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I started out with a relatively low BMI and had a self-pay surgery with Dr. Lopez in Puerto Vallarta mid-August. It was the best health-related decision I've made in years. I've lost just 50 pounds, am eating SUPER healthfully and I don't miss processed foods, bad carbs, alcohol and diet soda. And I have my passion back for my workouts. God bless this crazy sleeve!

Debbie, your transformation is amazing. Liz, you nailed it when you promised yourself you won't leave the boards. As you guys know, I stalled for a year (yeah, I know a year is technically not a stall) and then gained a little over ten pounds before I was ready to get my sshit together. I wasn't ready until I was ready. But once I was, miracle of miracles, my band was as reliable as ever. In December I cleaned up my food. I dropped the crap that I knew was causing my weight gain. Dumped the fried everything. Dumped the movie crapcorn. Focused on p rotein instead of bread and p asta. Alcohol was already gone. I tracked the food honestly and even bought a kitchen food scale and used it. I faced the truth about what I was eating. And the truth was that I was regularly eating over 2000 calories a day. No way was this old shot-metabolism, zero-exercise body going to lose weight on that amount of calories per day. Slowly I got my calories down to approximately 1100-1200 per day. I've gone from 204 down to 189 since December. It's been slow but it's coming off. And that "tightened" my band without an additional adjustment. Funny how this contraption works. Feed it lean solid p rotein and no sliders for a couple of weeks and restriction comes back. Don't give up on yourself. I don't know why I stagnated for a year. Furthermore I don't know what emotionally kicked my butt into reenergizing. I have my theories, but today the reasons are less important than the success I am experiencing. It feels good to feel good again. You will too.

I try and stay away from processed food as much as possible, and Protein bars are heavily processed. That being said, I do use them on occasion when I'm in a pinch because they are still a whole lot better than a lot of other options! I have struggled finding one that taste decent and don't upset my stomach (a lot of them just make me feel crappy!). For me, the best ones I've found so far are the NuGo Slim bars. They have no artificial sweeteners (no sugar alcohols) and only 3g of sugar. The 3g of sugar is due to the fact that they are covered in real dark chocolate. They are not terribly sweet, but taste ok, and don't upset my stomach. You can generally find them at Whole Foods, or online of course: If you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0098IYDQW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Well i am glad it has been a good journey so far! I hear it will get better a lot of people are intolerant to water at first! That is good you haven't had any dehydration issues! that terrifies me honestly! Isn't that funny that water and vitamins are what give you trouble haha. Dang it! how did you do with protein shakes? Ah yeah i can see alcohol doing that, i am not an avid drinker but i dont mind it every once in a while and honestly its usually during travel! But yeah i would avoid it if it stalled my weight loss too! You seem like you are doing amazing though! We are the same height and basically same weight (starting) i am excited to follow your journey since we have a similar BMI! Yes Scotland was AMAZING the people, the weather (i like mild weather not hot), the architecture! Where are you staying? We thoroughly enjoyed Edinburgh over Glasgow its much older but they both are really cool and the train ride in between cities is so short! like 50 mins each way! No i have never been to Paris, Brussels, or Amsterdam! I am soo excited! I have heard amazing things about paris so i am really looking forward to it! Anything you did there that you would reccommend i know you say you didnt spend much time there but i am curious Also Italy was a close second on our list i have heard nothing but good things about Rome! I love Europe in general! If i could move there i probably would!

Yes, I tasted a couple of sips of a Michelada. BIG mistake. Not anxious to repeat alcohol any time soon--including my beloved wine. Honestly, I thought I'd miss it. But I do not. I'm much happier with tea. And plus, any time pre-surg that I had alcohol of any kind, I stalled for 4 days. I could count it on the calendar. And I'd usually go up a couple pounds about 2 days after drinking. It SUCKED!

