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I had my 2 year Surgiversay this past Sunday (2/22/13). My starting weight was 336 lbs. I now weigh 223 lbs. I avoid fast food, anything fried, refined sugar, alcohol and carbonated drinks. I know I would have lost more weight sooner If I would engage in some form of exercise, which I refuse to do. No excuses, not lazy but I feel I have sacrificed plenty. Enjoying my new lifestyle. I remember the days of struggling to tie my shoes like it was yesterday. Never going back!

i too was irritated that i saw the pa's postop. however you can request to see the dr too and not the pa's. but i have learned if you go to the hoffman estates office and they are running behind even though you are scheduled to see the dr they will send in the pa to keep things "moving"...i saw the asian pa twice (i forget her name) and then another one with curly brown hair once when i was supposed to see rantis. but rantis did make an appearance at the end of the appointment to see me. as far as your incision, did you have single site in the belly button? i didn't have problems during the healing phase but now that my stomach is frumping over from weight loss it gets infected quite frequently. and maybe irritated is a better word than infected. i have learned its from the moisture and the inside of my button not drying out. i stick a cotton ball in there for about an hour after a bath/shower to dry out the Water that may be left behind. it helps. i have also used a q-tip with a little alcohol on it to help dry out the water. but again this was after mine was healed. i have a very deep innie . hope it clears up for you!!! and its completely normal to hit a stall around 3/4 weeks. if you do a search on the dreaded 3 week stall a lot of posts will come up about it. just follow the plan and i promise you it will start again. make sure you are getting your water in. i learned water is truly the secret to flushing out your system. i think between the rapid loss with the 2 week liquid and the rapid loss those first couple weeks, your loss definitely trails off for a week or 2 around 3 or 4 weeks. i think our bodies are like "what is happening". and they take a couple week hiatus to figure it out and catch up. that is my crazy thought anyways. feel free to pm me if you have any questions!!!!

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in a few days! We r getting to a busy time of year. I'm just gonna touch on a couple of things here...first...alcohol. Lol on all these posts! I must say...i no longer drink...that was until black Friday. I hadn't had any alcohol on almost 2 years, but we were out with friends so I thought I'd have one with the DH. I had may 3 sips of it and was already buzzed like crazy. Good thing the food came so I couldn't drink. I finally gave the rest to the DH. Lol. Congrats to all of us...even if we're not doing so great. Look how far we've come!! I'm now at 98 lbs gone. Yay! I don't post yesterday so I will now for the Monday weigh in...164! I hope you all have a blessed day!

Hi all. Sorry I didn't post last Monday. I was at 174.5 which was the same as the previous Monday. I did we'll with Thanksgiving, we went to our friends' house. They sent home some leftovers but one meal of leftovers is certainly better than a houseful! Yesterday I was at 170.5 for a total loss of 81 pounds. I'd like to be at 85 by Christmas but I'm hesitant to make that a "goal". It seems like anytime I set a specific goal I end up sabotaging myself; but if I just plug along and see what happens my results are always better. I should probably reflect more on that! On the topic of alcohol, I'm still okay with wine (my poison of choice). I haven't tried any liquor drinks, but I have a feeling they would hit me a lot faster. I try to stay away from beer because of the carbonation. If I do have beer I usually go VERY slowly and end up giving half of it to my hubby. Two NSV's - bought a pair of size 12 (curvy fit) pants; now I just need to focus on my thunder thighs and bat wings! I also survived my first holiday open house. I did about one small round of grazing, didn't even fill up a small plate, and I was done (plus two glasses of wine - told you it was my fave!) Prior to the band I would have stood at the table without a plate and just gnoshed!

Sweet Tea Cokes Steak .... Drinking with meals (non alcohol)

I was wondering the something about Beer and Diet Coke. I get banded Dec 18 and looking forward to it. I will try and enjoy the company with no alcohol knowing what the outcome of being healthy will be.

