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I quit coffee for six weeks after surgery. Now over 2 months out, I drink two mugs of coffee in the morning (but do not continue to drink it throughout the day like I used to), and it tastes delicious! BTW, I gave up alcohol July 1 (I formerly drank 1/2 glass wine 3-4 nights per week with dinner) and don't miss it.

Okay...here goes. Friday: The "sweet" french bread, should be sugar free, and 100% whole wheat is always better. Salami is loaded with fat. Try a leaner meat. If it's to dry, add a little moisture without adding fat. A nice mustard maybe? The cheese (gouda) is okay. The potato augratin with cream... Cream is very high in fat. Can you substitute 2% milk? the salad is very good. Saturday: Again, watch the sugar in the brioche. Maybe limit the bread to once a day. The moule marnier is an excellent Protein. So is the fois gras, just a little high in fat, but you didn't eat a lot, so that's good. Limit wine to one glass per day? Alcohol is a lot of empty calories. the ice cream desert... Sounds wonderful. Nuts have some good protein, but they are high in fat. So is the ice cream unless you were able to get fat free ice cream. The meringue isn't to bad. It's mostly egg whites and air with a touch of sugar. I would add some more vegetables. Sunday: Again... no vegetables. The mussels are an excellent source of protein. Limit the bread. Croissants are made with butter. High in fat. Monday: Other than the chocolate bar, this looked like a good day, although it appears you may not have eaten enough. One meal a day will leave you hungry. The curry sounds wonderful. I love curry, and it helps moisten any meat. It's easy to stew things in curry without adding calories. the prawns are an excellent source of protein. If you like it, by all means continue. Yesterday: This was a lot of carbs. I too love crisps and find them very difficult to avoid. I didn't see any lean meat or vegetables. The cheese and tomatoes in the lasagna is good, but you had noodles twice. To many carbs. Today: sounds delicious.This was your best day. Yogurt with a little fruit was good. Root vegetable soup. Very good. (just remember, root vegetables are higher in carbs than other vegetables) chicken breast with cabbage. Very good. Just watch the wine. I don't know where you are from, so finding vegetables may be a problem, but some of your dishes sound wonderful.

Whoa! Did you feel ok? I couldn't imagine how that would feel!!!! Glad you caught yourself!I felt okay afterwards but I understand why they say no alcohol for 6 to 8 weeks.Mine made me sign a contract saying I understood no alcohol for 3 months and that even then it would only take a few sips to get me tipsy.Well now I have blood in my stool and have to double up on these meds that they prescribe to heal our tummy. How a tiny little .... oops... can bite us in the butt. I bet I don't forget that again.

