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I hear ya. My alcohol consumption had increased dramatically since March, which also happened to coincide with my early-covid weight gain.

JaLynn, That is really cool about your dad. Cat for sure takes care of their employees and guests! I can guarantee you that your dad has an awesome time at the races! Yeah cutie pie Kasey! My 16 year old daughter caught a glimpse of him on Sunday and I thought she was going to die! How 'bout Mark Martin #4? He is so awesome! Did ya'll know he is a recovering alcoholic? He also love rap music? Does anyone watch NASCAR 360? It is usually on on Saturday nights during the September programs. Ya'll should catch it if you can! It is an awesome show. the spotlight like 3 different drivers each week. The funniest one is was when Kevin Harvick farts on his prissy wife! I died laughing! Just a couple weeks until Texas! Wooo hooo Getting way excited!

Here are 11 ways to help break a plateau: 1. Keep a food Diary As you get comfortable with your diet, it's easy to stop paying attention and fall back into old habits. A nibble here, a slightly larger snack, an extra glass of wine… It's usually the little things that make all the difference. Starting a food diary will help you become more aware of what you're actually eating. Most people underestimate amounts by up to 20 percent. "I think journaling is a good idea," says Karen Sullivan, a health coach and AFPA Certified Personal Trainer. "It helps you stay honest with yourself […]. As long as you are in denial you will never reach your goals. Seeing it in black and white is the best way to break that plateau." To keep a food diary, start with a blank notebook and for a week, record everything you eat (down to a piece of gum or cup of coffee), when you ate it, how much, and how hungry you were before and after. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, a food diary must contain not only the food you ate, but also what were you doing and who you were with when you ate. "It will make you aware of any negative patterns," says Hudson. It's important to be truthful to yourself and not change your eating habits while keeping the diary. Also, remember to be specific --A baked potato is not the same as a baked potato with gravy and butter. 2. Break Up Your Meals If you're eating three times a day, eat five. If you're already eating five times, upgrade to six or seven. This doesn't necessarily mean you'll be eating more food; you'd just be breaking it into more meals. Eating frequently stabilizes your blood sugar, controls appetite, and keeps your energy up. Ideally, you shouldn't go more than three or four hours without eating something. Doing so slows down your metabolism and makes your body burn fat at a slower rate. Instead of going for a second serving, stick to one plate and then eat a small snack two hours later. Always eat before you're hungry. A feeling of hunger indicates your blood sugar is going down, which makes you prone to craving simple sugars. "Your body has no idea that there is plenty of food around, only what is coming in," says Susan Lee Ottevanger, a motivational speaker and the author of Running On Premium Fuel. "You need to reach a sense of well being for your body to feel free to burn up some storage." 3. Eat More A big mistake many people make is to cut down on calories so much that they starve their bodies. "When you eat too little, your metabolism goes down," says Ottevanger. "The body goes yikes, metabolism drops, frustration rises, moods drop, motivation dies. You start overeating and gain weight. Every time you go thru this cycle, the less success." If you're consuming less than 1,200 calories a day (1,500 for a man), your body may react by slowing down as a self-preservation measure. This means you'll be actually storing fat even if you're working out consistently. 4. Rely on a Friend If you're having a hard time finding the motivation to step up your program, find a like-minded buddy, either real or virtual. Join a support group, find an appropriate chat room, or sign up with a motivational website. A recent study by the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences of The University of Vermont found that web-based support programs are as effective as traditional face-to-face meetings when it comes to helping people maintain weight loss. The study followed 250 overweight adults through an initial six-month weight loss program, and then set them up with either in-person or internet support. Surprisingly, both groups did remarkably well. "The internet can be a very effective weight-loss tool if used well," says Hudson. "Many people can't or don't want to attend face-to-face meetings. Having access to virtual support, while no substitute for one-on-one counseling, it's still a step-up from going at it alone." 5. Watch Your Carbs You don't have to go on a low carb diet (in fact, low-carb and exercise don’t mix well), but do watch out for the extra refined carbohydrates that tend to slip into everybody's diet –Be mindful not only of white flour and sugars, but also look for hidden carbs in foods such as ketchup, salad dressings, dairy products, and even Soups. Read labels –Many low-fat products, including fruit juices and energy bars, are high in sugars. Avoid carbs at dinnertime, and opt for a larger salad as a side dish. When you do eat carbs, stick to whole grains. Plateaus are sometimes due to Water retention. Restricting salt intake and reducing carbs can give you the jumpstart and the motivation to keep going. 