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Hi Engelyn, I understand your fears. I have some of the same especially around alcohol restriction and people knowing. I'm taking this as an opportunity to stop alcohol consumption for good as I know it's one of the main things that gets me to put on weight and I'm better off without it. Once I start socializing again, I'll be drinking water with lemon and graduating to sparkling water with lemon. I've bought different types of citrus essential oils and 1 drop in 1 glass water makes it taste great. I've only told my very best friends that I'm getting a sleeve. Everyone else I've told I'm being operated for a hiatial hernia and that the doctor is putting me on a liquid only diet afterwards (true!) Graduating to smoothies and finally after 1 month, easy solids (true!). I say that I'll most likely lose some weight and that this is an added bonus! So, when people see me eating less and losing they won't be surprised. Then I'll just say that I'm taking the opportunity to continue eating well and losing (true!). As for social life afterwards, I'll still be going out but eating less and mainly proteins and drinking water. The main thing is being out with friends and socializing, enjoying their company. People don't really notice what you drink as long as you have a glass in front of you. I'll also be meeting people more for coffee and teas. I hope my thoughts help you in some way.

Been a while since I visited here...have my reasons, mainly I find it tiresome after a while, mainly dealing with the self proclaimed experts.... However.... Thought I would give a report, especially for the newbies. I go to the gym 5 days a week at 5:30 in the morning. I run for 30 minutes (3 miles), do 45 minutes of weights, then finish the workout with 20-30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. It took me one year to reach my goal, total weight loss of 90 lbs. That was 7 months ago, and I am still loosing although very slowly now. Your body will stop loosing when it feels it is ready to. I do not count calories, measure or weigh portions. I eat when I am hungry, which is not often. I do not deny myself the little pleasures in life like desserts, ice cream, alcohol, including beer, etc, etc. I do get my daily requirements of protein, water, vitamins, amino acids, anti oxidants, etc, etc, with little or no problem every day. There are days when I just don't feel like eating at all, so i don't force it. I am not a believer in the "Starvation Mode" I have/had enough fat and glycogen stored away to use as energy, and that is what I did. All this from a man who is 60 years old, have had one heart attack that I know of, had cardiac surgery due to coronary artery disease, had diabetes that is now completely gone, had loss of circulation in lower limbs with loss of sensation (feeling) which is now a thing of the past, cholesterol, triglycerides, everything is now well within normal range. Had my stress test a few weeks back and the cardiologist could not believe he was looking at the same person. My blood work (lab results) are straight down the middle normal in every category. The band controls my eating and hunger entirely. It is NOT a tool, something that I can control. It is something that is there, constant, doing what it was designed to do. People are afraid to go to picnics, parties, etc for fear of what I'm not sure. I cannot overeat no matter how hard I try. Does not matter what food you put in front of me, the band will allow just so much then that's it. I went on a cruise a few weeks ago and I did everything I can to eat/enjoy as much as I can...Impossible! I lost weight! I do not get stuck, slimed, etc anymore. It has been a long time since that has happened. There was a phase, when transitioning into the "Green Zone" that I got stuck sometimes 2-3 times a day. But once I learned my lessons, learned how to eat like a "Skinny" person, I broke through to the other side and life has been normal ever since. The "New Normal" as my surgeon calls it. My only advice to newbies is to work the band for all it's worth. Don't settle for second best, something just to get by. Demand everything you have always expected. I make no excuses for my success and my new life...why should I care what others think? It's me they're going to put in the ground someday...then where will the critics be....I have achieved everything I ever hoped and dreamed this surgery can do for me. I was once a fat person, so i know what denial and excuses are all about.... So you may see why I don't visit here all that much any more....

I had mine on the 20th as well! The throat was never sore, but it was raspy for the first few days. The gas pain persists but I'm hanging in there. Today is the first day I've felt human. We're even going to a movie tonight (one of those nice places that bring you food and alcohol ... yeah, I'm taking a protein shake in my purse. Lame.)

