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Be careful with chips as when you can eat a little more they are a slider food that can get you in trouble. Quest makes some protein chips that are pretty good. I like the ranch ones and my husband loves the loaded taco. They have them at Walmart or target and Amazon.not that I am recommending them this early out but everyone’s plan is different.

The finger food plate is a great idea. I love those foods. Idk why I don’t think of them outside of an appetizer for a get together. I had to google auberfines. I know them as eggplant. I have had them at restaurants and annoyed them but always shy away because I’m intimidated by preparing rhem. I guess I need to do some research because that sounds like a good alternative to zucchini lasagna. I have never thought of putting beans into an omelette. It’s sounds different but I will give anything a try once. Thanks for the book suggestion. I should check and see what’s free on kindle unlimited as well. Idk why a whole book of recipes is overwhelming for me but when I come across one thing that sounds good I have the guts To try it. I’m an odd duck sometimes. lol.

So I had the sleeve and then a year later revision to bypass (due to complications). I can tell you that I developed sensitivities and outright allergies to foods I had never had before IN MY LIFE after my surgeries. After my sleeve, I developed an allergy to peanuts. Not horrible, but I need to take something if I eat them, so I just don't eat them or anything with peanuts in them. I also became lactose intolerant. BADLY. So I avoid dairy and use almond milk and lactose free things. I also have a low tolerance for salt. I use to salt EVERYTHING and now I pretty much never use it at all because I can't tolerate the taste. It's very metallic tasting and gives me a headache. When I had my revision, all of that stayed the same PLUS I suddenly got a serious, life threatening allergy to shellfish. I have to carry an epi pen with me at all times. I can't eat it, touch it, or even be in the room when it's being cooked because even breathing in the proteins that are released into the air when it's being cooked causes a reaction. I was born and raised in Florida. Shellfish are a way of life there. I could LIVE on crab legs and shrimp. It literally BROKE MY HEART when I realized I'd never be able to eat it again. Also from the revision, I developed an allergy to surgical glue lol Didn't have that with my first surgery, or any other surgery before it, but from my revision on, can't tolerate it, and can barely tolerate band-aids lol I mean, what??? That's so strange to me, but it's true. I've had every test under the sun, and while it's common for taste buds and likes/dislikes for foods and drinks to change after these surgeries (definitely have that, as well), and even to develop sensitivities to foods like dairy and sugar and salt, it's rare to get such major allergies to foods (happens, but it's rare). So of course, my doctors were super interested in me lol Not trying to make history, ya'll, just tryin to feel better lol

Just made this. It serves 8-10 2-3 oz servings. Has sat well on my stomach in the pureed phase. 1 lb. soft tofu 1 bag of cauliflower stir fry rice with edamame and carrots Marinade 3 TBspoon soy 1 Tbspoon hoisin sauce 1-2 Tbspoon sriracha sauce 2 dashes of soybean oil Tsp spring roll sweet and sour Squeeze excess liquid from tofu by putting on a plate and laying 2-3 plates on top about 20 minutes. Dump excess liquid. Put tofu and marinade in zip bag for overnight. Put bag of cauliflower rice in microwave for 2 mins Drain tofu of excess marinade. Stir fry on med hi with a little soybean oil. It will look like scrambled egg that goes in stir fry rice. Add cauli rice and stir up to heat through. Slotted spoon to serve. No this is not restaurant stir fried rice. But it is also not carb heavy or calorie heavy. 1/3 cup is 68 cal, 2 fat grams, 7 protein grams, 6 gr carb.