What suffering? This surgery is supposed to be life changing. It can be if you change your life. You also have to change your thinking. Head hunger, scale watching, thinking about food all the time, focusing on the negative... These all have to become past behaviors. You are feeling sorry for yourself. Do you have kids? What do you tell them when they feel sorry for themselves. You made a courageous decision. One that cannot be made lightly or impulsively because it takes too long, costs too much, and makes you think all the way up to surgery day. AND YOU MADE THE RIGHT DECISION. You are going to LIVE. Not just exist on a couch. It is ok to feel this frustration. Understand where it comes from. It comes from you, your past life, your ability to see change through, and ability to find a way through it. You need strength. You needs support. You need encouragement. You probably have all three or you would not have gotten this far. Don't throw in the towel. You are losing weight, making progress and changing your life. Just like alcoholics go thru DT's, you may be having head issues. Food is all around us and has been a safety blanket for most of us here. YOU CAN DO THIS. Find help today to talk to and see you through these tough days. It will get better!!!! You were wonderful to get this far... Keep going!!!! TJ

G'day Rightsize:) Welcome to the Forum There's not a lot of activity on this Aussie roll call thread, however there are many threads for you on this forum site. A few are from Melbourne Australia and made there own Melbourne chat thread. So I look forward to and welcome some chat and activity in here at "aussie roll call" Now to answer your question about Alcohol, I guess I'm a casual social drinker and get drunk probably 3 times a year hahaa. So alcohol does not play a big part in my life. Since my surgery of course it has remained the same to pretty non existent. Like a few have mentioned alcohol is empty calories, so I guess you will weigh up your choices at the time. I'm working really hard to stay low calorie and low fat as possible. I can't afford the luxury of alcohol calories lol. I can't see how if your careful a few drinks will do much harm. Amourette: Welcome to the Forum Feel free to drop in and share your journey anytime. I'm still in early days of my banding. I struggled for the first 2 weeks. I seemed to bounce out from that struggle for the past 3 weeks and been on cloud nine (heaven) However I had an extremely emotional day today and wanted to fall back into "Bad" habbit eating. I was looking for food for my comfort. It shattered me becuase I thought I had passed through that stage. I guess it's always around to remind and taunt me. CHEERS to all Happy, Healthy Eating

I don't have time to read the last three pages this morning, but I wanted to pop in and say hello. We got moved, finally got phone and internet and I've lost 5 pounds in the last week! I'm pretty happy. I found a book about drinking Water. It said that we should drink 1 ounce per 2 pounds of body weight and then 1 ounce for every 2 ounces of soda, alcohol or sugary drinks that we consume. That makes my water intake about twice what I had been doing. I think that plus the extra physical activity of moving plus sticking to my challenge plan has really made a difference. I plan on keeping it up with everything else I'm doing. I finally got to do some specific exercise, rather than just moving related exertion. It feels great and I'm so grateful to be able to do it! The move was so much easier this time around and I feel like I was able to be an active partner for my husband and not let time do most of the work like last time and the time before that and the time before that. . . My weight was 187 yesterday. That is lower than I've been in at least 12 years. Some of my size 14s are getting loose. (Others are still just fine.) So it's a good day. I'll come back and read what you all have been up to the last few days when I have a little more time.

Those fiber gummies can be a great help however, they can also cause loose BM, they have sugar alcohols in them (not to be confused as sugar). They also cause GAS so they might be your problem or at least part of it. They say on the box itself that they can cause gas and not to exceed one serving a day which is generally two gummies equal to 5 grams of fiber. They will not bind you, on the contrary, they will have the opposite effect. If you are eating fruit, try one that can be binding such as banannas. Also, you might want to see your doctor to have a test to see what could be going on in your intestinal tract. Change up the veggies you are eating and see if that helps. Also, perhaps you need more Protein in the form of meat, seafood or other non-fiber forms - some protein sources such as Protein shakes and other processed protein foods for bariatric patients contact fiber and/or sugar alcohols. Good luck.

You're right... actually i was hoping i could get him to do something too, he's overweight as well. His dad had a quadruple bypass in his 30s i believe, my mothers 1st heart attack was at 34, both my maternal and paternal grandmothers died at 57 due to heart conditions, diabetes and prescription drug abuse, and one of them was an alcoholic as well. Sent from my LG-E980 using the BariatricPal App

Just my opinion, but I would say stay away from it...alcohol has lots of sugar in it...but have fun!

