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thanks.. good luck to you to. Bunnydee.... Also, are you allowed to drink alcohol after everything is healed?

I had manly eating tendencies. There was nothing more that I loved was college football Saturdays with friends, nachos, queso, chicken wings, you name it we had it, and of course different alcoholic beverages. I carried most of my fat like a man as well. I was all gut. If it's any consolation, I can eat 1 slider from Chili's with cheese. I do have to eat it slow, but it does kind of fill that want for a hamburger like meal.

Heres my thing, there is a lot of research done these days, and its proven that taking in medical marijuana by ingesting it, is way healthier then alcohol and doesnt have addictive traits like alcohol. These are facts. Not opinions. I dont encourage anyone to do anything. ONLY MY EXPERIENCE. They day i came home i had my infused coconut oil and i still do to this day. And i think ive been pretty successful. Anyone that takes a prescription drug has no right to tell anyone else that this prescription is different. The days of close minded "marijuana is the devil" are over. Please i encourage you to do your research before you bash something that youve been told your whole life is the devil so thats what you believe. I hope everyone finds what THEY NEED to be successful on this journey. We are all different and may take different roads but i hope we all make healthy new lives and continue to grow. ❤️ i hope everyone has a great day!

Dietician, filling in online form at 4 week meeting: so what kind of alcohol have you been drinking Me: oh well I can't drink beer cause of the gas so I've been trying dry Vermouth. It's quite good. Dietician: and, frequency? Me: twice Dietician: twice a day, ok Me: no...just twice so far Dietician: *laughs* *rolls eyes* : OK...

In my programs it was recommended to wait for 6 months for bread and raw vegetables. But I think it was a year to never again for alcohol 😂

... in America and other places We're actively encouraged to figure out our new tolerance in a safe environment, because it is assumed life will happen and with life, alcohol. Hence the cultural differences.

My post surgery may be different from yours since I had the sleeve...but there's an excellent thread called Food Before and After Photos...which has been VERY active, over 6,400 posts. I would start at the beginning (you can just skim it) to see their progress and how they started out. It gave me a LOT of great ideas on what I can eat, also what to eat if I'm flying or in an airport or on vacation or out to dinner...lol! As an example, I'm 10 months out, and this weekend I went to Happy Hour and had two limoncello martinis, a half dozen oysters and two lamb shops...all for about $24. It was the perfect amount of food...and very high in protein. I like to go out to eat too, and I'm in hospitality, so there are many work related "dining out" opportunities. I stick to one to two drinks (I know alcohol is forbidden, but I went rogue on that at about 4 months out!) and high protein. If I go to sushi, I get a sashimi appetizer...at my favorite restaurant, it's probably 3-4 ozs (9 pieces of three different fish) and it's perfect (although I have been known to sneak a piece of my son's eel roll. too!) Mexican, I get shrimp fajitas, no rice and have been know to bring my own low carb tortillas! I haven't really done Italian...but if I did, it would be shrimp scampi or chicken or veal picatta...no pasta! I always study the menu before I go anywhere (the same recommendation every diet I have ever been on has made) and choose what I will be eating before I go. This helps me to not make bad choices, most of the time. I just decided that I was going to LIVE with my tiny belly...and living to me includes dining out!

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.