There are a number of reasons someone's liver can be enlarged. For us who are obese it's usually a nonalcoholic fatty liver, but it could be caused by hepatitis, autoimmune conditions, alcoholic fatty liver, cysts, gallbladder issues, mono.. It doesn't sound like she had any identified problem aside from maybe NAFLD. OP - I'm so sorry, I can imagine this is fairly traumatic. I do wonder if it's just the surgeon's level of skill, confidence, or just the liver size that determines a surgeon's plan of action. It does seem to vary widely - for example, I was 325 pre-surgery, 321 on surgery day, and only had a prescribed diet of Clear liquids the day before surgery, no pre-op diet. My surgeon didn't mention any problems with my liver. Do you have any comorbidities that might have affected it? I am surprised that on that low of calorie diet that you didn't lose more than 8 pounds. I really hope you hang in there and follow the diet again (You can do it!) and kick those 20 pounds to the curb so that you can get your surgery done. After this whole ordeal, you deserve to be dropping some weight and feeling great.

I am 15 months out. I used to drink at least 2 Diet Dr Peppers per day plus a large unsweetened McD's iced tea. I don't miss the soda AT ALL. My surgeon allowed me to have carbonated beverages and alcohol starting at 6 months after surgery. I do have a drink occasionally. It is no longer beer. Now I will have a glass of red wine or a Fireball on the rocks. I had a sip of my husband's Diet Dr. Pepper the other day since I had a nasty taste in my mouth. It was a small sip. It was enough to know that I don't think my sleeve would be happy with me if I drank a soda. It was too fizzy. It was enough to know I don't miss it so there is no reason to go back to drinking it. I drink a good 80 oz of water flavored with MIO a day. I don't want to replace any of that with something that doesn't "count" due to the caffeine or sodium. As far as spicy I can eat anything I had before surgery. My stomach has been very tolerant. If anything it has been better now since I also no longer have GERD which I had prior to WLS. I will have the occasional wing, as in 1 wing, if my husband gets an order. We always get the bone-in with no breading. So they aren't the healthiest from a fat perspective but they are low carb. Only you can determine what you are willing to change and give up to no longer be obese. WLS isn't for everyone. I would NEVER recommend it to my husband. He is a meat and potatoes kinda guy. He hates fruit and eats only a couple of vegetables. He loves diet soda. He probably drinks 3 liters a day. That is all he drinks other than summer he will drink some G2 Gatorade. He likes his beer and does not drink any other alcohol. He likes bread, pasta, waffles, desserts, cookies, ice cream A high protein, lower fat, low carb diet would not work very well for him. I don't see him being able to change his diet enough to be compliant.

Well I'm happy to report I NEVER abused food or alcohol. I nurtured and loved and coddled every single bite and swallow!

Your right re Hollywood Metal! I find it hard to fathom why anybody would want to emulate the likes of Nicole Ritchie, Hilton and Lohan who all drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol. But hey, they are thin and that's all that counts right? Absolute buzzards. Susannah

Well, I do have a bedroom which is painted a steel blue. All the furniture (desk, table, chest of drawers) is a rich chocolate brown, so the blue complements the furniture very nicely. My style is somewhere between European contemporary and modern -- no patchwork and no crockery anywhere. However, each room in my house is a different color, and I'm sure that would drive you nuts. I'm with you on Angelina. She's a total freak, and it irritates the hell out of me that she thinks she knows anything about anything. Movie stars have no sense of reality because they live in a totally fake world. The only subjects they are qualified to speak on are 1) hair styles, 2) cosmetics, 3) fashion, 4) plastic surgery, and 5) drug/alcohol abuse. The mere sight of Ben Affleck angers me. And Tom Cruise, too. What a freak! Keep you mouth shut, Tom. We're all sick of you.