Aspirin and ibuprofen (and naproxen and basically every pain medicine except Tylenol/acetaminophen) are super dangerous within a week of surgery, both because it interacts with blood thinners and because it impacts your stomach lining. My team wanted me off them for 10 days before, but 1 week is the minimum. If your surgery is on the 17th, you can't have any more of them. If you do, you need to delay the surgery. My team did allow Tylenol the week of surgery, so if you have pain, try that. The cheats and the alcohol have to stop, too, immediately. More than a week before, eh, we're human. But within a week of surgery, no, you have to follow your team's rules. You've got one week to make your liver as small as possible. A large, slippery liver makes the surgery more risky, because it gets in the surgeon's way. It's a week. (And then another week or more after surgery.) You can do it!

Well that brings up a good question, Nancy. Since all I am hearing about the sleeve is how great and wonderful it is, why would anyone choose RNY surgery these days? I am assuming that RNY is the procedure that has been done for many years that involves bypass rather than removal, correct? I understand that you believe that you need the malabsorbtion side effect that RNY creates. Is that because it causes you to restrict the fat you eat, due to the odor problems? Or is it for some other reason? Wasa I really appreciate hearing your story. And Susan, you too. I've been here since Aug. 2006 and I've read a lot of posts by both of you. Wasa I know what a proponent of the band you were and you even helped other people who were looking for a doctor and all that. Wasa at first I hardly knew where my port was. I had to really probe around to find it. The longer I've had it, the more prominent it is. But that may just be due to my having put on some poundage in the last few months. Susan you've lost 80 lbs. and I've only lost about 40 lbs. that I can keep off. There's another 20 or so that I seem to play around with. At first I thought I had just slowed down losing, but since I have regained 20 lbs. since Nov., I think I am realizing that I will never get to 135, as I'd hoped. I too got to the point where I hated, just hated, to go for a fill. I got really tired of either having too little restriction or too much. I hit a point where I had a fill of 2.2 and it seemed to be my "sweet spot". Then something happened (who knows what) and it was too much. And I'm back into the search for a fill that actually helps me instead of causing me grief. I am like oregon (I think it was) who said she was sick and tired of thinking about food all the time. I'm either trying to work on finding an intelligent choice for my next meal, or I am obsessed with what I can eat that will taste good and stay down. It seems like that's kind of like an alcoholic who is constantly thinking about drinking all the time and having to choose whether to drink 8 oz. of gin or 4 oz. of vodka. Not a perfect analogy, but you get my drift. Frankly, I am jealous of plain's and Jachut's success.

Pretty funny I get trashed immediately and people around me think I’m nuts! This starting happening after my surgery with any alcohol!

Here are some other topics that always inspire forum participation: * Alcohol: Pro-choice, pro-life or pro-Long Island tea? * Managing your appetite mindfully with marijuana, tobacco and cocaine * Birthday cake: But what if I scrape off the icing? * Jerky and pork rinds: The benefits of sodium and lard * Bread, potatoes, Pasta, rice and matzah balls: Carbs, vey! * Fruit: Worse than coconut cream pie? * Ketosis and quinoa * Avoiding caffeine: The case for Mormonism * How long must I wait before having sex? Protip: Longer than your parents did! Ba-dump!

The bad thing about having the band is you can't throw up the alcohol when you're done drinking. That was always my escape plan. A quick nap is the only other thing that helps, but you have to make sure you don't just pass out. Haha

Everyone is different and what works for some may not work for others. This is not a One Size Fits All situation. If you have a concern that alcohol will be a trigger or problem for you - it doesn't automatically mean it will be for others. Most who gained weight back because of drinking probably didn't continue eating healthy either. It's the same as assuming every fat person is a soda/pop addict and must abstain forever. You can't generalize in these situations.

