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Hello my name is Kelli (Beach Lover) and I am a carbaholic! It is an addiction just like alcohol and we have to recognize it for what it is. I have learned this about myself and I know that I have to stay away from the darn things. Don't be surprised if you spend the next 24 hours cravings all kinds of stuff!! Ignore the cravings so it will back off. Few carbs only good ones! This is my biggest strategy for losing and maintaining once I get to that point. You did terrific for calling on help you knew you were weak so you took action! Good for you that is a victory in and of itself!! Be proud of that and hide the brownies!!

I confess that I have eaten Hershey's chocolate miniatures, tortilla chips, salsa and cheddar cheese, have not exercised since July and had 2 alcoholic drinks for the first time in a LONG time and i wonder why my weight has stalled...duhhhhh

I can’t believe that October 24, 2013 will be my fifth bandiversary. In June, 2008 my best friend gave me a beautiful journal. My first posting? I was going to start a new diet! I wrote: · Exercise daily · No white stuff · No bread (I guess I meant no wheat bread) · No Alcohol · Write my food down daily · Keep track of points · Drink 8 glasses of Water daily Obviously I couldn’t do it because the next posting in my journal was on October 20, 2008 when I began my liquid diet in preparation for surgery. Some of the things I worried about then? Giving up control! Little did I realize that that band was going to help GIVE me control. I wondered if a year later would I be thin, or would I be satisfied? A year later I was in Onderland! Not only that, I had measured myself before and after and I’d lost over a yard! Satisfied? Oh, yes! In January, 2010 I started exercising. I went to boot camp at 5:30 a.m. five days a week. I don’t know what I was thinking when I signed up, but I loved boot camp! And it really helped change my body and got me losing again. By the end of that year I was 9 pounds from goal (the goal my doctor had set). Then, I stalled. But I wasn’t unhappy because I could now shop in regular stores. Most of all, I wasn’t consumed in my mind by thoughts of weight loss and self loathing. I thought that I looked like a “regular” person. It’s true that I wasn’t as thin as I wanted to be, but I certainly wasn’t fat anymore! That lasted until this year and, for some unknown reason, I’ve lost an additional 10 pounds. It just came off. The other day my husband actually said to me, “Are you still losing weight? I think you’re getting too skinny!” Never in my life did I think I’d ever hear that again. So thank you God, Dr. Davtyan, all of you on LapBandTalk who supported me in this journey. A special thank you to my sister who was banded two months after me and has her own success story.

I'm not sure if there is already a thread here for cancer survivors or people who currently have cancer, with the sleeve or pre-sleeve? Would love to know that I'm not alone! I am a bladder cancer survivor. I have my 2.5 year scans coming up next week, along with all my pre-testing for my sleeve surgery. I have my story all printed up already because it's a long one...but I wanted to see if others have gone through cancer here? I believe it puts things into a different perspective if you've come through cancer. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer when I was 42. We found out that I was pregnant, surprise! We had already lost two babies, our son Daniel in the second trimester and then an early loss. We are foster parents and had already had three failed adoptions as well. When we found out I was pregnant, they did an ultrasound. They could not see the baby, but did find numerous tumors in my bladder. There started a whirlwind of tests, day surgeries, chemo, and finally major 12 hour surgery in March 2011, to remove my bladder and rebuild a "fake" bladder inside of me. 2.5 years later, I'm recovering still, have a hernia the size of a basketball due to the surgery, and need to lose some weight before I can have my "big" hernia surgery to fix my hernia, and start living again. My story This is what we consider to be our "last chance" at having a child in our lives. I'm 45 now. I've lost three children and two years ago lost my bladder and uterus to cancer. We've fostered children for years and had four failed adoptions. Last chance adoption. If we can afford it. My life reads like a soap opera. When I was 11, my sisters and I were hit by a car while waiting for the school bus. My little sister Kathy didn't survive. I was raised by a wonderful Mom and an abusive alcoholic Father. And then I married an abusive, drug addicted husband. Stayed with him for 12 years until I had the strength to leave. In 2001, I met Mark, the most wonderful man ever. We married in 2003. In 2005, at the age of 37, Mark and I conceived our first child. In 2006, I gave birth to our son Daniel, too early for him to survive. Later that year, we lost our second child. Fast forward to 2010 (time spent between 2006 and 2010 resulted in our becoming foster parents and having three failed adoptions). At the age of 42, I found out I was pregnant. Went for an ultrasound, where they found numerous tumors in my bladder. I lost the baby and started chemotherapy in Dec 2010. In March 2011, I had my bladder surgically removed, along with my uterus....losing any chance of having our own baby. But, in the end, I was/am currently cancer-free. We named our third baby "Angel" for saving my life. We became licensed as foster parents again, and had a 15 month old baby girl placed with us. On March 1, 2013, after living with us for over a year, baby girl was taken and given to an Aunt in another state. Failed adoption number 4. Through all of this, my husband Mark has been the best friend, nurse, Father, husband, caretaker ever. He deserves to have a child. WE deserve to have a child. We've looked into adoption and have started the process, which could take years.