What does it mean to be “full from within?” "This concept refers to the idea that we no longer have this psychological “black hole,” that needs to be fed through external things such as; food, drugs, alcohol, spending, relationships, gambling." ~ Dr. Colleen, The Psychology of Finally Being Full From Within To be truly full from within means that our “tank” is mentally full. In other words, our self, although beaten up, bruised, and broken sometimes as a result of our journey down each of our unique life’s path - is repaired and felt as whole again. Like a patchwork quilt that only gets stronger as a result of its many tears and reparations. How does one achieve this, you ask? Borrowing from Aaron Beck’s cognitive triangle - we have three components of the mind that work to repair the self: THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, BEHAVIORS. These are the different components that must be running on all four cylinders to ensure that we aren’t at risk of developing or perpetuating an unhealthy relationship with any of the topics mentioned above, for the purposes of this article, specifically - food. Thoughts To Repair The Self Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy is a 25 cent term to describe the process of looking at the old tapes we run in our minds day in and day out for years upon years, and stopping them in their tracks, and replacing them with new ones. A hallmark approach in Byron Katie’s book “Loving What Is,” is to continuously challenge one’s thoughts by asking “is that really true?” 13 If we deem that we can’t say with absolute certainty that a thought is true, then we can replace it with a more constructive thought. For instance, if we find ourselves with a running narrative that goes something like “you are just never going to be someone that stands out, it’s ok you have other good traits,” then what is the behavior and feelings that it produces? Perhaps the person goes on feeling invisible like many people who are overweight feel. Maybe the person gives up on trying to stand out in the way they look and participate in life. Feelings To Repair The Self For my clients suffering from depression, I will often assign them a task of doing one social event, one bout of exercise (if they have never been inclined to exercise), and one learning activity (lecture, take a CE, attend a webinar, go to a pottery class, painting class, attend a speaking event). Many of them balk at the idea. Some of them have been doing things their way for years and there is an undercurrent of fear related to breaking their routine. It is almost as if the depression has a voice that says “don’t do it, you will only feel worse.” We must realize that when we have depression, our mind is sick. It is no longer serving us, and the messages are coming from crossed wires. In order to uncross those wires, we must physically and literally put one foot in front of the other and re-engage in those activities that we know from the research lead to a sense of happiness or at least contentment. Behaviors To Repair The Self One of the biggest misconceptions about our mind is the idea that we must feel a certain way to engage in certain behaviors. In other words, we must first feel happy if we are going to go to a social event and relate to others in a positive way. However, the cognitive triangle mentioned above is tri-directional14, meaning our behaviors can influence our feelings and/or thoughts, and vice versa. This is powerful information. This means that we don’t have to wait for happiness or joy to come around to engage in behaviors we know lead to more happiness. In fact, one of my first interventions with my patients who suffer from depression is the “just do it” approach, meaning they are given the task of doing three behaviors they don’t necessarily feel like doing in the six days in between their next therapy session. To explain depression via a very simple analogy- it is like the flu for the mind. What do you typically do when you have the flu? You cancel your appointments, stay in bed, drink lots of water, and get lots of rest. The reasoning is that if we minimize the number of life events for a brief bit of time, we will heal more quickly, and we do. BUT, this is not the case with depression. The same intuition we use to combat the flu is the antithesis of what we must do to combat depression, yet somehow our instincts tell us to do the opposite. When we feel depressed, our inclination is to isolate, do less, and wait for the clouds to part. The problem with this is that this type of behavior is what feeds the depression. Suggested Behaviors Benevolence - reaching out to others and getting out of our own head, focusing on how to make someone else’s life or day better through connecting or giving. Play- engaging in something that requires enough effort that we can’t run old unhelpful tapes (I’m not good enough, other people must be more disciplined than me, things will never change, etc), but provides us with enough fun that we leave the activity feeling light, like surfing, artistry, building, writing, playing an instrument, etc. When we are kids, we spend about 95% of our day playing and even trying to find play in our responsibilities (have you ever watched a kid brush their teeth or get dressed? it is never a straightforward buttoned up process). Yet, as adults - we flip that on its head and spend 95% of our time being a human doing vs. a human being. Learning- engaging in novelty is something our brain requires to feel happy and fed. It could be as simple as learning a new card game, all the way to enrolling in an MBA course. When we allow our minds to do what they are best at - our minds give back to us. Connection- We are social creatures by nature. There is a physiological rewiring process that occurs as result of being in near proximity to other humans. It is how we survived so long ago, and our minds still provide the payoff. We are not meant to live in isolation, yet so many of us drift in this direction when they are depressed. Even introverts require some social connection. While extroverts tend to thrive and recharge their batteries on social connection, it is true that introverts recharge in their solitude. However, there is a difference between being alone vs. lonely. As introverted as you may think you are, none of us are immune to going from alone to lonely if we don’t make time for some social connection. Exercise- There are about 99 reasons to exercise and happiness is one. I’m not going to waste space and wax poetic about the many benefits of exercise because I’m sure you’re well aware. But in addition to producing endorphins that have been proven to make us feel better, as far as weight loss goes- it also makes us less likely to put junk in our bodies. Ever do an intense sweat session and then make a beeline to the nearest McDonald’s? I didn’t think so.