Where I live, the social evening life without alcohol is very difficult, but i have already adopted a fake gin tonic as aperitif; tonic Water, ice and slice of lime... Looks great and is good.

As @@Dub says, it's all about moderation during drinking and remediation in the days after. I only drink sugar free drinks that are all around 100 calories. If I'm in a situation where I'm drinking for a long period of time (all day on a boat, followed by dinner with friends), I might get to 500 calories of alcohol on such a day. This might get me up to 2,000 total that day, which is more than normal, but will not break my diet. When I see it show up on the scale, I go back to my post opt diet and get back under goal in a day or two (remediation). That said, if you think you've been a food addict or may have alcoholic tendencies, I'd steer clear. Btw, unlike most of the women here, I don't find it hits me any harder than it did when I was on a low carb diet back in the day. If all you have in your stomach is Protein and veggies, you will feel the booze faster.

Hi guys. I would like to know if after sleeve we can drink wine or other alcoholic beverages. I think I will not eat and drink anything interesting for a long time after the surgery, but after some months can I think to go a party and have a drink for a toast? (e.g. Wedding, birthday, various celebration...)

I could drink fine after surgery although it was about 6 months before I did. Now at 1.5 years out I can barely have a glass of wine without getting drunk. Also the hangovers are brutal. The further out I get the less I can handle alcohol. I've pretty much stopped drinking. But a sip or two is okay. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Blimey! This has been an interesting read on this lovely Sunday morning, and just because Dub mentioned something on another post. It got my curiosity (OK, big standard nosey) antenna twitching! Thought that I'd add my two pennyworth for what it's worth. I'm Jinty, and I'm an alcoholic. There, I've said it. I've been sober for 12 years with, for the first six years the help of AA meetings and other recovering alcoholics. I received a lot of tough love, common sense advice and several kicks up the arse to get me on the sobriety track. I DIDN'T get mollycoddled, fuzzy love and cuddles or any other pussyfooting nonsense. That is why I am sober today. There were plenty of perfectly nice drunks who went to meetings but who expected their sobriety to come from someone else. Those people usually went back out, back on the piss and a few of them are now dead. They often thought that the old timers with long term sobriety were too tough. They would form their little groups and have their pity parties, commiserate and then pick up a drink. I saw it happen time and time again. I stuck with the winners. Those who had been around for a few years. I stayed well away from newbies who thought that they knew it all because again, many of them fell off the wagon (and back into the gutter) because of their arrogance. I have a great life because of my sobriety and it's getting even better now that I have taken drastic action to deal with my food addiction in the form of a VSG. To ensure that I keep going in the right direction, I am sticking with all you wonderful, bullying, foul mouthed, tyrannical, well informed, humorous bastards who post on this forum. You've served me well thus far and quite frankly, if it ain't broken then I ain't going to fiddle fixing it.

I laughed almost as hard at the people who scolded you as I did at your phunny post. When I first started reading your post I almost couldn't believe my eyes. I couldn't imagine how in the world you were able to eat enough pizza that there was none left for the kiddo. You're funny. Pizza is one thing that I've wondered about. I had surgery on the 28th of April so I'm a month out. I'm trying very hard to do all the right stuff. I want success so very much!! And so far, I'm doing fine. Losing little amounts every day. But I do worry that I'm going to eat too many calories so I write everything down all day long. I think that helps. I meet with the dietician in a couple of weeks. I'll probably ask her about pizza and alcohol. Not ready to party yet, but one day maybe..... Good luck with your new tummy Mr. Bigga and keep the funny stuff coming. We need to keep our sense of humor and stay happy on this journey!

