Search the Community

True that you are under NO obligation to tell anyone your personal business. But what I don't understand is why lie about it???? If someone would lie about WLS what else would they lie about?? It makes that personlose character and seem less creditable. Is this person ashamed of having WLS?? Honestly, myself, I am more ashamed of letting myself go and getting myself into this position than stepping up to the plate and doing something about it There's alot of reasons why people become overweight. Medication.....depression for starters..... food is an addiction just like drugs, cigarettes, gambling and alcohol. I have beaten 4 out of the 5. I've been obese for 20 yrs....I've tried EVERY diet in the book and haven't been successful for very long. Research has proven that only 5% of people who lose any substantial amount of weight will gain it back in time. Hell, even if someone has WLS, they can gain it back in time!!!

My dr said to wait 9 months to a year but that the main reason was because of alcoholism. He said that most wls patients take comfort on certain foods an of course by eating them, an after surgery an literally NOT being able to have them that ppl substitute there go to. So basically when ur having a hard time dealing with something or having bad day.. Instead of munching on snack they find comfort in drinking alcoholic beverages an become an alcoholic. Let me say this... I am not an everyday drinker but occasional an events/parties I do have a couple! Now I had surgery 5/28 an yes I waited to drink for little while (2 1/2 months). Some might think that was to soon, and I will say the first time I had a drink I took a couple sips an was a little tipsy. So u really don't need much! After that 1 drink 2 months after surgery I didn't have another for another month. When I did it was a cold beer. Pre surgery I was a sometimey beer drinker(cold beer when real thirsty cause hot outside like at beach) but now I would prefer a beer over vodka. I have only drank about 3 times since my surgery but only a little each time. I no beer is supposed to be bad for u but so is cake cookies ect.. That other ppl are sneaking and doing. I would prefer to be able to go to the beach an fish with my hubby an have 1 cold beer than to sneak an eat cookies. Just my opinion...

I miss alcohol too. I personally think you should wait until you've loss the wait you want to lose. Alcohol has is sugar and it'll kill your weight loss.

Received my order and tried the Spicy Tortilla flavor this morning. Not all that spicy but it's still quite tasty. I'm a little sensitive to caffeine and alcohol since surgery so the caffeine in the green tea gave me a good buzz and reduced my hunger. I would also highly recommend these teas for anyone on the pre and post op surgery diets. Or, for we banders, post fill for a day or so? tmf

Never counted, tracked or weighed. Eat when I'm hungry and just until satisfied. I Keep a running tally in my head so I know I'm getting at least 64oz water. Have a large 30-40g protein/fiber smoothie everyday and just eat a healthy, balanced diet of protein, fruits, veggies, and whole grains. However, I also eat deserts, ice cream, alcohol, bread, cake, muffins, chips, potatoes, pasta, and candy in moderation. Easiest "diet" I've ever been on and I've been maintaining at 10 pounds below my goal weight for almost 4 months.

Fyi: ive lost 2.5 lbs of the amt Ive gained. I stopped drinking alcohol and nightime snacking. I guess it makes a bigger difference than I once thought. I hafta force myself to "top off" with my dinner, eatong to the point of being full so Im not hungry again before bedtime. Probly not a great idea but once I have a snack (healthy or not) its over. I will eat all nite On my way back from the dark side...

Oh I am also going to indulge in a few last alcoholic beverages utilizing my Diet Coke over the weekend! One last hurrah before the healthy me takes over.

I'm stuck between 192-195. I need to buckle down and exercise. Plus, cut out alcohol on the weekends!

As part of my band journey, I decided it was time to tackle my Diet Coke addiction (again). I gave it up about 6 years ago, but here it is back again. We're talking a minimum of 5 cans a day, plus 3 - 6 glasses a day while eating out at lunch and/or dinner. It's a serious matter in my life. I actually believe the aspartame poisoning aspect is worse than the caffeine portion. I know this, but I still guzzle it. Why!?! Not looking forward to my 1 - 2 weeks of detox headaches and other symptoms. Has anyone else successfully tackled this evil? If so, any and all tips are appreciated! According to Merriam-Webster: ad·dic·tion noun \ə-ˈdik-shən, a-\ : a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble) : an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something Full Definition of ADDICTION 1 : the quality or state of being addicted <addiction to reading> 2 : compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful

I know why I over eat... I LOVE food, I love cooking food, I love eating food and I love sharing food. I too watch The Biggest Looser and love the show, but I'm sorry, when they do that "root problem" thing, I just laugh. It has nothing to do with my weight issues. I have people in my life that have suffered unbelievable pain and sorrow and nope they're not fat, nor alcoholics or drug adicts, and I have friends that have the greatest life in the world and they're fat, so, to me I believe it's about will power and the ability to change your eating habits and no longer indulge in wonderful tasting fattening foods. I frankly LOVE food, I love butter, whipping cream, cream cheese, and that will never change. I need to be held accountable for my own weight gain and poor eating habits, it has nothing to do with my life issues. There is a member on here that was on "The Biggest Looser" and the world watched her loose all her weight, but soon as her life and reality started again, she began gaining, so was recently sleeved. I haven't read anythig from her lately, so I hope this has helped her.

