journey you know you need to make, and that you can't come back once you make that decision. I had a lot of the same fears, but now I'm about 5 months out and I couldn't be happier. Now I control my relationship with food and not the other way around. I still enjoy many of the foods I love, but I can't abuse them, my sleeve won't let me. I'm still in the early part of my journey, what I didn't realize until I got here, is that the path behind me is darker than the path ahead. Good Luck to you.

The body does not require carbohydrates to live properly. The body does require Protein and fat. That said, if you do not have any diabetes or pre-diabetes carbs are not as critical to restrict. Atkins bars are tricky. They contain sugar alcohols and according to Atkins diet planning do not count towards carb count.....neither does the Fiber. I find sugar alcohols do count towards my carb count as well as provide side effects that cause me uncontrolled diarrhea. If your NUT is one you trust....trust. If not, find another that is less Atkins in his/her approach. I did spend quite some time eating red meat only and lived just fine on ZERO carbs for over a year. it is really what you can modify in your diet and live with LONG-TERM. Otherwise it is nothing but a quick fix that will not be followed and weight regain will occur. I know all about this.

Hey Everyone!!! I'm 22-almost 23- and a sorta- single bandster.... meaning for the first time in 5 years, I'm having date #2 with a super awesome guy tomorrow night. I'm what you call a serial first-dater, and never quite make it to date #2, so this is a BIG deal to me! The first date was a group date with him and his friends, and I admit- I met him on Craigslist ( I got tired of being single in MD, so I posted an add with LOTS of pics and he responded!), but everything has been great. He's smart- (Has a BS in Political Science) and cute (in a scruffy, needs help kinda way)... so we'll see... I go to college in NYC so coming home in the summers is hard to meet people. I've never really had problems with self-confidence- just my self-worth... and trust me- its TWO COMPLETELY different things. I'm so girly- I can't leave the house without my hair and makeup done, and I always have my lip gloss on hand. I know how to work a room, and how to make new friends... my problem is that I have always surrounded myself with gay guy friends and never socialized straight guys.. I'm just now learning how to live life around straight guys and I'm having some sort of success! Its hard though- I am so scared to let myself fall for someone when 1. I am more unsure about my body at a size 14 than I was at a size 24 and 2. I know I am leaving town in a month for school again... so its hard. wouldn't it be weird to finally be one of those people we were so jealous of-- holding hands in a mall or something and being all couple-y and such? I would love to feel comfortable doing that- without alcohol, and without thinking I'm not good enough. Ahh well, I'll let you know how date #2 goes... but for now, I'm still single!

me too.... my vices are just sex and alcohol lol

Let me give you some perspective. Your boyfriend is NOT going to change. He has the BAD SEED of addiction and he has it for life. You need to get saway from him as fast as you can. I have been through what you are going through....and put up with it for 10 YEARS. MY BAD. I met my boyfriend when I was 37. Long story short, he turne out to be drug and alcoholic addictive. He couldn't hold down a job. He stole from me. I had never been into drugs before and within a year of being with him I was snorting speed and coke on a fairly regular basis. Six years into this I realized I was doing it to appease him, I was weak, and I said NO MORE. I stopped the drugs cold turkey and never looked back. I also told him to get out. He was a master manipulator...the perfect "victim" and I fell for it every time. But I finally put my foot down. He continued to abuse his body and mind, and not be able to hold a job for more than a few months at a time. He died this past May of a suspected drug overdose and heart attack. He was 57. Get away NOW. He will NEVER change and he will drag you down with him. Guaranteed. I have BEEN THERE.

Even though the process is very simple which requires a huber needle, saline, alcohol wipe, gloves and a bandaid, getting the port in the right position is the tricky part. I could save my self alot of money due to being a RN for 20 years. This isn't rocket science and if done properly you are no more prone to sepsis doing at home, then they are in the office. The difficult part is not HITTING THE TUBING AND CAUSING A LEAK....Even though it is a siimple process, I respect my band way too much to go out on a limb, but the thought is out there....My fills are cheap, costing me $40.00 and I needed very few, so i guess I got off lucky....Remember, is cutting costs worth the risk of piercing your port? Have a fabulous day! Crista

Try this http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f22466/december-delights-2009-a-106299/index23.html#post1388171 or search December Delights 2009 On the drinking thing my lap-band book says that "alcohol has a high number of calories and breaks down Vitamins but an occasional glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage is not considered harmful to weight loss". I would think a beer would be like a coke with the carbonation and all but they do sell some low carb lite beer. Good going all!!

Cheezits were one of the junk foods that i used to become a morbidly obese mofo. I shelled out a large chunk of $$$$ to self fund surgery to help me with weight loss. Why in the hell would I ever consider adding back such a food when I'm just beginning the weight loss stages. I'm sorry....but this concept is no different than the recovering alcoholic who says he's gonna just limit himself to "one shot a day". Bad idea. Opening the door to all sorts of evil to rush in........