not american, so no thanksgiving pics to share, but here are some thingsn i've prepared/eaten the last week or so (NOTE: i'm currently in an effort to gain weight - the horrors! lol - so my food choices may be a little off-the-bariatirc-norm...) 1) bbq pork and seasoned rice one-pot-rice-cooker-meal. my portion: 266 cals...ate almost all of it 2) homemade chilli topped with cilantro and feta cheese, home focaccia and sliced avocado sprinkled with sumac: 599 calories for whats shown. ate everything except the foccacia (too chewy for me!!...mr ate it instead) 3) more of my homemade chili, some cheddar cheese, more cilantro, and some Tostido's Hint of Lime Tortilla chips (my fave!!!) 276 cals...ate it all! 4) homemade guacamole with the above mentioned focaccia that i slow toasted to make crisps with cheddar & cilantro & sour cream: 370 cals...ate all except 2 the focaccia crisps. 5) homemade crispy pork belly...omg THE. BEST. CRISPY. PORK. BELLY. EV-AH!!! this pic is of the entire slab. i had roughly 1/2 cup volume of it. ate it all!! 250 calories! 6) junky snacks: - 2 walkers mini shortbread cookies + 1 chocolate : 123 calories - 2 walkers mini shortbread cookies + 3 sour keys candies 103 calories yep, ate all it ta-da!

Hello folks! It's been a while since I posted; been somewhat all over the map just trying to figure out what and when to eat and how to up my hydration. I finally settled on the fact that I'm just still not liking eggs, which is annoying, that tuna, salmon, and chicken are my go-to protein sources, and carbs?? UGH. I literally had two providers in my back to back nurse practitioner then nutritionist give me conflicting advice regarding carbs at my one month post op. Due to a rescheduled appointment I had that appointment on 9/11 as opposed to the week earlier - my surgery was on 8/5. The nurse told me that my energy level was probably flagging because of not hitting my hydration goals and that eating carbs after hitting my protein goals was fine, as long as I avoided sugar. Then the nutritionist came in and talked about how I should still be avoiding carbs in order to hit ketosis, and that supposedly once I hit ketosis I'll feel like a million bucks. Eesh. I've been tracking everything in my Baritastic app and I have only gone up to 31 carbs like, two days since my surgery, and it was because of applesauce and cream based soup. I'm wondering when I'm supposed to start feeling fantastic?! The third week plateau was REAL and incredibly obnoxious; I didn't see movement on my scale for almost a week despite hitting my protein goals and struggling to hit my hydration goals. I broke through it, though I'm still not losing as quickly as I'd like. I find that eating Greek yogurt in the morning serves me pretty well, and I've also noticed that sometimes I have to split my meals into 'part one' and 'part two' in order to hit my protein goal. Like; I'll have my yogurt, wait the thirty minutes, hydrate for a while, hit the timer, then 30 minutes later have another small protein snack. It's definitely been a struggle to keep my energy up and not get burned out on this whole thing. I felt like I was rocking along until after purees, then I just ended up baffled as to what I could or should eat. Honestly, the limits on vegetables don't seem to be holding particularly true for me; I've been fine with tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onion, mushrooms, carrots, and beans. I've not had much as far as fruits - one day I was out and didn't have any food with me so I got a kids meal from arby's with a bottled water, just the meat from a slider, and a packet of applesauce. I split that applesauce pouch into three portions, honestly, and only ate about half of the deli meat they gave me. Maybe I'll try to find more recipes using cream cheese - I'm annoyed that my grocery order didn't have the cabbage I ordered because I was looking forward to making some of the unstuffed cabbage rolls for this week. Guess I'll have to suck it up and go to the store for the missing items tomorrow. I bought an exercise bike I'm looking forward to using - It's a recumbent bike and I haven't figured out the right TIME to try to use it. It's been a bit of a struggle to find the timing between meals, hydrating, meds, vitamins, housework, etc but hopefully returning to this forum will help me get more on track. For anyone it might help - I've found that low fat cottage cheese and tuna melts made on a zero net carb small tortilla with 1/3 a can of tuna and two thin slices of colby/jack or a skim/reduced fat mozzarella string cheese are my main sources of protein. A couple of days ago I made a veggie mix of zucchini, broccoli, bell peppers, and a bit of diced onion. I've sliced up thin bits of both chicken and pork separately and use some of that zero sugar stir fry sauce to make meals of them. It works, even if not particularly exciting, and has a nice flavor at least.

I am so ready for some more solid food!!