Your'e putting yourself in great risk by having alcohol so soon after surgery. Most docs recommend to wait at least 6 months. Your stomach is still healing and alcohol is very acidic and can mess with the healing process. You're also at a high risk of developing a dependency issue. Having two shots a day when you're probably only bringing in about 1000 calories a day isn't "light". You're definitely fooling yourself if you think that alcohol isn't having some negative impact on your weight loss!

Whoa! Did you feel ok? I couldn't imagine how that would feel!!!! Glad you caught yourself!I felt okay afterwards but I understand why they say no alcohol for 6 to 8 weeks.Mine made me sign a contract saying I understood no alcohol for 3 months and that even then it would only take a few sips to get me tipsy.Well now I have blood in my stool and have to double up on these meds that they prescribe to heal our tummy. How a tiny little .... oops... can bite us in the butt. I bet I don't forget that again. Oh wow! Hope you get healed quickly![/quote Oh man!! Hope you are feeling better! They told me no alcohol till I reach goal- at least you can try again in 4 months

Recently scientists have discovered that what we thought made ulcers (spicy foods, caffeine stress etc) are not so. Unfortunately many doctors are not up to date in the new facts. Such things may irritate existing ulcers but not cause them. (correlation, not causation). They have now learned that 70-90% of ulcers are caused by the bacteria, h pylori. That's why so many programs are now insisting on h pylori screening in the last few years. (when I had my surgery 7 years ago I didn't have such testing). NSAIDs, alcohol and some medications are also factors.

I was diagnosed with an ulcer at the anastomosis at six months post-op. I was fortunate to not have any symptoms other than mild anemia. They did a stool test and picked up some blood which was followed by an endoscopy that confirmed the ulcer. My surgeon doubled my Prevacid along with some restrictions in diet and a second endoscopy five months later showed the ulcer completely healed. Ulcers at the anastomosis are relatively rare, affecting 7% to 15% of patients and can be caused by any number of things including alcohol, spicy food, caffeine, smoking, the use of NSAIDs and increased retention of stomach acids in the pouch just to name a few. Treatment options vary widely from oral medication to additional surgery in serious (but rare) cases. Ulcers are one more very good reason to do everything you possibly can to follow your surgeon's post-op protocol as closely to the letter as you can. But even patients who follow the protocol can develop ulcers from causes beyond our control. Regardless of the cause, ulcers are almost always treatable and can often be completely resolved.

Hey girl! I feel you. My surgeon told me no alcohol for 6 months but seems it's because of calories rather than safety. I'm 7 weeks out and I've tried wine, beer and liquor (I've told y'all I'm a rule breaker....but I'm 100% honest with my support group and medical team) and beer was by far the worst. I mean two drinks and I was hurting.... thik it's the carbonation. Wine and liquor I did fine with but I'm VERY careful about the amount and I drink extra water. Good luck!

I'm down 65 since February 3rd surgery...I've indulged a few times with alcohol, ice cream and even some fast food I probably shouldn't have. The key I'm learning is moderation...once a week is fine, just not everyday like my pre surgery routine.

Hi Joyann my surgeon bit vague and said low fat and restrict alcohol but want to get in the right mindset so been checking out whey isolate protein shakes. What's the south Beach diet? Loads of people have discussed unjury and it seems like half and half

Heading out towards Mountain Springs Bar (for non-alcoholic breafast drinks, really!)

The enlarged-fatty liver. I believe alcohol can enlarge your liver, so I am laying off. High bmi people also have enlarged liver due to high percent of body fat. Since my bmi was low, I had no preop diet, but have weened myself off of diet cokes, coffee, and wine. All my vices. What size are you now? I am a 12. But I am most comfortable in a six. Most people don't think of me as fat, but I am not doing this for anyone but me and I am use to being thin. Let me add that I also have BAD sleep apnea. It has become awful lately. I am hoping a weight loss will help it. Are you self paying? And where are you looking at doing your surgery?