I am almost five months post op from having my Verticle Gastric Sleeve. I had my surgery at the INT hospital in Tijuana, Mexico. Right off the bat, I have to say, it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I feel SO much better, having lost 90 pounds so far. And I know that I look better! My family has had mixed reactions. But I am thrilled! I have always been heavy, fat, fluffy, large, obese, what ever you want to call it. Once, when I was pregnant with our second child, I was so nauseated, I lost about 30 pounds at the beginning of the pregnancy. My doctor told me to eat more. I told him how nauseated I was, how I just couldn't eat. He said "You have to force yourself to eat!" And I thought "Just my luck! THE ONLY TIME IN MY LIFE I AM SUPPOSED TO FORCE MYSELF TO EAT, AND I AM NAUSEATED!!!" Never before or since has anyone ever told me to force myself to eat!! I had my surgery the middle of June this year, and have lost a total of 90 pounds so far. I now wear a size 12, and am coming up fast on a size 10. (I tried on a pair of size ten slacks this morning, and they fit, but are tight. Didn't buy them. Just wanted to see if I could get them on!) But what a thrill. I know that as a child, I went straight from children's sizes to a women's size 16! Never, ever wore a size smaller than a 16. And gradually since my marriage (40 years ago!) I have gained a few pounds each year, taking me to an all time high of 260 lbs. I am a travel nurse. My specialty is Labor and Delivery. I love to work with laboring women! Don't so much care for delivered women or babies, but I love the laboring women! I have been working as a travel nurse for about 5 years now. A travel nurse contracts out, through an agency, to work for a hospital for a set number of weeks, usually 13 weeks at a time. At first I only worked contracts around Iowa, my home state. Then about three years ago, I took a contract in California, and have been working off and on in California ever since. I have been at my current contract for over a year. At the end of each contract here, they have just kept offering me extensions. So I have stayed here. I love it here in Merced, CA, but my current contract is over in a few weeks, and I have decided to go home,. My husband is lonely living alone, and it is of the highest importance to me is to keep him happy! When I initially started working in California, I thought I would use my time here to get thinner. I had an image of everyone in California being tan and thin and good looking. (The Hollywood Image I guess.) But it didn't work that way. I was lonely, living all by myself with no family or close friends, and I cooked and baked, and ATE! (Did I mention that I LOVE to cook and bake? Wish I had discovered this talent 40 years ago, I would have been a chef instead of a nurse!) I gained almost 40 pounds living in California by myself. So about a year ago, I started considering having bariatric surgery. My first cousin IS a bariatric surgeon, and I even went for a consultation with him. However, our insurance wouldn't cover it at all, and even though he offered to do the surgery free of charge, I would still have to pay the hospital and anesthesia charges out of my pocket. So I opted for going to Mexico and having the surgery there. I have previously expressed on this board my mixed feelings about my surgery in Mexico, so won't repeat it here. But the end result has me thrilled to death! I love the results I have gotten, and am so happy with my outcome. I couldn't ask for better results. No complications other than a persistant fatigue that hounded me for the first 4-6 weeks post op. But now am over that, and loving the way my life is now. I get so many compliments on how I look, and how much I have lost. Everyone has been so nice about it. I can't say enough about how my friends have supported me. It is going to be interesting to go home in a few weeks and see how my friends there react to me. When I first told my four children I was going to have the surgery, they all expressed displeasure and negativity about it. My son's mother-in-law had a Roux-N-Y surgery (another bariatric surgery) about 8 years ago, and she lost a huge amount of weight. But has gained it all back. She drinks quit a bit, and I think her alcohol consumption has contributed to her weight regain significantly. A good friend of mine who also has always been heavy had a Roux-N-Y procedure 9 or 10 years ago, and she too has gained most of her weight back. I look at them, and it re-doubles my determination not to gain my weight back. I want so strongly to maintain the loss I have achieved and continue on till I get to goal. (Also, I have given away ALL my fat clothes, so I HAVE to stay this thin, or go naked which would NOT be a pretty sight!) I told my husband at the outset, when he expressed his concerns about my having surgery, I am not doing this to look better, I am doing this to FEEL better. And I can say without a doubt, I feel SO good now. My joint aches and pains are gone. My chronic fatigue is gone, I have Loads of energy. I have been able to quit my arthritis medicine, my cholesterol medicine, my allergy medicine (who knows about that one!), my blood sugar medicine (I was a Pre-diabetic) and my blood pressure medicine. So I KNOW that my health has improved! What more could I ask for? My only regret is that this procedure wasn't available 30+ years ago!!!

Hmmm, at 3 months out folks WILL notice the weight loss and that you are eating and drinking "differently". Unsure how you can keep the secret much longer. At 3 months out, assuming all goes well, and it should, you can eat soft foods easily. Yes to H2O and protein suppliments, depends on your program whether you should drink any alcohol, and when you eat, try to eat what you've already tried to avoid any 'surprised' (at either end).

I got a cold about 2 weeks out of surgery and took Nyquil for about 4 days. It had 10% alcohol in it and it was probably not the best choice on my part. No problems taking it, but burned a little.

Bibo Are there any local support groups in your area? Does your doctor have a therapist you can speak to about your relationship with food? What is normal exactly? Being able to run through the drive-thru and order a Big Mac and a large order of fries? Maybe that has become normal in our culture but it's not healthy at all. We have become a fast food world in a fast food mindset. Even regular home cooking. I would make these big delicious meals and I would absolutely stuff myself. Two helpings! Two platefuls! At that rate, I wasn't going to be able to survive to see my grandchildren! There comes a time when you have to decide which is more important and why food has such control over your life. Food for us is very much like booze to an alcoholic. It controls our lives and it wrecks our health because we can't seem to consume it in moderation. You say you can't pick up your two year old right now. At the rate you were going, were you going to be around to see him/her graduate from high school? How many diets have you tried and failed at? I too sometimes think I should have given diet and exercise one more try. Well to be honest, I am dieting now! I have to watch my carbs and my calories. I have to make good food choices. But the one thing my band helps me with is quantity. Even if I do indulge in some mashed potatoes, I can't consume nearly the amount I used to! I am in a partnership with my band. It can't do it without me and I can't do it without my band. It definitely sounds like you have not come to terms with the changes you are going to have to make in order to be successful. This is a drastic lifestyle change and commitment. But it's a commitment to yourself and to your family. You're not going to be any good to them if you cannot move around or have diabetes, sleep apnea or any of the other comorbidities associated with obesity. You and I deserve to be healthy and happy people, not someone who is a slave to food. Find someone you can talk to locally to help you through this transition.

