Search the Community

Crystal light actually makes margarita flavor drink. You could make that & add the tequila! Jose Cuervo also makes a light, alcohol included, margarita mix. It's Delish! I haven't had it post wls but it was a staple pre- wls. Have fun! Remember to drink lots of Water & stay away from the Scooby snacks!

I tried wine at like 2mnths out and I still have a glass, but not often. Alcohol..........about 3mnths. No issues yet.

I am three months out and also choosing to avoid these things. Soda is not worth gaining weight or slowing down the loss. Alcohol is not worth a painful ulcer and the extra calories at this time. I did try a sip of flat diet soda a few weeks ago and just the itty bitty bubbles hurt my pouch! I do drink coffee daily and honestly I love it. A tablespoon of my creamer is only 3-5 g sugar so it is my Breakfast. It makes me have a better day and not feel deprived.

I'll just add my voice to everyone else's - my doc says no carbonated anything - for life. For all of the reasons listed above. She also said no alcohol until six months post-op. Alcohol can be an invitation to an ulcer until the surgery is completely healed. I enjoy a glass of wine before dinner but I didn't touch alcohol until I was six months out. You're gonna love the new you!!

After how long after surgery did anyone have diet soda or drank alcohol ?

I dont have problems with dairy products, just ready made protien shakes with milk products in them (especially adkins advantage ). I use skim milk in my powder shakes and food with no problems. But before surgery I had issues with milk and ice cream (especially sugar free ice cream containing sugar alcohol). Weird....

Thanks for the feedback everyone... I think the biggest issue is that I don't have any vices. No alcohol, no caffeine, no nicotine, no food, etc. I don't know what to do with myself. Im only in the 3rd day of this pre-op diet and I'm feeling miserable. I had to leave work early today cause I just didn't feel well. I can tell my boss thinks I'm just being a baby, but Im basically worthless at work right now. Complete lack of ability to concentrate and super tired. Does anyone know if dill pickles are okay pre-op? There is no sugar, less then 1 carb and only 5 calories per pickle.

I was wondering this too. I'm not a big drinker at all. But of course, once you tell me I can't have something, that's all I can think about! Lol, I'm 2 months out now, but I think I'm going to wait for 4 months. Some of my friends said that they would take me out for a drink when I was cleared for alcohol. Although I am a little concerned. I used to be able to get drunk off one Cosmopolitan consumed with food. Now I think a thimble full would knock me out. I got my mother's alcohol tolerance, lol.

"You're not big enough for surgery" That statement fires my a**. Would these people tell a drug addict who only does their drugs on the weekends that they don't need rehab? Would these people tell someone who only drinks after work they are not alcoholic enough for rehab? Grrrrrr Sorry for the vent. After us November folk have our surgeries, the naysayers can kiss our looking fine behind. :-)

My birthday is coming closer and I was wonder if I can try to drink some wine or champagne. but my birthday I would be 2 month out. When the first time I can try alcohol?

It sounds like it is a really good idea for us to stop blocking ourselves from meeting friends and to put ourselves out there with a meetup or two. Thanks for the suggestion. Now I just need the courage to do it. I need a magic drink that would make make me an outgoing person in social situations. And I am not talking about alcohol.

