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i'm with @mrshawk92. munchies never been a problem here. alcohol isn't worth the calories to me and i usually avoid it, maybe 2 or 3 drinks/month... and i intend to continue doing so after surgery, but i do love a good glass of wine or a finely crafted beer. and kahlua. mmmmmmm!

I decided early on that the 1200+ per day wasn't going to work with me and that i wasn't interested in a quick loss that wasn't sustainable. So, that if I was in it and committed for the long run, i was happy to slow down the pace. My nut agreed, although explained that it's best to lose as much as you can because your body does adapt.. But, I wouldn't change a thing. I ear super healthily. watch my Protein. limit just plain bread and opt for other things. Rarely eat Pasta or the foods that just make you hungry 2 hours later. That said, I eat pizza (a slice or two for a meal), a great sandwich now and then and plenty of cottage cheese and greek yogurt and beef Jerky.. chicken, etc. The early instructions helped break the carb habit, although I don't watch my carbs other than being smart. I am now going to be going on year 3 and really feel like i can keep this up for the rest of my life. I just make smarter choices and never ever neglect anything i want. I'll have a full sushi roll with white rice even but then mix in sashimi.. I'll avoid the fried chinese items, but will add a piece or two to my chicken and broccoli. I eat baked chips, but eat some when I crave. I no longer track my calories in an app, but do keep them in my head. If i drink 600 calories in alcohol, i make sure , other than the planned munchies, that I eat mostly protein or less calories that day (or take a long walk after my workout).. I absolutely get full MUCH faster still and that's the key. It's just an amazing tool and so many of the veterans used that word and now I get it.. Nothing comes easy, but this def makes it way easier and cannot be happier.

Yes, sometimes I have a pig out day. But like you, it's good food, just plenty of it. I don't worry about it and just go back to my normal program the next day. Heck, I've even had a few alcohol and dessert binges, but it's ridiculously minute compared to anything I ever did preop. Heck, I'm human and I'm living my life like a "normal" thin person, so these things happen. Besides, like Recycled said, I like to mix things up and keep my metabolism guessing. Seems to be working for me.

Hello fellow future gastric patients/post gastric patients. I don't even know where to start.... Ok, so let me Alcoholics Anonymous this - Hi, I'm Shell, and I'm an unhealthy eater. I don't overeat, I don't snack. I actually only eat 1-2x a day and it's usually something I can grab quick and shove in my mouth between taking care of my 17 month old, work, or doctor appts/errands. I also tend to eat after 10pm. Not good, I know. Or should I say, I used to eat those ways.... I've gotten better since I started this. Let me organize this a little better::::::: Well, let's start here: I began my journey toward surgery on August 29th. Met with my surgeon, got my binder of info, other doctors and tests that need to be done, and diet information. I am an extremely organized person - but boy, am I feeling overwhelmed. I started dieting right away. I have actually lost 5lbs in a week! I noticed I'm going food shopping or running to the store a lot more often than I used to ( once every 2 weeks lol). I pre-cooked a lot of my meals (my freezer is full). I cut out 99% of my starches/carbs (potatoes, rice, Pasta, bread) and fried food - I only had brown rice once mixed with grilled chicken. I am strictly playing with meat, 1% milk products, vegetables and fruit now. I actually have to say, I'm not missing the JUNK. I am looking for better recipes to turn me on to tuna and healthier alternatives. I made chicken, turkey or ground meat patties stuffed with skim cheese and veggies or jalapenos. But there's only so many meatballs and burgers a person can eat with getting sick of the idea. I am also looking into the Protein powders. Anyone know of some decent tasting/inexpensive ones I can pick up at walmart or BJs? Now that I got the details of what I have already done for the pre-surgery, as well as where my diet turned - let me say this has been a journey from bad to worse as it is. I was never a small girl. I grew up in a double Italian household where the family and company and love and EVERYTHING revolves around food. Pasta, meatballs, cake..... It was never healthy lol. I was 150 lbs in 5th grade, 200 by 8th grade. Senior yr of high school I was around 250/260. In college, I never ate, drank, and found myself on antidepressants before I graduated. That's when I did the unimaginable - my weight went over the 300lbs. I always told myself I would NEVER let that happen. But I did. And it didn't stop there. I gained another 30 lbs over the next 2 years, got pregnant, gained 30 lbs over the pregnancy and lost those 30 lbs when I gave birth. I maintained 330 for about 6 months, and then depression hit when life handed me some awful events. My daughter was placed in foster care, I was moved out to a different state away from my home of 25 yrs and my parents and siblings, and was stranded with no job or car. I had to attend doctor appts to get her back, meetings, court dates, and multiple weekly visitations. My schedule went haywire and I went back to eating once a day, usually chicken nuggets or a burger on the run. Now here I am, a few months shy of getting my baby home full time with me after this whole mishap, full time job, apartment in the works with her dad, and 355 lbs as of August 29th. She walks, she talks, and she gets into everything! I can't be the awesome mother that I am if I can't keep up! Plus, I've shown her an immeasurable amount of strength the past year - I need to show her I'm strong enough to regain my confidence and do something important for her - AND myself. I want to be around for decades upon decades with her. So here goes my journey. A journey that a lot of people are claiming to support, but I am not looking or relying on anyone else this time. This is for me, by me. It's my turn to shine, and be healthy. It's time to buckle down, get organized, and get ready for a long life feeling good and looking good. Any tips? Has there been anything that works more for anyone than other things? What foods are your favorite?

