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I am going to be going away on June 1st to a party in LA. I am flying out just for the weekend. Has anyone been on an airplane since being banded? What was the experience? I am scared my band will explode! Lol I also would like to know if anyone has ever had an experience with drinking liquor while banded? I know that there will be alcohol around. By the way I was just banded May 9th!

Hi Tarob. The idea of the band is, ideally, that over 2 years you will lose 2/3 of your excess weight. So Just say someone was 80kgs overweight, then they might lose around 50kgs, but still have another 30kgs left on. One of my friends got a band 7 years ago. She lost 50kgs but is still over 100kgs, and is still trying to shift some more weight. That said, it is very easy to eat badly with a band. chocolate, lollies, soft drink, alcohol... All that yummy but bad stuff passes through the band without a problem. So its possible that your work mates sister doesn't eat well and probably doesn't exercise. I have lost 22kgs so far, but it has been by no means easy. I have to constantly watch what and how much I eat and work my ass off at the gym. The band is a great tool if you use it to your advantage, but if you get stuck in old, bad habits it won't help at all!

Has anyone drank alcohol on the pre-op diet...I have a function and I'm wondering if would be ok to have a few drinks HELP!!

I waited about six months and found out shortly that my tolerance was two drinks tops. I'm a year out and still haven't had a beer. I would avoid carbonation and alcohol for at least six months. Just remember everything in moderation. Alcohol has no nutritional value, so it is best to avoid it if you can.

There are actually many drinks out there that leave out the carbonation. I usually go drinks like a White Russian or shots of liquid Marijuana. You could also have a margarita, martini, wine, screwdriver, Cranberry Vodka, Royal F***, Pina Colada, Bloody Mary, Black Russian, Godiva chocolate liqueur + cream Shots, etc... You could always just drink the liquor straight. My favorite is Captain Morgan's Tattoo Rum... It's yummy. The only problems I have with alcohol is that my tolerance for it has decreased. I usually can handle only one drink compared to the 5+ I could handle pre-op. Just try to keep the drinking to a minimal because it will prevent or greatly decrease weight loss. (Believe me...I tested this theory out)

Hi Knaroz. Good points and all true. More reasons to stay away or at least be very careful with alcohol consumption. Maxi

In! 1. Okay so this sounds weird, but I’m setting a personal goal for August to avoid alcohol entirely. Wine had been creeping back unto my diet and then there was a tequila tasting and....well no wonder I had a bit of a stall lately. I want to average losing 2 pounds/week this month and that’s the ONLY way to achieve it. 2. VGS on 2/6/19. Still losing and approx 20-30 pounds from goal weight. 3. Weight this morning was 174.0 and I’m 5’7”. This puts me at a BMI of 27.2. 4. Fun fact: back in 1991 I was eating lunch with a friend at a diner in Shawnee, OK. We were being pretty loud and laughing and dishing about different guys,etc (I was 23yo) and my friend whispered to me that there was some “really cute guy” in the booth right behind me eavesdropping on our convo and laughing. Me being me, I started throwing packets of sweet and low over my shoulder seeing if I could hit him. Apparently I got him a couple of times and told him I was “just sending some fake sugar” his way. After he left, the waitress came over and asked me how in the world was I brave enough to flirt that outrageously with Brad Pitt. My response was “who?” Honestly I’d been in pharmacy school for the last 5 years and had no clue who he was. Just thought it was some random guy.

My doctor said when they start cracking I can start pealing it off.... But it won't go anywhere. I even tried alcohol.

JoJo I can't really say what the complications would be, but my surgeon told me I would not be able to drink alcohol after surgery. I don't drink so that was no big deal, but the way it sounds he was meaning I shouldn't ever drink it. You may want to talk to your doctor before drinking alcohol, but I certainly would not drink it this early.

Quite personally hon, I wouldn't do it. Your tummy is still trying to heal and alcohol is very harsh. It won't do anything to your staples, but could irratate your suture line. Alcohol and birthdays will always be there. Just take care of yourself and heal first. Your hubbie should understand. I'm out nearly 2 years now, I took my first alcoholic drink after 3 months. You do get tipsy very quickly. I don't know if it would cause complications but i wouldn't attempt it. Good Luck!

