Search the Community

prebiotic is what the microbes eat, and probiotic is the microbes themselves. here is one list I found of ways to repopulate your good flora...Eat your Sour pickles! Sources of Bacteria to Repair Damaged Gut Flora We must eat new bacteria in order to replace bacterial species lost by antibiotics or unhealthy diets. Probiotics -- specialized bacteria that grow in milk products Spices and herbs -- plant products abundantly contaminated with bacteria that digest plants Fresh vegetables -- bacteria are on the surfaces of plants unless the vegetables are cleaned or cooked Fermented foods -- Bacterial growth leading to acid or alcohol production has beed used in the preparation and storage of many foods and provides a rich bacterial resource. Environment -- Bacteria are transferred to our hands and face from other people, pets and surfaces, unless hands and the body are continually washed. Sanitizers and frequent washing of hands and surfaces eliminate acquisition of environmental bacteria to repair damaged gut flora. Social isolation and hygiene block repair of gut flora. Replacement -- experimental replacement of damaged with healthy gut flora (fecal transplant) has been very effective in curing many diseases without significant risks, but is restricted by the medical industry.

Trader joes sells these and they can be found in grocery stores and some gas stations. I am glad you like them. If I recall, they have kind of high carb from sugar alcohols (17 g) and calories are also kind of high (270) per bar. They are big so may fill better than other bars. http://www.amazon.com/thinkThin-Chunky-Peanut-Butter-2-1-Ounce/dp/B000CRHQN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375758703&sr=8-1&keywords=think+thin+bars The Cookies and cream is also good. Still a good option if you enjoy them. Some others that I have enjoyed are nu go slim, pure Protein and Quest.

