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I can only speak for myself, but I am most certainly a food addict. I don't think or see why anyone would "want" to be a food addict. I think it takes a lot of guts and courage to admit any kind of addiction. In the simplest form, the reason I know that I am food addict is that here I am, I'm intelligant, I know exactly what causes me to be morbidly obese, I know exactly what ill effects this weight causes my body, intellectually I know what I can/should do to correct it (and have done it to the tune of 1,000 (yes, one thousand) pounds over 50 years (my parents took me to a diet dr. when I was 7), and yet here I am....powerless over food....and still morbidly obese. I was very beautiful, and all this weight distorted my looks and robbed my self esteem. It has caused isolation and insecurity that I cannot even describe. I am invisible to most of the world. It is no fun not to be comfortable in your very own skin. Yet, I'm am SO extremely scared to have any kind of weight loss surgery, I'm on the fence about having any at all. Close friends and relatives are scared for me have surgery, due to the inherent risks and complications. It is a HUGE decision. I am not overexagerating when I say it is the biggest decision I'll ever make and I am not making it or taking it lightly. If other types of behaviors are addictive - such as illegal and prescription drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, sex, just to name a few - why not food?? It doesn't surprise me one iota. I live it everyday and so do lots and lots of others. It is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It has basically ruined my life.

Well Warren PhD..here I am..a BONIFIED sugar addict! full responsibility & no guilt, just fact. scientific actually. Great Doc I had. MY PhD and I have worked very hard to come to the finale, the finish line if you will. it will never end, but I know where the line is now. I had (and still do) trigger foods, and triggered sweets. Long long story short..We, together discovered my triggers, which lead to other triggers, which lead to other triggers. Once established, she left it up to me, to either disregard the Pasta's,breads & chocolates (refined carbs) altogether, or learn discipline and moderation. I chose to not have sugar or process flour products in my life. That's discipline, not willpower. You are right about the 7 rules. . 6 out of 7 I do religiously, and I am also a case study in my area for a nation wide obesity study. My surgery was 3/1/2010-Gastric. I wanted my sugar/pasta 'addiction' under my control before I had my surgery. If having a 'politically correct' word for food addicts makes you PhD's feel self important for coining a new phrase for the Webster dictionary, by all means, give a prettier name. But I know what I am, I have live it for a very long time. Now I don't, but it will always be there with me, just like an alcoholic or a drug or sex addict.

One suggestion -- you may want to have your physician order a hepatic function panel for you about once a year. This just ensures that your liver remains healthy. One terrible weekend, due to incredible stress, I overindulged in alcohol and had such a violent physical reaction that I ended up in Urgent Care and learned that my liver enzymes were elevated above normal. But within a week, when retested, they were normal again. So I am very, very careful about drinking alcohol now. My surgeon told us at our pre-bariatric seminar that he has had only one WLS patient die during his 20 years of practice, and this was from alcohol addiction leading to cirrhosis. Because of the WLS, the cirrhosis developed very quickly. So we have to be careful and, if we drink, ask our doctors to conduct blood labs to ensure our livers are processing the alcohol and remaining healthy.

Yeah, I figured I would get a few concerned reactions. But it's all good, everyone's got their own stance on drinking. No bigs. As an aside, according to what bit of (north american) literature I've read, women who drink 8+ drinks a week (men, 15+) are considered alcoholics/excessive drinkers/abusers-of-alcohol. Which makes me and all my BFF's alcoholics these days, and my husband, and his friends, and more than half of my extended family...oh, and our next-door and back neighbours too (which we discovered last summer, when we were all in our yards...drinking.) P.S. We were in Italy, and there was an assortment of wine bottles every morning at the breakfast buffet. Which at first surprised me, but eventually accepted as pretty cool😂