I wonder how long before these ingredients get regulated like tobacco and alcohol? Not that i want the gummint in my business but some of these do have health/regulatory implications.

I don't care one way or the other if anyone tells or not. After hearing about some of the people ya'll work with, I wouldn't want to talk to them either! I guess it just depends on one's personality and circumstances. Circumstances-wise: I have wonderful colleagues at work, and we all support each other with personal challenges. Several of my colleagues are overweight and walk together at lunch; we have a health/fitness directorate at work with a bariatric nutritionist on campus; we have an annual "Portion Off the Pounds" program and everyone in the CLASS shares their eating habits/goals; we have three gyms -- all free. Personality-wise: I was married to an abusive alcoholic for nearly 20 years. On top of that, I was GAY the whole time! With the help of therapy and Al-Anon, I came to see all of the secrets I'd been spinning/holding as TOXIC to me and my growth. So I started a personal policy of 100 percent honesty. Now, I'm very frank and open with everyone with whom I have ANY type of relationship; work, neighbor, family, volunteer, kids' friends, etc. My feeling now is: if they don't get it, I'm willing to invest the time in educating them about alcholism, domestic violence, equal rights, and -- yes -- bariatric surgery! If they're not interested in either learning something new about the world or about me, of if they just can't "stomach" it, fine. But if they are, then I've done some good in the world, expanded my circle of support, and opened someone's mind. All of those benefits are worth whatever risks I face. I am 100 percent me, honest, transparent and accountable 100 percent of the time. It's only made my life better and better and better. No "privacy?" NO PROBLEM! And no, I'm not stupid about cybersecurity/information security. In fact, it's part of my professional industry. BTW, I work for the Department of Defense with military officers from the Joint services and from all over the world, and I'm often the FIRST out gay person they've ever met. I get a lot of appreciation -- and a lot of disclosures from others! -- in response to my visibility. I'm sorry about my "shame" comment earlier. Obviously, that's not the case with everyone (although I'm sure it IS the case with some). But I never again want to live in fear of the risks of sharing ANYTHING about myself that's important to me. If I worked somewhere that imposed that risk, or had relationships with people who imposed that risk -- I wouldn't for long.