Needed some surgery so had to see my gen practitioner for the final OK. He ordered a battery of tests. I was surprised to see that my liver function numbers were still high after losing almost 100lbs. I understand why they were high b/4 (fatty liver) but not now. They went ahead with surgery but said I needed to retest.:biggrin: I never over do on alcohol...maybe one drink about once a month. Anyone else experience this?

All surgeons and NUTs are different. For instance, I've heard a lot of people say they were told to avoid alcohol for a year or even forever, but I just recently asked my surgeon and he said I'll be fine to drink this week, just one month post-op. I only start soft foods this week and "regular" food in a couple more. Good luck with your stall! I had a bad one last week and finally broke it this weekend.

I got stuck last night at dinner so felt pretty uncomfortable last night until early morning. Liquids again. I'm glad I didn't get another fill last tuesday but I'm confused. Why am I, so restricted now, when my last fill was in august? I am wondering if it is because I've stopped drinking completely--alcohol that is. I have eaten this same dinner on a couple of occasions in the past month and have not had trouble. I'm not stressed and am feeling pretty on top of it with motivation, mood, exercize, WL etc. Any thoughts? I 'm not complaining at all....I'd be happy if I could go without a fill for some time longer and am willing to cancel my fill again (scheduled in two weeks.) I just thought that because I could eat so much easily before January, I was in need of one. I wanted to do all I could to jumpstart my program again. I've already lost 3 pounds this week... So, I'm also thinking that maybe because I didn't work so hard on losing weight since November that maybe my body relaxed as well and is now ready to give it up!! Oh, I hope, I hope!

I've been told to be extremely carful with them. Check the sugars especially the coated ones. I've eaten about a handful of pistachios at a time and as long as I chew well, I'm ok. But at first I threw up ALLOT!!!!! It was from gall stones and after it was taken out, I haven't thrown up hardly at all. Gallbladder issues are usually common after gastric sugery because te bile that it creates is not needed to digest as much and it just sits there and inflames the organ. Not every sugary is going to advance in the same way, of coarse. But if you attempt any new food, try it with caution and, just like a baby trying new foods, take it slow. It's DEFINITELY a relearning experience about how to eat. 90 pounds down for me. And if you hate to take Vitamins, as I do, I FORCE myself to take the b12. B12 is imperative to protect our brain function and to help avoid brain shrinkage. It also increases the metabolism and is responsible, by the most part, for reproduction of red blood cells. If our red blood cells are not replenished, we can develop anemia. Tilapia is ALWAYS a good choice as long as it's not fried. Greasy fried foods may not sit well. But everyone is different. Personally, in my opinion, it was the fatty, fried, foods or sweets, along with my addiction to food that drove me to needing an "intervention". my crutch was not alcohol, drugs, smoking, or anything else that you can go cold turkey. How can you go cold turkey with food? It's impossible if you are to sustain life.

I wonder why Alcoholics Anonymous doesn't use that method of curing addiction?? Abstain from alcohol all day....but then it's OK to drink at night!! Oh, that's right. It doesn't work THAT'S WHY!!!

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

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!!