Okay, so my pre-op diet starting two weeks before surgery will be 900 calories a day with at least 70g of protein, less than 30g of carbs and less than 10g of fat. No caffeine, no alcohol and no carbonated beverages. The day before surgery I will be on clear liquids only, and no red food coloring (first time I've seen that specified). The Post Op diet will consist of four stages, during which I need to try and get 800 calories, 70 -100g protein and 64 oz water (or other liquids) per day. Stage 1--Clear Liquids. Weeks 1 & 2. Includes water, sugar free Jell-O, SF popsicles, crystal light, SF Kool Aid, Propel, Fruit 2.0, broth (veggie, beef or chicken) or clear protein drinks like Syntrax Nectar. Stage 2- Full Liquids. Weeks 3 & 4. adds fat-free milk, low-fat strained soups, and protein shakes. Add vitamins at this stage. Stage 2.5--Pureed Foods. Weeks 5 & 6. adds blended soups, baby food from a jar (meat or veggies only), light sugar-free yogurt, no-sugar-added apple sauce, cottage cheese, pureed beans (but not from a restaurant due to high fat content), pureed tofu, pureed lean meats except for beef, well-cooked pureed non-starchy veggies. (no carrots, peas, potatoes, corn, etc) Stage 3--Soft Diet. Weeks 6 -12. slowly add tender meats (still no beef), flaky fish, low-fat cheese, egg whites or Eggbeaters, beans, tofu, occasional soft fruits, well-cooked or canned veggies. Avoid tough or stringy veggies. Chew, chew, chew. Avoid all liquids with calories such as milk, V-8 and soups. Protein drinks are allowed to achieve your protein requirements. Stage 4--Regular Diet. Forever. You should be able to tolerate almost anything now, including lean beef, shellfish, raw veggies and small amounts of complex starches. An approximate meal for someone at this stage will be 1/2 a piece of chicken, 2 broccoli florets and two tablespoons of brown rice. Eat protein first, veggies and fruit second, and starches last--if you have room. Avoid sugar and large amounts of fats. No snacking.

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some advice/support with regards to my eating habits and dealing with a stall. I'm 9 months post op VSG and I had my surgery on Sept 16th 2016. My highest weight ever was 310 pounds, my surgery consult weight was 285 pounds, and I was 265 pounds the day of surgery after the pre-op liquid diet. I'm now 183 pounds for a total loss of 102 pounds since my pre-op liquid diet, and 82 pounds since the day of my surgery. My goal weight is 150 pounds and I'm 5' 7". Now I'm not new to stalls at all - I've gone through every stall in the book so far. I've had major stalls at 3 weeks post op, 1 month post op, 3 months post op, 6 months post op, and now here I am stalling again at 9 months post op. But what has me really worried this time is that I thought I had finally broke my stall a few weeks ago but my weight shot back up again today, and I even gained weight! I've been stuck at 183 pounds since the beginning of June, but I weighed in two weeks ago at 178 and I was thrilled. I had been eating 600-800 calories a day, 70-100 grams of protein, and below 20 grams of net carbs (most days being around 15). I thought I had broken through my stall but after seeing 178 that one time, I weighed in over the next few days around 180-181 even though my eating habits didn't change. I got really frustrated and told myself I'd do a little experiment...I thought maybe I wasn't eating enough, and even my nutritionist advised me to increase my calories and carbs because I've been eating this way since the very beginning post op. Starting last Friday, I tried for one week to eat 900 calories a day, still keeping between 70-100 grams of protein, increasing my water intake to over 64oz a day, and eating slightly higher carbs (below 30 net carbs per day) to try and break the stall. (By net carbs I mean I subtract both sugar alcohols and fiber from my total carb count). So I did that for a week and promised not to weigh myself for the whole week until again next Friday, and lo and behold when I weighed myself today I gained weight and am now back at 183 pounds! I don't know if I'm losing inches because I don't measure myself - but my clothes size has stayed the same and I feel like my progress pics since last month look the same. :/ Maybe that's just me though and I'm psyching myself out, but I'm feeling so upset and frustrated and depressed, I don't know what to do! I weigh and measure everything I eat down to the gram and track everything on myfitnesspal everyday. I eat clean - no ice cream, pizza, chips, etc. or other junk whatsoever. Some staples in my diet are premier protein shakes, chicken, shrimp, low fat cheeses, nuts, low fat greek yogurt, protein granola, peanut butter, and eggs. I always stick to non-starchy veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, brussel sprouts, cucumber, green beans, and spinach. Things I eat occasionally are half a slice of a high fibre/high protein low carb pita or loaf, a protein bar on long days at work where I do some heavy lifting for an extra boost, or a high fibre/high protein muffin cake (Smartcakes) sweetened with erythritol as a treat (just tried these very recently though - while they have good stats I don't know if I'll continue to buy them or avoid). During my little 'experiment' this week, I increased my carbs mainly from healthy sources: small amounts of strawberries, high fibre whole grain cereals, and lots more veggies like broccoli and cucumber. I ate more frequently in the day by adding an extra snack or small meal to up my calories to 900 a day, but I never eat less than 3 hours apart. I never eat and drink at the same time and always wait at least 30 minutes between drinking and eating. On days I'm low in fibre I'll add fibre-enhanced crystal lite to my water to get in enough fibre each day as well (still can't tolerate plain water yet sadly - makes me really nauseous). I cook using cooking spray to make sure I'm using as limited amounts of oil as possible. I take my PPI, multivitamin, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D3 + Calcium supplements everyday as well. Here is myfitnesspal account where I have my food diary visible, so any advice on what I'm eating would be really appreciated: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/avatarkorraa As for exercise, that's been a bit of a challenge because I've been experiencing some severe chronic fatigue and muscle weakness ever since my surgery. I feel really exhausted, light-headed, dizzy, and weak all of the time, and even simple tasks like walking up the stairs has become more much challenging since surgery. I know people are supposed to feel like they have much more energy after WLS, but sadly for me it's been quite the opposite (and I'm very young too to boot - only 21 years old). I don't know if this is because I'm not eating enough or because of some other underlying health problem, though. My labs are all perfect but I do suffer from PCOS sadly, and I have pretty low blood pressure. I'm not completely sedentary though - my job requires me to do some moderate heavy lifting once a week (which is difficult to do in the state I'm in now but I try my best) and I'm certainly not housebound or anything as I'm always out and about running errands. I really do want to implement some sort of formal exercise program into my daily routine though, but sadly I have next to no energy all the time and my muscles and joints are in a lot of pain everyday. Eating closer to 900 calories this week helped me feel a little more energized, but not by much. In the meantime I'm following up with my doctor to see if there's something I can do about this so I can start exercising soon, because I really want to . Anyways, any advice/support would be really appreciated! I really want to reach my goal of 150lbs but it's so hard not to get discouraged during times like this. Seeing the scale shoot back up to 183 pounds today really scares me and I just don't know where to go from here, and I'm honestly too terrified to eat anything now. Thank you so much for reading and I wish you all the best on your respective journeys!