3 years ago today I had the VSG! So much has happened in the last 3 years in regards to my attitudes, abilities and awareness surrounding my body, what I eat, and how I exercise. I will do my best to keep this short! First and foremost, I am one of those people who had a surgical procedure to help me lose weight. And I hit a "low" weight and then, in the space of about 10 months, regained about 20ish pounds. Nothing is more humbling than being a "statistic" in this way. I had always heard that this regularly happens to WLS patients and a part of my brain said "oh that won't be me!" Haha. Lessons learned the hard way are sometimes the ones that stick with us the most. So if any of you have the question "is it possible to regain weight with the sleeve?" ...the answer is YES it is possible. The regain is actually quite easy. You quit tracking your food, you eat a few more calories than you need to, extra "treats" find there way back into your life, and you slack off on the exercising. Losing the extra regain...well notsoeasy. I have lost -12lbs of my regain and will continue to fight until the regain is gone. Here are just a few quick things that are true for ME, personally. 1. We can live on a lot less food than we think we can live on. If you take nothing else away from this post, please remember that statement. During the time that I had regained some weight, I found myself wanting to eat more and the truth of the matter remains that my daily caloric intake needs to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 calories or less for me to maintain or lose weight, regardless of how much I exercise. This is completely reasonable, doable and normal for me. And I am finally OK with this. (Yours may be completely different!!) 2. Don't underestimate the importance of exercise!! It's taken me a while to finally push myself out of my comfort zone when it comes to exercise, but I've found out what a really challenging workout does to me mentally and physically and I know when things get to easy that I need to push myself farther. If you have never exercised before in your life, then your goal is to GET UP OFF the couch and DO SOMETHING. And if exercise is not completely foreign to you, then you need to set some goals to push yourself harder. 3. Plastic surgery. I have not had any...yet. I went for an initial consult this past May. It was really hard to see how much damage being morbidly obese has done to my body and how much it would cost to get a nice "perfect" body. I've had a lot of time and space to think about what I learned at that consult and what I realize now, is that I'm not sure I can afford perfection. Or that it necessarily exists. I just know I could put one of my kids through college for what I was quoted for plastics. So I'm currently on the fence and in the mode of trying to be happy with where I am and not worry about chasing a down a body that might not exist for me. 4. I constantly drink Water. I drink (half-caf) coffee (usally 2 cups a day), I rarely drink alcohol and I never drink anything carbonated. I've been carbonation free for over 3 years now. I also rarely use any type of crystal lite, or flavor enhancers etc. Sometimes I drink plain (unsweet) tea. My net loss is somewhere around -90lbs. My husband is also sleeved and did NOT regain any weight. He is 2.5 years post-op and seems to maintain his more modest loss (-70lbs) more effortlessly than I do. He also can eat more calories than I do, so right there are complete differences among sleevers! I just don't think we can ever "give up" ...and there is no "finish" line! There might be a GOAL WEIGHT, but once you are there, it's still a journey to keep the weight off. And for that reason I'm eternally grateful to my VST 'family' for always being here! BEFORE VSG 2010 AFTER VSG 2013 (all of these photos have been taken in the last 2 months) SIDE BY SIDE

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!

I'm 10 weeks, haven't been craving anything really. Heavy carbs or fatty/creamy/buttery things are too much for me, can't handle more than one bite or two then I feel ill. I'd mentally love to eat pizza, but the thought of actually eating makes me feel ill. Wish I could get more veggies down. They agree with me (cooked ones at least), but I just never get more than a bite after my protein, too full. I have found that ice cream, roasted pumpkin seeds, and alcohol (all no-nos) go down just fine I can't stomach carbonation at all, not even the tiniest sip.

I was told by my nutritionist.. 'you would really have to go some to stretch your stomach to its original size and regain all your weight'. As for my surgeon - he said 'yes, there is flexibility in the organ (that is what the stomach is designed to do) so if you overeat every day, you will, over time, stretch it out a bit. Conversely, if you eat little, it will shrink.' Consequently.. and my advice? Listen to your pouch and when it says stop - stop. Asking for absolutes on the 'average stretch of a pouch', is, although i'm sure that this is not your intention, like asking 'how much to the millimeter of alcohol can I consume before i can't drive a car'. There are guidelines provided us, based on average consumption levels and associated performance. Some people can drink more and process it more quickly, like some people can eat more and process it more effectively. Asking for any further specificity than that, is pretty futile. Only you know what your stomach tells you in comparison to the guidelines offered you. None of us know exactly the amount we can eat - because each food type has a different effect on us and this also changes day by day. For example, some days I can eat bread and some days, I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon than put bread in my belly. I just eat what I fancy and stop when I feel a fullness below my sternum. That feeling that if I ate another mouthful, it'd be up into my esophagus. That's the only gauge I know and that's all I have to go by. Best of luck in finding yours and being comfortable with it. More importantly; try not to freak out. You're not going to put all your weight back on overnight and if the scales do start going the other way, you know what you have to do.