Hunger/Cravings/Emotional/Habitual: [ FEEL FREE TO RELATE AND LAUGH WHILE READING ] If you have lived as a human on this planet we like to call Earth, you have experienced these different forms of eating habits. For some us, we have mastered the eating maze and are healthy and happy individuals. For some of us, we were just blessed with good genes that kept and continue to keep us skinny. Others may choose other methods of dealing with hunger and/or engage in habits that keeps them thin (but are in no way beneficial to their health): anemia, bulimia, drugs, even smoking (so I have been told). And then there is the rest of the world, the majority, who simply eat. Well as promised, I stated that I would share as I learned. So here we go. Three days ago, I started to have a strange craving for salt. I figured I just wanted something salty: French fries or something. The first day, I tried saltine crackers- didn't work. The Second Day, I broke down and got a small fry from McDonalds - after three fries and a terrible time swallowing it- I threw the rest away. I figured chips would hurt worse than fries so I didn't go there. By the third day, I was ready to pour salt in my hand and eat it. I ended up eating mashed potatoes with salt and Cajun seasoning. I wasn't really hungry nor did I want any of the things I mentioned. I just wanted the salt. We are conditioned to believe that cravings are ALWAYS remnants of are past BAD eating habits: nothing good can come of it. So I didn't mention it to the doctor. Well, I had a routine follow up scheduled the next day: blood, urine and so forth. Come to find out, I was Dehydrated. One of the symptoms associated with Dehydration is craving salt. Upon finding out this information, I told my doctor about the last three days. He listened and then he explained. There are several types of eating habits, but to simplify here are four main types: hunger or regular, cravings, emotional, and habitual eating. Hunger: Regular - Biologically Necessary Eating: When the food you have previously consumed has been digested and used, the body sends off signals to the brain to start the process of alerting you ( growling stomach, headache, and so forth) that you need nourishment. Insert a bunch of doctor talk here....and then arrive to the point. You need to eat small portions throughout the day to keep your system fueled and your blood sugar levels regulated. Cravings: Mostly a mental hunger but can occasionally be a symptom of a bigger health issue. Cravings are greatly linked to the wonderful neurotransmitters we call endorphins: the feel good stuff. Deserts, fast food, candy, and so forth can all be linked to cravings associated with the release of endorphins. Giving into a craving WITH MODERATION every now and then is not a bad thing. As my doctor has stated once before: deprivation is the mother of all diet breaking habits. Deprive yourself of something long enough and you will most likely binge when you do eat it. A few potato chips did not make you overweight OVER NIGHT. It took Several Bags of Chips over Several Nights to add the pounds. MODERATION is the key. Keeping a food log is a great help in this department. You will begin to see patterns in your eating habits. For example, when and what types of cravings you have and how you dealt with them. And if you find yourself craving something over and over again, do not hesitate to talk to your doctor or nutritionist. In some cases, as it was with my need for salt, there may be a greater medical issue at hand. Emotional eating: Well this topic needs no introduction and has a simple explanation: attempting to make us temporarily feel better through eating. We usually engage in emotional eating during times of Stress, Grief, Anxiousness, Indecision, Depression, Helplessness, and so forth. The best way to combat this eating habit, is to locate the source of the problem. Eating rarely if ever solves the problem that is causing the strong and usually negative emotion. Exercise, counseling, reaching out to others, and sometimes taking time to heal oneself are all great tactics. Once again keeping a journal of what triggers the emotional eating will help you get a better grasp on the problem at hand. NOW WE MOVE ON TO THE UNIVERSAL EATING HABIT ACCURATLEY NAMED HABITUAL (OR RITUAL) Eating: ITS JUST WHAT WE DO. I believe that most people indulge in this eating habit and the following are some examples of when we do it: You are going to the Football/Baseball/Basketball/Hockey game: Hotdogs, Chips, Beer, Liquor. You are going to the movies: Popcorn, Coke, Pretzels, Funnel cake, Pizza or whatever the concession item of your choice is. Its the Holiday Season: I must have all of the usual favorites: Grandma's turkey, Great Aunt's Caramel Cake, Your Spouse's Sweet Potatoes, Your Neighbor's Candy Yams, Christmas Punch, and so forth. The Girls Venting Session: must have Ice Cream of some flavor and LOTS of it and alcohol. The Birthday party: most have party favors and Cake. Men's night: Steaks, Burgers, Chips, Ribs, and Beer. You are bored and in the house doing nothing: Must. Eat. Whatever. Its just what we do. LOL. MOST of us do it and have been conditioned all of our lives to do it. This conditioning has been formed through family traditions, societal norms, peer influences, workplace etiquette, school related gatherings, church and community functions, and almighty MEDIA (just to name a few). The best solution to this is MODERATION. Also, start a new tradition of your own. When all else fails, before you eat something ask yourself the following ( I practice this daily): Are you hungry, have you eaten this lately, how do you feel, and what are you doing at this moment. I usually find that asking myself these questions leads to further questions and eventually to answers. I will either talk myself out of it or I will understand why I am doing it. MOST IMPORTANTLY, No man has ever survived without making mistakes, without setbacks, or without occasional over indulgence. It just happens. Do not beat yourself up about it. Just continue to move forward. You will only be as successful as you allow yourself to be. Surround yourself with supportive people, practice good habits, start new traditions, keep a journal, exercise, and ENJOY your second chance at life. You only live once.

I would start with detoxing from the carbs. Go back to a liquid protein diet for at least a week and begin back with the protein and steamed veggies. This is the rest of our lives and slips are going to happen. You recognized what is going on an asked for support. That is the first step to getting back on track! Congrats for that!! As food addicts we have ups and downs in our struggles to maintain our weight and after our sleeve it is absolutely no different except we have our sleeve to help us. I think we know when we are beginning to weaken and our resolve isn't so strong. It's scary because we actually know what we are about to do just like an alcoholic is with a drink. That is why I love this forum we are told exactly what we need to hear and it helps us to get it back together!! Good luck to you and I wish you the best!!