It seems as though the requirements for bariatric surgery approval has tightened up the past two years. There was no psychiatric evaluation required. That requirement was added on because the occurance of addiction (alcoholism) and depression was observed to be more frequent among people who have had weight loss surgery. People after weight loss surgery are more susectible due to such a large change in tolerance. The psych evaluation is mostly used to see what patients have preexisting or past addiction or mental problems. I get so discouraged when I see those that had bariatric surgery gain their weight back. I didn't think the stomach could stretch so much after surgery. I am glad that all the requirements were added on (even though getting it all done is quite a pain) because it weeds out those that weren't that serious to begin with or may suffer consequences during or after surgery. I had to attend a bariatric seminar and pass a bariatric surgery knowledge test before I could make my first appointment at the bariatric clinic.

In my program it was stressed in pre op appointments, psych appointments, workshops, and nurse education class). Post op, it is discussed frequently in support group meetings. I was just shocked that the statistics showed how easy it is for a non-drinker to become an alcoholic. It seems that all of us have some sort of tendency to addiction (ie food addiction) so we really need to be vigilant to avoid a transfer addiction to drugs and alcohol. And to shopping, exercise, sex, or anything else. Just liking something is not an addiction. Some people like exercise and jokingly call it a new 'addiction', as do some people with shopping. Liking and enjoying something you've never been able to enjoy before is normal and healthy. Doing it to an unhealthy degree - thinking about it all the time, doing it all the time, having it affect your relationships with people, interfere with work, affect your finances, affect your health, and affecting your life in any negative way - these are all signs of an addiction you need to seek help for. It is a very real but avoidable danger. Recognize the signs of an unhealthy addiction and change what you're doing before it becomes a more serious problem. I like wine but with my family history of alcoholism I limit to two glasses on Saturday nite. I love shopping (and coworkers say I have a problem) but I work in a bank and need a professional wardrobe. I budget a certain amount per week for clothes shopping. I'm not spending money that I can't afford to spend. Shopping used to reduce me to tears and send me on a donut binge but now I enjoy trying on clothes even if I don't buy them. It's fun activity for me. :-)