I have to disagree on a few points. 1. This is a forum. You can find support here, but you can also find discussion and disagreement. Thank God for that. I've learn a lot and even learned a bit from the OP of this thread. 2. Purely cosmetic bariatric surgery for people of normal weight that want a tool to help them starve themselves? I do understand using the sleeve and a revised surgery, but not for people not in proven need of it. I still believe this is last resort territory. We all signed on with the possibility of living with complications and a forever altered gut and in the case of malabsorptive procedures - a life of daily supplements and a very special diet. How many people in for the 90 pound supermodel body are going to eat right and make a commitment or will they continue on with poor eating, alcohol and amphetamine use that goes with the culture. Sorry, but obese people have to make a commitment to fix their head and get healthy. Sure, people can do whatever they want as long as I don't have to pay for it. I'll be in the insurance pool with someone who want to get healthier, but I'm simply not paying for someone's self-esteem. Just as in cosmetic procedures, there is potential for abuse. I mean, why not just take out the stomach altogether and live on IV fluids? Yes, people do this at least short term for now. Excuse me, but this is SICK! http://articles.nyda...des-nasogastric and finally 3. The sleeve does not teach you to eat healthier. That is the commitment I was talking about. It is a tool for restriction only and with the right (or wrong) mindset you can easily eat around it or develop other addictions to replace food. I've talked with so many that replaced dumping alcohol down their gullets instead of food and have ended up right back in the super obese category. A lot of the above is IMO of course.

Well, screw the weight loss. Don't worry about it. That is secondary, here. My advice is two part. First, why are these types of foods in your house? A lot of folks in the same boat respond to this question with, "My kids/husband enjoy these foods and I don't want to take it away from them because of my issues." That one makes me crazy. IMO, it enables them to have bad habits and obviously, is a temptation for you. But, i think there is also something else here. Just my opinion, but I remember in my days of alcohol and drug use, the before and moment of purchase was thrilling. Driving back home with my product knowing I was going to use was exciting. Now, I'm not saying it is the same for you ... I don't know. But what I do know is there were a lot of parallels for me with all my addictions. food included. Have you eve hidden food or what you were eating? Get the garbage can out and dump them. Second part, the consumption. We know we're not supposed to do it, yet we do. We all have our moments of weakness, for sure. There is that moment when we sit there with that item we are trying to not have: cookie, joint, shot glass, syringe ... You fill in the blank. I don't know what it is or what it takes to put that item down for everybody, but in my early days, it was an understanding of a higher power which I learned through a 12 step group. It worked for me, but we all have to find our own path. I sought help and you can, too. By no means am I perfect. I am a work in progress, and I keep on working everyday. Sometimes, every minute. As I first said, don't worry about the weight loss. Get back to doing the right thing and sticking to it and the weight will come off on its own. We have to get to the root of our relationship with food in order to conquer the demons that are associated with it. IMO, only then can we live free. Good luck and keep us posted

BE CAREFUL!! They are not lying when they say the alcohol will effect you differently after the band! A few sips will feel like you drank 2 glasses!!! Go SLOW!!! And make sure you have someone there who will take care of you!!

I drink Bacardi Lemon waters with crystal light ice tea, each time I get a different effect- usually have drinks on Saturdays only- yes higher calories from the booze- and yes 5 months post op- and no do not drive. Just have to eat well the rest of the week!! I am not an alcoholic because I enjoy a few drinks- yes I am happy I did the surgery- yes some are over critical on this site! But I am happy :-) good luck everyone!!

I have a halloween party to go to Sat night. I'm pretty excited because I'll get to dance & socialize! While I'm not a big drinker, I would like to be able to have 'something.' This party is at a hotel so they should have a decent selection. Any suggestions out there?

I appreciate ur great thoughts!! I dont drink now very rarely; jus worried that since i cant stuff my face that i may turn to alcohol or something else... I have abest friend who only had a tummy tuck and she is so scared to get fat again thaat she now is drinking vodka almost everyday . I tried talking to her but no avail..scared that will be me. I have two Very young children and dont want to become the thing i abhor so much...

There is a robitussin that is for diabetics, no sugar or alcohol. Not had surgery yet but am a bad diabetic and that's what I take.