I'm having surgery on Thursday, and I'm on a modified liquid diet. According to the nurse and the paperwork, I need to get 70-80g of protein and 64 oz of fluid a day and I'm allowed 1 meal a day (3oz of meat and 1c raw or ¹/2 c cooked veg) all the way up until 6 hours before surgery. This seems odd to me. They are cutting into my intestines. If i have eaten 6 hours before won't there still be food in my guts? I want to have the best outcome possible and am thinking of doing all liquid starting tomorrow night.

I cheated on my post op diet at my graduation party. I’m on stage 3 going on stage 4 in 3 days. I ate 2 chicken wings backed and a few bite of an empanada ( it was fried). I didn’t feel full or have a weird feeling. Maybe because I’m going to start regular food in 3 days without red meat or carbs. I’m so scared to tell my doctor and I’m scared that I might have problems. I don’t feel weird and I feel fine. I don’t know, when I hear stories about people after vsg they say like the worst thing to eat real food for the first time.

Even after 2 plus years I still miss noodles I still miss a Chinese take away I still miss going for a day on the lash and a good curry Even after 2 plus years I never miss the 150 lbs I lost I never miss being so dreadfully unhealthy I couldn't clean my house I never miss being not being stared at in the street I never miss a penny of the cost of this surgery. I adore how I look in the mirror Just give yourselves time to adjust, that person we were is no more and the new us have to grieve for our old selves. We are human, change does not come without some suffering. Eventually I hope to not struggle with my food addictions

Officially 8 weeks and 2 days Post-op and honestly I'm pretty comfortable with my progress though a little disappointed with my hydration. The weight loss is steady, protein intake was a little tricky but I think I got it, and keeping up with physical activity has been smooth. Last month's first follow up with the nutritionist did get under my skin, I questioned returning to my previous vitamins vs these nasty Flinstones...and she went on and on about my calcium, iron and protein levels wouldn't be sufficient due to me not eating meat. I explained I had no problem taking additional calcium or iron IF necessary, and finding new ways to add my protein BUT I wanted to see how my bloodwork came back. She finally conceded in saying "well, you're an adult, if you want to take more vitamins that's your choice". I mean OBVIOUSLY it is my choice and her condescending tone is one of the many reasons I've never cared for nutritionist. Nevertheless, guess who's blood work is PERFECT?! In other news, I will say this ketosis stage, while extremely beneficial... it is giving me the "ick" with side effects, smells, body odor etc... I've introduced some carbs hoping things will balance out but it seems to be a slow process. Uranalysis confirmed I'm still burning ketones sooooo there's that. 🤷🏽‍♀️but when will these side effects end ? Speaking of introducing carbs... I had a small bowl (4 oz) of mac and cheese (chickpea pasta)... this is a true trigger food for me, but I ate it, I enjoyed it and I moved on... it wasn't until the next day, I was thinking wow, I really didn't "Want" another bowl... "I'm good". In the head scratching category... I overheard my co-workers having a convo about individuals on the show "My 600lb life"... DISCLAIMER: I say overheard loosely, there's 3 of us in a small room, they were speaking freely as we usually do but I had my earbuds on and wasn't a part of the beginning of the convo. While I can't say I've ever watched a full episode, I am familiar with the premise of the title as well as what "reality shows" really entail when it comes to production and I'm sure I've caught a snippet of an episode on a meme, commercial etc. They also do not know I've had a procedure. I digress, at some point in the convo, they were both giving their opinions on "how could someone let it get so bad"..." when your pants stop fitting..." "when you're out of breath walking from house to mailbox..." etc. and while I have no doubt that they did not have malicious intentions nor have I personally fit into any of these examples... I suddenly became very offended. I even thought to myself have I lost that much weight that this is how "skinny" people speak freely among you ? (The answer is no, regarding me... I've lost a good amount, but they've known me for several years...at my heaviest). I thought, are they thinking I'm really deep into my work and not paying attention ? (The answer is no, we always engage with each other based off of body language to get the others attention and they were engaging). The answer boiled down to, they were just ignorant to the reasons this could happen to someone and the fact that reality tv has a way of making people look and behave at their worse. So I chimed in with "As a fellow big girl..." and explained to them that food addiction is real, and it's real easy to forget that unlike, drugs and alcohol, people have to eat for survival/nutrition and if you are addicted to such it's easy to forget how someone can "let it get so bad", there are also health issues and medication side effects. They were both receptive and admitted that didn't even consider that thought. We went on to talk about the state of "healthy" food choices, labels, vending machines in schools and all. But I definitely walked away from that convo scratching my head because they are both thin and love to eat and not always the "healthy" stuff... so I'm thinking it didn't occur to you others JUST CAN'T do that. Anyways, it was an experience and I'm glad I had it.

