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It is hard. And it's SUPER hard when you compare--it's also human. When I was in WLM, I was losing SO SLOWLY in comparison to everyone else around me. And the last 20lbs took as much time to lose as all the other initial weight. I think a 120lb loss is phenomenal so please give yourself proppahs for an amazing journey well done!! I also understand having a laser focus and being wigged out when the scale is up rather than down! Please stick around and post a lot here so you can get involved and we can all work to support each other. Especially during the crazy craving holiday season! Also, please go fill out your profile so we can see where you started, how old you are, when your surgery was, what kind of surgery, how tall you are, and even a ticker in your signature! Do you plan, weigh and measure your food? What is your daily food intake look like. Are you drinking any alcohol or caloric beverages, eating protein bars, having a lot of protein drinks? Hang in there! It IS hard!!!

Last night was TOUGH. got home around 8pm and wanted to eat sooooooo bad. I had to seriously fight it off hard-core because my body is still detoxing from sugars (primarily in the form of alcohol sugars) and the cravings were awful. The good news is that I woke up clear-headed and not hungry at all. It also helped that I slept in a bit to get me through a bit more time. Please keep us posted on the protein cravings and what your live group days. Tomorrow am I have an apt with my NUT and will be discussing macro goals with her.

Rusty's? You must me from P Cola . I love all of the questions. I have gotten drug tested at work because everyone thinks I am on meth because of all of the new energy and weight loss. The only down side is some of the social crowd thinks I am sick or something. But when my drinking buddies ask how I lost all of that weight, I wink and say "cutting alcohol has caused me to loose weight" I can tolerate everything but draft beer.(in moderation of course)

Gotta admit it is wearing on my nerves big time the social and questions. Went out last night with a girl i have know for years, We ended up at a old stopping ground a place called Rusty\s Bar and grill. I have been there for decades and just know a ton of people who hang there, For the first freakin hours its what happened to you? Are you sick? You don't drink anymore? You in AA? and we are not just talking about a few people had to be like 20. See Monday night is a bar night in Florida so the place was packed and its season now so we are over crowded with people. Complete insanity Total pain in the Ass after a hour or so i just asked her if we can get out of here, Guess with WLS a lot of things change in your life. Lucky she is a good friend and i only see her during the season when she comes down with the snowbirds, So my goal now is to see everyone i know and get this bu rage of questions and bullshit out of the way so life can go back to normal, or Do i pull a Ted Kisinsky and move to a small cabin i the woods? or even better get serious with a wife? All these choices all due to a Sleeve surgery. My conclusion is people are a pain in the ass and latch on to something different, Funny thing is most of them are unhealthy, Alcoholics, and lost! Had no clue getting the sleeve would impact so many other factors in the world, So if i could go back to the decision time to do this Sleeve i still would do it 100% sure of that. Any little remote cabins for sale out there - people free!

Say what I miss Alcohol the most - Im going to get some of the Aloe Vero Gel - Thank you for the info need that does it come in Vodka flavor

My surgery went well on November 12th it has been a little challenging due to throwing up after surgery but they say that’s normal. Wright is coming off It is difficult to drink the water daily but I have down now. Still not really hungry eating the same thing my appetite is not that good. But I’m staying the course exercise is your friend and I am unable to use aloe vero gel because it has alcohol in it. So bio oil is Great to use. Good luck to u all !

I followed my doctor's strict guidelines. So didn't t try questionable foods like lettuce or a cracker until 6 months. I got really sick from oatmeal around 6 months but I think it was too thick and got stuck. It was bad enough that I still haven't tried it again and have no plans to ever try it. Around 8 months I started trying pretty much everything. However I have only literally had 1 bite of regular ice cream, a tiny Halloween size candy bar, one piece of bread, 1/4 cup of noodles etc. at a time. I tolerate a variety of foods but don't want to try a large amount and get sick. I still haven't tried cake with icing, soda, or alcohol and have no plans to. I have only had a few grains of rice that were stuck to chicken and was worried that would cause an issue but it was fine. I am pretty scared to push the limits.