6. Move More Be more active outside the gym. The FDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week to maintain health, and at least 60 minutes to help manage body weight. If you're going to the gym four times a week, that leaves you with three days where you still need to be active. Walking is the best exercise for those "off" days. It's gentle enough to allow your body to recuperate from the heavy workouts at the gym, but still raises your metabolism to carry on the weight loss. Get a pedometer and aim for at least 8,000 steps a day. You'd be surprised to learn most people barely make 4,000. Office workers sometimes stay under 3,000. "Activity is the key," says Sullivan. "You can walk at a brisk pace, ride a bike (but be sure you are working at this little bike ride), swimming, tennis, even golf (forget the cart) are all ways to keep your body moving and increase the energy you are burning." 7. shake Up Your Workout It takes your body only four weeks to get used to a workout. Once something becomes a routine for your metabolism, plateaus are likely. Are you doing the treadmill for an hour every day? Give it up and enroll in a kickboxing class instead. Doing the stationary bike? Switch to the Stairmaster. Or try playing with the intensity of the workout. Add one minute intervals at a high speed or incline (not both) followed by three or four minutes at a lower intensity. If you've been working alone, it may be a good idea to enlist the help of a workout buddy or even pay for a few sessions with a personal trainer. "Whenever you change a workout routine your body will respond by dropping fat/weight," says Sullivan. Many people do not work hard enough. "You need to understand it isn't only the kind of activity you are doing but the frequency, the duration of each exercise session, and the intensity during your session," says Sullivan. "A little walk in the park is not exercise necessary to drop weight. People come to me and say, 'I ride my bike every night with my 4-year-old and I am not seeing any changes in my body.' They need to keep the 4-year-old home while they ride hard for an hour and then come back for a cool down with their child." If you need help planning an exercise routine but can't afford a personal trainer, try Free Trainers, an online program that offers pre-designed workouts to fit any goal and level. Learn exercise routines, track your progress, calculate your caloric intake, and interact with other members following the same program. 8. Pump It Up A common mistake women make is skipping weights because of the fear they would look "bulky." True is, women lack the testosterone needed to develop large muscles. Done appropriately, weight training can break a plateau faster than any other method. According to Wikipedia, "The body's basal metabolic rate increases with increases in muscle mass, which promotes long-term fat loss and helps dieters avoid yo-yo dieting. Moreover, intense workouts elevate the metabolism for several hours following the workout, which also promotes fat loss." The increase in metabolism rate is immediate and it can be as significant as 10 percent. "It takes more energy to maintain healthy muscle than fat," says Sullivan. "This way you are burning calories while you sleep! Also, if all you are doing is doing cardio and dieting you will be flabby. Skinny flab is just as unattractive as fat flab." If you've never tried weights before, start slow and light, mixing machines and free weights. Weights should be done three times a week, alternating muscle groups. 9. Drink Plenty of Water Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. Every time you feel the urge to snack, drink a glass of water first and see if the urge goes away. Decaf teas, calorie-free drinks, and seltzer water count towards your eight glasses of water a day, but add an extra glass for each cup of coffee you drink, as caffeine dehydrates. A recent study by the Franz-Volhard Clinical Research Center in Germany showed a basal metabolic rate (the amount of calories your body burns at rest) increase of up to 30 percent after participants drank 16 ounces of cold water. Researchers estimate that drinking an additional 16 ounces of water over the required 60 ounces (eight glasses) a day can result in an annual weight loss of almost two pounds. 10. Cut Down Your Alcohol Intake The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 stress the fact thatwhile alcoholic beverages supply excess calories, they do not supply any essential nutrients, making it difficult even for moderate drinkers to maintain a healthy weight. Alcohol is, in fact, very dense in calories. 7kcal/gram compared to only 4 for Proteins and carbs, and that's without taking into consideration that many alcoholic drinks (such as cocktails) are high in sugars and fat. Alcohol consumption slows down the fat burning capabilities of the body, as the body focuses on using the alcohol (a toxin) as fuel, rather than burning fat for energy. Alcohol also dehydrates, which, in turn, can make you hungry. 11. Keep Your Chin Up Finally, it's important to keep your eyes on the large picture. "Focus on health, not fat," says Ottevanger. "[Focus on] feeling good – looking good is just a side effect of feeling good. Forget the notion that some excess just got there by accident, that you are going to get it fixed, and go back to normal. You change your notions and thus your behavior today, for the rest of your longer, happier life. No six weeks of torture will get you anywhere you want to go."