I have been in line for the bypass surgery before, but each time I had doubts and was told by friends and family that I need to not take the easy way out. That a simple diet and exercise is enough. Granted, they are right, but I know me. I have an addiction to food because I grew up being over fed by my grandma who had alzheimers made me food every 30 minutes. I never grew out of that habit. I put a lot of merit into what people were telling me and that was when I was 21 and I'm now 30. Now, all the consequences of my bad eating habits and lack of exercise is catching up. I now have joint damage in my knees making it extremely hard for me to take care of myself. Showering, cleaning, cooking, you name it. I also have sciatica and arthritis. I have arthritis in my hips and lower back. Now I am worried what could possibly start to fail next. I guess I am just looking for some encouragement because the people in my life just don't seem to think it's a good idea. Deep down I think the bypass surgery is my only hope to live past my mid 30's. The people in my life just have a way of making me feel like I don't know what is best for me and it's leaving me with a lot of hesitation. I don't need my hand held through life, but sometimes I need that push to do what is best for me.

I couldn’t stand the taste or anything being puréed that wasn’t supposed to come that way. Purées meat just sounded so disgusting to me. I lived off of refried beans, mashed potatoes (some plans do not allow these) and the ricotta bake. The ricotta bake was my favorite actually. If you haven’t heard of it you can do a search for it. It’s basically lasagna without the noodles. Some of the recipes use egg which would add protein and bake in oven but I just did the ricotta, sauce and mozzarella in the microwave. I still make it from time to time adding in sautéed peppers and onions or zucchini and onions. I was still allowed anything from the previous stage so you should be still allowed to have shakes if you need them to meat your protein goal. If you are thinking you will just have what your family is having but puréed though I guess it coukdnt hurt to try it. I mean if Amazon.ca is like US Amazon it’s pretty easy to return stuff. Just open it carefully so you can get it back together for shipping and try it out. If you don’t love it, you should know pretty well after the first use. Just send it back and get your money back. i actually have a regular nutra bullet that I like for smoothies. Never tried it for puree but im pretty sure it would work and then you will have something you can use later for smoothies (if your team allows them-some say no to drinking any calories). Actually just googled and reviews say the magic bullet is better for purée but still good for smoothies, dressings and all that.

Yes, the ulcers were definitely the culprits. I had an EGD (upper scope) to confirm it. I was slowly bleeding out. The weekly IV-iron infusions haven't shown any rapid results. I've been told that this is a slow process and could take weeks, if not months, before my labs are in ideal ranges. My hemoglobin is no longer in the fives. It is only in the eights, but that's progress. I am still dragging. No energy. I am a food pantry volunteer. I also provide transportation to at least three families who don't have a car. A homeless man named Gordon relies on me to help him with enough water and protein-rich canned food for the week. My husband keeps telling me that I can't help anyone unless I help myself (heal) first. It's hard for me to do that. It was during one of these pantry trips that I passed out in the parking lot (while in the lineup car queue for assistance). I hadn't been diagnosed at that point, so it was quite scary. Fortunately, one of the families I pick up for was with me. Who knows what would have happened had I been alone... I have other conditions that helped to mask the problem. For one, I have Hashimoto's, a common thyroid disorder. I was used to being fatigued from that. I am also a chronic pain patient and take heavy doses of morphine, so I am used to being in pain (and anemia hurts.) My daughter is a PharmD and two of my three sons are M.D.s so I have plenty of support and knowledge in my corner. My primary doctor is also my youngest son's medical school classmate. She is like a daughter to me... Which just goes to show that a person can have all these medical types in your life... and STILL succumb to something like this.