Hello everyone, I'm a 42-year old male who's battled weight issues my entire life. I was always an athlete - collegiate football player and shotputter. I've lifted weights since I was a teenager. At my heaviest I was 385lbs. I managed to get it down to about 340-ish over time but my weight more or less just stayed there for years. Without getting into a long, drawn-out story here are my questions and concerns. I had gastric bypass Jan 15 of 2018. I have lost weight, but really not that much. I'm hungry ALL THE TIME. I can eat way more than I feel like I should be able to. I lost weight for the first four months or so but since then I've been gaining and losing the same 5-10lbs for about a year. Part of me feels like I'm gaining/maintaining weight because of muscle gains due to heavy exercise but not losing any more fat because I simply cannot get through my day with a 900-1200 calorie diet. I just don't see how it's possible to do this. To show my trends, here they are: 1/1/18 - 334 1/15/18 - 319 - Surgery 1/22/18 - 308 2/5/18 - 293 3/12/18 - 276 3/26/18 - 271 5/28/18 - 260 7/23/18 - 252 8/13/18 - 260 11/1/18 - 265 12/1/18 - 262 1/1/19 - 267 2/3/19 - 264 3/3/19 - 262 4/3/19 - 260 My questions are: 1) Do I need to eat 900-1200 calories for the rest of my life to prevent gaining all my weight back no matter what I do? (I've asked this question to my doctor and the staff of where I got my surgery and received conflicting information from various people who are paid alot of money to know). 1a) I work out constantly. If I continue to work out and just eat sensibly, can I operate just like a normal person with an active lifestyle? It's a pretty depressing thought that I need to eat that little forever even if I'm extremely active and athletic. 2) I've been told and read that after 12-18 months, you're done losing weight. At least, the surgery only helps for this long. Is it possible to actually use my surgery 2 years+ out to lose weight, or is it just "eat 900 calories a day and do alot of cardio forever and you won't regain your weight"? 3) Are you as hungry as I am? Is this normal? If this is true hunger and not head hunger then I have made a poor decision getting this surgery. I tried the "drink some water every time you feel hunger" trick and... no dice. Still hungry! I realize some people who read this may think "he knew what he was signing up for", and they'd be right to think that. Maybe I just had unrealistic expectations after reading about and seeing people who lose like 200lbs and look like they haven't exercised a day in their life. I exercise and try my best to eat the small amounts I'm supposed to. I don't drink soda and barely drink alcohol, I don't eat poorly (often). I mean I am human. I do enjoy myself from time to time but I am far from what you would consider "non-compliant". Thanks for letting me vent and any constructive answers are welcome. I have tried very hard to find solid answers to my questions and I feel like it's impossible IE: "Yes, even if you lift weights and run five days a week, since you've had had gastric bypass you must eat 1,200 calories a day for the rest of your life or you will gain your weight back, sorry"

The program I started says no alcohol at all. Besides the calories, it can dehydrate you and people that have had Bariatric surgery are at a much greater risk for developing alcoholism, even if you never had issues prior to the surgery. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

w/the band! Since cutting out alcohol and other empty calories AND exercising every day, I have now lost two pounds in the last four days. Yes, this band really does work when you work with it! :tongue_smilie: I almost don't feel like I really NEED my 3rd fill that I have scheduled for Monday (I scheduled it when my weightloss had stalled), but I know I could still use at least a small fill. I'm not at my sweet spot, but I can tell that I am not that far away from it either. :thumbup: For example, I can eat a fairly large portion right now, but I can also be satisfied on a smaller portion. And, I do think about food between meals, but I can usually get by w/just water until my next meal. Last night I was so sure my dinner was not gonna last me until bedtime. I ate at 5:30pm and was feeling the munchies around 8:00pm. I was gonna have an artichoke (healthy at least), but got distracted and tired watching TV and just ended up going to bed. Woohoo!!! :thumbup: So, even though my restriction is not perfect w/the band yet, its definitely better than during my TOM when I was really hungry and felt like a bottomless pit. :smile: Now, instead of worrying about not getting enough fill at my next appointment, I'm a little worried about getting overfilled. But, I'm just a worry wart in general. My ideal would be if I can get to the point where I can still eat almost everything (if I chew it enough), be satisfied w/a small meal, and not think about food between meals. I have not PB'd or thrown up at all yet and hope that when/if I do, it will not become a regular thing. I did get stuck on a roll once (in my first month post-op) and was in pain for 5 minutes, but I don't know how to make myself puke (or I have an aversion to it) so I just waited it out. Now I have an aversion to rolls! But, that's a good thing. :thumbup:

OK so I went on vacation. It was quite awkward and I felt very self conscious, but frankly, the whole time I was there I was noticing my partners eating habits which are certainly not beyond reproach. She had dessert after every lunch and dinner and had between 4-6 alcoholic drinks a day. As much as I felt tempted to point this out, I didn't. I just minded my own business and ate how I wanted to eat, which was healthy. salads with fish for Protein mostly. I was pleased that although I dont yet really have perfect restriction I was able to eat in moderation and I was so glad to not be getting stuck on vacation. Clearly the part about not being attracted was not an issue because there was a lot of stuff that only should be discussed in the powder room area, but lets just say that it was not wishy washy. So what do I do with this information is the big question? Because I feel really hurt by what happened. I do NOT want to have the kind of relationship where we nag at each other and chip away each others confidence over too much drinking or unhealthy eating. Frankly that just results in my sneaking off to have a snack and feeling ashamed. Which I did. And which I am not proud of. I mean, she was having Desserts twice a day, so if I was craving something sweet why couldnt I have just indulged in moderation alongside instead of sneaking. It was just a granola bar for God's sake, not like I wolfed down a banana split! Ive never been ashamed of my weight or my eating and I dont intend to start now that I/m down 30+ lbs. So we need to continue to discuss this and I just hope I can be firm and resolute. I am not a child and I dont want to be motivated by fear or by someone else's disapproval.

@@bsweetness Good luck. No alcohol!!! Your stomach will still be healing. I would wait at least 2-3 months.

I had my surgery January 16th with Dr Oritz and I am sooooo pleased! I am down 33 lbs and the surgery has been the answer to my problems! It has controlled my binge eating! My only complaint is that eating out is no fun! Socializing is difficult! Alcoholic beverages are not tolerated at all and since we can't eat and drink at the same time anymore it's awkward at times!! But overall I am very happy! I am in clothes that haven't fit me in years and feeling really good!!

College was fine. I had no issues, my professors all let me keep Water and Snacks with me, everyone was understanding, it was actually very easy to maintain my weight there since many college folks are so health-conscious. I stayed away from alcohol for a full year though. It simply wasn't worth it to me to risk permanent damage to my body. Now, I can go out for a night of drinking, but I must give myself lots of time (1.5 hours minimum) to digest food. Mixed drinks take forever because my stomach capacity is small, so I end up pretty much just drinking straight shots, but I pace myself carefully with plenty of time between drinks (and I NEVER MIX CLEARS AND DARKS). If I try to drink too much, I'll vomit. If I mix, I vomit. My sleeve is very good at telling me when enough is enough. Unlike many people, my alcohol tolerance didn't really change, and after all the weight loss, I still don't really feel much of a difference in the amount it takes for me to get a buzz. But enough people have expressed a lower tolerance, so be careful anyhow! Lastly, drinking is seriously overrated. I wouldn't do it too often, sleeve or not. Campus culture can be nuts, and it's not good for your health overall to drink so much. I definitely feel the pressure, so I just limit the nights I'll drink, and encourage my friends to take part in activities outside drinking (bowling, trivia, dancing, etc). Learning to have fun and participate in social activities outside of food/drink has been really helpful!

Nothing....my sleeve is very accommodating, just very restrictive. I can eat a little bit of ice cream, fried green tomatoes, a bloomin onion from Outback, pulled pork, steak, shrimp.... anything food grade, just not a lot of it. I haven't yet tried alcohol, pecan pie, twinkies, or anything with lots of sugar. I would absolutely love some praline caramel pecan ice cream in a waffle cone, but would absolutely hate to throw out the part I couldn't eat, so I just don't order one. I used to love Pan pizza from Pizza Hut, but haven't been there since my surgery. Still love pizza, but just can't eat very many carbs. My only symptom if I overeat is that I will get really intense hiccups. You can't eat anything when you are hiccuping...lol.