No WLS will fix eating disorders. To think it would just "go away" wasn't very realistic. Did you discuss these things in your preop psych eval? If you have been totally honest with your doc and nut I'm surprised they haven't addressed this issue earlier. They should have advised you that Surgery is easy, the mental aspect of post-surgery life is the hard part. And yes, it's something we have to deal with for the rest of our lives. No different than an alcoholic or drug addict. I regained my appetite and hunger after about 4 months. I've had to deal with cravings and find things to distract me from food. I've established new ways of dealing with stress, boredom and other emotions besides turning to food and alcohol. Cynthia Alexander's book, "The Emotional First Aid Kit- a Practical Guide to Life after Bariatric Surgery" was very helpful for me. I researched the hell out of this whole process before having surgery, so I knew what to expect. Since I had surgery in Mexico, I've dealt with all the " head stuff" on my own, but you should take advantage of any resources you can.....therapy, counseling, support groups, etc.

I just kept doing what I had been doing the whole time....64 oz Water MINIMUM; whole food vitamins; eat when I'm hungry (5-6 meals/snacks) and just until satisfied, not full. Protein first, but include veggies, fruit and whole grains for a healthy balanced diet. I have a 30-40g protein smoothie with 10g Fiber everyday. Other than that I don't track calories, carbs, fat, etc. I've had Desserts, bread, pancakes, rice, chips, alcohol, etc., but always in moderation. Actually, once I was within 10 pounds of goal I started adding in more grains, more fruit and more fat to try and slow my loss. I continued to lose and am now 7 pounds under my personal goal. Of course my goal was not as ambitious as yours....I was happy to be just in the normal BMI range. I haven't lost anything in 2 weeks, so I'm kind of hoping I'm done. It would be nice to finally be able to buy some new clothes, rather than wear whatever I can find at the thrift store. Good luck with your final sprint to goal and maintenance!

The hospital where I had my surgery recommends this, too. My doctor suggest waiting one year or to be at goal, since the alcohol is empty calories (this seems sensible to me, but I'm a light drinker in a frequently tee-totalling social circle, so it's not a big part of my life). One of the big concerns is cross-addiction (lots of WLS people at AA!), as well as the ease of becoming impaired very quickly and then driving.

I def don't drink any carbonated stuff. I had a RNY so alcohol hits quicker than for sleevers due to the shorten intestines. So maybe sleevers end up drinking more to get the buzz. I have one glass of white wine and I am buzzed. Before surgery I would need couple of glasses.

I was hoping that would happen to me. I was never a cheap drunk....I could out drink a football team and still not be "drunk". Unfortunately postop is the same. I've had 3-4 pretty strong vodka or whiskey cocktails post op in one sitting a few times with barely a slight buzz. It would take thousands of calories to even make a dent in my alcohol resistant physiology, so I guess I'm stuck with sobriety. (I'll keep trying, though ). Oh yeah, I also wish I could drink hard cider....yum....but carbonation is the only thing my tummy can't do.

I am 5 weeks out right now and I would feel very uncomfortable having a drink at this point. I had some liquid NyQuil (which contains some alcohol) about a week ago when I was sick and it burned in my stomach after I took it. Being so close to your surgery date I would think it could be dangerous because you could still be healing. It might be a good idea to ask your NUT because everyone's plan is different and everyone heals at a different pace.

Hi! I'm brand new to the forum. I was sleeved on aug. 7th, and overall I've been doing well. I'm down almost 30lbs. Here's my question: I know I'm not supposed to have any alcohol. But I'm going on a bachelorette tomorrow. How much would one drink hurt? I'm not driving anywhere, and will be having dinner first. I'm sure I'm better off not risking it, but it's going to be hard to be on a party bus full of free liquor!

I was told to wait one year before having alcohol because of dehydration and ulcers to the new stomach. Anyone else have to wait that long?

My former husband receives an injection of naltrexone once a month. It has done wonders for him. It decreases the desire to drink & prevents the alcohol from having an effect on you. Best wishes to you.

Just to keep it in perspective, alcohol dehydrates you. After drinking your body retains Water. There is no way you drank 17,500 calories to gain 5 pounds in one or two days. The change on the scale is very temporary as long as you eat on plan and drink your water.