Stay away from the alcohol. I am serious!!! Sent from my HTC Desire 626s using the BariatricPal App

I don't know my bougie size, I suppose I could have the surgeon check his records. But honestly I don't think it has much to do with my regain if anything. I can tell you I have not had vsg related complications..... my regain has everything to do with depression resulting from loss and subsequently making poor food and behavior choices.... as a result of pregnancy I experienced a lessening of restriction, but not a full return to pre-op conditions...I am down 5lbs from last week... my caloric intake is hovering around 1600/day and I am focusing on home cooked (by me!) meals and no alcohol, I've come under my protein needs each day, and over on carbs, so still need to make some tweaks there....the 2 hikes on sun/mon still have me sore so I haven't worked out since-- I plan to go to the gym tomorrow...stay with it everyone, and keep up the effort! It's doable! Just keep checking in I'm really looking forward to keeping this thread active!

Bahahahaha! He was a trooper, for sure! Texas wines are something of an oxymoron! LOL. I asked him if he thought they grew the grapes for photo ops only! LOL, cuz most get either grapes or concentrate from California. And you gotta think the vintners in CA aren't stupid. Just like in Italy, they keep the "good stuff" in country! LOL. I kid you not, at one place, I smelled each glass and they all made my nose burn!!! I'm like dayum...can you say not fully fermented alcohol and acetone?? *snort* But yes, the atmostphere is soooo lovely and relaxing! Glad to hear you have that too. Cuz you know, mizreh loves company! Hey, how's the charting going? Is that thing which won't be mentioned going down still? ((hugs))

I smoke it. In fact I killed a roach a few minutes ago. Do you HAVE to be DRUNK (or high) to have a good time? I can enjoy myself perfectly without zero alcohol, so I could never understand people who must drink to have fun... And, I know you said "ignore" it, but as far as "munchies" I allow myself a bite-size chocolate and I won't over do it. I do, however, eat it extra slowwwwwwly, so as to delight in it.

Brilliant! No jackwagon psychs allowed! Seriously, do the cruze. Have a plan though before boarding. Find out about the restaurants and dining experiences especially the buffets. And choose your day!!! You can do this and make it more than about food and alcohol. Or is that the definition of a cruise? I've never been on one!

19 Days Post Op - 211.8lbs (-10.6lbs from SW-222.4lbs) Ok, so I have things to discuss. ROFLMAO. Let's talk Celebrate Vitamins. I chose to go this route because my RD and doc highly recommended them as giving good labs down the road. So that means, they are easily and well absorbed. To me, that's like a life insurance policy geared toward success. I also chose them cuz I got samples from several companies and these had (IMHO), the best tastes overall, and the most choices for types of vitamins (i.e. capsules, chewables, chewy bites, drink mixes, sublingual tablets, etc). So now I want to report on what I got and how I love them/tolerate them. I got 2 different kind of Multi-Vitamins because I was afraid that I would get to hate the drink mix if I had to have it 2 times a day. Here are my 2 multi-vitamins to take care of my daily bariatric needs: Essential 3-in-1 Multi Drink Mix in Citrus Splash and it's the 60 serving tub. So I use 1 scoop a day in water with ice. And what I get for that is: 1/2 of my multi-vitamin needs + 500mg of calcium citrate + about 3g of benefiber stuff. And it tastes like Tang! I'm a Tang kid. I loved the stuff growing up, just as I loved the instant Lipton Lemon Iced Tea. LOL. So I look forward to having my big glass of this stuff, 30 minutes after breakfast or morning snack time. YUM!!! I thoroughly recommend it. I love that I don't have any gross burps or nausea after it and it tastes yum. And I don't have to swallow a bullet sized multi-vitamin. The tub will lat me 60 days cuz I'm having it one time a day. The other multi is a chewable orange tablet that I take with dinner. Chewable Tablet Multi-Vitamin in Citrus. I like this vitamin. I let it kinda dissolve like a huge sweettart. It does have a mild vitaminy taste, kinda like the old chewable vitamins or baby asprins we took as kids. I like it, tolerate it and best of all don't get burps or nausea behind it. If only taking this vitamin, you need 2per day. But I take 1 at the evening meal and the drink mix for the other half of my vitamin. The drawback with this chewable is that it does not contain the 500mg of calcium citrate like the drink mix contains. So that means I require 1000mg of calcium citrate from another source which means more cost. But it gives me the greatest flexibility. . Calcium Citrate Chewy Bites - 1000mg/day (1500mg actual, but I get 500mg from my drink mix multi above--so I only need 2-500mg chewy bites) I love these chewy bites. I have to take 2 that are separated from my any other big vitamin source of calcium or iron by 2 hours. I take 1 at noon and the other right after dinner. Watermelon Chewy Bite - 500mg calcium citrate + D (love to take this in the afternoon) Chocolate Chewy Bite - 500mg calcium citrate + D (love to take this after dinner kinda like a sweet touch finish to the meal) . Thiamine 100mg Capsule. Nothin' amazing to report here other than that it is small and easily swallowed and digested! I take it in the morning since B1 thiamine is an energy vitamin! . Vitamin D3. I don't have to take an extra supplement because between my 2 multis and the calcium citrate chewy bites, I meet my 2000mg D3 requirements each day. Score! And a money saver! . B12 500mg/daily or 1000mg/every other day Sublingual Soft Melts in Wild Cherry. This is so easy to take. I dissolve it under the tongue. It dissolves quickly is faintly wild cherry. And I take it every other day with my Thiamine and Multi Drink Mix. YUM! And pretty cheap! . Iron 18mg (from iron fumerate) + C (for better absorption) Chewable Tablet-Tangerine Flavor (every other day at bedtime cuz I'm post-meno and only need about 10mg/day). This is another big chewable tablet that I let dissolve. It's not bad. Doesn't have an aweful taste and is the best choice so far for flavor and lack of after taste. It doesn't make me sick to my tummy either. Big score! I tried others that sent me praying to hurl! I only take it every other day at night. I separate from any other vitamin or tummy pill by 2-4 hours so that it will absorb. . Notes: And that is it. That's my vitamin regimen. I think the cost over time was about $35/mo? Or something cray like that? Bariatric Pal has these in their store at the same price as direct from Celebrate. I do love the customer service at Celebrate and work with someone there personally. So I do use Celebrate. But they are the same price and I'm sure you could get great service from Alex's crew. I don't know if I will continue doing the chewables and drink mixes over time. What I don't like is that rather than pills or capsules, I have 55-60 calories from VITAMINS!!!! and have about 10-12g of sugar alcohols (I subtract about 8-9 grams of fiber/sugar alcohols as a guestimate). So they could potentially impact your weight loss. I don't like to thing that right now, they represent about 10% of my daily caloric intake! Whoooooooaaaaaa Nelly! But I'm willing to suspend disbelief and continue to take them in the hopes that they will be well-absorbed and will keep my labs beautimous and also because I don't have to swallow huge ass pills right after surgery! OK, so there you go! Vitamin Central. LOL. More later...