To all the newly post op, please see Super Bowl Sunday for what it is...one afternoon. One afternoon that you tell yourself, no to booze and junk food. Your sleeve is for the Rest of Your Life (assuming you don't eff it up). Stop acting as though one afternoon is unbearable. Pre op, you most likely had a two week liquid diet; that was 14 days and you did it! Now you are 3, 4, or 5 weeks out and you can't handle one afternoon? The wants you are listing- alcohol, tortilla chips, and fried chicken- are what put us on the operating table to begin with. Why let one afternoon get you twisted? Stay the course now so you can be a success story later.

Alcohol.... Nope. Nada. Not a sip. Take your own food or eat before and say you're not hungry or your tummy is upset so you don't want to eat and be sick. That's as near to the truth as you can get. Enjoy

Well funny you should post this. My parents are not overweight. I am 49 always struggled with weight as food was my coping mechanism soon after I was molested as a small child. Fast forward, being attractive and stylish a lot of times saved me from the wrath of being a slob but not always. I tried in 09 to be approved for bypass failed yet lost 60 lbs. So the fact that family and friends can see that I am capable of losing weight to them pure willpower alone should do it. My aunt is the next obese person in my immediate family. She is the family feeder, food hoarder and the reason costco stays in business. What single person needs to shop at Costco weekly? Right! The people who have 2 freezers and 2 fridges. My aunt said she will support me that was back in March when I started WLS process. Now I am approved and she says she does not understand why I am having it. Now she is conditioning me saying I better not be this way or that after then bragging about my weight loss. Saying things to me like well now I cannot take you out to eat anymore. Or wow you will never get to have BBQ ribs again knowing they are one of my fav's. And the hatched flew right into my back when at a dinner party that I was not present at she proceeded to talk about my weight issues and surgery to a guy I was in grade school with. Who cares? Further more she has to be 100 overweight worry about yourself. Food is love in my family always was and to my dad and my aunts and uncles who struggle with alcohol and or pills. No one wants to see someone one else rise up out of misery. Despite what they say. I am being sleeved June 8th. The victim hood mentality is staying on that operating table while I walk to a stronger, healthy me. If I can inspire anyone else and not alienate them so be it. But I will not allow anyone to make me feel bad for my choice. Scare me with loose skin stories all you want at least it will not be fat. Even my dad does not understand why surgery. The conversation is going to change now for my family how they relate and talk about me. What does it matter they already talk about my weight nothing new really. And I have a daughter who is 15 and healthy weight thank goodness! That is always something they talk about too she does not take after me. Probably more than you wanted to know!! Give me a mic or platform because I have lots to say only scratched the surface here. Thank you Sent from my LGLS990 using the BariatricPal App

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

Thank you, everyone, for telling your stories and sharing tips! It is very reassuring. Keep 'em coming! I don't have a surgery date yet (probably late June). I have a BMI of 32.8. I'm most concerned about: -micronutrient deficiency. The longer-term sleeve studies show this is very, very common. Any of you long-termers who can report that your regular Multivitamins are enough to keep your blood levels normal? -being too fatigued and fuzzy-brained to work for weeks after the surgery. I don't need to account for vacation days at my job, and I can work from home if necessary, but I've got a huge project in August that will need focused thinking and writing for most of June and July. More than a week off work will compromise that. So I'd love to hear from folks who were back to a desk job and reasonably efficient, a week after surgery! (Or if not, please tell it too me straight - how long did it take for your brain to return?) -surviving the pre- and post-op liquid diet phases. I like Fiber and crunch! But I suppose one can endure anything for just a few weeks. I'm pretty active (cardio daily) and eat nutritiously (although way too much) with lots of Protein. I don't smoke, drink (alcohol, coffee, soda). So the maintenance phase doesn't seem too difficult (knock wood) - just much smaller portions, starting with protein, and much more chewing! I hope that having a lower (although still obese) BMI and being fit now, will help me bounce back to regular activity (and brain) after surgery.

I find that I tolerate some sugars better than others. A teaspoon or two of brown sugar on Oatmeal - fine. A few drops of liquid agave in a drink? Fine. Alcohol (certain ones) - not an issue if I have one drink ( e.g. 1 glass of wine or 1 cocktail.) A full sugar soda or dessert gives me the sweats and makes me nauseous. Refined white sugar is terrible on my system. Just for good measure - I'm about 20 months out and still losing, but working on building muscle - for me its not about the number on the scale, but how I look at this point. (I can't believe become vain.)