Have had great success with my weight loss and hit my 6mo mark at 112lbs lost.. Then I decided I would try drinking alcohol again. I tried to make "good" choices on Labor Day weekend and got drinks without a lot of sugar and so called skinny drinks.. I was able to drink more then I thought I would.. Had a great time, only to see a 5lb gain in the scale today. I wanted to cry. That fun weekend was not worth it!!!! I barely ate all week trying to make up for drinking and that clearly don't work . I still feel bloated and am really disappointed in my actions. I really wish I hadn't done it and I need to learn from this and stop acting like I'm 21 !!!

I was sleeved May 19 so I have no idea what the future will bring, but for now, there is very little I can eat without pain. It seems to be getting worse frankly. Like I was okay with shrimp and then one day I was rolling around in the bed after having some (not fried of course). I eat very oddly and I know others are perfectly fine, but eating out is a mess for me. Everything is surrounded by meals. My stomach can't hang with most on the menu, but I try. Then, I get the comments about how I barely ate. It does get me down at times not because I want to eat bad foods, but I don't want to be the center of attention. It seems it may get better with time. I had to call out some friends who I noticed stopped inviting me to Happy Hour. They don't know the deal but I told them that it's the company, not the alcohol and we cleared that up. At least I know I'm making progress. My doc asked me to be in a TV ad or paper ad because of my progress. Since I kept this to myself, that isn't happening, but sometimes you need to hear the good stuff.

I hit 249 this morning! I haven't been this weight since I was 20, maybe 21. My body looks very different from what it was back them (not as nice), but I am still please with the progress. Only 50 lbs to Onderland, a place I haven't been since Junior high. When I started this I had so far to go it seemed impossible, now I just looking forward to the passing of time. Also turns out it wasn't post alcohol dehydration after my birthday, it was sign #1 that I was getting a cold! And end of summer hurrah for my body apparently. I'm hydrating like crazy. Drinking OJ for Vitamin C, and green tea with antioxidants, and trying to sleep a lot. I tried to eat my dinner last night of 6 to 8 ounces of chili no beans and I could only eat half. I think it's cuz I only had 30 minutes to eat before I had to leave (otherwise I could have eaten the whole thing, I know because I did the night before). But Hormel chili no beans is AMAZING with a little cheddar cheese. Try it out if you haven't yet!

I've lost a total of 96 pounds so far and well in the "normal" BMI range. I passed my surgeon's goal at 6 1/2 months. Passed my personal goal at 7 1/2 months. At 8 1/2 months I'm still losing at a rate of about 2 pounds/month. Like I said in a previous post, I chose to not track and measure my food. I simply eat balanced, healthy meals, focusing on Protein. I did limit, but not eliminate carbs. I've added fruit to my protein smoothies, and had occasional crackers, bread, dessert and alcohol since about 3 months out. As I got within 5 pounds of surgeon' goal, I added in even more fruit, whole grains and fats, and have continued to lose (20 pounds since upping my carbs and fat). I guess I'm officially in maintenance, but haven't really changed what I'm doing because I'm comfortable with what and how much I eat. But I totally agree with bearman99....you just need to find what works for you for the rest of your life. There are dozens of ways to make this work.....whether it's tracking and measuring or not, or going to the gym everyday or not. Postop life is all about choices, so you can choose whatever path works for you.

I always viewed the diet recommended as a guideline. In general, the less carbs the better chances of long-term success. I DO find if I eat/drink carbs the hunger hits me more. I do find that getting my 100-130g Protein keeps me satiated. If I choose to have alcohol or higher carbs I am dealing with the smack in my head calling me to want to eat more. The best is to find YOUR carb limit YOU can live with. I knew going in that if I restricted everything this would fail for me. It is a rare day my net carbs go over 100. I wish you health and happiness and hope you find what works for you for life. This is not a quick fix but merely a tool, a very powerful tool, but still, just a tool to help.