1) Work on addictions BEFORE surgery - get rid of the caffeine, alcohol, carbs, and sugar so you don't go through withdrawal while you are recovering. 2) Develop some mantras to get you through challenging times. "I AM NOT GOING BACK!" "I can't have this now, but I will have it again -later." "It's just not worth it." 3) Listen to your body to tell you if you need to go slower with your diet advancement. The surgeon can give you guidelines, but your body may not be ready yet for certain foods. Don't be afraid to take it real slow and easy. 4) Don't compare your progress to anyone else and think your journey has to be the same as theirs. 5) Start exercising right away - walking, walking , walking. Start building this into your new lifestyle from the start. Advance to other exercise forms as you heal. 6) ABOVE ALL - keep a positive mindset. This is hard, but it is the start of a whole new life for you. Use each challenge to reframe your thinking from a negative to a positive. The early weeks are hard, but they really will pass and you get to chose if it is a positive experience or a negative one. It sounds like you are going to do great!

Azhiker reason being is that my doc wants 4 weeks on the pre op diet and as I stated I’m just easing into it. I’m just waiting til my appointment on the tenth to set a date...I’ve already cut out the other foods, soda, alcohol and caffeine and just want to be successful. Thank you.☺️

Just wondering why you are starting the liquid diet if you don't have a surgery date yet. Until you get a date, you can still prepare by eliminating foods you cannot/should not have after surgery, such as sugar, refined carbs, soda, caffeine, and alcohol. Cleaning up the general diet even before the official pre-op diet is very helpful so you don't go through withdrawal while dealing with the hard parts of liquid diet and recovery.

Why do you think you've regained? Are you doing anything differently since July to contribute to the regain? Do you weigh, measure, track and plan your food? Do you exercise? Do you drink any caloric liquids especially alcohol? Give us a couple days examples of what you eat. Also fill out your profile form to tell us more about yourself. You can also add a ticker to your signature.

Sounds like a wonderful vacation you have planned! I had my band to bypass on October 24 and I am already on normal foods as long as I feel like I can tolerate them well, so I think you will be okay on being able to eat what is served, just in the appropriate quantities. My program does not want us drinking any alcohol for at least a year. I think that is partly because of the unneeded calories, but they also are very serious about transfer addiction at my practice since it is a very real thing. And I'm sure you know it takes much less alcohol to feel the effects in a bypass patient, so you may not be able to do every tasting, but I would think you'll be okay to have some. I personally wouldn't have my first glass of wine in public just in case I get sillier than I might think. 🤣 In regards to visiting your mom, my bypass surgery was about the same pain level as my band. I did not use any narcotics and I was allowed to drive as long as I was not taking narcotics. Even if I wasn't allowed to drive, I think I would have felt well enough to sit with a family member the day I left the hospital. Your mileage will vary of course, but I am sending out lots of good thoughts to you and your family so you will be feel well enough to be with your mom as quickly as possible.

A little primer on alcohol (I am in the industry) One of the things you might like to know is the quickest buzz is consumed with straight spirits, sipped slowly. Much of the alcohol will actually be absorbed right in your mouth, and it is a quick path to the brain. Unfortunately a lot of people drink too fast, and or mix spirits with various sodas, juices, etc so there is no immediate transfer of a good feeling. So then they drink more and more and eventually it is all absorbed into your blood stream through the stomach and intestine walls, where you end up having consumed twice as much, to get the feeling sipping straight or slightly altered spirits would have given an hour earlier. Extra money, extra calories from both the alcohol and the mixers. Think martinis , or bourbon or rum on the rocks. About the worst thing you can do, is drink shots. You might as well tip your head back and have someone pour 4 tablespoons of raw sugar in your throat 🍰🍪 For every shot. Actually worse than that (From a WLS stand) are liqueurs or cordials. By law they must contain a minimum of 2.5% raw sugar syrup back into the previously distilled spirits. Some add up to 15%.. Same with those creme based spirits, and that isn't just sugar they also add whole creme fat that keeps the alcohol in solution and prevent curdling. I have also read on many blogs people claiming they used to drink before WLS, but now get drunk easier. We'll of course you do. Because in most cases WLS patients end up with much less body mass to absorb and assimilate the same amount of alcohol. A breath anaylizer is a very good tool to have in your pocket or purse, to obtain optimal enjoyment, plus remain legal to drive (but it is always best to take an uber, or DD home. 0.04 is the ideal euphoric effect. there is also the fear of transference from food to alcohol and you must remain vigilant to not allow this to occur. the other item that seems to be misunderstood is that some believe sugar and alcohol react differently than each other in weight gain. It's simply not true. Alcohol is sugar/starch to begin with (from a variety of plants, or sugar cane, grapes, etc. Alcohol producers then add yeast to those various items , and said yeast "converts" note I sad "converts, not consumes" those plant sugars into alcohol and Carbon-dioxide these is no difference between raw sugar and alcohol. Except one can make you feel better if used appropriately. I am not writing this to push one guilty pleasure over the other, I am just pointing out that you should perhaps look up the caloric content of the alcohol you drink, with the same intensity as I beleive many do with the sugar/carb load of food. It's just calories, either way, and if you are going to drink in moderation,you shoul calculate those calories into you meal plan.