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

In Australia the police now do random roadside drug testing for marijuana as they do random breath testing for alcohol.

There's absolutely no physical reason why you couldn't because of the lap band. You need to factor it into your calorie intake for the day, though, as the empty calories in alcohol add up pretty quickly (roughly 135-190 cal per glass). You can get caught in a situation where you have used the restriction the band gives you to keep yourself content on a 1000-1200 cal a day diet, then blow it out the water with 2-3 glasses of sweet wine. My advice would be - use it sparingly, but don't cut it out altogether and don't forget to count the calories! PS: You may find that your tolerance for alcohol drops significantly. I know mine did! I used to be able to drink half a bottle of scotch easily and on a "heavy" night, could down the whole thing. These days 2 scotches gives me a really strong buzz and I don't dare go beyond 3 in case it makes me sick. I think it is because I don't have that "cushion" of food in my stomach to help slow the alcohol absorbtion rate - like drinking on an empty stomach all the time.

obviously Australia is full of ridiculous "pot-heads", because there are so many of you on here. The only reason any of you are so upset about my opinions, is because you are part of the problem. I was just voicing my opinion about drugs, (BTW if you had paid more attention, you would have read that I said alcohol was worse than marijuana), and voicing opinions is what everyone is doing on here. You don't need to get so upset because being overweight is the least of your problems!

Sorry been a couple of days since I checked in, busy weekend. Went to a beer festival and enjoyed every last drop since I won't be having it anymore. My surgeon says that I need to avoid alcohol for one year, after that a glass of wine here and there is not a big deal. They really feel it's just empty calories, so not a good thing for weight loss. But after having the surgery apparently one glass is plenty, as we will absorb it much quicker. He said we'd be cheap dates. :-) I did get my insurance approval, in fact my office won't schedule surgery until it's done. My process was very fast, about one month start to finish. I would have had my surgery this month, but am traveling and asked for it the 15th when I'm back and my mom can come down to help with the kids. It's great to see so many September bandsters.