I read something today that made a lot of sense to me. "What matters to success isn't the speed with which you lose weight, but whether you lose weight with a lifestyle you enjoy enough to sustain." -Eggface Wise words. For me, anyway, the "diet" mentality has never worked. What does work is focusing on healthful choices first, working in the things I like, (often, but not always modified to make it more healthful) and moving my body. If I put on 5 pounds, I take it off by eating a little less, eliminating alcohol for a week and moving a bit more. THIS is a lifestyle I enjoy enough to sustain!

ask your surgeon what he recommends. I think you will find the surgeons recommendations on alcohol as varied as they are on caffeine/coffee! I think I had my first social drink at maybe 12 weeks post op, but I tend to avoid alcohol altogether now because it really is just excess calories. If we are out with friends I will get a "token drink" and sip at it, but that's about it. I'm all about not throwing the calories and carbs away for drinks. :-)

And she was allergic to the sugar alcohols anyway.

I had my surgery sep 9, last weekend my friends wanted to go to New Orleans for the weekend, so we did. I had a Jell-O shot and a few sips of a friends daiquiri (I know, very unhealthy) I was pretty much hammered, but my stomach handled it well. They mainly tell u not to drink because your body will be looking for another addiction to grab onto. Also, alcohol can dehydrate your body so just be sure to drink lots of water. It was fun, but I doubt I'll be making it a habit.

I had my surgery sep 9, last weekend my friends wanted to go to New Orleans for the weekend, so we did. I had a Jell-O shot and a few sips of a friends daiquiri (I know, very unhealthy) I was pretty much hammered, but my stomach handled it well. They mainly tell u not to drink because your body will be looking for another addiction to grab onto. Also, alcohol can dehydrate your body so just be sure to drink lots of water. It was fun, but I doubt I'll be making it a habit.

Surgeon said alcohol was OK 48 hours post-op? Seriously?!!!!! That's crazy to me.

I was sleeved Sept. 26th. I don't have chronic diarrhea. I did have Type 2 diabetes (for 4 years), sleep apnea and non-alcoholic fatty liver. My diabetes was gone in 2 days (my doctor estimated 3 - 4 days). The sleep apnea and fatty liver will take 3 - 4 months to go away. The diabetes being gone takes a big load off my shoulders!

My doc said no alcohol until 48hr after surgery! I'm 6 wk post op. Had the odd glass of vino with no prob whatsoever x

I pretty much avoided alcohol during weight loss phase but had some red wine at a celebration about 4 months out....burned! Now I am almost 3 years out. If I drink on an empty stomach it hits me hard. It's like the booze goes directly into the boodstream! I don't recall being so sensitive when banded. The sleeve creates metabolic change. If I eat first I can have 1-2drinks with no issue. Just be careful with it.

The only thing that limits you to only losing 60% of your excess weight is you. I've lost over 100% and am maintaining easily. I eat whatever I want whenever I'm hungry....protein first, then veggies, fruit and whole grains. But I also eat ice cream, desert, bread, alcohol, cake, etc.... just everything in moderation. I do not excercise and I've never tracked or counted or measured my food. I didn't have surgery just to be on a diet the rest of my life. I do make sure I drink at least 64oz of Fluid and I do take my Vitamins (but I've always taken vitamins, so this is no change) Other than making much healthier food choices, my life isn't a whole lot different than preop. Unless you count Having a normal BMI, shopping in regular stores for clothes, not being in pain everyday, spending a lot less money on groceries, and being able to hike, climb stairs, etc without getting out of breath, Perhaps I am an anomaly, but I just wanted to let you know that there is more than one way to be successful and postop life does not have to be all that complicated.

