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*typed as I sip my starbucks... Through a straw* I *think* the main reason they say no straws is because typically we use straws when drinking sodas and milkshakes and alcohol and.. and... you get the point. Sure there's a chance that it could cause you to take in extra air, but the amount would be so miniscule that it likely wouldn't bother you too terribly much. I think it's more just the fact that straws are associated with stuff on the no no list.

Sounds yummy. I love me some cheese! Edit: Should note that it uses sugar alcohols (specifically Erythritol), which I know some people have issues with.

You can try "lifestyle remedies" like elevating the head of your bed on bricks or whatever, not eating for the 4 hours before bed, avoiding foods that may be a trigger (tomatoes, greasy food, spicy food, alcohol, chocolate, peppermint, etc). If none of this works (there are other lifestyle remedies that I may have forgotten - try googling) you may need a revision to bypass unfortunately. It's a very common problem. Good luck!

I know I know there are like a zillion posts on here about alcohol and how bad the calories are and everything. But I have to go to my friends 21st birthday party next week and I was wondering, how long did everyone wait until after surgery to drink alcohol? I am not planning on taking shots or drinking in excess, but it would be nice to have a glass of wine with everyone. I handle my liquor really well, and I am very cautious not to overdo things even when I was in college. So please, be honest and let me know how long you waited.. no judgments here... Thanks!

I was told that I can never drink alcohol again and that's what I plan to stick to. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using the BariatricPal App

I drank at 3 weeks post op. It was a week long work event that had nightly cocktails hours. And was otherwise very alcohol focused. I was really drinking just to fit in and to not draw attention to my WLS. i did not enjoy drinking. Which was very different from pre op! I felt no difference in the effect of the alcohol though. I never even got the slightest bit buzzed. After that week I have mostly swore off drinking because it caused a weight gain. That week I averaged 700 cals per day, including alcohol, and returned home to a 2 LB gain. That pissed me off, and made not drinking an easy decision. Since then I have had a couple of glasses of wine. One was forced upon me by my boss when we were out to dinner on my birthday. The other is when I was having a nice tapas style dinner w a friend that had an amazing wine by the glass menu. That was the first time I really wanted a drink. I had one, it tasted good, but not as good as before. These glasses of wine did not hit me harder than usual, in fact I didn’t feel any effect from them at all.

Its hard to believe my banding is only one week away now. I've been working on this ALL YEAR, literally. I decided in early December last year that I was going to pursue getting WLS and after 6 months nutrition visits, two denials, two appeals, and finally one APPROVAL, I am scheduled for Lapband surgery in exactly one week, 12/17!!! Ever since my approval, I have been feeling more optimistic about my whole life and have been making healthy changes to my lifestyle. My surgeon does not require a pre-op diet, though, so I haven't really buckled down or made any real rules for myself. The only exception being that I cut out alcohol last week. I love my wine and gin and it just doesn't seem healthy to keep that up going straight into surgery. And, this week, I want to really buckle down and be as healthy as I can without actually restricting calories or being hungry. So, I've decided on a few rules for this week. Here goes... Diet: drink at least 8 big glasses of water per day cut out rice, pasta, bread, and potatoes (focus on protein and non-starchy vegies instead) replace b-fast w/a protein shake minimize sweets (eat yogurt or jello if I want a dessert) continue w/no alcohol Exercise: 45 minutes/day either walking outside or on the treadmill (normally I prefer to do Jazzercise, but I'm not supposed to for at least one month after surgery so I gotta get used to walking instead) Other: use my CPAP machine every night (I haven't been and my surgeon wants me to) practice using the spirometer gadget they gave us in pre-op class I think if I do all this I will be in good shape for sugery in a week. Wish me luck! :tongue2:

Its hard to believe my banding is only one week away now. I've been working on this ALL YEAR, literally. I decided in early December last year that I was going to pursue getting WLS and after 6 months nutrition visits, two denials, two appeals, and finally one APPROVAL, I am scheduled for Lapband surgery in exactly one week, 12/17!!! Ever since my approval, I have been feeling more optimistic about my whole life and have been making healthy changes to my lifestyle. My surgeon does not require a pre-op diet, though, so I haven't really buckled down or made any real rules for myself. The only exception being that I cut out alcohol last week. I love my wine and gin and it just doesn't seem healthy to keep that up going straight into surgery. And, this week, I want to really buckle down and be as healthy as I can without actually restricting calories or being hungry. So, I've decided on a few rules for this week. Here goes... Diet: drink at least 8 big glasses of water per day cut out rice, pasta, bread, and potatoes (focus on protein and non-starchy vegies instead) replace b-fast w/a protein shake minimize sweets (eat yogurt or jello if I want a dessert) continue w/no alcohol Exercise: 45 minutes/day either walking outside or on the treadmill (normally I prefer to do Jazzercise, but I'm not supposed to for at least one month after surgery so I gotta get used to walking instead) Other: use my CPAP machine every night (I haven't been and my surgeon wants me to) practice using the spirometer gadget they gave us in pre-op class I think if I do all this I will be in good shape for sugery in a week. Wish me luck! :sneaky:

ME TOO! I had mine Jan. 21st. I'm at a stall the past month. I'm going back to shakes and gonna not induldge in alcohol =) I feel your pain!

Personal choice for me is I'm not drinking... Wasn't really much to drink a glass so not a big deal. I will say I have read many studies of high rates of addiction to alcohol with rny patients. I think it's a waste of calories and pouch space.

I've had dumping syndrome even before having my surgery. I am a type II diabetic and would experience it if my sugars would drop too fast after being high for so long. Since my surgery I've had it happen a couple of times. Once because of one of my Protein shakes (which contained sugar alcohol) and a couple of days ago when I overdid it with fruit. Sometimes it happens right away, I'll get the sweats and tough it out. Other times, it can be more gradual and I'll end up in the bathroom for an hour or more. I'm almost 8 weeks out and still figuring out what food are ok. I've lost a little over 25 pounds. Fatty foods my body doesn't seem to like at all. So I stay away. I still crave sweets, but I am doing my best to keep away and not wanting to dump helps with that. I want to try a small bowl of ice cream, but I am nervous. In any event, I wish you the best of luck.

Obviously dumping is something that most wls patients fear and all want to try and avoid it. But after reading countless articles and threads I find it all very confusing. There are some food which are obvious triggers e.g alcohol, high fat and high sugar foods. But what I am curious about are things like fruit - fruit is very high in sugar but a lot of the articles and recommended diet plans include fruit as an ok food. This confuses me. Are certain fruits better than others? Is fruit ok but only in very small quantities? I am also wondering if "food combining" helps. Is eating fruit with protein e.g yogurt better than eating it on its own? Does this apply to other foods as well? We all know how before going to a party and consuming lots of alcohol people would "line" their stomachs with a glass of milk. Does this kind of approach work for bariatric patients? I am also interested in if there is anything that can be done to relieve or reduce a dumping episode once it starts? Obviously there isn't a lot that can be done if the dumping gives you the trots but what if your symptoms are the shaky, lightheaded , palpitations kind of symptoms? Usually people with hypoglycaemia need to get instant , easy to digest sugar but if sugar is the cause then its not going to help.

I've been having problems this past week. My tummy is just bloated and feels overfull almost all the time, even when I wake up. I haven't changed anything -- although I stopped taking my omeprazole for a couple of days, got the Troubles and went back on them. I don't think I'm overeating particularly. Drinking enough, no alcohol, no caffeine. I'm thinking maybe I ate something Mr Cranky REALLY didn't like. I'm not worried about a stricture because I'm keeping stuff down -- but for example just a few minutes ago I took a sip of Lifewater and felt *almost* as if I was going to vomit but didn't. It's like there's a lot less room in there suddenly. I am suddenly able to eat much less and nothing goes down very well when I eat it. I feel like I've just eaten a ten course meal almost all the time. Suggestions? Gas? More ppi? Back to liquids?