I always thought that I was not addicted to food.. One reason I still think so.. is because.. after having the sleeve.. I dont really miss food.. all I really miss is chuging water.. food.. not really! I go out with friends to buffet lunches and I expect to feel depressed or something.. but don't.. But the scale has a different story to tell.. I have no linking for carbonated drinks before.. do not drink alcohol...don't smoke.. even without the sleeve.. I was eating less than 800 calories a day.. that low calories was partly because I worked/studied for atleast 16 hours a day.. and did not care much about eating when I was working.. lunch was my only meal.. and slept for less than 4 hours each night.. But.. then came the weekends.. and I would eat.. breakfast.. lunch.. and dinner.. well under 2000 cals.. but more than twice of what i used to eat the rest of the week.. umm.. and I wondered why I was gaining weight! all I am eating is a salad for lunch each day! I screwed up my metabolism.. thats' why! Just before I had the surgery.. I took a new job.. and don't work for more than 8 hours a day.. I sleep for atleast 7 hours each night.. (havent been able to do that for the last 11 years..) I actually get in more calories now after the sleeve..but not sweked towards the weekends.. So..honestly..now.. I dont know if I am addicted to food.. am I?

Hemlock grows from the good earth too. Ask Socrates what it can do for ya. I don't have any more issue with pot than I do with alcohol. I spent years being the only sober person among pot smokers and drinkers and mostly I didn't mind it. However when things got down and dirty once neither group were much help until they sobered up. My significant other had AIDS and he used pot for nausea and for an appetite stimulant. It worked wonders. My oldest son smoked lots of pot and he has issues with short term memory and now he discovers he has a very low sperm count, both common side effects of pot. Pot is illegal, and if you grow it, everything you own can be taken from you for manufacturing a controlled substance (at least a few years ago that was the case). Everything has a price. You just have to reckon if you are willing to pay it. By the way, I used Chantix to quit smoking and I loved it. It distanced me from my addiction and took away the pleasure. It enabled me to quit. I thought I would always miss smoking, but I don't. Cheers.

you forgot the alcohol for some ...

@lisalou1968 - hang in there. You can message me as well. We will support you and get you up to speed on navigating this forum and all that. You might want to go to the library and request some books by Geneen Roth. She helped me to figure out my pain from eating my emotions, to like myself and see the value for being me. I am not picking on you here, but you picked an alcoholic for a reason you don't yet understand. Good riddance but you need to figure this out before you even think about another relationship or you will pick another person that is a problem. Try reading 'Co-dependant No More' by Melody Beattie. I know all this because I was married to an alcoholic for 18 years, and I was an abused child. It will get better. You will get better.

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.

Oh so the day before me how awesome!!! Yeah I was a bit nauseous too while at the hospital but I used alcohol pads to sniff on when that would happen and they helped me tremendously!! Hope your recovery is going well too!!

I feel so much better today! Thanks for all of your support and advice. I guess I think I'm too cool or too busy to actually write down everything that I eat down. I know when I'm eating too much or eating the wrong thing. I started drinking beer again and I know that has a lot to do with it. I quit yesterday. I'm going back to the occassional cocktail. My friends are all beer drinkers and its hard to give up those old social habits. But my friends are all behind me and I went for months without drinking beer and then when I started up again they all fussed at me. These are bar owners and a few bikers, so trust me they don't hold back. No more Bud Lite for me! I have a date tonight and plan on having a couple of martinis and that's IT. I KNOW that alcohol has a lot of calories but one of the reasons I chose the lap band was because I could still be a social drinker if I want to. I'm wearing size 18 jeans and a long black top today and everybody at work has told me how good I look and that they can really tell I've lost, so that boosted my ego. And to answer the question, YES! I need a fill. I go too long in between but I have to pay $150 each time so I have to spread them out. I'm a single mom with a kid in college so I'm always trying to juggle it all. But I have an appointment next Thursday. They always do the barium swallow so I will know if I have stretched my pouch. I don't think I have, but my sister did and didn't even know it... Thanks again for the support. I plan to be a regular on here and I am so thankful to have somewhere to go to talk and ask questions and vent when I need to. I'm going to work in my yard again Sunday. I am so out of shape it's ridiculous. I'm getting there and a year from now I'm going to be smokin hot!