I’m curious. What did you make this morning. I have had had scrambled eggs and puréed egg salad so far. Well a few bites at least. I’m kinda scared to push it. I tried making real mashed potatoes in the food processor but that didn’t work out. They came out real thick and sticky. I added milk but it was still a fail. I’m thinking I will stick with instant for this couple of weeks just to be sure they are the right consistency. Tonight I’m thinking refried beans. I forgot to get salsa but I have fat free cheddar so that should be pretty good. I got my mug warmer today so at least it should be warm 🎉

So as I’m looking at these healthy recipes I am thinking that my food choices will be more quality over quantity In the future. I know that some generic products are exactly the same but for those that aren’t I am splurging on the better brands and thinking of using fresh products more often. Instead of grated Parmesan cheese in a shaker I plan to get the chunk of Parmesan and grate it fresh for instance. I know that for my broccoli cheese soup I use fresh grated cheddar and it makes a huge difference so im hoping that’s the same with Parmesan. I’m going to try the cheese grater I already have to see if that works but if not the rotary ones are pretty inexpensive. I’m also going to do fresh vegetables and herbs. I may even experiment with making my own sauces and dressings eventually. Hopefully that will infuse better flavor to the healthy stuff. I also have a store near me that has a lot more healthy options and really good produce but I never go because it hasn’t been important enough to me in the past. I am like 10 minutes away once a week for my crochet group though so I figured I can at least go that often to start and more often if necessary. It’s ironic because I don’t want to go because it’s “too far” yet I wouldn’t think twice about driving that far for an unhealthy restaurant or just about anything else to be honest. My plan is to prioritize my health and that begins with the food I am putting into my body. Now I just have to figure out a plan for the exercise and actually follow through on all of it. . Anyone else have any ideas to get us on the right track?

Dr Matthew Weiner has done a few podcast and has been speaking about regain with sleeve on his social media a lot lately. May be worth checking them out if only for some information to consider. He does prescribe GLP -1s for many of his sleevers and says this is a path many will have to go down as regain is common with sleeve. Have you been in contact with your surgeon (if they are still practicing nearby) to discuss options? Have you considered revisiting your dietician too. May be worth tracking what your eating and drinking too just to ensure your not missing something. It’s easy to become complacent about food choices, portion sizes, frequency or meals, etc. or not meeting protein & fluid goals as time passes. Have you had any medication changes? What are your activity levels like?