I struggled with alcoholism in my early twenties... I have a few minor in possessions, I have a DWI but should've had many more, I've done a lot of hurtful things mainly to myself all because of alcohol. I know for a fact that I never want to go back to that lifestyle so cross addiction to me is completely out of the picture. To me, getting alcohol out of my life was a big head game. And so is this. It's hard and it's going to be harder than I could imagine I'm sure. But just remember that you are doing this to better yourself. Don't take two steps back by starting to drink or get involved with any kind of drug. let's make our new addictions gym time and healthy foods

I probably shouldn't be posting this but I am an alcoholic who doesn't like to get drunk- make sense? I started drinking 1 month after surgery. Pinot is my absolute favorite!!!! Last night I had two glasses but couldn't finish the second. I haven't found a change in my palate- I just can't drink as much and it's not because I'm drunk - I just lose interest after a certain amount. And I'm not like most people who get drunk faster- I haven't noticed any change with that. I am 6 weeks out from surgery.

Sorry everyone, I haven't checked this forum as often as I should have. Since coming back I have been swamped by people on facebook asking questions lol here are the answers to your questions you asked Robbdtn... I have not heard of anyone have a bad or negative experience at anytime down there in Juarez and I have talked to A LOT of people. I even talked to a lady that went their the week after I cam home and talked her through every experience she had. She had lots of pain (more than I had) but we never could figure out why. The pre-op diet I was on lasted for 2 weeks. I started 3 days early just to give myself a chance to get used to it in case I slipped up. I thought I would totally blow it, but I never did. Come to find out, even if you do mess up on the diet, the Dr. Rod will still go ahead with the surgery. I was told by my facilitator that they have never turned anyone away, pre-op diet or not. The diet is just to help shrink your liver so there is less bleeding, but they are experienced enough to deal with a fatty bleeding liver though. Try to stick to the diet as best as possible though, the pre-op diet is easy peasy anyway, just gotta set your mind to do it. Lots of Water, lots of meat. That's about it lol if you love steak, it's the best diet ever! After surgery, I got nauseous twice in the hospital but as long as you keep a cottonball soaked in rubbing alcohol nearby to sniff when your mouth waters, you'll be fine. As far as pain goes. It was absolutely manageable with pain medicine. Even if you don't feel pain, if the nurses offer it...take it. Better safe than sorry lol as soon as you can stand up and walk, WALK. They want you to walk twice and hour, but I walked once ever few hours because I liked sleeping more. The breathing treatments hurt at first, but you have to keep blowing that damn tiny tuba until your diaphragm resets itself. But honestly, for me....at no point in time was the pain unbearable. Towards the end, the only pain I really complained about was my headache from sleeping too much. I am a full time student and don't work, but I returned to class exactly 5 days after surgery (3 days home) and just took it easy and wore loose fitting clothes and kept a small pillow with me for my back. Today marks 3 weeks after my surgery and I have lost 22 pounds since then. It's not a whole lot, but in the past 3 weeks my double chin is now gone. I have not been doing any exercising other than a few minutes of walking a day. My clothes are more loose and I can see considerable shrinkage all over. Remember, with all the Protein we take in, we are building muscle right now so weight loss might be slow, but we are still losing inches! The only thing I would do differently is packed lighter and not taken a bus across Texas LOL. All you really need to pack is pajamas, toiletries, cell phone/charger. You can go home in the clothes you came in as long as you don't sweat profusely! If you need anything else, feel free to message me directly Lastly, Mattr2...cute profile pic

They really are all so different, I was cleared to try anything at 5 weeks. (except carbonation and alcohol, 3 months on those)

I am 4 months post op and would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Wish I had done it yrs ago. I'm still learning my band. What I mean by that is, you have to really chew your food, chew it to smitherines, chew it to liquid form or you will have a stuck episode and believe me you don't want that, been there too many times, it's painful and gross. You have to take your time eating so if you are in a restaurant, please take your time eating, take tiny bites and chew chew chew. As far as alcohol, I don't drink but personally if I did, I think I would want to put delicious food in my mouth for calories than a drink. This is a lifestyle change, eating healthy, not drinking while you eat and waiting up to an hour for some people after you eat to drink. Some dr's say only 30 mins my dr says an hr and then I can drink. As far as recovery, it wasn't bad. You may have a pre-op all liquid diet for 2 weeks, piece of cake, you can do it! Insurance, I had BCBS at the time and since my BMI was over 50 I didn't have to do the 6 month diet before surgery, they waived that, therefore from the time of my first appt to surgery was very quick. You can call your ins company and ask if they cover lap band surgery and what are the requirements as others have stated above. I started out day of surgery June 13th, 2012 weighing 294 and this morning I weighed 255, so yes I'm happy I did it. Good luck.