Beni. Trust me. We have been seeking medical advice for years now. (Medical aid is free of charge in Denmark J ) So we have been in and out of hospitals and as so has been aware of B12 defiance all the way through. In fact, in Denmark all gb-patients gets injected with vitamin D and B12 even before surgery and ever since, she has received B12 on a third month basis. Twice a year her blood has also been monitored for iron, zink, magnesium, vitamin B D E, calcium levels and some more. There has been some minor B12 defiance, but never anything alarming. Since a pregnancy in 2011, she occasionally has to get iron and vitamin D intravenously though. Still my girlfriends’ neurologic condition seems like an enigma to the doctors. I have read a LOT of Google stuff about it all. Lately I found a diagnosis – Wernickes encephalopathy – that fits quite well on (some of ) her symptoms, but what also occurs to me is that her condition might not be that rare at all..? Meaning: My girlfriend is not aware of her condition. She cannot remember that she was ever any different from today and does not remember her “absence attacks” either. She recognizes her spelling and memory issues but does not notice that her very personality has changed. She used to be a very “tidy” person –hence her house was always clean and things were always in place, she always kept her appointments and never spend more that budget. These days she is all but different, her house and her financial situation being a mess. (Even her mother says, that she doesn’t recognize her own daughter anymore) We are members of a local gby forum and what strikes me is that a few of our gby acquaintances are dealing with (some of) the same issues. Some has lost their capability of spelling or their handwriting has gone horrible, some tend to forget words, names or appointments, some can’t find their ways, some occasionally has a “numb” sensation or deals with cold/hot/wet/dry issues. Only they are not striken as bad as my girlfriend – or at least not yet, and this is my reason for writing to Bariatric Pal. See: In Denmark we didn’t perform gastric bypasses before 2006, so if neurologic complications doesn’t show before after say 6 years or more, we won’t have that many experiences yet. And I am well aware that this might be one out of a thousand that has to deal with these issues. In Denmark that would be only a few dozens of individuals, so there wouldn’t be any statistic relevance to state a case upon. But to save my own family I really need to know, if anybody out there has any experiences on this matter and especially if anybody knows a cure… - MsUjima: There is quite a few research articles about vitamin B and E defiance. Most related to alcohol abuse though, but the symptoms are alike those of my girlfriends (who hasn’t tasted alcohol for 20 years)

We've all heard of cross addiction, right? We trade overeating for alcoholism or a gambling addiction or drug addiction, etc. From reading these posts it looks like we should add "scalaholic" to that list. Not being able to control a behavior and letting that behavior control our emotions and mental well being definitely falls into the category of addiction.

Hello Daniel welcome to the forums it's a very supportive place here and lots info too the ppl are great I'm pre op still working on getting testing done been considering this for years finally decided to do it try not to let ppl discourage you from your decision as long as u feel comfortable that u have researched the procedure and u understand what u have to do to help it work for u and u feel comfortable with the surgeon u choose put others opinions out of your mind there is of course always a risk with surgery even minor ones however our odds of having long term life threatening illness due to excessive weight are better than good not to mention all the things we miss out on or can't participate in because of it the thing is it's so very limiting living that way I do think that ppl who don't have issues with food can't understand why we can't just not eat as much if it was that simple no one would be overweight I think it's the same as any other addiction like drugs or alcohol it alters your brain to some degree I believe like being drawn to drugs or alcohol your brain says yes even when u know u shouldn't my thought is keep moving forward one say at a time until u get where u are healthy happy and can enjoy life the way u want to good luck to u!

HW 238 SW 216 CW 143 TPL 95 TPG 88 Ok, so my 10 day carb fest paid off. Not only did I finally stop losing, I gained 4 pounds! I was travelling, visiting friends and family and attended a conference. 10 days of bread, ice cream, potatoes, desert, chips, cinnamon rolls, chocolate and LOTS of alcohol. I'm still under goal and well within my bounce range. But now it's back to the old 12 hour work days, protein eating, water drinking routine. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple weeks. And to tell you the truth, it was exhausting having that much fun

For DSers when we are trying to achieve goal weight it comes down to going back to basics, eliminating Carbs from your diet as much as possible especially simple carbs like sugars, breads, Cookies, anything white really... and increasing Protein and Fat. 100GMS of protein minimum and I've stopped counting Fat Grams and just add fat to everything. Also make sure you are still getting enough hydration, eliminate anything dehydrating such as diet sodas, coffee, and alcohol to name a few. Also make sure you are eating enough calories to allow your body to not be in starvation mode. myfitnesspal is a great APP to use, and you don't have to use it forever, but you have to be honest about portion sizes and tracking everything. If you are a big exerciser you may be building up muscle which weighs more than fat. That's all I've got!