@butterthebean Believe it or not, I sooo agree with all you write.. I know I'm a newbie FOR SURE! I know it sounds down right righteous to some. It wasn't my intention nor point. My theme was to indeed KNOW yourself and we are all different.. And soo many posts like licking the cheese off the dorito or chewing and spitting.. That sort of thing (ALOT OF IT ON HERE) is what I am referring to! I know I may have issues. When I do, I'll scale back! You are also so right about the food addictions, etc. My psych visit caught all of that (and the recent comments about alcohol and cross addictions). I know for ME, I have no alcohol addiction. Others need to be honest.. Re food addictions, yep, I think all of us have them.. My point wasn't to cave into whims. Junk food indeed got me here.. Or bad choices... I am working on changing that and only time will honestly tell. I don't think I'm enabling anyone, because my point was have the ONE dorito! but, if yuo are the type who can't handle that (only you know that), then don't do it! It works for me.. Same for the 2 pretzels. Etc. So, yes, I do agree with your points and that's why I love this forum!

Well, now that Im 2 months post op I guess its good to revisit this thread .... What's working for me is journaling ... I use my fitness pal ... if i don't journal then my calories will get away from me. I try to stay under 1200 calories a day ... sometimes less. Its very hard as I only have 4.25 cc in an 11cc band. I exercise a lot more than I ever did before. I try to walk/jog a few miles a week. I also know that I need to stay away from alochol, even if its only 2 small drinks. Alcohol slows my weight loss and even makes me gain weight. I also don't count my grams of Protein a day. If i have too much protein, I gain or stall. Lastly, Im reading a book called "The Beck Diet" ... its helping work on my addiction to food and overeating. Its like $10 on Amazon.

Sorry I also forgot to add that many people who are postop are on narcotics and drinking alcohol is a major contradiction.

Here I am thinking that I need to get back to basics. We celebrated our Wedding Anniv. on Friday so I gave myself a pass for supper and we were at a comedy club so we ate fried food. I'm not mad at myself. Not the healthiest, but a special occassion. Yesterday my cousin got married and I ate cake and drank alcohol and after I was tipsy (okay...more than tipsy) I ate a sandwich. My first piece of bread in 6 months. :smile: Today I haven't done much better. Covered dish at church on the first Sunday of the month. Some things you can't control, but I haven't stressed about it. All of these things put together makes a bad several days. So back to basics. I've got to get these carbs out of my system to start the losing again.

Thanks to all who replied - update post vacation: Lost 3 pounds last week on the all-inclusive vacation! That is more than I usually lose per week at this stage. I ate what I wanted, but no rice, Pasta or fried foods - I did have a few bites of bread 2 or 3 times. I completely skipped all the free alcohol, but I had 1-2 bites of desert with dinner each day and my husband ate the rest. I took Protein powder packets with me and the staff was willing to blend them for me with a little juice or milk. I had them add a little fruit and ice. I also took some ready to drink chocolate shakes and kept them in the refrigerator in the room. I was also very careful to stay hydrated since it was about 85 degrees each day. I forgot to try Mio with crushed ice, which I was looking forward to. I took all my Vitamins and Calcium chews for the week in a zip lock bag in my checked luggage, but they disappeared. I forgot to take them the first day, and when I looked for the bag on the second day, it was gone. I can only assume that either someone working at the airport in Punta Cana or the maid took them, perhaps thinking they might be drugs? I hope going one week without them won't do me any lasting harm. One big change was the amount of exercise. My work is sedentary and it is a good day if my Fitbit records 3,500-4,000 steps. However, the resort we went to (Hard Rock hotel Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic) is so large that they run a golf cart shuttle to help you get around. I walked everywhere instead, so I was over 10,000 steps every day and went as high as 13,000! I have not exercised hardly at all since my surgery and now I see why others weight loss is much faster than mine. I know what I need to do...