There are a few controversial topics that get some strong (and not-so-strong) opinions/responses on this forum. Alcohol consumption is one of them. With that said, I am a maintainer and a regular drinker. Aside: I have mixed feelings about saying this even as I type this, as I don't want to inadvertently influence someone to drink if they are of the type who may spiral. I often drop hints about my drinking habits in more light-hearted threads (i.e., the food thread or the clothes thread), but in threads specifically asking about alcohol by those in the early stages, I have pause. But, we are all adults here and can make our own choices, so here goes: Prior to WLS, I didn't drink regularly, but if/when I did, I drank ALOT. Think sloppy drunk. It was always at parties or nights out, and never at home (if we hosted parties, I'd drink, but not get drunk cuz I mean, I had hosting responsibilities after all, LOL). During weight loss phase, I must have drank maybe 5-6 times the entire time. And it was very little, less than 1/4 of a single serving, if that. The first time I drank after surgery was 3 weeks post op. I had 2 sips of red wine at a party, and it was weird...I remember feeling the liquid in my stomach and the warmth of it travel through my intestines and I got surprisingly tipsy for so little that I drank. The second time I had a drink was 3-4 sips of a soju-sake concoction around 1-2 months post op and I had the most horrible dumping experience soon after. Like laying on the bathroom floor horrible. It was the sugar in it. The handful of times I drank after that (during weight loss phase) I stuck to gin/vodka sodas & dry red wine. I was definitely affected with just a few sips, and the effects wore off pretty quickly. Now, lets talk maintenance. Freed from having to stay under a self-imposed calorie limit, I drank more. I drank more often than I did pre-op, but less overall, even including my occasional pre-op benders. I no longer only got to sloppy level when I drank, but to just a good buzz. And again, only when I was out and about. I'd say I had maybe 1-3 drinks a week. I still got buzzed relatively quickly (less than one full drink), and the effects did not last long (less than an hour). There were maybe 4-5 times I got pretty trashed during this time (i'm guessing on like 5-6 drinks), all while on some vacation or other, and once at a wedding. Then came lockdown in March last year. I was about 1.5 years out when Covid reared its ugly head, and just under a year into maintenance. My drinking increased exponentially over a couple months. These days, I drink at least one drink a day (usually two, occasionally much more, on those nights we have an extended dinner seating time, or when it was patio season last summer). Now according to the literature I have read, based on volume alone, I am an alcoholic. Go figure. Am I concerned? Honestly nowadays, not really. I did contemplate it in the beginning, especially cuz Mr would keep bringing up how my drinking has increased (in a joking way mostly...but he should talk, he drinks every day too. Almost always has...his drinking also increased with Covid. Granted, he has more mass than I do and has the metabolism of a hummingbird). It's been almost a year of this daily drinking now, and while I believe I could benefit from cutting down, I don't see it as an issue at the moment in terms of any decrease in quality of life or my own safety or the safety of those around me (but I suppose this is what anyone who drinks would say). We'll see. Back in the summer we agreed that each person in the house can call a "dry day" at any point and everyone must abide to no drinking that day. Though to date, no one has called it. That probably speaks to the mentality we got going on here, lol. I did a couple "dry weeks" on my own accord months ago, just to prove to Mr. & myself I didn't have a problem...these weeks went by uneventfully, but I'm not sure if it really proved anything. Very long story short, while I'm not advocating nor discouraging drinking either way to anyone, as with anything else in life, the hope is that you can be self-aware enough to know what YOUR acceptable limits are and try to stay within them. Sorry this was so long. Good Luck ❤️ P.S. In case you were wondering, I have pretty much maintained my weight (115 lbs +/- 5lbs) this entire time. Last year I reached my acceptable upper limit (120 lbs for more than 3-4 days in a row) twice and then switched gears to get back to 115. First time took me 3-4 weeks, second time took me 3-4 months (granted, I didn't try very hard). Today I am actually 6 lbs under my "normal", BUT I'm in transition at the moment as I've had zero exercise for about a month due to injury and i'm trying to offset that with a reduction in calories...and yeah, I haven't found the right level yet...so this is temporary, as far as I'm concerned. BUT I'm still drinking, lol, am just having less dessert 😜 P.P.S. I also smoke. But that's a whole other topic...