I am 20 years old i did the sleeve and i do drink. Its my college year. Dr said it was fine as long as i consume low calories drinks such as vodka water or whiskey water. Ofcourse i dont have the same tolerance as before, i get tipsy faster but you can deff drink shots and alcohol. So far ive lost 55 lbs in 3 months and nothing bad has happened.

I'm curious about the gin and tonic (as that was one of my main pre-op drinks.) I would think the tonic Water would have a ton of carbonation? Glad to hear it doesn't affect you that much. I hope it's the same for me. A month out and just experimented with alcohol for the first time this past weekend. We had a tailgate event with a bunch of friends. Over a period of 5 hours, I had 3 drinks. I had a glass of red wine with dinner, a screwdriver, and a Moscow Mule after. I was a little worried about the Moscow Mule since there is a little Ginger Beer in there. However, it went down fine. I drank all of the drinks very slow compared to how I drank pre-op. I might have had a little buzz after the screwdriver, but, nothing major. Overall, I was very glad to see that I could socialize like normal and not have the alcohol majorily affect me. However, I will say that I had been losing around 1.5 lbs every other day prior to drinking. And I was same weight for 2 days after. It definitely affects the weight-loss part.

The reason we are not supposed to take NSAIDS is because of their risk of causing ulcers. With our teeny sleeves, an ulcer would be that much more dangerous to deal with and treat. It doesn't matter if it's administered orally, IV or sublingual. The systemic action of NSAIDS that relieve pain and inflammation is the same mechanism that causes ulcers... "NSAIDs work by inhibiting two enzymes, substances that cause chemical changes in the body, called COX-1 and COX-2. Both enzymes produce prostaglandins—chemicals produced in the body's cells—that promote pain, inflammation, and fever. However, unlike COX-2, COX-1 produces another type of prostaglandin that protects the stomach lining from stomach acid and helps control bleeding. By inhibiting COX-1, NSAIDs increase the risk of a peptic ulcer developing and bleeding. Many people have come to rely on NSAIDs. Some take the smallest possible dose of aspirin once a day to keep their heart healthy. Others take NSAIDs throughout the day to reduce pain and inflammation. As with all medicines, NSAIDs offer many benefits, while also carrying some risks. Doctors and patients work together to weigh the benefits and risks of using NSAIDs, even when NSAIDs have caused an ulcer. Patients who stop taking an NSAID at their doctor's request may want to resume use once they feel better. In other patients, the benefits of taking an NSAID outweigh the risks. In such cases, the doctor works with the patient to determine how an NSAID can be safely continued. Whether deciding to resume or continue using NSAIDs, patients should tell their doctor about all prescription and nonprescription medicines they take. The doctor then decides if the patient can safely use an NSAID that caused an ulcer or should switch to a different NSAID. In either case, the doctor prescribes a PPI or H2 blocker to protect the stomach and duodenal lining and promote healing. People with a current or resolved NSAID-induced ulcer who need the benefits of NSAIDs can promote healing and reduce the risk of ulcer recurrence by..... taking the NSAID with a meal using the lowest effective dose possible quitting smoking avoiding or limiting alcohol Peptic ulcers can return, however, even when patients have been careful to reduce their risk." That being said, my surgeon actually sends his patients home with a 5 day supply of a sublingual NSAID. It's the only pain med he Rx's postop. He explained the benefit of reducing inflammation at the incision sites and in the new sleeve outweigh the risk of ulcers. Especially since it's short term and we are taking a PPI at the same time. I had so little pain I actually only took them for 2 days, so I have extra on hand if I need them for back aches, knee pain, etc. (And as a side note, so you don't take NSAID warnings lightly, aspirin is SO good at causing ulcers, they actually used to administer aspirin to induce ulcers when researching ulcer treatments)

Thanks guys this is good to hear. How do you survive socially? Having dinner with your partner who's eating normal...going out for tea. Have you drunk alcohol? Any tips would be fab. I just rung my surgery who said I'll meet the nutritionist next week and they decide If I'm on optifast for 1 or two weeks