Hi Dee, One month out and its hard to navigate your new food world. It will get better with real food stage. Practice becomes habit. Hang in there. Some suggestions and things to think about. Make sure the options any of us give you fit your plan and food stage: Read the back of food labels. log your food in an app and stay within your weight loss calories/macros Most instructions are to eliminate real sugar. For many of us, when you consume real sugar, processed food, and extra carbs you crave them more (they cause hunger) detox off them and buy healthy options for sweet and salty. (get temptation out of the house) Dannon lite and fit Greek yogurt Small amount of fresh fruit. Strawberries dipped in sugar free chocolate syrup. Sugar free protein products are a good solution. (more bang for your buck) Just because it’s a sugar free product. It does not mean its calorie and carbohydrate free. Not all protein bars/shakes/cookies etc. are created equal. Some are glorified candy bars. Read food label’s. I personally like quest bars because of the calories/macros. Sugar free candy has sugar alcohols. Test them on your new stomach. They can cause you to dump. Protein powder added to sugar free pudding

Yesterday, Sunday, Dec. 1 Maintenance : 5'2" / 1yr PO Sleeve / 116.3 lbs **** Xmas party season has officially begun. Had an indulgent Saturday (client holiday party) and an even more indulgent Sunday (family bday lunch then had a Friends-mas at BFF's place as she and her fam are leaving for vacay next week. Spoiler alert: I was taken down by desserts and alcohol this weekend. And I am being punished for it by feeling like absolute CRAP this morning: sluggish, tired, cranky, crampy, bloated, and unbelievably thirsty. It's only 11:30am and I've drank over 2 litres of water already (plus 1 coffeee & cup of broth). Oh, and the scale says I've gained 2.9 lbs since Friday. I'd love to say its all poop, but I had a total-intestine-clearing number 2 yesterday as a result of too many Italian almond cookies, so that's definitely not it. Anyhoo...I'm enacting a weekday dessert embargo for the remainder of the month to balance out the inevitable dessert eating on weekends. **** 8:30am - coffee w/ stevia + tea w/ stevia 1:30pm - 1/2 side caesar salad sans croutons + 1/2 side goat cheese and beet salad + 1 slice Lemon Curd Cake + 2 glasses red wine 3:00pm - 1 slice Lemon Curd Cake + 1 cup greek yogurt + 10 blueberries + 5 green grapes + 1.5 oz almonds 6:00pm to 2:00am - 6 oysters on half shell 5 oz prime rib w/ gravy 1 cup spring mix salad w/ strawberries, goat cheese & candied walnuts 16 mini Italian almond cookies 3 mini biscotti 10 dark chocolate covered coffee beans 1 oz candied ginger 2 HUGE pistachio cannolis 4 glasses red wine Totals: 3574 cals - 123g Protein - 301g NET carbs - 186g fat

I'm having the same issues 7 months out, yes it could be sugar alcohols in some protein bars and ice cream bars. But it just started. Will try the probiotics that Ed listed. Thanks

Bypass -I only dumped once very early due to flavored meds. I sometimes get discomfort like a dull ache with too much sugar but No nausea/vomiting. I ate a half piece of pumpkin pie (so 1/16 of the pie) and didn’t dump. I’ve had a mini piece of Halloween candy, 1 cookie or 1-2 bites of regular ice cream and never did. Each time was only that 1 thing and I purposely ate protein with it so it wasn’t just sugar on an empty stomach. No alcohol trued as of yet and no plans to. I had GERD so felt for me the sleeve wasn’t an option.