Yeppers, when I had mine I went ahead and requested to remain awake for just that. Disnt want to wake up in the middle and have a . panic attack. Do you have rosacea? They call it the Celtic Curse and I do have it, have it, Praise God no flares recently. Once when I was in the middle of an attack I was accused of being alcoholic because my nose was red and face flushed, no just my Irish blood coming out. My 2 sons names are Kevin(now an Angel) and Bryan , only more Irish would have named them Declan and Dermot, and late husband would not have gone for that. Rocked Kevin to "Kevin Barry" poor Bryan just got " The Rising of the Moon" both lovely Irish tunes. Did you get pinched on St Patrick's Day because you faied to wear Green? My daddy would pull that on me, got peeved , told him Da, your people were Northern Irish, did not gain me any amnesty, learned to at least put a green ribbon in my hair!

I never considered anything but the sleeve. It took me years to creep up to an "entry level" wls weight (BMI high 30's). I had researched wls online for years and always got scared off by all the plumbing rerouting required. The more I looked at the sleeve, the more it looked like minor surgery. And clearly, after 6 months of healing I'd be physiologically normal again except my stomach would be the size of s skinny little girl. Then at the orientation, it became clear that the sleeve would be better for people who expected to go back to drinking alcohol (me) and NSAID'S. I had fairly serious arthritis and knew I'd need Advil once I started moving again. Finally, I was shocked at how minimal the surgery was. I recall being wheeled into the OR at 10:15 and waking up at 11:00! This was faster than my knee scope. Good luck!

TONS MORE ENERGY!!! BEAUTIFUL hair (at least for me that's what it does) and shiny too! LOADS OF INCH LOSS GO ON VACATION - DON'T COME BACK 10 POUNDS HEAVIER. p.s. My band is not at restriction. I was in Puerto Vallarta last month at a resort that had the most delectable food. I didn't want to gain weight so I didn't have any bread, Pasta, rice or refined carbs, no fruit either. I know from low carbing in the past that this was the only way i could not come back with an extra stomach roll and I certainly wanted to get my money's worth and enjoy somebody else cooking for me. I ate like Henry VIII - I mean tons of bacon in the morning with eggs, salsa, guacamole. I think you get my drift. large greek salads with a good amount of feta on top and olive oil. or salads with creamy dressing, bbqd meats, deep fried fish that was lightly battered, deep fried chicken wings, duck, huge salad everyday - you name it - every conceivable decadent food. The only thing I left out were the refined carbs and fruit. I packed in about 2500 calories a day including about 7- 10 alcoholic drinks a day. I came back 2 pounds heavier after that completely indulgent pig-out week. I did drink about 8-10 glasses of Water as well which was easy because of the heat.

I had my first drink 15 days post op. I've had a total of two other drinks since then. As others have indicated, my doctor's office cautioned about the empty calories in alcohol. I planned the calories into my daily total. And, yes, I did feel the effects of the alcohol much sooner. You know, it's amazing how long you can nurse a drink - particularly a glass of wine. Enjoy the party with your friends. And decide what works best for your new lifestyle. Best wishes.

Lena-I've been looking at these two sites all morning and I'm thinking now that Fitday might work better for me anyway, so maybe it was one of those 'happy accidents' afterall (we'll call this a 'blondes have mor fun moment'). There don't seem to be nearly as many reports on MyFitnessPal (but I put in some questions on the message board). There isn't even a section for goal reports at all. I couldn't even find a way to show a graph of projected weight loss...and what fun is dieting if you can't keep looking at the goal. I love that graph on Fitday with actual weight loss and the goal line together on a graph...Fitday let me do this projected 2 years out. The thing that worried me about Fitday was there's no 'help' button and as a newbie you get stuck sometimes (like where the heck is SUGAR in the nutrients breakdown?...alcohol?). But now that I know SOMEONE on the site...hee hee Did you upgrade or are you on the free version? -BG