The government would never ban cigarettes or alcohol (they tried the latter) but I would be supportive of a very high ($10/pack) cigarette tax to make it economically prohibitive. That money could be used to help fund many things. And people who quit would be healthier. That's a win/win. But the big tobacco lobbyists would never stand for it. People should be required to buy healthcare insurance because those who choose not to buy it (but can afford it) are costing those of us who have insurance higher premiums to pay for their healthcare. For those who can't afford insurance, there will be help to pay for it.

Larraine, I want affordable health care for all Americans. I don't want our government to be that insurance company. The government has the power to make laws and they should enforce these laws that they can make on private insurance companies. They should drop the law that states you can't cross state lines for medical insurance because that would encourage competition between states. They should enforce tort reform, because that would stop all trial lawyers from making these multi million dollar cases. There should be caps on ins. payouts. Then doctors wont have to perform unneccessary tests just to cover their butts should someone choose to sue them. They should make it a law that noone can be denied health coverage or pay a higher premium because of pre-existing conditions. There are many ways to enforce the private insurance industries to comply. They don't want to do this because the lawyers and the insurance companies are lining these politicians pockets to keep the laws from ruining their greedy wealth. Maybe they could make a law that puts a cap on insurance premiums. If you don't have the ability to pay for ins., then you can apply for medicaid, which is government ins. that is already set up for those who can't afford to pay. The gov. can simply raise the income guidelines for people who can't get on it because they are borderline income and don't meet the eligibility. God wants us to be good stewards with our money and the government has shown us many times over that they can't be. When the government runs something, they don't have a care about waste. It's not coming from their pocket, so why should they care? Just look at medicare or social security, both are bankrupt. So, as a christian, it's not that I am against helping the unfortunate that don't have insurance, for I do want help for them. Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you." What about the 450,000 who die every year from tobacco, should we help them, how about the hundreds of thousands who die every year from alcohol, should we help them? This list could go on and on forever, but you get my point. The government should not be in the business of social wellness. Roosevelt did a bad thing when he started welfare in the government. Handouts in the government far exceed what the people here can afford. If the gov. stopped giving away all our money, then we would have more for our own health care and living exenses and will be able to give to the charities of our choosing. We wouldn't be indentured servants to China and other countries either. Your great grandchildren will be paying for their deeds in the future.

Let's see, my surgery was June 13. I quit smoking, after 37 yrs, alcohol & coffee on June 1. No cravings noted for any of them.

Alcohol . I get confused cause my dr said 2 months but most threads on here say three months and wondering if anyone did sooner. I'm not to fussed about not drinking

Alcohol and NSAIDS are big no-no's. The acid in coffee can cause problems, as well.