Hey there...I just looked at the Massachuesetts General Hospital website and they have 8 gastroenterologists/internists that specialize in non alcoholic liver disease. I would ask your PCP and surgeon for an ASAP referral because something is up and you need answers sooner than later. If you are not getting anywhere with them, contact the patient advocate at the hospital and ask them (nicely😃) for help at getting you seen by a specialist. Stay away from the tylenol for sure until you know what is going on. You need your liver to live so please get on the phone ASAP and start the process. I had my sleeve the day before you did and my liver enzymes were very slightly elevated at the time of surgery which my surgeon said was common with morbid obesity. He said my liver look "perfect" at the time of surgery and when I had the labs checked again at 6 months and i8 months out the enzymes were completely normal. Good luck and please be your own advocate.

Gosh one of the things this journey has taught me with regards to food and indulgences is that I DO have the power to choose and to change the game up. I do remember having those guilty feelings of failure and depression following a feast weekend. I would literally shove food down my gob every second I could! And food is using the term loosely. By food, I mean crap! LOL.Delicious. Carby. Fatty. Crunchy. Gooey. Pasta-y. Ricey. Crap. LOL. Hello, Tortillas y Tamales. Ola Enchiladas Chicas. LOL. Then the next week following it, I wouldn't even be able to make myself get on the scale, much less get back into an exercise and eating routine. Now following 2 days of eating heavy meals (not snacking on crap, just taking in double or triple my normal calories + limited alcohol), and up to 135 (pre-poopy LOL) and yesterday I sprang right back into the program. Got on the scale. Posted publicly to you guys about my plate and my weight and walked an hour both yesterday and today. This morning I'm down to 133lbs (post-poopy LOL) and I feel like it was only a temporary blip--not a backslide into the old ways. I will admit, I had anxiety and crankiness being at the top of my weight window. Kinda like the female cat in Pepe Le Peuw cartoons, trying to pry/crawl her way out of his smelly embrace. That was me trying to escape the reality of the scale yesterday morning--even knowing most of that was water weight. LOL. But this journey and my tool reassure me that regain will only happen with MY HELP. I have to aide and abet for it to happen (barring some medical catastrophe).

I can't speak for your specific case, but in general, the liver is stressed by metabolizing all of that fat that we are losing so quickly - this is why many surgeons advise against consuming any alcohol during that first year or so of rapid weight loss (the liver doesn't need any additional stress from a liver toxin like alcohol). So, liver numbers in blood tests are often abnormal for a while during this loss phase and for some time after; whether that extends to a physical fatty liver diagnosis from an ultrasound, I don't know. My surgeon is also a liver guy (does transplants in his "spare time") so these things get discussed in general in the support groups, though I never had occasion to talk any specifics with him. It is hard to say if your surgeon is just being casual about it because what he sees is fairly normal, or is something beyond his job description and experience. While they may not have anyone else within the bariatric department who is more knowledgeable, they certainly have a liver disease department there that will have a hepatoligist that you can talk to. The problem is that they may not be that familiar with bariatrics and rapid weight loss so may want to go farther in treatment than is necessary - they may need to get their heads together between the two departments to determine what is really going on. Good luck...

Day 29: I am grateful that we are able to pay all our bills and not have credit card or other debt. We do occasionally use a 6 month no interest thing on big purchases (most recently 10 tires) because I hate paying interest. Well I have really enjoyed this challenge even though I have failed miserably. Weight this morning was 212.4 and I only went alcohol free on 3 days. I did stay within my 4 ounce limit with only a few deviations though. I am just too weak....