I am a worrier by nature... so I had to go get labs drawn... My surgeon wants to test all kinds of stuff so he can give me "clearence" for surgery. If any thing is "abnormal" then that will have to be addressed prior to surgery. So today I get my labs results and to my horror my fasting gluclose and some other test they do for diabetes/insulin resistance PCOS were both HIGH! Not extremely, but still high. My Glucose was 112 (Normal is 65-99)and my HGB A1C is 6.1 (normal is 4.8-5.9). My Cholesterol is high, none too bad except my Triglycerides are really high. The SGPT was 50 (normal is 5-40) which I think is what they use to check your liver. The report said something about alcohol abuse (that is definately not the case with me), viral hepatitis (WHAT???) or a fatty liver. I'm hoping for the fatty liver... but what does it all mean???. I am really worried about the Gluclose stuff and the riglycerides! Just 6 month ago my Gluclose and stuff was all normal... can diabetes or pre-diabetes come on that quick??? 6 months ago my Cholesterol was still a little high but not as bad as it is now. I am starting a pre-op diet anyway just to jump start my weight loss, but what can I do to lower everything else? Any help or advise is greatly appriciated!

I tried the ice...didn't help too much so today I went to my local drugs store and bought alcohol swabs with Benzocaine in them and it worked AWESOMELY!

When I had my GB out, my bellybutton also had a infection deep down. It took months to heal! Rubbing alcohol on a Q-Tip for about 4 days did the trick for me :clap2:

Hi Tuesday35. I am at the point where the work has definitely begun. The first 35 lbs or so were a breeze. I am finding that I can gain weight now when I eat more than I should or drink alcohol. Best of luck to you with your journey.

I couldn't handle alcohol before surgery and I know I definitely won't be able to handle it now! Congratulations on 9 weeks!

My husband and I just booked a 2 week vacation in the Mexican Riviera (long, long overdue!) at a wonderful all-inclusive resort. We're traveling in January 2013 and I will no doubt be challenged with the buffets, a la carte dinners, alcohol, smoothies, etc. However I think my husband will have a great time, we will take part in many physical activities, tours, snorkeling, diving, etc. The food and drink are not important to me. The sun, beach and relaxation are! I will ABSOLUTELY not get my money's worth in food and drink. Nor will my husband be able to make up for my small portions, by eating more himself (he's losing weight also, on a low-carb diet). And I don't care in the least! We will enjoy the resort amenities, the atmosphere, weather and other guests. We'll enjoy what we do eat and drink, and I will get my money's worth of relaxation, recharging my batteries and enjoying my slimmer body. We go out to restaurants now and usually order an appetizer for me and an entree for him (sometimes I just eat a bit of his entree). We've been to a few buffets and it just doesn't make sense to spend the money anymore. I don't miss the buffets at all. At least in an all-inclusive, I can treat the buffet as if it was an a la carte restaurant and just build my own small plate, as if I had ordered it like that on my own. It's already paid for, so less of a feeling of wasted money! Hopefully I'll be down another 30-35 lbs by then (in ONDERLAND for the first time in 25 years!) and be able to do activities I've always wanted to, but never could (zip-lining, horseback riding, para-sailing, diving, etc.)

I am using EAS Myoplex protein shake, with water, several ice cubes and sometimes additional flavoring. I.e. if I use chaocalate I might add banana, almond, etc. With vanilla the sky is the limit. The ice cubes in the blender make seem like a real milk shake. What it is:Myoplex Carb Control Powder delivers the advanced blend of protein, vitamins and minerals—with 3 grams of net carbohydrates. Net carbohydrates are calculated as total carbohydrates minus dietary fiber and minus sugar alcohols. See Nutrition Facts panel for carbohydrate information. Myoplex Carb Control is high in protein and does not sacrifice great taste for great nutrition. 25g of quality protein 25 vitamins and minerals 3g of impact carbs (varies by flavor) Serving Size: 1 packet Best of luck to all on Pre-op diet! We are now on the real journey!