The orthostatic hypotension is not unusual with rapid weight loss, and is one of several ramifications of your body still trying to function at your old weight when there is substantially less of you at hand - we often feel cold for the same reason, that the body is still trying to cool what is no longer there. These things do improve over time, though it may be a year or two. In the meantime, as the docs and others suggest, more salt, lots of fluids (non-alcoholic), and also exercise is also a common prescription to "keep things pumping" On the exercise front - this should improve things, but let your trainer know that you have this problem so they can watch for it. Also, another side effect of the rapid loss is that your heartrate will likely be lower, at rest and in activity, so if the trainer is pushing to achieve some specific heartrate to indicate some level of exertion, (often it is 80+% of a theoretical maximum rate) their measurement scale may be skewed and they may push you harder than they should. When I was 2-3 months out, I noticed that exercise (brisk walking short of a jog) that used to get my heart into that 80% zone (140-150 for me at the time) would barely get me over 100; even today, years later, my resting pulse is low, often 50 or below, and doctors/nurses unfamiliar with me will question it (yes, it's normal) though my BP is normal to a touch high. So, the exercise should be OK, but let them know and don't let them push you too hard - your cardiac system may have excess capacity, but you may be evertaxed elsewhere. Your ketone levels have little to do with whether or not you are losing weight. They are in indication that you are burning fat. but that can be ingested fat as well as stored fat. If you want to burn your stored fat, you need a good caloric deficit, and it matters little what style of diet is used to accomplish that - low fat, low carb, keto, paleo, Atkins, whole 30 or whatever it may be. I used a relatively high carbohydrate diet (by Atkins/keto standards - 100ish g/day) and lost quite rapidly - because of the fairly high caloric deficit; ketones were there in the blood tests because I was burning my fat stores, but those readings weren't a goal. The high fat/low carb type diets a la keto and paleo are popular these days, but the high calorie levels that often accompany them can sometimes make weightloss difficult. Clinically, high fat/low carbohydrate diets are often prescribed to avoid or minimize weight loss after a non-WLS gastrectomy, so if you are trying to use such a diet for weight loss, you have to keep a close eye on calorie levels. Being four months out, you should still be fairly restricted in you eating volume so that you should still be losing at a reasonable pace, but if you are ingesting too many calories by "eating around" your wLS - drinking calories or very high calorie foods - then you can see low or no loss at this point.

That’s three stressful things you’re dealing with in your life: new job, new way of eating and giving up alcohol. Yikes. Parties are hard with everyone eating & drinking around you ... esp here on Aust Day. 🤣 If you manage this, life post weight loss surgery will be a breeze. Have fun!

I entertain clients often and have found if I tell the server ahead of time and in private that I'm going to order an alcoholic drink but please make it a virgin Noone even suspects that I'm not drinking alcohol

Hey guys so I'm a month plus after surgery, was just wondering when I can start drinking again... Moderately, but still. You gotta live a little, right? Already lost 40 pounds in like a month!

People are going to judge with me saying this, but I drink probably a few times a month. I entertain customers and as much as people say you can fake it, it makes things awkward in my industry if you have always drank and all of a sudden stop. I haven't had any issues - just take it slow because it hits harder and faster and goes away sooner than before (for me). I haven't lost as much as I thought I would have and I'm sure drinking had something to do with it. But so do the long hours and the travel and other life circumstances. I'm following my diet very closely but still have problems with hydration (yes I know alcohol makes it worse). Hard liquor had been a bad idea. wine has been fine. Good luck and you do you.

Perhaps some of it may have to do with Pandemic? My alcohol consumption increased dramatically since March. I’ve been trying (albeit not very hard) to deal with it by keeping it out of the house. I find if there’s none around, then I can go without just fine. Problem is I eventually go out to get some. Boredom, I think.