Hello everyone - checking in and feeling kind of lousy post morning routine - as I seem to sometimes feel for about an hour after every 'meal'. I'm sure this will get easier with time; I hate this puree stage though and I hate not being able to drink 30 mins before and after meals! Everything wants to stick on its way down. Ugh. So - #1 - Protein powder! My nutritionist suggested an unflavored protein powder called Genepro. It's even lactose, GMO, and gluten free. I ordered it on Amazon this morning. The description states it can even be used in place of flour and that it should be mixed with room temperature fluids before being added to other items. So - I'm going to give it a try. It's only 11g of protein per serving but if coupled with protein rich foods like ricotta, low fat cottage cheese, or zero sugar yogurt I think it just might do the trick to help me meet my protein goals. Here's hoping! @draikaina8503 - Oh my gosh, my heart goes out to you and your sweet, confused furbaby! That sounds absolutely AWFUL. I'm so terribly sorry you ended up in that pain as a result of an overly eager, loving pup. I hope you managed to bring it back down to a tolerable level and that no long term damage was done! I know that I slept terribly last night between two doses of Milk of Magnesia working their way through my system, having heartburn, and the tugging/sharp pain that would shoot up from my left side in a brief flare when I moved wrong. I did some research and I'm pretty sure what I'm experiencing is from the stitch they used to keep my stomach 'in place' and that it will loosen some over time. I'm trying to work on posture and wanted to let you know I got to thinking of what other people have mentioned on here and thought of that pillow you talked about being given! I hugged my own round support pillow against my abdomen at one point finally and *poof* relief. So, thank you, again!! So today is surgery day, I believe, for @Averdra and @caseyash30 - Bidding you both the best of experiences and hopefully minimally painful recoveries! Remember, walk walk walk, ask for ice, and sip SO slowly. Be cautious about laying at any kind of incline until after you've had a good burp or two, or at least 'feel' the fluid trickle down! The posture you're in when you sip can make a HUGE difference - try to put your shoulders back and keep your spine as straight as you can manage - it helps! I strongly suggest staying ahead of your pain, and also staying ahead of constipation! If you get to day TWO with no bowel movement, take a dose of Milk of Magnesia - especially if you're also taking narcotics! (Obviously with doctor's ok! ) Also, your date must be coming up, @Ladygrey, I'm guessing? Sorry if I missed you posting the date! How are you doing, @Justarwaxx ? You're about a week out now, I believe? @Farhad - Also sending you the best and wonder if you're at purees yet? (I may have missed a post!) I also wanted to toss a message out there to @Mandalynne ! Maybe I've missed your posts, but you had your surgery on the 14th, right?? How you doing over there? I hope the Finch is still helping you out! I have my water goals on there and also assigned myself the task 3x day to do my Baritastic app entries, as well as take my vitamins (separate from also taking my Calcium since I can't take the Iron & Calcium together) I would absolutely be at a loss without that app and am SO grateful it's free. Let me know if you want to add me on there - it doesn't share personal information but lets your added 'Friends' send and receive cute little good vibes from your Birb. Only mentioning in case you didn't know, a friend had to tell me and once I started interacting with friends my dopamine boosts went up tremendously because I wanted to be able to dress up my Birb to go visit others. I'm so sorry if I missed responding to you in the chaos - I'm curious how your pain management is going and if you found an alternative to narcotics for your recovery? I'm in a limbo state myself with pain management right now - I have chronic pain conditions that were previously treated with an opioid by my primary care doctor but even though I stretched what was given to me by my surgeon I'm having trouble managing my chronic pain plus recovery. I thought of you and your question as I'm trying to mainly handle things with Tylenol myself right now, and lots of ice packs. It's rough and I agree - this is probably one of the hardest things I've EVER done. Welcome, @RRenaeL23, and congratulations on your surgery! How are you doing now? Are you still on liquids? How goes the pain / protein / fluid goals? Good job on denying yourself the fruit - you might pick up some sugar free popsicles to help when those cravings hit in case you don't always feel up for a walk! Also - I haven't taken the time to update my tag in quite a while, either, and I really need to. Oh well, limited chair time still for me! I'll get to it! That's all from me for now - thinking of you all, whether I tagged you here or not! I tried to do another recap of the thread from top to bottom and apologize for not having taken the time in this post to respond to everyone I've missed along the way. I'm working on it!

THANK YOU! So much for your kind response. This is indeed work and I intend to stick to the plan...it's been easy up until last week when I was able to start in on pureed foods. I took that as a challenge to see what I can thoroughly chew before swallowing. And I've paid the price by doing so...Easter was really hard. I'm trying my best to get my proteins in, but more than that too. Didn't really realize sodium plays a negative roll as well. I decided on surgery before gaining more weight. I was almost not qualified due to not weighing enough but my doctors worked with me. I have had a real bad relationship with food for so long. And with the pre-op diet going so well and the first 2 weeks of liquids i thought for sure I'd be golden by the time I hit pureed foods. But now I feel as if I've just set myself back. I have to really digest this new lifestyle change. Thanks for responding it really means a lot.

surgeons do vary. At my clinic, both sleeve and bypass people were on the same plan. They had us on purees as soon as we left the hospital, but they changed that (I had my surgery nine years ago) and now they have to do a week (or maybe two?) of liquids before moving to purees.

Well. I am waiting on my appt to know for sure what my pre op is supposed to be because the girls at the front desk don’t know but I THINK I have two weeks left to eat what’s in freezer and panty so I don’t think I will be having anything healthy to post on here. Hopefully by the time I get back to normal foods there will be lots of new ideas to keep me on track.