Yes, I weigh every day and do have mini stalls (4 days at exactly the same weight to the tenth of a pound). No, I can't eat Ho Ho's and lose weight. Over the holidays, I ate Christmas Cookies on 4 different days and instantly gained 3 pounds. It came off a few days after I went back to my program, but I'm sure I would have stalled if I kept it up. I have also studied all the posts of people who failed and gained weight down the road. I found no one who claimed it was caused by having a few glasses of wine a week. I even started a thread that was "hot" for a while specifically asking this question and not one single poster reported gaining back weight due to a few low-sugar alcohol drinks a week (some had problems with margaritas, daiquiris, beer, etc, but they were also eating junk food). Virtually everyone who had failed cited Ho Ho's! Well, not exactly, rather sugar. Regular soft drinks is #1, sweets in general #2, simple carbs #3, and junk food #4 (which I assume means burgers, fries, and milkshakes). I am not cocky, I am a scientist. It took me 50 years to put on 75 pounds and 80% of those 50 years I was on one diet or another. I have no doubt that I will fail if I just eat "normally". I also have no use for second hand tales from others who eat perfectly, don't drink alcohol themselves and feel they know it all (kinda feels like the "Church Lady" from SNL). I have read all the major wls books and most all the posts on this forum and others. I know all the "official rules" and I also know that there is much disagreement among experts throughout the process in terms of food, alcohol, and coffee. I also know that it varies based on your surgery. That's why I ask for real world experiences. I love this forum for the first hand accounts of what worked or didn't work FOR YOU! This thread is about a question for people who drink alcohol. If you don't drink, good for you, but please don't bother jumping in. Thanks

I was 320 when I first started my weight loss adventure. I couldn't even walk on 2 on the treadmill. The best advice I can give you is to eliminate carbs, sugars, alcohol as much as possible. I lost 40 lbs preop by doing this. Good luck on your venture.

I'm around week 15 and 9 lbs from goal. I am expecting my Weightloss to slow down or stall, but it's not. I have noticed a new pattern and was wondering if anyone else has experienced it and/or your thoughts. First off, I am a very conscientious logger of food, Water, and exercise. I am consuming 1000 calories, 70 grams+ of Protein, 64 ounces of water, and burning 3,000 calories a day. Monday - Friday, I pretty much stall. Then the weekend comes and I have a drink (or two) and the pounds fall off. I have now been observing this for over a month. BTW, I only drink red wine or bourbon/vodka and water. Around 100 calories per drink.

Warning! This is definitely a rant and a whole lot of whining!! Ugh, I am in rough shape emotionally this week! I'm on day three... yes, just three measly days... of the liquid diet and I feel like it's the end of the world. Even typing this, I see how ridiculous that is. People have much bigger problems in the world than this, but I'm miserable. I've been treating my husband like crap all weekend and I've been snapping at my absolutely adorable kids (3 & 5 years old). Right now, my brother in law has cancer and he and my sister are going through so much more of a hardship than I am, but I still can't seem to bring myself out of this. food is my only vice, and it's just GONE... cold turkey. Yes, I'm committed to the lifestyle post op, yes I'm committed to making healthier choices, but at least those involve food. My husband thinks I'm just anxious about having surgery, which may be a part of it, but mostly I am just pissy because I can't have food (and my surgeon's plan is zero food... Protein shakes/diet drinks only). I feel antsy, my stomach is in knots, I'm edgy. I'm just in a general BAD mood. Did anyone else experience this? I've attended OA, and I know I'm an addict, so I feel like this must be what it's like for an alcoholic or a smoker to give up their drugs of choice. This is nuts, though. It's food! It's not drugs or alcohol or cigarettes... it's something as basic and every day as food. Still, I feel like I'm going to go crazy before my surgery on the 13th. I'm just in the worst mood I've ever been in! Probably time to visit my therapist, lol! Thanks for taking the time to indulge my whining!