I tried alcohol this weekend. (Im about 6 weeks out, and approved by nurse.) I wouldn't recommend it. It went down ok, but making bad eating decisions is way too easy to do while drinking. I had 3/4 shot of Jack Daniels mixed in with an ounce of water. It hit fast and hard. I think if I had had another shot I would have been completely trashed. I think Im going to do my best to stay away as much as possible :/ Hard to do when your skinny husband tries to get you to drink :/

I tried wine at 4 weeks out made me naseaus! I tried the starberry and peach margarita those ready to go pouches this weekend at 5 weeks out nd they went down so mooth i loooovveeee!!! Beer but its not gonna be a part of my life anymore i dont want to drink Anythin carbonated i take a super small sip just for taste when i get my hubby one but thts it im glad i gound those margarita pouches though they are 5%alcohol nd i got the light margaritas with less calories i tried a piña colada 6% alcohol nd it was too strong on my tummy

Meals? You get Meals?? I just finished day 7 of a 3 week pre op diet. I get 4 shakes a day and IF I'm still hungry (IF!!) I can have a dry salad. I am losing my mind! I'm being a little dramatic, but this is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Harder than quitting smoking. Harder than quitting alcohol. I know, I'm not being very encouraging. It's just been really rough. 2 more weeks of this seems so long!!!! Pray for me, people!!!

I drink beer and really any alcohol. Yes" you get buzzed very fast-be careful. I hate drinking a lot now because I have had a few black out moments-and made a huge ass out of myself. I had to learn what is my new amount that I can drink and be ok. I drank 6 beers the other night. I only drink on a Friday or Saturday. I hooe that im not stretching my sleeve out but beer was all that was avail at the time.

That's a really good idea for dealing with the assault but I've gone so deep into this dark place I hate leaving my house talking on the phone or even thinking about meeting a new person it's so not like me at the me I was. It feels more like a dream and yes addiction to alcohol grabbed my behind as well it took a few months to realize what I was doing and then I quit drinking completely however I never even liked to drink before I never even thought I'd become a alcoholic but when foods always been your comfort and suddenly your not able to be comforted that way our needs will find a means to get met I guess. But yes I will reconsider therapy again. Who knows maybe this time ill show up and stay. Thanks for the encouragement and acknowledgement. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

@Veesoul....That's not true as you have read. My doc said no alcohol until a year after surgery. When you do you have to be careful because you will get drunk or tipsy really quick. You also could stand a chance of dumping if the drink is too sweet. Just be careful and if you decide to drink just remember moderation.

My Dr says NO alcohol again, ever?!? I wonder why??

Wow! I knew unhealthy - but my kids will never have chkn nuggets or anything from McDonald's again! The liver enzyme stuff scares me too knowing I have non alcoholic fatty liver disease - I'm sure bc I enjoyed too much McDonald's over the years! Surgery can't come soon enough!

Might I add, I am feeling a little sadistic having this surgery. I have given up drinking alcohol, coffee, food, smoking. Where is my will to live? About the only thing left is SEX and that might be difficult because I am such a moody B from quitting everything and being on a liquid diet, who can stand to be around me long enough to ... well you know....