I had my surgery in late Jan 2012. Hit goal about a year later, losing 135 pounds. Due to stress/illness, I dropped 10 pounds past goal. But now I'm maintaining just below goal (between 127-129) most days. I noticed a HUGE increase in what I could eat a few months ago. I still can't touch nearly the portions I used to eat prior to surgery, but my volume has easily doubled or tripled. I have to be very vigilant to avoid the treats and slider foods, grazing during the day. Those will easily bump up my carbs beyond 100-150g per day and calories into the 1500 range! I don't drink soda, happy to give it up. But I do enjoy coffee a couple of times a week, have to watch the sugar content. I only have a glass of wine every month or so for social occasions, never a big alcohol drinker. I'm resetting myself these past few weeks because I just FELT better when I ate a clean diet. I sleep better, think better and just want to get back to that. So I started back up with my trainer at the gym, she is kicking my butt. Drinking Water like crazy, Protein first, watching the carbs and cutting out sugar! You can do it, just remember what you went through to get this far, the pain, the recovery, the cost!

Pretty thick, what happens when you have alcohol, if you don't mind me asking. Symptoms like I am describing? Thank you! Me too.

I can no longer tolerate alcohol. Not a bad thing, I wasn't much a drinker to begin with but I realize it's not for me anymore - period. I hope you feel better soon.

Alcohol usually loosens the band initially (some may try and correct me...I know it doesn't physically loosen the band...it's just a common term for it which actually means it relaxes the stomach allowing more food through than normal) and then tightens you up the next day as your body dehydrates some. You may have slightly dilated your pouch. You could call your doc and ask to get some fluid out and that might be the best course of action. If it was me, I'd take some liquid motrin to help bring the swelling down, go on liquids only for a few days, and hydrate hydrate hydrate.

Sooo... I have started my pre- Op diet. My surgery isnt until August 29th but my surgery team and I have decided that I would do it for a month instead of just 2 weeks. I've been on it for almost a week now and it's actually not bad at all! I've had to weigh in yesterday and I have lost 4lbs in less than 1 week on it already. I've read some ppls diets and see that they get put on strictly liquid mine is not. My diet is as follows: Breakfast: Protein shake or fruit Lunch: 4-6 oz of lean protein ( fish or chicken) and unlimted Veggies Snack: Protein shake or fruit Dinner: Same as lunch Snack Protein shake or fruit If I dont have time to cook, there are a select list of lean cuisines or healthy choice dinners I can eat, but I have to add at least 1 cup of veggies to the meal. No carbonated, sugary, or alcoholic beverages. I have been eating salad with 6 oz of grilled chicken in it for lunch and salmon with assorted veggies depending on the night for dinner. I'm not a big fan of milk or protein shakes but I have found that the Special K brand strawberry flavor is pretty good which i drink for breakfast, and I will snack on fruit in between meals or have another protein shake depending how hungry I am. So far its been great. I havent been hungry and have been able to ignore cravings. My boyfriend and I even went to the movies last night and I snuck us in sandwhich bags filled w grapes and water with mio. Didnt even think or have the urge to get my usual popcorn and Icee. GO ME! I've also been going to the gym on my nights off and do an hr on the treadmill and if I work I walk the stairs at night 16 flights!!!! Its a killer. lol But I'm doing it and I feel very proud of myself. I have to say I feel very lucky to have such supportive friends and family. 2 of my cousins and 1 of my friends and my boyfriend have all decided to join me on my month long pre op diet. Everyone around me is so encouraging, I couldnt ask for a better support team. Even my co-workers i have told are extremely supportive and I am greatful. I pretty much have an appointment or 2 a week from this week on. I've done my pre op testing, met with the anestesiologist and the nutrition classes. I have my Upper GI next week, THen meet w the psychiatrist again the following week, then meet w the MD , Surgeon and Nutrtionsit the week after that... Then SURGERY!!! I also got my schedule at work today and I am off the entire month of Septemeber. I hope that is enough time. My nurse manager is aware that I am having the surgery and told me to take all the time I need to heal. Cant take care of others until you're healthy yourself. I also got my approval letter in the mail from my insurance. All my ducks are in a row! Just waiting for the Big day and I am soooo READY!