I was ultra-low carb during weigh loss phase: less than 25g NET carbs a day (i don’t count fibre nor sugar alcohols in the totals). In maintenance, I eat more carbs for sure (and u can see the difference it makes: my face is not so Skeletor-ish anymore, even though I’m actually 12 lbs less than the time I decided to stop losing weight). Its sorta known that it you cut carbs from your diet, weight loss is generally faster than NOT cutting it out (all other things being equal, of course). BUT, this is not for everybody. For some, cutting out a whole food group may just lead to feelings of deprivation and may set oneself up for failure, among other things. For others, refraining from carbs is a little easier. I guess you know yourself best and will be able to figure out what type of eating plan works for you. In regards to your original question on pita: I have yet to eat any soft pita since surgery, BUT I have had homemade pita chips (pita seasoned with olive oil & spices then air fried), and had no issue....though I probably only had the equivalent of 1/4 an actual pita, so not sure if that really counts...?

OK guys, I enjoy a glass of wine before dinner more days than not and I truly don't want to be a stick in the mud. But there are a couple of things to at least be aware of. Keep in mind that alcohol will likely hit you harder and much faster than it did pre-op. There are some nightmare DUI stories out there from bypass patients that had a single drink. One often quoted ratio is 3 to 1 - one drink post-op is like three pre-op. Would be a very good idea to give your keys to someone else before you take that first drink. My surgeon said absolutely no alcohol until six months post-op. Your pouch is doing a lot of healing from the surgery and alcohol can be an invitation to an ulcer. We pay doctors to be conservative and as others have said, there may be absolutely no problem. But the risk is there. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip!! My wife and I will be there in late Nov. and have tickets to opening night for Shania Twain on Dec. 1st. I just have to go to Vegas every now and then and visit my money! Lol!!

Some of us are still here wanting to get others to learn from their bad experiences and never see it happen to any one else. Paying it forward. Surgeons who say they'll mark up your records to interfere with your doctors' caring for you and blocking care should never ever happen. It did in my case. I investigated and found a lot of covering up both in administration and in doctors and the govt. That's why i stay around. No one deserves this - and the only way to stop it to post things like the tape where the doctor talked about me to someone off the street. When you see docs like that, that is why you need to ask questions. Get someone who doesn't do that sort of thing. Help others out of that situation. Hey I resent that! Some of us are still here because we have transferred our food and alcohol addictions to WLS forum addictions. As dysfunctional as they are and as silly and idiotic some threads are, it's like a horrible car crash that I just can't help but stare at. Hello my user name is Kindle and I am addicted to online forums. LOL Hey I resent that! Some of us are still here because we have transferred our food and alcohol addictions to WLS forum addictions. As dysfunctional as they are and as silly and idiotic some threads are, it's like a horrible car crash that I just can't help but stare at. Hello my user name is Kindle and I am addicted to online forums. LOL

We can argue stats and studies all day long, but in the end it doesn't matter for my success or failure. Whether 200 people in Italy or 20,000 people in the US lost weight and kept it off or gained it all back has nothing to do with ME. I control what I eat and whether or not I maintain my loss. With a few exceptions of certain medical conditions and/or medications that may affect weight gain, every individual controls their own success/failure when it comes to the numbers on the scale. IN general, Regain comes with poor food choices and bad eating habits. There is a big gap between the surgeons responsibility for a successful surgery and the patients responsibility for lifestyle changes. That gap needs to be filled with nutritional education and psychological support. Having a VSG and then eating Oreos or drinking alcohol in excess 5 years out is no different than getting a lung transplant and smoking cigarettes. Who's fault is it when that patient dies of emphysema/cancer/COPD? As a measure of success, of course they are going to look at weight as the main criteria rather than the comorbidities. After all it's called Weight Loss Surgery, not Diabetes Cure Surgery or Blood Pressure Reduction Surgery.