Day 5 Post Op - 224.4lbs Ok, so upfront let me just admit that the scale drives me bonkers and that it's a short trip. I know intellectually that I should not be weighing right now. I get it. LOL. But, as Hal said in 2001 Space Odyssey, "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that." *snort* I also want to say that I fully recognize I am the scale's little bi*ch. I was so good yesterday. I did add in the Celebrate Vitamin Drink Stix and calcium chewy bites. But fu*k me! There's a ton of carbs in them! I'm not real good with sugar alcohols like sorbitol and maltitol (they spike my blood sugar) and they are choc-full of them. So I'm going to go in search of new vitamins this morning. And I'm clueless. In my mind, I should be down to pre-surgery weight at the very minimum at 5days post surgery. I'm walking, getting plenty of water in, and taking my vitamins. I'm also getting in around 72g of protein daily, and between 20-25g of carbs daily. So why am I up 0.2lbs this morning? Oh, and I had a poopy too...so I don't think it's that I'm full of poop any longer! I'm eating about 400cals per day! How can ANYONE not lose weight on that amount? Now, I know weight loss isn't linear. I know I have a lot of inflammation left from the surgery and that I'm still doing a lot of healing. Blah blah blah...but it still boils down to the irrational fear that I mutilated my digestive track for nada. No bueno por nada! LOL, please forgive this little rant. I feel like I had one due to me, because I feel like I've been a pretty model citizen through the pre-op liquid stage to the post op liquid stage. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Fu*k you scale!!!! In other news, the pain is level is very, very low. I didn't even take my pain pills this morning. Will go take my gabapentin now though cuz I committed to taking it for a month. So at least that's good. I ran a 100 degree fever last night, but it's back to being normal. As I understand it's pretty common post surgery to run low grade fevers for a while. Ok, feel free to jump in and talk me off the ledge and cheerlead!