Report from the Pittsburgh Tribune News GS Cookie Sales Crumble Nationally, cookie sales are reportedly down 19 percent from last year. Regionally, the outlook isn’t as dire. "I think the economy has something to do with it," Vance says. Since the cookie sale is the primary fundraiser for troops each year, Vance says decreased sales may hold girls back from great experiences in the coming year. My cookies have arrived, from not one, but two different Girl Scouts. I have no idea what my family ordered (remember I avoided that HERE) because I didn’t look. But I think my family help with the Regional Outlook being better…I’ve been told there are many boxes on our shelves…I’m staying away. This got me thinking about how I’m going to deal with my sweet-tooth as part of my lifestyle change. I’m a huge chocoholic and as you’ve heard me say so many times I’m all about starting into this change as a lifestyle change and not a diet, so it’s all about being able to make better choices without feeling deprived. I’ve never cooked/used many artificial sweeteners, but I’ve started some research on this. I’ve got some sugar free Russell Stover chocolates, individually packaged that work for me, so I thought I’d like to learn about artificial sweeteners, possibly even in cooking/baking. *Note I’m no Dr. or Nutritionist, I read a lot of articles and this was the gist of what I found out, I don’t claim to know what’s truth, and experts come down on both sides of the safety issues on all these. I started with the LB; What I’ve turned up so far is that several people have blamed band issues on artificial sweeteners…one declared that it was a major contributor to her band slippage, and many people have said their docs have told them not to use them (some say they cause sugar cravings). There are two types of sweeteners available on the market, nutritive and non-nutritive. Nutritive sweeteners provide sweet taste and a source of energy (calories). Their sweet taste comes from the presence of natural sugars glucose and fructose, alone or together, as sucrose. They are higher in calories than non-nutritive sweeteners, but they are all natural. Exceptions* - Common examples of nutritive sweeteners include typical table sugars (both brown and white), molasses, honey, agave nectar, and syrups such as maple and high fructose corn syrup. - Erythritol/Polyols, energy-reduced sugar alcohols: Slightly less calories than true sugar. Often called sugar replacements, these sugar alcohols are derived from natural sugars- fruits or produced commercially from dextrose. The most common include: sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol and maltitol. Products are Organic Zero, Zsweet, Sun Crystals. Gas and laxative issues. - Stevia: almost 0 cal. New product. Truvia*(Rebinia), PureVia* (*some say both have artificial additives), or raw/natural Stevia. Some say has a bitter aftertaste and causes gas (I’ve actually grown this plant in my herb garden before). - Whey Low: 75% less cal. than sugar. Fairly new product. Made with different sugars-sucrose, fructose, lactose; studies not clear on calorie absorption-they claim 75% less calories because of the way the combination of sugars acts to not be absorbed in the intestines. The only studies were done by the company. Some say more studies need to be done on this product. Non-nutritive sugar substitutes offer no energy (calories) and sweeten with little volume. Non-nutritive sweeteners include: saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium and neotame. For many of you who drink protein shakes, almost all of them contain these. - Saccharine: 4 cal./pack Sweet ’n Low- thought to be dangerous was almost banned by the FDA, but public outcry kept it as it was the only substitute at the time, and it used to be labeled ‘cancer causing in lab animals. Made from petroleum based products. - Aspartame: 2 cal./tsp. Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful- some studies show that aspartame is dangerous/cancer causing and is considered dangerous by most, by law has to show PKU (disease in infants) warning. Found in Diet Pepsi/Coke, SF Jell-O/Pudding, and Crystal Light. - Splenda/sucralose: Says 0 cal, but it's NOT calorie free-has 4 per serving, which can add up if you’re baking with it, i.e. coke zero has 4 calories. FDA rule- they can claim 0 if it’s less than 5, the same is true for all packaging; i.e. they can claim something is 0 carbs if it is under 5 per serving. Splenda has sugar: maltodextrin & dextrose/corn syrup and sucralose, the process changes the sugar molecules and turns some atoms to chlorine (other chlorinated products include pesticides). So, although it’s made from natural sugars the process changes the atoms. Remember that everything is ‘natural’ it just depends how you define artificial vs. natural. Most consider this the safest low cal. nonnutritive sweetener, but there have been no outside studies. - Acesulfame K/acesulfame potassium: 0 cal. sold as Sunett, Sweet One- thought to cause cancer (no new studies underway). It’s found in Crystal Light, SF Jell-O & Pudding. - Neotame: Newer product. From amino acids- Clabber Girl Sugar Replacer, Domino Pure D’Lite. Many consider it to be much more dangerous than even aspartame, which was considered the worst. Used in many gums, Herr's pretzels. The bottom line of what I found out was that although there are opinions on both sides, one thing that most everyone can agree on is that even if artificial sweeteners aren't bad for you, they aren't good for you either. I'm no health food/organic nut, but even I was appalled at the lack of studies on these products and the role of big business in keeping these on the market (ie. Saccharin is only still on the market because Congress passed a 2 year moratorium against any ban of the product by the FDA when they wanted to ban it in 1977, which Congress has continually extended). Even Cyclamate that was banned by the FDA in 1970 is currently being reconsidered (I lived on TAB in my teenage years...no wonder I was so skinny). I don’t have time to read every nutrition label and I’ll probably still chose to eat some things with the non-nutritives like SF puddings (let's face it, obesity will kill me sooner than aspertame caused Cancer). As with most things…all things in moderation. I do plan to limit my intake of Crystal Light, which I have always drank to excess on every diet, and just up the water intake. I don’t intend to start baking with any of the non-nutritive, although I might look into some of the nutritive ones more. I think this will turn out to be like the rest of my theme for my ‘lifestyle change’ …I’ll be using real sugar, and just like other bad foods…in VERY small amounts. Besides, I love really DARK chocolate…Like Hershey’s 70%, which are lower in calories and higher in the good aspects of chocolate like antioxidants (cocoa has more antioxidants/flavanoids than green tea)…a tiny bite satisfies my chocoholic cravings. The cave woman got most of her sweets from fruits, which were seasonal, so she bulked up in the summer and fall to survive the long winter. So stick mainly with the natural sweets...nature knows best!