It probably shouldn't be a surprise at this point that our doctors and their NUTs all have a different plan for what we can eat and when we can eat it. My Dr. says no alcohol for one year (they also warn that we will much more susceptible to alcohol with our smaller stomachs). At this point my Dr. has sleevers on somewhat soft foods- mostly protein (meat loaf, meats that aren't stringy, cottage cheese, cheese, cauliflower, green beans, refried beans, etc., no corn, peas and other carb based veggies) from weeks 4-8. I can really only get the protein part of my meal in at this point and the PA at the Drs office said that was fine as long as I was taking the vitamins. I really enjoyed reading the information from the Brigham hospital, it seemed similar to what my Dr recommends. The alcohol will be much harder for me come summer and our beach trip! Like others, I have been in a stall for about a week now, this too will pass!

Sugar free pb cups are the WORST. Oh do they taste wonderful going down though. I always have major gas and major "other" issues after consuming those! Not everything with sugar alcohol does it to me but boy do those! Any kind of sf candy does that to me, though. LINDA!!! Tomorrow is your day---who knows if you'll see this, and hopefully you've made it your "cleansing" today...but GOOD LUCK!!! Yay!!!!

I joined eharmony at the weekend and have already found a guy I think I really like. We've been talking lots and he has asked if I would like to go for a drink. Obviously I have said yes but I'm so scared! I'm only a week and a half post op so I won't be able to drink alcohol and I don't feel like I've lost anywhere near enough weight for him to be attracted to me when we meet. I don't know whether to tell him about my surgery. What would you guys do? And if you would tell him, would you do it before you met him or not? Argh this is so bloody difficult!

Well I hope everyone is surviving through this virus situation. i felt like updating everybody I'm pretty much 6 months post op give or take a few days! This has been an incredible journey to say the least. Had the RNY BYPASS surgery and I believe it completely changed my metabolism; I've lost so much weight and it's like I can't gain weight. i actually started my own pre-op diet roughly 8 months ago way before surgery and my highest weight was 322lbs. I was weighed in for surgery day at 257lbs. Over the past few weeks I've pretty much hit maintenance I believe and I'm weighing in between my lowest day of 168 and my normal days of 170/171 obviously weight can fluctuate from day to day. I am gobsmacked how well I've done and how good I look but I know I really need to start to tone up and build muscle. My main focus from Day 1 was to just shed the weight off lose the LBS and I've done that. Never thought I'd get this far. In the past few weeks I've really tested my metabolism over Easter I had some chocolate and some crisps and a few alcoholic beverages but it appears not to make much difference at all to my weight but obviously I'm back on track still logging my food intake most days and some days still using protein shakes when I'm busy or not that hungry literally 6 months post op some days I'm still not hungry..... So in summary I've lost max 154lbs since day 1; 8 months ago and in the 6 months since surgery day I've lost 87-88lbs and I'm feeling great and it's weird people now telling me I've got to stop losing weight LoL. I'm finally the slimmest one in my group of friends. People treat me differently in general. I've included a photo it's not the best angle as it's hard to take photos of myself but you get the general idea considering the amount of weight I've lost there's not a huge amount of excess skin the main area is my lower belly abdominal area!!! I really truly believe my metabolism and the way my body processes food has completely changed and it's an amazing feeling!! MIKEY xxx Feeling great 35 years young

We see that all the time at my work, it's called self medicating, but things like marijuana and even alcohol can not only be among other things, gateway drugs, but also mask true underlying issues, and eventually lead to a severe drop in mood, and even suicide, it's like putting a bandaid on a deep wound, and it's very hard because patients will swear up and down that they do better on it, it's hard to get it into their heads that it is a matter of time.........