BAHAHAHAHA!!!! Wow, I needed a good belly laugh...thanks, jensjoy28! Vsginkc, I felt just like you do. My surgery date was June 19th. I stopped smoking back in March, then cut out sodas & a significant amount of carbs in April, & then even more carbs & caffeine & most alcohol in May. I knew if I waited until right before surgery, I would HATE having to give up everything all at the same time...and I knew that I would probably fail. There was no way I was going to jump through all these damn hoops & not give myself the best chance I could to be successful. Today, at a little over 6 weeks out, I feel great. I've lost 44 lbs so far, I'm exercising, not smoking, eating real food that is well prepared, and although I've had a very small amount of wine twice, I'm certainly not having a cocktail every day. Even if you have waited til the end to start giving the other stuff up, it CAN be done, and it will help you to feel so much better postop, which makes it harder to go back to our old ways later. Good luck to you!

After my first informational & NUT sessions, i started cutting back on caffeine, fast foods & other junk foods along with alcoholic beverages. I also started not drinking 15 mins prior to meals & not drinking until 1 hour afterwards. And not eating after 7 pm. All that was difficult initially but it was habit forming. with all of that, my post op transition hasn't been too difficult. While I didn't know about this forum until 5 mons post op, the handbook my center gave me prepared my tremendously. I must say, had I known about this forum pre-op, I think the horror stories would have added more anxiety for me. I have a habit of over analyzing. so I probably would've chickened out. Some folks like a lot of information, for me, less was better. I relied on the information in my handbook & informational sessions. This worked for me.

Don't know much about alcohol but I too wanted to try some wine...I thought they actually made healthy ones specifically for dieters?

My mom and a friend both have the Lapband and still have some drinks. My mom has said that she can't drink alcohol and eat, you have to do one or the other. My dietician said that carbonated beverages aren't good for the band. She suggested wine as the go to drink which is primarily what drink when I do drink. The thing with Lapband is you have to be willing to adjust your life and habits to it. It won't adjust to yours, so if you aren't willing to do that you will have really think about things before adopting the banded lifestyle.

Happy anniversary! That said, yes, I tried wine from my husband's glass and it gave me headaches. So did beer. It's either too early or my alcohol tolerance has gone to hell for good. Meh ... No loss, no mourning.

I just had my surgery on 7/25. My brother is getting married in Colorado (in the mountains about 5 hours away from Denver and civilization) on 8/10. I'm supposed to fly up there on the 8th and I've got this horrible internal battle going on over whether or not I should go. My whole family says it's ok if I don't feel up to it, but I'd feel guilty and sad if I didn't go. At the same time, I'm still dealing with pain in my incisions, some pretty foul smelling gas, and I'm an emotional wreck. I don't want to get up there and ruin everything because I can't hardly do anything for myself and I get very irritable very easily. Just the thought of traveling and airports stresses me out right now, which sucks because I usually love flying and traveling. Not to mention the struggles of still being on a liquid/puréed diet at a wedding. No dinner, no cake, no alcohol. Sounds pretty miserable. I'm just so torn. It feels like a bad idea to go, like everything added together equals disaster. But, it is my brother's wedding. I don't want to miss it. I've made it to all my other brothers' weddings (five weddings total, including this brother's first wedding and my baby bro's who had it in Hawaii) and I would just feel sooo guilty if I didn't make it. Anybody have any advice? Sorry about the rambling of this post, it kinda reflects my brain right now.

Well, it's not just the beer but the carbonation from the beer. If you read through these threads you'll see where people no longer drink carbonated beverages. I believe it is because your pouch can become displayed. An occasional beer I guess could be OK but ask your doctor for sure. I have an occasional alcoholic beverage myself. I don't do it often however but I'm not a beer drinker.

I just had my band surgery on Tuesday and according to my doctor you don't want a lot of alcohol in your system. It could make your band become erosion and slip. The occasional drink I don't think will hurt but its not something if your out with friends u don't want to drink one after another. Bc it could cause u to throw up and therefore if that happens your stoma is swollen above your band and you won't get anything down for at least 12 hours so then you will be stuck on a liquid diet for 12 hours until ur stoma shrinks back down below the band. If you can have a good time without the alcohol then I say to avoid it. But on a special occasion I don't think one would hurt you.