It’s Sod’s Law that the one person that I expected to support me in this procedure has been the only one person that hasn’t. Damn that Sod and his bloody law making! Without wanting to sound like an angry young (ahem!) man and post my second negative post, I thought I would try and do it in a defensive way rather than go in with guns a-blazing. The gloves were originally taken off as I pressed the “new post” button - but they have duly been put back on. In fact, I have retired to the changing room, away from the ring to write a considered response with the help of a bit of Rufus Wainwright serenading me and a hot cup of jasmine tea. Actually, forget that - I am going to have to snipe a bit, so decaf coffee it is. Firstly, I won’t bother going through my reasons for undertaking this surgery. If you want those, you can easily read through the swathes of words I have on the subject. Secondly, I will start my defence a bit absurdly. I will start with a list of mistakes that I made leading up to the surgery and a few of my most outstanding weaknesses. This way, I can be judged in full for the actions I took. Thirdly, I intend to iterate why this blog was set up and why I continue to push people here instead of talking about it face to face. Fourthly, I will try and defend the accusations that have flown recently and put them in their place once and for all. I won’t be going over it again - so listen carefully! Lastly, I intend to lose some weight with dignity and pride and hopefully a bit of happiness - so if you don’t like it - back off and let me get on. Please. So, as detailed above, I launch my defence with point 1. Go read. The biggest mistake I made before undertaking this step was not to make the decision with my partner. Instead I chose to research and make the decision entirely alone. I chose to not discuss my fears with anyone and let the decision be made before I told a soul. When I did tell, it was already well decided in my mind that I would do it. In hindsight, I would probably have realised that this was to be a shared experience and needed buy-in and approval from everyone affected. I do admit that the way I did it was perhaps selfish. I won’t defend it, as I believe now it should have been done another way. My second mistake - but one that I am not so sure was entirely wrong, was not to inform my friends until it was all done. This was again because the procedure was so huge to me that I wanted to be in and out of it before anyone could grill me and make my life too stressful before I undertook the seemingly controversial operation. I think that they now feel slightly distant from me as I was unable to share this with them - which perhaps I should have done. My excuse for that is hopefully well understood and forgivable. My weaknesses can be pretty much listed out verbatim. I am well aware of them and pretty much everyone who knows me is also very well read on the subject. Again, I won’t excuse the failings - just lay them out on the table. I am absolutely CRAP with money. I don’t quite understand its value and I can’t hold onto it as long as I should. It has gotten me into some dire situations and I am aware that it has caused some distress to those around me. Never ever lend me money. Ever! I am a frightful coward. Everything that has any kind of danger attached fills me with dread. I hate roller coasters, flying and high speed. I cower at spiders and tremble at heights. If you are looking for courage in a burly man - look elsewhere. I am pretty stubborn. Once I have decided upon something - that will always be the right thing in my mind. It takes a lot of persuasion to talk me around to another point of view. Some people may well recognise this as arrogance! I was (no more) a big drinker. I binged and usually got very “bombastic” in the process. Imposing one’s personality on friends and stranger can be quite daunting for them. Using booze as a crutch to overcome my utter shyness and inability to have a conversation with people was probably not the best therapy. I have many other weaknesses, but are probably irrelevant for this post - so I will stop self-flagellating. [*]This blog was set up for two reasons. I needed an outlet where I could do a bit of cathartic self-therapy. Writing everything down in this way seems to be a brilliant tool for exploring one’s mind and really coming to terms with issues that bother you. I recommend it for anyone undertaking a journey like this that they have concerns about. Even if you don’t publish it - write it down. The honesty you can deliver to a uncaring, uninterested computer screen is immense. The second reason was to enable my friends to read my reasons behind my decsion and see more into the process. It gives them the full picture without taking up my entire life talking about it. If people want to know, they go to my blog. Also, I figured it would help people contemplating the operation in the future see the thought processes I went through stage by stage and help them to come to terms with the options available. I’m not entirely sure my readership is that enormous nor whether people actually take in what they read in between the rambling sentences. But, from the few comments I have received, it is ringing a similar chord with other people who have had the surgery. Time will tell if this helps anyone else. [*]Now, the accusations! This blog is simply self-indulgent crap. Well, it has been an important part in my decision and coming to terms with opting for the surgery. It has also helped others close to me to fully understand what I did. Whereas with talking and conversation - they would only have had the full story. I just wouldn’t have the time to quote the articles in teh blog to all my friends. I can’t really defend the “crap” bit. I didn’t cater for the feelings of my partner when I made the decision on my own Yes I did. I shouldn’t have made the decision on my own, but her feelings were very much considered and put into the equation. The trouble is - I didn’t accurately predict what her feelings would actually be. Hence the discussions should have been made. Half of a defence there. I wasted money on the operation when I could have invested in the family unit and dieted instead like most people. Sorry - but there is no basis to that one. Firstly - here is a fact. Of all diets - only 3-5% are successful in the long term (reference Dr Jessie H. Ahroni Ph.D., A.R.N.P.). A whopping 95 to 97% of people who diet are wasting their time! I have tried dieting and my mental and physical make-up is such that I was one of the 95-97% of people who failed. I tried for 15 years. This was a last resort as you will probably know by now from my self-proclaimed cowardice. Secondly, me paying for a surgery to keep me alive for many more years than previously expected IS an investment into the family unit. Imagine my salary over, let’s say, 20 years. Lastly, the money spent on the operation is approximately how much I overspent on food and alcohol over two years. So, in conclusion - this has not only cost nothing - it has actually put money BACK IN to the family unit (remembering my fiscal weakness - you may wish to check these facts!). Along with that, it is giving me the opportunity to live a bit longer. So, there you have it. Now I intend to get on with my new life, in a slightly different way than I had originally planned - but get on with it I shall. Originally posted at: Lap Band Blog