Oh, Denise, I feel your pain. I had such a time with the UTIs for a long while. I finally had to take quite a bit of cranberry extract every single day (still do) and I think the most helpful thing was using wipes during/before sex. We change positions a lot and when we looked at things that might be causing all the UTIs, we finally thought that maybe it was worse when we were changing positions--esp. going from me on bottom (liquid goes down toward the bacteria) to me on top (bacteria + liquid go back towards urethra). So we started wiping with those sanitary wipes (like baby wipes for adults) every time we changed positions. At first it was a pain, but it really helps and now it's totally habit. It reduced the frequency of the UTIs a lot--I was on the verge of going on full-time antibiotics as well, and I didn't want to do that because of risk of getting resistant bacteria. BBK, I also have problems with BV which is what you are describing--yep, it's the pH, and guys with high sperm counts especially have relatively alkaline (high pH) semen which causes more problems for us. I used the boric acid suppositories but they didn't seem to help much. But I wanted to let you know that you don't have to take oral flagyl (metronidazole)--you can either take vaginal flagyl ointment for 7 days, or clindamyacin (Clindesse) vaginal for ONE day. So much better than weeks of not being able to drink alcohol! And do have your hubby treated with flagyl too--even though he doesn't have symptoms, he can still be passing it back to you. That does help as well. It's such a pain.

