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food was my way to make me feel better when I felt bad, it was readily available, it was pleasureable, distracting, and socially acceptable. You can do it at your desk, in your car, at church, anywhere..and they throw it in your face at every chance they can, billboards, TV, magazines...did we have much of a fighting chance?? I have to find a replacement for that "temporary high" Listening to a really good mix while sweating it out on the treadmill, that releases some of those "endorphins" which I like to call dolphins. Sex would work, but too many diseases out there, so yeah, better stock up on batteries..haha. I think I could easily transfer it to some good drugs, but I don't have Rush Limbaugh's connections..hahah...alcohol just makes me wanna eat more..never really like to drink that much. Smoking? I quit years ago and that would interfer with my *dolphins* when exercizing. Shopping? I am not there yet, still too big to really enjoy it and get a *rush*. But, for me, I difinately need to find another *feel* good drug to replace food. So far, exercising is the only replacement I have found. I wish drugs were legal..hehe.

I'm a whiskey guy. I started to drink occasionally at 6 weeks, even though my plan called for one year of no alcohol. This is not advice. I'm just posting what I did. For me, I needed as much normal as I could have, without jeopardizing my progress. I have been very successful so far.

So I’ve watched so many you tube videos and that was a question. The doctor mentioned that the tolerance is very low so maybe a sip or 2 will do LOL my craving is not alcohol but sodas which I hardly drank before surgery 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have worked as a psychologist, providing psychological evaluations prior to bariatric weight loss surgery for the past eight years. For the most part, people need a power tool to help them lose and keep off the weight they have lost over and over again in their lives. The gastric sleeve, bypass, and now balloon are those tools. However, every once in a while, I will encounter someone who believes these procedures are the magic bullet. I can pick this up in five seconds when I learn that: this person has no exercise plan to maintain their weight loss a barrage of excuses as to why they can't exercise anymore zero insight into why they are overweight ("I don't know why I am overweight, I just eat steamed vegetables and grilled chicken mostly.") a lack of motivation or understanding for why they also have to engage in behavioral modification in addition to the surgery "Why would you reveal all of this?" you ask. Aren't I giving away the keys to the kingdom to anyone who reads this and wants to pass a psychological evaluation? Perhaps- but who are you really cheating if you don't go within and face the real demons that got you here in the first place? When I ask people about their eating styles, I tend to group them into four categories: 1) emotional eater- someone who uses food when they are bored, stressed, tired, lonely, sad, or even happy in addition to eating when they are hungry 2) skip and binger- someone who fails to think about food until it is too late, and when they are ravenous end up going for whatever is available which is usually some type of carb and calorie laden fast food 3) miscellaneous- someone who just recognizes that they eat too large of portion sizes and/or the wrong types of food 4) food addict- usually someone with a history of other addictions, trauma, and a significant amount of weight to lose. They usually have comorbid psychological diagnoses that have been unaddressed or ill-addressed. Out of the four categories, the 4th is the most troubling for a psychologist. This particular person is most correlated with the patient who fails to address their core issues, eats "around the sleeve," or bypass, experiences dumping syndrome, comes back a year later and asks for the bypass, or a different procedure. This is the person who, ironically, is usually the most resistant to my recommendation that they seek therapeutic support prior to the surgery. They want it done YESTERDAY. They want it NOW. It is this type of thinking that got them into trouble in the first place. The impulsivity and lack of emotional regulation. I've witnessed people fail to address their maladaptive eating patterns and never quite get to their goal weight. I had a male that would buy a bag of pepperonis at the grocery store and snack on them all day and couldn't understand why he wasn't losing weight. This daily "snack," which was a mental security blanket, served as a veritable IV drip of fat and calories throughout the day. I've had a woman who figured out how to ground up her favorite foods into a liquid form because she never quite let go of her attachment to "comfort foods." One of her most notable liquid concoctions consisted of chicken and Cheetos. I'll just leave that for you to chew...er swallow. They say with drug and alcohol recovery- you "slay the dragon," but with food addiction recovery, you have to take it for a walk three times a day. If you don't fundamentally shift your relationship with this dragon, you're going to get burnt when you are walking it. My number one tip for transforming your relationship with food is to start looking at eating the same way you do as brushing and flossing: You don't necessarily salivate at the idea of what type of toothpaste you will use, where you will do it, who you will do it with, right? You just do it twice a day because you don't want to lose your teeth and you want to maintain healthy gums. Food has to be thought of in the same way. You fuel up. You don't use food as a place to define your quality of life. You don't use food to celebrate. You don't use food to demarcate the end of a long day. You don't use food to help you feel less alone. You figure out healthier coping alternatives to meet these needs. Loneliness-call a friend for support Celebrate- get a massage Demarcate the end of a long day- start a tea ritual and use essential oils Another reason you must say goodbye to comfort food is that it triggers the pleasure center of the brain, which ignites our dopamine, which perpetuates the addiction. Many people think we are just telling them to get rid of the comfort food because of the carbs or calories, but there are unique and harmful chemical consequences to ingesting these types of food we know are bad for us. If you are ready to take a modern approach to weight loss and stop dieting for good- check out my wls/vsg psychological support course here for free.