I also think it's mainly because of the mental impact of drinking. After few glasses, you could lose the knowing of limits, so. Besides, it depends on the alcohol you want to consume. In cases of dry red wine - it's totally fine to drink 1-2 glasses. But beer, sweet cocktails, or even strong alcohol are prohibited not only after a bypass but for a healthy person too. Believe me, you don't want to know what alcohol addiction is or other kinds of it. All of the Scottish Inpatient Treatment Services know me personally (at least they did). I haven't been drinking any type of alcohol for 2 years now.

Great guys room thread! Foodie here in the sense I can cook and spend an ungodly amount of cash on dining out in restaurants. Still do. There's amazing lower-fat options (needed for my surgery), and suddenly I'm pretty happy the veggie wave is rolling over us. For me, dining out isn't about how much food I can eat. It's the total experience of sharing a meal and a glass or two of wine with friends or family. And that hasn't changed one bit. I can drink less, but I make room for alcohol in my calorie count. It all works out.

I am sorry you had a bad experience with your surgery. I just wanted to tell you that as a nurse for years, your nurse was very unprofessional and maybe inexperienced. An incident of tachycardia ( yes, heart racing ) is not a reason for a nurse panicking, especially in front of a patient. Many people wake up from surgery and it takes awhile for their vital signs to adjust! As for the horror stories - you should hear the ones I hear following emergency department visits out and about town. I will hear stories about visits that I was personally present for, and their versions are dramatically different from what I witnessed. That is not to say that in "their" perception they are describing it is not true but often when the outcome is not as they expected for example; waiting longer than they wany; not getting the medication they want; expecting chronic conditions to be "fixed" in an ER visit; or having the physician tell them that they cannot do anything form them. Someones visit may go as follows: they come in with their child with a cough and fever and have to wait 20 minutes for the current triage; after triaged they have to wait 20 minutes to come back; after coming back they have to wait 20 minutes for the doctor to see them because we have 2 motor vehicle crash victims; a chest pain; a baby being transferred and a pshych patient taking up a bed; we draw blood; it takes 2 attempts; the chest x-ray takes 30 minutes because the MVC victims are being done; Respiratory Therapy does a breathing treatment; we give medication for the fever (generally we have to wait an hour for it to kick in). During all of this time, the child is fussy and crying but VS are stable except the fever. Baby is fussy, and it takes 2 nurses to give the antibiotics; Finally, the fever comes down; the labs are good and the doctor prescribes some more antibiotics and they have to wait for 20 minutes for the discharge paperwork. Baby is still fussy because they are sick, but we cannot make that go away! After all of this, here is the point of the story, in our perception - this was a totally stable patient and a 3-4 hour ER visit is the norm with everything going on. The patients story which I heard the next day in the store was: Baby was really sick and it took hours in the ER to even be seen - they did not care that she was crying and hot. When we got in the back the nurses did not even know what they were doing and stuck her twice to get her blood. Even though she was screaming they made us wait forever and then they did not even admit her - they just sent her home with p prescription and told us to give her tylenol, We are never going back to that place! I know this is a long story, but while I do not want to minimize the risks, on all of the horror stories, how many of them were done by physicians that were not researched; in facilities that were not the greatest; did not comply with pre op and/or post op instructions; had pre existing conditions that they do not disclose on thier stories such as smoking; alcohol or drug usage?? I agree with the others that have posted, the risk of obesity and its health related problems are looming out there and shaking thier fist at us on a daily basis!! We are going into this with great expectations and not without thought and prayer, you can do it. And, if you ever have a nurse do this again, ask her calmly to take her own pulse before panicking!!!!