Thankfully did not have to do liquid diet prior to surgery. My date is next Tuesday 10/14. This is my last day of food. Tomorrow I stRt the prep phase for two days. Had my last big meal last night... Went to outback for my son and my sisters birthdays. Half a piece of salmon and half a piece of steak with veggies. My cheat was an alcohol beverage. Then we went on a 15 minute walk after dinner ... My son is so good at keeping active. He will keep me on track after surgery for the first three days. Then he goes back home. So I am getting a bit nervous and/or anxious. Bought all kinds of jello and pudding and soups to start off. The only thing I still need to get is some unflavored protein drink. Such a journey.

watch out with the drinking. Not only can you sabotage your weight loss, transfer addiction is REAL. Alcohol tastes way better to me now that it did before surgery - so I avoid it like the plague. The last thing I need is an alcohol problem...

as I have also questioned my decision, the best we can do is work the program. As I spent 6 years working in a drug and alcohol treatment center, treating eating disorders is like any other addiction. Day at a time, go to meetings, surround yourself with like minded people.

I'm taking a multi and Vitamin D - 10,000 units because my bloodwork ALWAYS comes back very low on D. I live in Seattle so I can't expect much else! If the deficiency is still a problem post surgery I'll ask my doc for a standing prescription for the once a week dose. I've also cut back coffee to weekends only, cut out soda which wasn't difficult since I don't drink much anyway. Same with alcohol, I play on being alcohol free for a year after surgery. I'm drinking more water, which is why I stopped drinking coffee. I found I was drinking a few cups of coffee before work then NO water the rest of the day. I've also upped my skin care routine. I'm not a very vain person but I've heard that rapid weight loss can cause a little wrinkli-ness in the face. I have good skin - trying to keep it that way!

OK so my husband has finally agreed that I can have the sleeve and we will pay for it. Hard decision and he told me he even thought about leaving me. Let me explain, so we paid for the balloon, I lost weight and put it back. Then the band lost weight (all of it) now put back 20lbs the band failed. I want to go ahead with the sleeve but here is what I did not want; Reflux Can't sleep on my side Sick with everything I eat Can't eat chicken Can't eat bread Never have a cheese and tomatoe sandwich Can't eat fruit Can't eat vegetables Not much fun at a restaurant Can't drink alcohol Should I really go for the sleeve? Will these symptoms come back???

I am not a alcoholic but I do love to drink wine, cognac and other adult drinks. Can you please share your experiences with me about alcoholic consumption post-op.. Thanks in advance:-) I hope this is not a deal breaker :-( lol!!

Actually, as a 70-year-old who was once 20-something I do think there are some unique issues that people your age go through related to bariatric surgery. You're in SUCH a different point of life than folks in their 40s and older. You're still trying to find your way in life in every way imaginable. Your obesity has such a big impact on all of your navigational challenges. Life and its burdens teach us a lot of lessons about what we're made of and how we can come through adversity, endure pain, and come out stronger than before. But most of you haven't dealt with some of these adversities: You probably haven't been married yet -- or divorced yet. Most of you haven't had children yet or cared for your own parents as they ail or age. You haven't yet changed your career trajectory more than once. Many of the lessons those experiences teach translate well in terms of the courage and self-confidence we need to succeed with WLS. On the plus side, obesity probably hasn't yet had a chance to impact your health, like it has for middle-aged folks and older. You have much more energy than we do. Your metabolic rate is higher than ours. Your body's ability to recover from WLS and to look like we all want to look like is far superior to older folks'. Your double chins will disappear. You won't have any wrinkles. For the most part, your skin will pop back and look like you were never overweight. Few of you will need plastic surgery. On the other hand, the 20s-style social life means you are probably spending much more time in bars and clubs than older folks. Alcohol and other drugs have caloric and other downsides for those following a WLS lifestyle. As some here have described, fewer people in their 20s are obese, compared to the proportion of obese people in their 40s and older. So that means your age-peers are not as sympathetic to the plights of the obese and are perhaps more ignorant and more scornful of WLS as a treatment for obesity. So, yeah, those are tougher attitudinal environments than older WLS patients have to weather. So I agree that you could be the one to focus on your generation and WLS. Do some serious research of your own. Interview surgeons. Interview patients. Report on their observations and experiences. You could start by blogging about your own experiences. Other 20-something WLS patients may also be blogging about theirs. You could write the book, go on tour, become a talk show host, build a media empire, become a bazillionaire! (You're welcome. )