I am shocked at people getting attacked for going against the grain here. If you are 600lbs, then obviously you have a serious problem and need tons of rules and guidelines to break your very serious issue. No carbs, no falling off the wagon, plenty of exercerise, listening to Nutritionists..all that good stuff, by the book you must follow to get to a normal weight. It's like telling an alcoholic that they shouldn't drink again, sound advice. Then there are people like me, and possibly bugle girl. I wasn't 600lbs. I was sick of dieting, really really sick of trying my whole life to lose 50-60 lbs. up and down roller coaster. I went into it not following any of the rules, and I got exactly what I wanted out of it. I could still socially eat, enjoy food, but have a little less of everything. I ate everything I did before, but way way way less. Only issues I've had were gallbladder and feeling weak. My weight loss was achieved. I never once felt deprived, and I feel I can carry about a normal life. Co-worker brings in cupcakes?- yes thankyou I will have one. I get a pizza and eat for a week, instead of a day. So can we at least agree that it is not a one-size fits all solution to this? And for hecks sake, stop attacking everyone on here that doesn't have the same approach and diet plan you would give to someone morbidly obese. I am not an alcoholic, never was, I can drink a beer and not fall apart, same thing with food.

i had a relatively good weekend. just hung out at home and did some housework and laundry and played with the kids. i went out for the first time in ages saturday night with my husbands brother and wife. their cousins came and some friends of ours. my husband works out of town so i was a loner. i am not a drinker by any means. a few times a year at the most. saturday night was one of those. omg, i have not been that intoxicated for a very long time! i had so much fun! we just played darts and hung out. closed down the bar and went for Breakfast. i spent most of that time in the bathroom, sick. and then asleep at the table! didnt even have to worry about eating. so i didnt track my calories saturday. i am gonna check the calorie content of vodka and cranberry juice on dailyplate. i did do my stregth training though! as far as calories yesterday, this is just a guess, but i am betting no more then 500. i was so tight i could barely get Water and coffee down! i wonder if that is because of the alcohol? this was my first time drinking more then just one since being banded. i didnt workout either. i spent most the day just being lazy, recovering. did manage to do a few loads of laundry, think that counts for much? lol. .

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'm not a big drinker but the beverage I do drink has 65grams of carbs. My question is,is it safe to drink when I have the band? (Keep in mind I only drink one a week)

I've been drinking wine and gin-tonics starting at 2 months post-op (yeah I'm a bad boy). Haven't had any issues at all, other than a lower alcohol tolerance

@@NewLife'sGr8. I was in shock that rubbing alcohol was put in your water bottle. Shocked. I'm sorry you're experiencing such hateful behavior and saddened that your company tolerates it.