I have found Overeaters Anonymous to be very helpful with this type of issue. Really, we eat for the same reason other people drink. And it is IMO harder to control it because alcoholics can avoid alcohol and we have to eat food. However, the first step is recognizing it happens. Too bad we can't get our head banded :blushing:

My Crockpot Carnitas 3 lbs of Pork Shoulder/Butt 4 minced garlic cloves (I use a whole bulb) 1/2 an onion minced (I use Vidalia) 1 can of Tecate (Mexican Beer) (Totally optional, just sub with water) 1 cup of Orange juice 1 cup of hot Water with bouion or your preference of Stock/Broth Juice of one lime 1/4 a cup of vinegar (I use red wine vinegar) 2 tablespoons garlic salt 2 tablespoons cumin 1 tablespoon chili powder/cayenne 2 teaspoons ground coriander 4 tablespoons of black pepper salt to taste I get my pork in huge chunks and lightly brown it on a skillet and throw in a crock pot. Then I add a healthy splash of olive oil to the still hot skillet and add the onions to caramelize. It is not necessary, but does make the dish a bit sweeter. I caramelize the onions for 15 mins until they look good and dark/burnt, I lower the flame add a shot of olive juice and very, very lightly cook the garlic. Do not burn the garlic or it will be biter. Then add the Tecate and all the lime juice to the skillet and loosen all the bits and burn up the alcohol for about 5 mins. Then pour over the pork in crock pot. then in a bowl I add all my dry ingredients to my oj/stock and whisk. Then I pour on top of the pork. For my crock pot this about half way covers the pork, but if it cover it completely that is ok also. then I cook on low for 6-8 hours or overnight. When done, pull out the pork and use 2 forks to shred. I also add fresh chopped onions, cilantro and lime to my ready to eat portion. I freeze half with the juice to enjoy later one. This is all about adding flavors you like. Don't want it spicy, cut the chili and cut back most of the pepper. The lime and vinegar are important to break down the meat and makes it easier to swallow for me. Enjoy.

I am 3 years post-op RNY surgery. I have not developed a taste for wine or any alcohol. So it wasn't hard for me to give it up. Once in a while pre-surgery I would have a glass of wine or spirits. I liked the sweet wines (especially the fruity wines), more than the dry wines. From my experience, I would say that after the first year, it is probably O.K. if you have a half a glass of wine once or twice a month.

I am 35 years old and 17 years ago I was bulemic and anorexic. I got down to 97 lbs. and was hospitalized. While in the hospital I was diagnosed with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and treated for OCD. Once treated for OCD my Anorexia and bulemia went away. I believe this was a side effect of my ocd. I am now married with 2 children and have steadily gained weight since being pregnant 8 years ago. I have tried all sorts of commercial diets and excercise but continue to gain. I am now far over 100 lbs overweight and extremly frustrated. I never want to go back to being anorexic or bulemic and am interested in WLS (lap band) only to get to a healthy weight. I meet all the criteria for my insurance and noticed it said it would not approve if someone has a history of anorexia (there were exclusions for other problems too like:Active hepatitis, Dental Disease, Chronic Alcoholism, Malignant tumors, Renal failure, Inflammatory bowel disease, etc...) This was an extremly long time ago and I do not know if mentioning in the psych eval my teenage years concerning this would HAVE to be reported to my insurance and open an old can of worms that I do not have in my life today and jeaporadize my insurance coverage. On the other hand I feel it dishonest of me not to mention this and I do not want to feel I need to hide my past. Any advice?

I have to admit, I have never liked alcohol, I just think it tastes nasty. I've been reading about the benefits of a daily dose of red wine and decided to try it. I've finally got my cholesterol under control (thanks to the diet change after the sleeve) but what scares me is the family history. I had two grand parents die of heart attacks at young ages (early 60's) and the other two died of cancer so I've got a double whammy from BOTH sides. Not knowing a thing about wine I went to a local wine shop and got what they recommended, a cheap box of a dry red wine. The quick sip he gave me at the store seemed OK but the 3 or 4 ozs of the stuff I've been taking is enough to gag a maggot. I REALLY hate the taste and cringe when I take the stuff every evening. My co-worker suggested I try a sweet dessert wine. From what I've read the "dry" wines - one's that have most all the natural sugar consumed by yeast and turned into alcohol - is supposed to be the best. Of course there are a million opinions online and most do not agree. Does anyone have any good knowledge they can share? Is a sweet wine just as good as a dry one?