Where do I start...Week 8 was the week of workouts... I concentrated on my running game...So I pushed myself everytime I ran...Managed 2 miles in 26 minutes on Wednesday...And on Saturday, I actually did an 11 minute mile...Killed me but I felt good after I caught my breath and my heart starting beating inside instead of outside of my chest...Now I need to duplicate that across two miles and then three miles...My goal is to do 3 miles in 30 minutes...I have also kept up with Insanity workouts...Still hard as hell but well worth it...I get a sense of accomplishments from getting through another greuling 40 minutes of insane workouts...I feel myself getting stronger..my stretches getting better and my cardio picking up so I am so encouraged... I know some say I am going too hard on the workouts but I do not think so...I feel absolutely fine and no pain from the workouts other than sore muscles...And I actually get a rise out of that because that means they feeling the effect and making way for change...Working out, particularly running is a lifestyle for me so no sense of putting it off any longer..I also am putting weight lifting in my routine. My arms have always been big proportionate to my body so I am giving them a lil extra work to see if I can get them to get with the program...lol... I had a few struggles with food and the dreaded alcohol...I went out to eat with friends and there was bread and I had a tiny piece...Didnt take it too far because I did not want to risk upsetting my stomach...And I also tried a drink, on a separate occassion, and it burned my stomach...Good and a bad thing...so I didnt finish the drink and have the empty calories but man I was looking forward to that drink... But the best part of the week...I got down to 199...I guess it is possible on my scale...For the past few weeks I was beginning to think that my scale did not display #'s less than 200...I attached progress photos and I can see the difference in the photos but when I look in the mirror I pretty much see myself the same as I was pre-surgery...I had a girlfriend tell me that it was funny that when I was bigger I saw myself as a sexy b*tch..and now as I have getting smaller I am seeing myself as a slob...I dont really know where I lost myself..I do remember feeling good about me or at least I played the role so well that I believed I liked myself at some point in my "big life"...Now, I critique myself so hard on that and I am almost uncomfortable in my own skin...I need for my self image and confidence to catch up with my smaller waistline...It is sometimes hard to process the compliments because I am thinking what do these folk see...In fact, I told this one guy, I wanted to see myself through his eyes...He had always adored me even at my biggest and now he can't wait to see me in the morning to shower me with compliments... HW 232 & SW 227 (VSG 08/17/12 & 5'8) LW 201.2 CW 199 [Exactly 44lbs away from goal] GW 155

Re alcohol: I drink wine about 2-3x a week. A big band no-no is to stay away from sodas or anything with carbonation. The bubbles can make you feel pain and stretch your pouch. I take a sip of my husbands soda occasionally. But I'm a rule breaker (and I've also had a band slip, so learn from me!). You're not sposed to drink at the same time as you eat so that you don't wash down the food that it's your pouch before satiation is found. Over the last 3 yrs, I've attempted numerous times (especially while eating spicy foods) to break this rule also, but it never stays down. Some banders get what they call the "cork effect", which is the food that sits in your esophagus acts as a cork and when you add liquid to it, out it all comes. It's now been 3 yrs and it still does the same thing. I will honestly tell you - if you're a rule breaker, you might want to look into something else. I wish I had followed the rules from day 1 (but alas, I didn't) - maybe then I wouldn't still be dealing with a slipped band 6 mths later. That said, I luv my band! Would do it again in a heartbeat! It has helped me take off almost 100 lbs and get to a size 8. I think I would just have done things a little differently, if I could. Good luck with your decision! Marci