I'm 11 months out and I simply eat healthy, balanced meals.....Protein, veggies, fruit, fiber and grains. I do avoid white carbs like bread, pasta, rice, and alcohol, but have any and all of them on occasion...probably 3-4 times/month (a lot more when on vacation). I don't measure my portions or count calories, carbs or fat. I have a 30-40g protein smoothie everyday so I don't have to worry about hitting my protein goals and I keep a running tally in my head so I know I'm hitting my fluid requirements. Been maintaining 10-12 pounds under goal for over 3 months, so gotta say this is the easiest "diet" I've ever been on.

someone put rubbing alcohol in your water bottle? that is attempted murder. call the police.

Hullo!! Can we show the psychiatric community this thread? When my therapist tells me that food is not technically an addiction, I want to scream. Who does these things except people who are addicted? Old food, bad food, too much food. If you substitute any other substance for food in these posts, it would look like any other addiction be it alcohol or drugs or anything. My therapist says it's not an addiction because it doesn't change the brain. I call bulls**t on that. I know my brain lights up like the Empire State Building when I see Pasta. Hell...it happened last night. We ordered Italian in and I was cleaning up the leftovers last night and all I wanted to do was eat that cold dry spaghetti. Don't tell me this is not an addiction. I know that pasta is my heroin and no one can tell me different.

Been a while since I have posted. Still really glad I had the surgery and even trying to get my sister to consider. I am down 155 lbs. walk a lot and do a little weightlifting. Hit a plateau where I am only losing a pound here or there. Have kept pretty good eating habits but drinking alcohol definitely probably has something to do with the slowdown. Anyone else heard if u are supposed to keep losing over 18 months? Very happy with where I am but would be awesome to hit under 200, so I am keeping up the challenge. Still haven’t eaten many breads other than an occasional low carb wrap. Finding healthy food on the go has been my biggest challenge. Eat out at a lot more restaurants that have fish or seafood than the fast food joints I used to rely on. Hope everyone is having success.