Hello Hello! It has been many months since I last posted here. The last time i posted was concerning me developing a problem with alcohol after the sleeve. Well, that problem has been resolved and I no longer abuse alcohol. I admit it was bad and I was drinking whisky literally as soon as I got up, sneaking it at work, and all through the night. I managed to wean myself off after not quite 2 months. I feel great and my liver feels great too. (Used to get pains in my abdomen after drinking but they are gone.) So this is what I'm here for now. For the past 6 months I've been eating crap. I used to be so good on my low-carb diet. Then I started to allow the carbs back in. I was eating everything that I knew I shouldn't. You name it, I ate it. Ice cream, Cookies, cakes, candy, Pasta, mashed potatoes, bread, rice, take-out, I ate it all. As a result I gained 6 lbs. I became horribly depressed and didn't even try to stop from eating this stuff. I simply chose not to weight myself anymore. These past two weeks were the worst. The other day my supper was 2 Hostess orange cupcakes and a pack of Hostess crumb mini donuts. My belief that I was gaining weight was so strong that I convinced myself I could no longer wear the new clothes I bought and was considering buying larger sizes of clothing. I felt so fat. Then one morning I decided to weight myself before showering. Not only did I lose those 6 lbs I gained but I lost an additional 4 lbs on top of that. I'm now at the smallest I've been post surgery and only 10 lbs shy of my goal weight. So should I go back to my low carb diet or should I continue eating crap?

Once you finish your meds and problem is resolved, try eating 10 to 12 radishes or 1 package each week. My husband has not had an attack since he started that. Once you get the "crystals" in your joint or toes, they stay there and just seem to flair up and get aggravated. Let me know if it works for you, too! P.S. in the old days, Gout was considered a "rich" man disease, as it seemed to be related to alcohol, red meat and a rich diet.

Well, I'll be the first to admit that I don't drink enough Water to cleanse my system--I never have and I know that I've got to begin drinking plenty! Everything I've read says gout is caused by ingesting too many purine foods, i.e. legumes (beans), organ meats, broths & consummes, yeast, mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower, and also from drinking too much beer. (No, no not me! I drink no alcohol!) The kidneys deposit uric acid crystals around a joint and that's what causes the arthritic inflammation and pain instead of ridding the bloodstream of them. Don't really think it's WLS related--but some bodies (like mine) have a perpensity for it, I guess--and I really brought it on by eating too many legumes and not drinking enough fluids to flush my system. I sure learned my lesson!

Ok breathe. You slipped but you also now know why there is a staged return to eating - to protect & support your healing tummy. What you are experiencing is grief & regret. This isn’t uncommon. You’ve been through a pretty major surgery, your hormones have gone haywire, you’ve had to make massive changes to how & what you ate & you can’t have food or alcohol which previously comforted you & gave you pleasure. This will pass. Before you know it you will be eating solid food again, eating more & eventually you will enjoy a drink again. Yes, your tummy may struggle with certain foods to begin but this improves too. You are really learning how & what to eat all over again & learning what your body needs you to eat. You’ll be trying new foods, new recipes, etc. too. I still enjoy food & I still eat out (went to a French restaurant last night). I’m just more careful with my food choices & portions usually without issue. I still drink (had a cocktail & a small glass of Grenache) but not as frequently - drink quality not quantity now. I look at food & alcohol differently. That old adage of eating to live not living to eat is true. I didn’t have any comorbidities either but I knew that if I continued as I was or put on more weight it would be a different story. I was obese & I didn’t want to be. I’m a clothing person & I couldn’t wear the designers I loved anymore. Though not physically limited in any way, my stamina was poor & some things needed more & more effort to do. My weight came on suddenly. I always bounced around but ten years before my surgery I was 59kgs. Six years later I was 91 (damn hormones & menopause). Best decision I made. Remember the reasons you had to have the surgery. You may find it helpful to meet with a therapist (your team should be able to recommend someone). Many find therapy extremely helpful.

Where is everybody? Missing you since I`m feeling pretty lonely here. Well, I`m doing well but have been fighting with the carb and nuts monster recently. It`s amazing though that I didn`t do the alcohol phase for a lengthy period. Very proud of my pretty little socks. LOL Chocolates were not an issue this X`mas at all so that`s an achievement too. I`ll like to hear from all of you, Claire.