Okay, flipping through Discovery Channel last nite they had a show on about a 750 pound man. Amazing. So this doc was discussing research about food addiction, and they did test studies on obese people, seeing how their brains reacted to foods. The MRI scans were eerily similar to the scans of those who are drug and alcohol addicted. What happens (if I'm remembering correctly and this doc is right) is the food causes dopamine levels to surge, and for some reason, obese folks do not have the receptors for the dopamine like "normals" in the world, so it takes lots and lots of food, in increasing amounts over the years, to get the dopamine levels to cause the addiction to be triggered properly...so you get the HIGH from your food. So, the more you eat, the more you NEED to eat to get your HIGH. Sigh. She also commented that exercise increases dopamine receptor sites, so not only is the exercise good for health and weight loss, it SHOULD cause the need for less food to get the same HIGH. I'm addicted to food, coffee, and ciggies. I'm going NOW to call my doc and change my Wellbutrin prescription so I can actually take it. I'm hoping it helps to get rid of the ciggies for good and helps me not to get so anxious about my food. Don't get me wrong, my band helps tremendously. I have been stuck fighting to stay below 190 for months now and it's getting old. I'm dong whatever it takes!

Are you thinking that they will exlude the band, but keep Gastric bypass? Not at all, just keeping it very simple, high protein, low fat. I am still going to the gym 45 min a day, 6 days a week. I can't really eat in the morning, my first meal is around 12 noon. Usually something like chicken or chili. I find that I need more spice to taste anything. I snack on peanuts, and dinner is a South Beach diet bar if I am at work, or more chicken, beef, etc if I am home. No other snacking at all. I am never hungry. Once a month I have a glass of wine, otherwise no other alcohol. Drinking lots and lots of water and Tropicana sugar free orange-aid. I found that crystal light was making me dehydrated for some reason.

I think everyone's doctor is different... my doctor said it's okay to have soda if I can tolerate it. Some people can and some can't. It used to be thought the carbonation would erode the band but they're finding it's not the case. As far as alcohol, he said it's fine but it's liquid calories so I have to watch elsewhere... and never dronk alcohol with food. I'm told that the alcohol effects you more though so you'll drink less anyway. Probably because there's less in your stomach to absorb it an also your body size is decreasing, so be careful with it, espeically if driving. One drink will effect you more than it used to he said. So basically you can try almost everything before and see what you can tolerate.

I had planned on documenting my gastric sleeve surgery experience in the order it occurred, but I forgot about the psych evaluation. Once again luck was on my side as I knew what to expect before arriving. I had a chance to talk with a post-op gastric sleeve patient during my 1st appointment with my doctor. The test itself was about 451 questions. Really though, you could say it was about 150 questions asked 3 different ways. My best guess is it is done in that format to measure how consistent and true you are answering. I guess that they believe that if you are trying to manipulate the test for whatever reason, by asking the same question 3 different ways mixed in with 450 questions, you won't be able to remember how you answered previously and your true feelings will be revealed. I can't remember the exact answer selections, but I think there were 6 choices - ranging from Always True to Never True. So they might ask, "Have you consistently missed work because of drinking?" and you choose among the 6 answers as to how true the question applies to your situation. 50 or so questions later, it is asked again differently, "I never drink so much alcohol that I have called in sick at work." And they mix in questions about how alcohol has played a part in your family and social life. Your feelings about stealing, is it better to be a child or an adult, how you behave in social situations, how you bad/good feel most people behave, which is the better part of life - being a child or being an adult. I think you get the general idea. The psych interview was pretty brief - about 15 minutes. The questions mainly center around my eating habits and what I knew about diet and nutrition. That I realized that surgery was only a tool and not the solution. That I needed to exercise before and after surgery. And what I thought my ideal body weight should be. I told him that I didn't want to fixate on a specific number and just wanted to look "normal", whatever that weight turned out to be. I had been following a guy on youtube who started out at my weight 350 and was down to 235 and I thought I'd be very happy to look like him. I haven't been down below 270 since 1997! My doctor later told me that my ideal weight is 200 and seem to take it in stride that I'd have no problem getting to that weight. So we'll see. My plan is to set small goals and not get too hung up on reaching a specific weight. Expenses so far: My copay for the doctor has been about $2000 so far ($500 office visits, nutritionist counseling / $1500 surgery cost) My hospital costs so far, $3000 ($1000 blood, ultra sound, chest xrays and EDG / $2000 surgery cost) I had a bit of a panic yesterday. The hospital called to confirm my surgery date and collect payment. They told me the surgery cost was $19,000 and in my mind I'm thinking "NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!" I wasn't expecting to have to pay out of pocket that much! And then they said,"Your copay is $2000." Fortunately, I hadn't completely stroked out after hearing the first part and was able to get my heart out of my mouth after I realized I wasn't responsible for the full 19k. :-) I fumbled my Discover card out and gave them the digits. Still to be paid (and as far as I know, the last): Pre-op blood typing/urine testing (must be done within 72 hours of surgery) - I'm scheduled to be tested on 12/26 / surgery 12/27 / expected to return home 12/28.

organic beef, organic evaporated cane juice, water, organic soy sauce (water, organic soybeans, salt, organic alcohol), organic apple cider vinegar, salt, organic paprika, natural smoke flavoring, organic black pepper, organic onion powder, organic garlic powder