I have to say this has been an interesting thread to read with the back and forth banter over who or what is better for America. As a healthcare provider, a Registered Nurse, I can tell you that I know of not 1 doctor or nurse I've ever worked with want the government to take over our healthcare system. I worked in critical care for my entire nursing career, and half of the nurses I worked with in the 90's were Canadian, because they couldn't get a job in Canada after they graduated from nursing school. Not only did they have to come to the US to work, they shared their knowledge of the Canadian healthcare system with all of us. I can tell you, if the government takes over our healthcare, services WILL be rationed. It happens in Canada everyday. People die waiting to have heart bypass surgery. They don't just go to the ER and end up having emergency surgery like we have here. They only do heart bypass surgery at a few selected hospitals there, and many times the hospital that provides the service will be a 2 to 3 drive from where they live. They also have age limits on procedures. For example, a 70 year old person is considered to old to have bypass surgery, so they just have to live the way they are until they die. They don't take into consideration how the persons' general health is either. There are a lot of people who are 70 that look and feel like they are 50. It's not just heart bypass surgery, it's any kind of surgery. If you need to have your gallbladder out, you may have to wait a year to have it done, and hope you don't die from what we call a "hot gallbladder" before the surgery date finally comes. A hot gallbladder is extremely painful, plus has an infection that will spread throughout your entire body. So, no, I don't want the government taking over our healthcare. Procedures we perform here on a daily basis during emergency situations a lot of the time are not done to the patients who need it there. It was mentioned that Medicaid and Medicare were very expensive to run, which they are. However, a lot of the problem is abuse of the system and fraud. I am disabled now, and when I lost my job due to an infection I caught in my lungs from a patient I was caring for, I had nothing coming in at all. I had a house, car, utilities, groceries, and all other necessities I had no money to pay them with. I had to be off work a year and a half before I was even eligible for disability, much less any other kind of help. Savings doesn't last long when you have to pay for everything with it, I can assure you. However, I was told at the social services office that they had people in their 40's that had been in their system their entire lives. I wasn't eligible for Medicaid, because I didn't have any small children. I wasn't eligible for Medicare, because I wasn't considered disabled until the year and a half was up. So, don't even try to tell me that Medicare and Medicaid work right. They sure do let a lot of hard working people who have either fallen on hard times, or gotten sick fall through the cracks, like me. Here is a subject we all know about, and that's the food we eat. Mr Obama has decided we shouldn't be able to eat fast food, or drink cokes, so he's going to tax them heavily. I'm surprised he let the taxes go up on cigarettes, since he's a chain smoker himself. I guess when you're the president, it doesn't matter how much things cost. I don't think we should all have to pay these outrageous taxes on food and soft drinks just because Obama has decided we don't need them. Who is he to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't eat or drink. Alcohol is already heavily taxed, but Cokes? This is going tooooooooooooo far people! Also, if you think back to when all of these financial companies and other businesses started to fail, it was Freddie Mac and Fannie May that started the whole thing. Those were government run programs that the democrats were in charge of. But, the responsible people, such as Barney Frank, don't take any responsibility for what happened. They told everyone that those 2 entities were stable right before they failed. What a joke! As far as the government taking over the car industry, that's a scary thought to. The reason the American auto industry got into the financial ruins they are in now was caused by the unions. It's rediculious for a person working in a auto plant to make $40 per hour. Nurses sure don't make that much money. I would think a nurse would be worth more money per hour than someone who helps build a car. Give me a break! I used to work for a company that had the same union the auto workers have, and they didn't do anything to protect our jobs when the home office decided to take our government contracts because they couldn't get their own. I am a conserative and proud of it. Do I accept my momthly Social Security check? You bet I do. I paid into it my entire life from the age of 16 until I became disabled. I don't feel at all guilty about the money I recieve every month, after all, I earned it. I will get down off of my soap box now, I just had to put my 2 cents in. I guess I'm just tired of hearing about how great Obama is when he is going against everything this country has ever stood for. He's definitely not the kind of change I was looking for. His race has absolutely nothing to do with it at all. Before long, he's gonna have us as socialistic as the European countries. What a sad day that will be for America. Joan

And yes, at your stage, I had to remind myself to eat. I set alarms and would grudgingly eat my scoop of hummus or Beans, not wanting a lick of it, but knowing my body needed it to heal. I spent this last week in Las Vegas and alcohol aside, I probably ate about 500 calories a day because I was so busy. I still don't always remember to get in my nutrients, I just stopped setting alarms.

People have misunderstood me. I do not dispute that alcohol should be approached with caution post WLS, particlularly for those who were addicted to anything prior to surgery My issue is with a professional making a claim as though it is fact, and citing statistics based on estimates and opinions rather than on research. It is professionally irresponsible to do so. I am sorry to have not been clear in my earlier posts. I do tend to react strongly when people use artificial statistics and unfounded theories to scaremonger. FYI - my surgeon and my NUT recommended wine in moderation as part of a normal and healthy diet.

I'm not worried about becoming an alcoholic. I'm worried about messing up my sleeve. I get the part about the calorie intake but with this small of a stomach, not eating much nor able to drink much. I just want to make sure if I could get it down it would not it ruin my sleeve. Thanks for all the feedback

My Doc & Nut had printed in our manual (produced a cople years ago) "never" drink alcohol. In class, they had us turn to that page and scratch through the "Never", and simply write "avoid". They said no harm now and again, but don't make it a habit/new transference/addiction.

I had a drink fairly early, 3 months out. Joke's on me, I don't get a buzz from alcohol anymore, just a wicked hangover.