I was told to wait until 3 months post op before introducing alcohol.... some programs have you wait as long as 6 months. Follow your plan.

I'm 3 months out and steak still scares me. lol! I was told no alcohol until 6 months.

The biggest dangers of alcohol are the empty calories and the likelihood excessive drinking can lead to other things like over eating and vomiting. Once your all healed up if you were able to stop yourself at 1 drink when drinking socially before the surgery talk to your surgeon but you should be able to do the same. Wine is a good suggestion but so is scotch. No one thinks anything of a person sipping a glass of Scotch for hours on end. Most expensive hard liquors have complex flavor notes that allow you to enjoy them slowly (except vodka since the better it is the more it tastes like water). The carbonation in beer means extra complications and the additional calories in cocktails (as well as the fact their designed to hide how drunk your getting) make them a poor choice generally.

My surgery is 3-22 and need advise on this.... Fast food what is best eat and alcoholic drinks how many? Thanks

I think both should be avoided whenever possible, but if you are going to have bad food and alcohol then be sure to count their calories in your daily total. Let their calories decide what to eat and not.

Maybe splenda is not a sugar alcohol, but it somehow impacts me the same way, so maybe it is just that it is grouped in my head as one. Splenda = sucralose, and sorbital, xylitol, malitol = sugar alcohol. But to me, same difference! Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm going to try Beneprotein and also try to contact unjury to clarify the statement. I have sent two emails thus far with no reply, so I will try to call on Monday.

I still love my diet coke and my doctor knows I have some on occasion. He's fine with it as long as I don't overdo it - of all the vices one can have, he sees this as the least offensive (since I could be smoking or drinking alcohol instead).

Speaking only for myself -- my desire for a veterans forum doesn't come from an "elitist" position. My needs are literally different than they were over 2 years ago when I was still pre-op or 6 months later when I was still in the "honeymoon" period of losing weight. They're even different than when I first hit my weight goal of 150 pounds. I certainly don't think that I cannot learn things from those who are younger-tenured re WLS than I am. Nor do I imagine I'll muzzle myself and never post on a thread about alcohol or Protein levels or the honeymoon period or sip-sip-sipping or vitamins/minerals or slider foods or the need to move into exercise carefully or the hundreds of other topics that newbies need and want advice about. What I'm hoping to gain from the veterans forum is a more vibrant veteran community and participation and advice from veterans who (if you read this whole thread, you've already learned) are indicating they would spend more time at BP if there were a place where more WLS veterans were hanging out. Surely everyone of any WLS tenure will benefit more from a message board where more veterans stick around, right? For the record, "newbie" isn't a slur -- it's a description of someone who's new to a particular activity. Someone who hasn't had WLS yet (but is planning to have WLS) is clearly a WLS newbie. People who are new to maintenance are maintenance newbies. And people who are newly "veterans" are, I suppose, veteran newbies.