Day of surgery 5/3/18, a biopsy was done of my liver and it was perfectly normal. No problems. Last year, 6 months post op, I had an abdominal ultrasound and was told I had gallbladder sludge, no mention of fatty liver. 18 months out, another abdominal ultrasound and I got a copy of the results. It shows a fatty liver, unchanged from 1 year ago and GB sludge. The doctor didn't even mention the liver damage to me and when I asked about it was told not to worry, it happens with WLS. I've researched and I've seen it can happen to people who lose a lot of pounds fast. I lost 55 pounds first 7 months (10 of it pre op). since then another 12, for a total of 67 pounds. This just isn't making sense to me. How could I have a normal liver on surgery day, after enjoying whatever foods I liked for years, and now that I'm eating MUCH better, have liver disease??? It's not that I never have fat or sugar (had some yesterday, but not a lot), but if I eat even 1/10th of what I used to, that would shock me. Like a have a bite of something, maybe two bites. Even that's once or twice a month. Does anyone have any ideas about how this happened and what I can do about it? I'd really appreciate hearing from the community on this as my doctor doesn't want to address this. I don't drink ANY alcohol. Thank You, Lisa

Did you have a question? You can still get tons of carbs/sugar through plant based foods. Oreo cookies are vegan, for example, as is cane sugar, molasses, agave syrup, and processed grains (flour), all of which will raise your sugar levels, jack up your insulin, and turn all those calories into fat, Healthy whole food plant based (WFPB) eating utilizes legumes, nuts, seeds, WHOLE grains (not processed grains), a lot of veggies, and some fruit. Most MO people can lose a lot of weight with this, and I am finding that I am maintaining my under goal weight just fine. (Lunch today was soy yogurt with protein powder, slivered almonds, 6 different kinds of seeds, and some berries mixed in.) (Supper will be lentil soup, steamed butternut squash, and a "Budda" bowl of greens, shredded brussel sprouts/carrots/red cabbage, tomato, avocado, flax/hemp seed, chick peas, cooked whole grain - any combo of amaranth, teff, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, sorghum. Dressing is made from homemade cashew butter, nutritional yeast, and vinegar.) WFPB does NOT utilize sugar or variations thereof, extra salt, processed foods, processed oils, alcohol, artificial ingredients, or animal proteins. My personal take on it is this: I have lived in and observed developing countries that are mostly plant based. These people are healthy, strong, and do not have cardiac or obesity issues. They grow their own food, for the most part, yet will still eat animal protein on special occasions (weddings, holidays, specific celebrations) or when there is a lucky find, such as a nest of cassowary eggs. However, they do NOT eat animal protein 3 times a day, like most of the west does. I am not 100% PB at this point - more like 80%. I still eat some fish/poultry (home grown) maybe once a week. I think this is in keeping with the practice of many indigenous traditions, and allows me more flexibility with family gatherings. (I don't want to be that vegan who gets invited out to eat and then won't eat anything that is offered - that's a sure fire way to never get invited out again.) I still make my choices very healthy - never anything fried or breaded, and I avoid desserts with sugar or wheat. I hope that answered your possible question. Sorry if it was too long winded. There is a lot of good information about WFPB on the web.

Just throwing my 2 cents worth in.......... I also drink only tea now. When I want something a little sweeter, I use a tea that is more spicy with cinnamon. If you can stay off the artificial sweeteners, you will find that your taste buds will change. Bigelow's Vanilla Chai are Celestial Seasoning's Bengal Spice are two of my favs. Artificial sweetener does you no favors. It messes with your stomach/brain communications which can cause you to eat more, can trigger insulin release in some situations, and can cause loose stools (the sugar alcohols). Repeated studies have shown that people use drink diet sodas actually gain more weight than those who drink regular soda. Using fruit and sweet spices like cinnamon can go a long way in satisfying the need for sweetness, but you have to give your taste buds a couple of weeks to make the transition.

I'm going on my first vacation since my vgs surgery and it's an all inclusive resort. Are there any low calorie cocktails that I can drink? This will also be my first time drinking alcohol since my surgery 6 months ago-a little nervous and excited... Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app