I think a better question than can I get the band is should you get the band. Things to think about... 1) Alcoholic drinks are empty liquid calories. You have to be cautious in deducting these calories from your overall daily allotment. However, remember, with the demands of getting high Protein in each day, this can quickly become a problem is a large portion of calories is coming from alchohol 2) Some alcohol may cause increase gas, beer is the #1 culprit. It's like other carbonated beverage (sodas etc) that can result in discomfort and if not exercised with caution can result in band slips 3) Also, some people experience GERD/reflux issues with band. Alcohol is a culprit for increasing stomach acidity. This can result in increased symptoms/ulcers etc I think most bansters would say that yes you can have an occasional glass. But if you are planning on frequent drinks or back to back nights out etc than the band may not be as effective as you would like it to be.

I was wondering if anyone out there knew if that affects if you can get the Lap Band, I like to drink, by all means I'm not an alcoholic. I do enjoy drinking beer. I'm just concerned about not being able to get the lap band because of drinking.... thanks everyone

Believe it or not all of these have one thing in common! I was banded 7/11 so 23 days ago.. since day 5 post surgery I have been able to burp (thank goodness because when my stomach is empty, I burp, a lot..) I am really not a big fan of hard alcohol or wine. I enjoy a beer or two every once in a blue moon, have read several previous threads with mixed responses and a lot of them warn against beer due to carbonation, but if I am able to burp without any problem does that make it different? Oh only have 5 oz in my band if that makes any difference... dr said ok but expect swelling but surgeons heavily warn against any alcohol due to erosion potential

I was banded 10/25/10 & while it hasn't been a totally straight down the scale journey & having lost 107lbs I still need to lose about 25lbs more I am the type to tell everyone. The way I see it is they have seen me fail a million times at weight loss & if I failed even after surgery no one would be surprised LOL!! Also I personally feel if I treat it like a secret it makes me feel shameful about it. I come from a long line of addicts (alcohol or smoking) & even though no one really struggles with their weight I didn't want this process to be a secret. I wanted to take ownership & pride in my decision to try a bold step in my efforts to lose weight.

Yeah alcohol lol...

One shot of what? Alcohol? Not wise on any diet but no worse for sleeve, I'd have thought. I had wine pre 7 weeks without hassle. Heroin? Yes, of course it would be wrong. That stuff can kill you, not to mention the hazards of needle sharing. A semi automatic rifle? Would depend on what you're shooting at. Does it shoot back?

Quick update - After my third fill (October 2012) I got stuck with everything I ate (7.2 cc in 14 cc band). I toughed it out for a while but then had 0.3 cc removed in December and 0.5 cc removed in March. I gained about 8 pounds back during this time. I was eating a lot of potato chips since they did not get stuck. Last week I got filled back up to 7.2, stopped buying and eating the chips and the scale shows 3 pounds lower this morning! I'm hoping my time in the wilderness is over. At the first information session the doctor talked about the addictive nature of food and how some bandsters end up substituting one addiction for another, mentioning alcohol. I never thought I'd have a potato chip addiction! Cold turkey got me off it and now I don't go near them at the store for fear they will jump into my basket. Thanks for all your posts - they're very encouraging.

I hate to burst your bubble, but soda and carbonation are not allowed ever again. It can stretch your pouch. I feel for you, I really do. The #1 thing I find hardest to even think of giving up is soda. However, after all I've gone through to get to this point, I cannot for a second consider doing something that might undermine my surgery. So no soda for me. I've already incorporated a new drink into my daily regimen, and cut back my soda from 3-4 a day to 1. But what I'm going to do is continue to drink my favorite diet soda, after it's sat long enough for most of the fizz to be gone. I mean, come on ... first, I had to give up alcohol, then I had to give up cigarettes, now I have to give up candy and most/all desserts. It's sadistic to add soda to the list. But ... c'est la vie ... what will be, will be. Good luck to you.