Tssiemer I didn't have staples so I can't relate to that. But my physical recovery was a breeze compared to the mental recovery. Still a struggle almost a year out! Don't be worried about messing the process up and be denied. You will be more upset with yourself not trying if you gave up. Constipation can sometimes be an issue for me but only when I take ibuprofen. I was approved and instructed to take it while on my cycle because mine got worse with loosing the weight. So I take them very limited but when i do take them... Constipation strikes. But its usually fairly easy to take something and get it moving again. And as far as the easy way out.... You tell whomever to go to hell who says that! Sorry to be blunt but seriously.... This is not easy! I work so hard daily at this. Harder than I ever have!! I don't tolerate anyone telling me that because I know the dedication and time I put into this. I contemplate everything I eat, get up at 4:45am to work out before work, count my water all day long, gave up alcohol. Its not easy but still the best decision I ever made! I can't ease all your fears but I'm always here to try and talk and be honest about the process.

I googled bariatric psych evaluation questions, and they were very similar to what I had with the Dr. Essentially, they want to make sure you understand what is going on, what the risks are, and if you have any tendencies to abuse substances (alcohol/drugs) after surgery. It took me abut 20 minutes to get through about 150 questions (many are the exact same question or a variation of the same topic). For me there were a couple religious questions to see if they should advise I seek council there if I need it. Basically, they want to know how much you drink/do drugs (It is my understanding that if you admit to drug use, you maybe disqualified), if you will follow the instructions from your providers (or someone in a position of authority), and how your weight has affected your life. While I didn't lie, 99% of the questions were obvious how one "should" answer them. I hope this helps.

Yes, absolutely. There are many reasons you fall off the wagon, usually falling off the wagon isnt introducing a bit more lean meat, vegetables and legumes in to your diet to ward off hunger, its going off the rails and eating high calorie and nutritionally void foods too frequently. Nobody gets obese eating comforting portions of lean meats, vegetables and legumes most of the time and treating themselves occassionaly. If you dont feel good eating filling portions of nutritionally dense food then you have a phycological issue, you arent suffering physically from this. Its difficult to gain weight by over indulging in lean protein and vegetables, but you can by over indulging in potatoes or high calorie processed foods. So I dismiss the idea that people stop eating nutritionally dense low calorie foods because? What? they're starving? What is the pressure that makes them not able to do it anymore? How is it not sustainable? Are they low on energy? If you are saying they dont feel good because they crave high calorie foods too often and want to give in to temptations often enough that it causes weight gain then that is phycological and can be changed with persistance its like an addiction. You wouldnt be saying this to an alcoholic. I felt like I wasnt getting anywhere on wholefoods after a while, but in hindsight if I kept going I would have broke the plateu eventually, even if I didnt it would be a better place than I am at now. I take full responsibility for mucking things up for me.

No I would never buy a 6 pack for myself. but if my husband bought some I would just have one of his and he could have what I dont drink. I love beer and im OK with not having soda for the rest of my life. but there is something about pizza and a cold beer in the winter its delish!!! how long out did you wait before you had an alcoholic drink

i haven't had the surgery, haven't even had a consultation by my friend had the surgery on Sept 10, 2014 and has lost 70 lbs. She decided she was going to drink alcohol last weekend. I don't know how much she drank but it was very little and she ended up soused. Also, if you have any underlying unresolved issues from your past (e.g. trauma)that made you eat, I would not even think of trying alcohol. This is specific to gastric bypass surgery but A new study reports that one in 10 gastric bypass patients struggles with alcoholism within two years of the surgery. This statistic is actually from CNN.com-transcripts. There is an entire conversation about it, just type in Dr. Drew and weight loss surgery. I don't know if this would pertain to you or not, just giving some information,

a lot of people can't tolerate sugar alcohols BEFORE surgery, either. If you ever have few minutes, get on amazon and read the reviews for sugar free Haribo Gummy Bears... I've never had issues with sugar alcohols, but I know a lot of people DO

HUGE disappointment. First ingredient is Maltitol. Last ingredient is Stevia. So mostly sugar alcohol with one drop of Stevia. Didn't buy. Always read label. So they put Stevia in big letters on package but barely any. Mostly sugar alcohol. Instead I bought 85% Cacao Dark chocolate Bar. 3 squares is one serving. 170 calories, 5g Dietary Fiber, 4g added sugar, 3g Protein and 15g fat. So one square just 1/3 of that. So about 53 calories, 1.3g sugar. I can live with that.