I love vegges if i cant have carbs lol which i cant now so im ok but they dont keep you full for long. Im also ex band mine went in 22/11/2008 and i lost 35kilo about 75lbs but then but some back and found my way around it with saucy stuff and alcohol relaxed it. I had it removed 2 months ago and the day after it was removed realised a hunger that i had not felt for all of those years. So hungry all the time so it was working but i was not working with it obviously. The band stopped me eating fibrous things like salads and i do love salads so i would choose sauce meals which had more calories bc these went down easy. So did ice cream and chocolate.....so gastric bypass just seems like the viable next step. i dont blame the band wholly i take half the blame for it not working well for me

Before you drink alcohol, look up the calories. You will be surprised. I've found that knowing the calorie count makes me less likely to indulge in alcoholic drinks. Before I knew the calorie count, I was more likely to have "just one" and depending on what kind that one drink was, I could be drinking up to half my entire calorie count for the day. I have had beer, wine and mixed drinks since being sleeved. I don't drink as fast or as much as I used to do. In social situations, I've found that I need to specifically tell the bartender or waiter to NOT bring me a drink if someone buys a round for the table. My drinks tend to get warm before I am able to finish them if I finish them. When I am out socially, I have a few stand bys: For beer, I usually get a Budweiser 55 because it is low in calories. It tastes OK. Water with a shot of cranberry juice (no alcohol), but it looks like a mixed drink Tomato juice (no alcohol) Arnold palmers (tea and lemonade mixed, no alcohol) Rum and coke (I've found that I tend to drink these slower than most drinks, especially if they are fixed strong.) Things I've learned to avoid: margaritas (too many calories) Girly beers like Mike's Hard Lemonade, Mojitos, blueberry/lemonade drinks, etc. These start at about 220 calories and go up from there. I can drink them too fast, and about 3 of them over several hours will make me drunk enough that I want to go to bed. The Mike's berry flavored ones also give me a headache the next day even if I only had one, and I don't usually have headaches. Fancy Shots (too many ingredients that are usually high in calorie) I tend to mix my drinks up. I might start with a Budweiser 55, but for my second round, I will get water with cranberry juice. It will be a couple of rounds before (if) I get another beer. I don't drink wine when I'm out socially. I do have it at home in the evening sometimes. I've started pouring myself half a glass instead of a full glass.

Hi. I was sleeved 01/28/2012 so coming up on seven years. I was 238 at my first appointment (5'6 female) and 219 the day of surgery. I was 39 and wanted to lose by my fortieth. I was down to 129 within a year. I am currently 114 but at year five I bounced back up to 160. I have been holding steady now under 120 for about six months. It was a huge adjustment the first year for sure. I was cooking for my family a lot and had two kids. We entertained almost weekly and had a very active social life. Everything was centered around food and alcohol which I now was trying to avoid. Eating out felt line a punishment watching everybody else eat. But I just kept ordering and eating the way I was supposed to because my life was getting so much better. I could do things I didn't want to do when I was heavier. Eventually I actually craved the proper foods. I couldn't believe the mental and physical changes. Now I am very content with all the changes I have made and no longer feel cheated when others eat. I swim everyday and love shopping for cute clothes. My relationships got so much better and I have been unbelievably happier. My compulsion to overeat disappeared and life became enjoyable instead of something to endure. Do I wish I had done it sooner? Sure, but I needed to hit my emotional bottom and figure out why I ate compulsively first. I don't think I had the determination to do it correctly before that time. It was the best decision I've personally made. I love my life, my stronger, fitter capable body and the freedom from my weight that was literally weighing me down and holding me hostage in my own body. Today I embrace and love my life. I eat to live and choose healthy options. This works and has been such a gift. It's not easy the first year, but it's so worth it in the end. I still have a lot of restriction and it reminds me not so gently when I overdo it. I rarely do because I know how to eat for my sleeve now. Good luck to the rest of the forty somethings. So far this has been the best decade of my life! Good luck.

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

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