We were setting up refreshments at work today for an event and we were talking about food. I made the comment that I don't trust myself to eat just one (sweets are a trigger food). A lady goes "you have to learn to eat just one cookie.." I'm sure some of y'all can eat just one, but if it's a trigger food there is no way I'm eating just one. For me it's the same as if she told an alcoholic to have just one beer. It's going to lead to a lot more. /end rant

It has been 1 month since my lapband surgery. I am really feeling great most of the time. I am trying to stay around 1200 calories and exercise every morning. I am down about 12 pounds since my presurgery visit. I started the Couch to 5K running program this week. I did that Monday and today and walked yesterday since I am only supposed to do the running program 3 days per week to let my body recover. This morning I was finished with the running portion and was in the slow walking part to cool down when I almost balcked out and became weak. My heart rate became very rapid. My husband was about to leave for work, but he saw that something was wrong so he helped me in the house and got me something to drink. Now I have had this type of episodes since I was about 18. Usually, my heart will race for a short time and then go back to normal usually after I have taken several very deep breaths or tried to hold my breath for a few seconds to kind of reset my heart. Only one other time about a year ago, I had to go to the emergency room and get a shot to slow my heart rate. I was really worried that time that something was bad wrong because it had never lasted that long before. I recognized that this one wasn't going away easily, so I let my husband carry me to our local ER. They did the same thing and now I feel great. Both of these bad times, I had been running early in the morning before eating or drinking anything. I think it could be what is triggering the episodes. Maybe dehydration or low blood sugar? They told me I have PSVT which is not life-threatening, but could be corrected with a type of surgery. Since it had only happened that once bad enough to go to the ER, I never saw the specialist. Now I am wondering if I should go, but I still am not ready for another surgery right now. I have researched PSVT and the only triggers that I can find are caffeine, smoking, alcohol, and illicit drug use. Caffeine is the only one of these that could have caused my 1st bad episode, but I stopped that before I had lapband surgery a month ago. So that is not the problem. One doc told me that it could happen without any particular trigger. But I am convinced that it has something to do with strenuous exercise before eating or drinking. I just have to figure out what I need to eat or how much I need to drink before exercise in the mornings to prevent this from happening again. I would be interested to know if anyone else has experienced this, and what I might do to prevent it. I am really trying to make changes to my lifestyle to finally get this weight off for good. I don't want to stop exercising in the morning because I find too many excuses in the afternoon. Plus I have more energy for my day exercising in the morning. I get my first fill in 2 weeks and I hope this helps me to be satisfied with less food. I am hoping that combined with the exercise will help me reach my goals. I would like to be down 50 pounds by Christmas. I know it is possible if I will stick to my program.

No, Pam... I don't think the site will crash w/us gone... I think that it will run FASTER! But then when we return and post all our pics... THEN it will crash! Terry... great advice to Jenn re: the flying. Jen... try as little alcohol as possible... you just never know... have you guys ever seen that "reality" show on some cable station (tlc??) about airports & all the craziness that goes on?? It's a hoot to watch on a rainy day... haven't seen it in AGES... maybe it's not even on any more... I can't remember what it was called... but it seemed like every time I caught it, there was some alcohol-induced incident that = someone not boarding or being hauled off to airport jail or some such thing... one time a guy had his "invisible" wife w/him... too funny!!

I'm so so so glad you're comin Tracy, I was gonna cry a lil too if you weren't there :embaressed_smile: And, I'm not as much as a lush as I talk. Alcohol hurts me, so I only drink 'for real' once in a blue moon. I may sip on something, but odds are I won't be drunk

That's awesome!!! Restriction will help so much. I find I can eat pretty much anything (except beef or dry shrimp... and I haven't attempted white breads at all) but my body tells me when to stop. The beauty of our bands Yesterday Breakfast - 6oz mango yogurt lunch - small wheat pita with 2 tbsp PB, 1 small banana snack - 6oz apple juice, Water, hot tea dinner - 3 lean cuisine Mexican egg roll thingies Snack - 6oz peach yogurt Going to cocktail party tonight. No alcohol for me though. Everything else is small portions and lots of dancing to burn cals have a good Saturday everyone.