Great thread! I am a slow loser. I'm 13 weeks post op today and I've lost 35lbs. It's slow and I stall a lot. I have good restriction, my portion sizes are tiny and I've all but given up drinking alcohol which is a big deal for me. I could be disappointed with my weight loss but that would be stupid ad for the first time in my life I KNOW this is going to work and I will be slim! There are days when I fret and worry that I will be the one who fails or my next appointment with my surgeon will stress me out as I'm not on target but it's working, I am losing weight and I can see it now and feel so excited about the future! I do pleased that I don't obsess about food any more or over eat any more this is a freedom from an addiction that has ruined my life and for that we should be grateful. x

Hi all, I weigh 217lbs with a BMI of 37 and have yoyoed all my life with dieting. I'm 32 years old and I just set my surgery date for January 17th which has me both excited and very nervous. I am very active, exercising about 4-5 times a week so food is really where I lack control. It sounds silly but one of the things I am most nervous about is my social life. I live in Trinidad & Tobago and my husband and I socialise a lot and Trinidad has a big drinking, partying and eating culture! I see the life post surgery as a path to getting healthy, exercising more and my husband and I are even talking about setting a goal of participating in a 5k late next year. I'm curious how others have dealt with a big change in their social lifestyles. I noticed a few of you discussing Thanksgiving, how have you dealt/ plan to handle the holiday. We do not have Thanksgiving but Christmas and Carnival are huge celebrations surrounded with food and alcohol. At Christmas you go from house to house and it's seen as rude to not have a drink or something to eat!

Oh yeah, I also cut out ALL liquid calories. That means no more mochas in the morning, no more hot coffees in the afternoon, no more alcohol in the evenings (except on a rare occasion). I have started drinking green tea at work, hot because it seems like I am ALWAYS cold. OF course the rain where we are doesn"T help much.

Hey Guys, Just checking in. Its exactly a week since I was banded and I feel pretty good. Ive pulled my bandaids off and my incisions are healing pretty well. Im getting a little over the liquid stage and have introduced a few creamy Soups (with a bit of watering down) so feel a bit better, cant wait to get onto muchies in another week though. I still havent started an excercise regime but promised myself Id start on Monday. Ive still lost 5.8 kilos (12.8 pounds) so far anyway but I imagine that a bit of that will come back on on the mushie stage. Is that usual? Last night I was a bit naughty, I had a spoonfull of my friends spagetti bolognaise and chewed, chewed, chewed to death. Felt fine juts very full. After our movie I had half a glass of red wine (I would have normally had half the bottle or more or beer which is what he had - killed me). Im not sure if we are allowed to have alcohol in the liquid stage, anyone know? I felt fine just a bit tipsy but I put that down to lack of food. (With my bowl of Soup and half a glass of red wine, he joked I was the cheapest date Id ever been - true ha ha) Anyway just wanted to check in to keep me on the right path. Lily x

Okay guys & gals - your turn to talk to me again..... day 2 of pre-op diet, and have given up coffee, alcohol, carbs, sugar all in one hit - stupid, stupid girl!!! Am having some severe withdrawals at the mo, feels similar to when I gave up smoking 9 years ago........................ Did I mention that I am so damn intelligent that I timed this with school holidays!!!!!!!!aaaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhh................. bloo dy children!!!! Am starting to feel better already - it must be the extreme punishment I am inflicting on my keyboard - kinda soothing!!! How did everyone else cope with the first few days?? tah

Wow, I never thought I would tell my business on the web, but LoveIsLovely it seems like I wrote this myself...a childhood of sexual abuse, followed by a teenage sexual assault. Toss in a tense, broken family situation and here I am. When I went away to college I went wild with the food and I swore exercise was something only "white folks" did. And then the drinking began and I would find myself coming home from class or work every night with a 15 piece order of wings, a large order of cheese wedges, and a bottle of Paul Masson brandy. And I'd top it all off with a Black and Mild cigar. Real classy, huh? By my final year of school, I had gained 60 lbs. I never thought (and still don't think) I had a food obsession. It just tasted damn good, and I had nothing better to do. But I have since acknowledged my issues with alcohol and the underlying esteem issue. When I had my pre-op psych consult, I planned to breeze through with a pasted smile and a story about portion control. But I found myself spilling my guts to the doc, and I realized just how much my past has contributed to self-desctructive behavior. It's been a tough ride, but with God on my side, and the band in my belly, I'm working toward a truly healthy life.

Start at a lower dose than you normally would. Like alcohol you will absorb more if you are bypass. I made that mistake and got super sick and fainted. Mortifying!!!

My daughter was sleeved on 4/4/16. Has been having nausea dry heaving. The recovery nurse showed her a trick with alcohol prep pads. Just rips one open sticks it under her nose. Works wonders. Hope this helps some one else. Good luck every one