I am looking for a sweetener to use in my tea in the mornings. I don't add it to anything else. I am not allowed any sugar alcohols, and can not stand it if something I drink leaves an after taste in my mouth. I thought about adding some vanilla protein powder but I am afraid it will clump because I like me tea to be HOT.

For some of us yes... Especially with foods like the ones in that article. Corn tortilla chips are my downfall. Had several run ins with them this week Lol and apparently alcohol too! Just saw what I wrote and it made no sense until I edited it

Article in the huffpost today: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4043980 Here's Why Your Favorite Foods Are So Hard To Resist Renee JacquesThe Huffington PostOct 16, 2013 It's no secret: When you buy Doritos, you're going to finish the entire bag. There are countless reasons why people have so much trouble putting junky Snacks down. And many of them are by design: Companies spend billions on marketing their products and conducting scientific studies to figure out how to engineer their foods to keep you eating. Consider this: In a Connecticut College study released just yesterday, neuroscience students found that eating oreos activated more neurons in the pleasure centers of rats' brains than did consuming cocaine or morphine. And New York Times writer and author of Sugar, Fat, Salt, Michael Moss recently wrote about ten components added to Doritos that make them extremely tasty and difficult to resist. Unsurprisingly, salt and sugar were major ingredients. In fact, the salty additives in Doritos give them a "flavor burst." That "burst" dissolves in your saliva, sending signals to the pleasure centers of your brain, explained Moss. Do these foods sound "addicting" to you? Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, and author of many books on nutrition, says there should be a distinction between having a strong desire for food and being addicted to it. "I think of the word as meaning a physical dependence. We physically depend on food in general, but never on one food in particular," Nestle tells HuffPost. "Food companies create food products that people want to eat. Is wanting the same as addiction? I don’t think so but there’s evidence that foods trigger the same neurological pleasure centers as do addictive drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, but not nearly to the same extent." Read on to discover exactly how some of your favorite foods may be keeping you coming back for more. You love pastries because they're packed with carbs. Lots of starchy foods contain complex carbs that your body breaks down into simple sugars. A study conducted on mice in 2012 found that foods high in carbs, fats and sugar can actually change the brain. The researchers at the University of Montreal discovered that after being exposed to diets with high levels of fat and sugar, mice revealed withdrawal symptoms of depression and a greater sensitivity to stressful situations. They also had higher levels of the CREB molecule, which is known to play a role in dopamine production. Much of this is still emerging science, and it's impossible to say that eating lots of sugar will necessarily make anyone feel happier, but humans are naturally drawn to sugary high-carb foods. "We evolved to love the taste of sugars as an infant survival mechanism," says Nestle. "The brain needs sugar to function and carbohydrates are the most efficient source of it." You love Cheetos because they literally melt in your mouth. How fast can you eat a bag of Cheetos? Probably pretty quickly. That's because the manufacturers of the puffed corn product have mastered the art of "vanishing caloric density." The Cheeto is extremely light and fluffy, therefore making it easy to rapidly melt in your mouth. Moss discovered that this junk food ploy tricks your brain into thinking you're not eating as many calories, so "you just keep eating it forever." You love Fruit Loops, popsicles and gummy bears because they are bright and colorful. Now, of course, that's not the only reason why you love these tasty foods, but their vibrant coloring has been known to play a part. Food companies add color to their products to make them more appealing. Dr. Linda M. Katz, Chief Medical Officer for the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, reports that color additives are incorporated into foods to "enhance colors that occur naturally" and to "provide color to colorless and 'fun' foods" (like popsicles and soda). "That’s what food companies do to sell foods," says Nestle. "That’s their business. People don’t like eating grey foods." You love canned sauces because most contain excessive sugar. When we think of satisfying snack foods, tomato sauce isn't really on the list. But that doesn't mean it's free of the additives that make more typical junk foods more appealing. If you look