Haydee no problem at all. Will book in the morning, and make it for the early flight. I promised Rick I would wait and talk to him about the flight part. We are having a disagreement about me driving to ABQ. The direct flight from ABQ to Houston is over $300.00 cheaper! So I drive! I can spend that 300 bones there!! At any rate, it will not change anything, if it comes down to it, I will fly from Farmington to ABQ and hop that flight. Nothing to stress over for anyone but him! Laura might remember the issues of night time driving on the reservations. They are not allowed to sell alcohol on the reservation, so they come into the towns and cities, and buy it and then proceed to drink it on the way home. How the different law entities handle the problem is vastly different as well---depending whether it is reservation police or not! Makes driving on Friday- Tuesday pretty dangerous out there some times----BUT this is an off weekend. Not a government check weekend, and it is late Monday night, most of them will be home and passed out! I will be careful, I will have a phone, and likely have my gun, and be good to go! Yep girls-----------a Violet packing heat!! Not in TX though---although I am licensed and could! But shhhhh it is a secret! None of the family knows I went through the classes! Snow has melted like crazy today once it quit snowing! It is slushy & nasty out there right now, but better than snow packed! Road opened up and my DD made it back to get Kinsey. Laura, so glad you decided to go with us--it will be so much fun! Wish some of our others were able....Denise (I understand), Suzanne---didn't you have previous plans??, Gina---now what was your reason Gina??? Ms. Jen???? Cindy???? Y'all are going to miss a good time!!! And yes the itenerary sounds awesome!! I am game for it! And I know it will be sad to say good-bye when the time comes, but it will be so nice to come back here, and be able to put faces to each of you----I have a family reunion this summer, and I am no where near as psyched for it!!! LOL TTYL~~ Kat

I order from the senior menu - smaller portions like the children's menu but usually more nutritious food. Learn a while ago from a waitress that a restaurant cannot legally "card" you for your age for the senior menu - they are only allowed to check ID for alcohol.

Hey all - need some advice from me fellow nearly-theres: I have not lost any weight since Christmas and have possibly even gained 3 lbs. Now it is true that I have been struggling with bad foods, there have been doughnuts, snickers, and alcohol (oh my), but even with all that, my calories almost never top 12-1500. Even on the day when I have had a doughnut my calories are at 1200, with carbs no greater than 50. I have a lot of people, friends and strangers, comment on my exercise habits. They are all like, "wow, you work out a LOT". Which got me to thinking, yeah, you know, I DO work out a lot. So, WTF, where are the results? Five days a week I work out, and I do all the stuff you are supposed to do - change it up, cardio, don't let my body get used to a routine, Water, blahblahblah. I run over a mile a day now, do yoga twice a week, dance tango twice a week, lift weights, strength training, eat high Protein... How could my 5'3" body "want" to be at 170 pounds?? How?!! =(

Hey that's not so bad! If you can adrink wine and STILL stick to you food plan that is great. As it turns out, I got way=layed from my Wii this morning. My BIL called from Mexico(he's driving on his way back to Canada now) and my nephew is in a mental health crisis... But DNephew 'dosn't think there is anything wrong with him'.... oh my gosh. So I spent an hour on the phone with him trying to convince him that he needs to get into see a mental health provider for an assessment... US (the family) are convinced that he is BiPolar but he dosn't see it. This kid is 29 yrs old and has screwed up everything in his life with DRUGS, Alcohol, failed marriage, lost his kids to his estranged wife.... blah,blah, blah... just imaging "days of our Lives" and you get the idea. I don't think I was successful, but I planted a seed anyways and gave him some resources to check out - if he's interested. I am not optomistic, but I told my BIL that I would try to get t hru to Nephew... The rest is in God's hands... Nephew is GOing to church these days, since rehab in the fall... but to talk to him "everything" is always somebody elses problem... it is very sad. But, I am NOT eating over it,.... It is not my problem - I can only be supportive if HE wants my help.. which he made clear he does NOT want. So Wii will have to wait until after work tonight...

I am waiting for insurance approval- doc had a 3 month pre-surgery healthy steps program, to teach me to eat and exercise, see a shrink, etc . I lost 30# already but still have 100 to go... And my diabetes hasnt really improved. I know I will never make it alone without surgery. Craving sweets. QUESTION :Will i ever be able to taste those sweet things without being horribly ill? ??(dumping syndrome scares the heck outta me) Also found out that i shouldnt drink alcohol before a meal- i forget to chew or taste anything when i am that happy.