- I found a small digital kitchen scale was my best investment, it helped me get a better idea of portions and made it so much easier to track nutrition stats throughout the day. - tracker apps are great! it took me a while to find one that worked for me personally, but there's a lot out there. I'd suggested testing a few free versions out ahead of time so you're ready before you get there. - bariatric portion plates or just tiny dishes. I actually couldn't find a portion control plate that worked for me (in Canada), but I found a bunch of cute little appetizer dishes and tiny bowls that make me happy to eat from. - if you don't have it, nab a blender or a handmixer when it's on sale. Makes the puree stage much easier, and also helps with smoothies and shakes in the liquid stage. Don't spend a lot of money on one though (unless you honestly feel you'll get a lot of use out of it after you're through those stage).

I share this story in hopes that it may help someone to never pick up a drink after VSG or to at least be hyper-vigilant about the dangers of drinking post weight loss surgery. I was sleeved in August of 2015 @ 310 lbs. Quickly lost most of the weight needed and began running 5k. Not really setting the world on fire, but it was really good for me. Prior to surgery, I had always enjoyed drinking with friends. Typical guy stuff - couple beers @ a football game or watching the game on Sunday, meeting for drinks after work, etc. Never an issue or problem. Never anything that i had to have. My doctor warned me against alcohol, sodas, and transfer addictions, but I thought "never me". WOW, was I wrong. I remember the first couple times I had a beer after the surgery (I waited 6 months), it was very fizzy and uncomfortable. I convinced myself that it would get easier, and unfortunately it did. Next came the rum and coke zero. Wow, that tastes great, and I get a buzz very quickly. That fast buzz turned into getting very drunk, very quickly. Our new bodies absorb the alcohol in 1/2 the time that a normal internal system would. Over the last couple yeaars there have been many episodes of drinking way to much, blacking out, and not remembering what happened. I have had to apologize for my behavior more than once after a night of drinking. I even started drinking every day. I would make a drink as soon as I got home each day. 1 turns into 2 or 3. Just like lays potato chips you can not have just 1. Alcohol consumed my every thought. When can I have a drink? How can I make sure I can get a drink? It amazed me how I was able to justify that if creamer was good in my morning coffee, how great would Rumchatta be (it's damn good, by the way). I am living proof that transfer addiction is a real thing. I am now in counseling for my alcohol addiction. Transfer addiction is definitely a real thing. Prior to VSG surgery I was over 300 pounds because I had an addiction to food, and all the wrong kinds of food. My new addiction is alcohol and it's best friend is food addiction. what goes with beer = chicken wings, or nuts and pretzels, what goes with a margarita = tacos, etc. Alcohol also makes it impossible to lose weight. So if you are really dedicated to clean eating but you drink, your weight may stay the same, but it surely will not go down. I have packed on 60 lbs of the 120 that I lost. And, I am slowly changing behaviors to get back to where I want to be. It is a journey,, but I am worth it. I will overcome. Addiction is sacrificing everything for that one thing ! Recovery is sacrificing that 1 thing to have everything !

I am so glad that you made this decision for yourself, sometimes it is the hardest thing to do. I remember getting to the point where I just shut myself indoors and I couldn't face going outside, and I also was in so much pain just from short walks. There is always a turning point isn't there! Super proud of you and all you have achieved and that you are feeling so much better already. I only just started eating 'proper' food again as of two days ago and it is surreal to be chewing again, and a bit scary! But damn food tastes good again 😂 You got this ❤️

@Hiddenroses , i know this reply was to someone else but I just wanted to say thanks for the advice on the cautionary food list, I didn’t know that! And I love tomatoes, peanut butter and pasta. I didn’t realize how long it would be before I could eat tomatoes again. Also, I too suffer from anxiety and wanted to thank you for the Finch information. I downloaded it today and i think it’s awesome! I think it’ll be extremely helpful moving forward, i appreciate you telling us about it. I’ve heard the SADI has a wonderful success rate so congrats and I wish you a successful recovery and journey ahead!!