at the ingredients list on a can of Prego tomato sauce, for example, the second ingredient after tomatoes is sugar, one of the three addictive components of fast food, according to Moss. The New York Times reports that just a half-cup of Prego traditional sauce has about two tablespoons of sugar. That's the same amount of sugar as in two large Oreos. Nestle says the added sugar in canned tomato sauces "makes them taste better and covers up the off metallic taste from the canning process." But before you head to the kitchen to make your own, note that sugar can be found in canned tomatoes -- a common ingredient in homemade sauce -- in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. If you're craving tomato sauce, you're better off avoiding any kind of tomato product that comes in a can. You love candy because your body has not adapted to its intense flavor. There are a bunch of reasons why you can't resist munching on your kid's Halloween candy loot, but you can blame part of it on evolution. In an article on Prevention.com, Ashley Gearhardt, Ph.D., assistant professor in the psychology department at the University of Michigan, explained that the human body has not yet evolved to handle the intense trio of sugar, fat and salt that comes in candy bars. Gearheardt wrote that before processed food was developed, sugar was "found in fruit and guarded by stinging bees; salt was a simple garnish; and fat was a nutrient that had to be hunted or foraged." The tastes taken together are still very new to the human body. You love fries and potato chips because they have the perfect mix of salt and fat. And they're fried. According to Michael Moss, the coating of fat and salt on potato chips and french fries is what makes them so irresistible. Moss writes in his New York Times piece, "The starch in the potato causes the same glucose spike as sugar, but is absorbed into the bloodstream much more quickly." That spike will drop very fast, causing you to reach for another fry or chip. You love soda, juices and sports drinks because they are sweet, sugar powerhouses. Kelly Brownell, director of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, claims that sodas and sports drinks are the “single greatest source of added sugar in the American diet, and the research linking sugar-sweetened beverage intake with obesity and diabetes is stronger than for any other food or beverage category. The average American consumes 50 gallons of sugar-sweetened beverages per year." The Nutrition Source revealed in a guide titled "How Sweet Is It?" that cranberry juice cocktail, orange soda and cola all have much more than 12 grams of sugar in a 12 ounce serving, with some packing upwards of 40 grams of sugar, which is the same as about 10 teaspoons of sugar. That's a lot of sugar. As with many of the items above, high sugar content plays a key part in making popular foods and drinks so hard to put down. But why so much sugar? Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at University of California, San Francisco has a theory that he outlines in his viral YouTube lecture, Sugar: The Bitter Truth: So why do I call it the Coca-Cola conspiracy? Well, what’s in Coke? Caffeine, good, good. So what’s caffeine? It’s a mild stimulant, right? It’s also a diuretic. It makes you pee free Water. What else is in Coke? We’ll get to the sugar in a minute. What else? Salt, 55 milligrams of sodium per can, it’s like drinking a pizza. So what happens if you take on sodium and lose free water, you get? Thirstier, right. So why is there so much sugar in Coke? To hide the salt.

Wine has lots of sugar alcohol so it can certainly cause you to dump.

Honey, we all have eating issues or we wouldn't be here... food addiction is no different than alcohol or smoking or drugs.. something you may have not realized is that the lapband will change your relationship somewhat with food.. I love food but since being banded I don't think about it 24/7... I eat to stay alive, I still enjoy food but not as much.. after you have been eating healthy for awhile you will be surprised how your eating habits will change.. The band is the best thing I have ever done.. I tried every single thing to lose weight and never successfully kept it off long enough to matter.. This is different... Give it serious consideration and there are psychologist and counselors who can probably help with the mental part... You do have to change your eating habits but if you follow the rules and do your very best, I believe you will be successful. Best of Luck....

I just banded a week ago. I had gastric bypass 14 yrs ago but drank some of it back on. Surgery is a tool. Helps with the capacity, not the compulsion. Now I have to stay away from alcohol and it's hard. Good luck. Guess if my self- esteem was better I would feel better. Still am a smart ass fat chick at heart. Kiss of death for relationships . :-(