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I didn't..........I think I had my first cocktails (s) around 5 weeks actually. Many are different and I think the main reason they say not to drink is because some replace food with alcohol. I could be wrong who knows. Once I was no longer tender or sore when moving I was comfortable with drinking a few with friends for a Christmas Party. However, make sure you do not try to overdo it and dance like a mad women or anything. For me the reason I didn't drink sooner was so I didn't get clumsy. Good luck..

This is my story. I’ll try to keep it as short and to the point as I can, and I’m not going to tiptoe around this. I was banded December 22, 2009. That was the day I was reborn, and my life changed in ways I never dreamed possible. I believe that for many of us; the ones with “true” addictions, it takes “rolling around in the gutter” before we can begin to rise up. My darkest days were when I was in the throes of my eating disorder. I can honestly tell you that if it weren’t for my children I think I would have killed myself. I used find comfort in imagining how I would “do it.” I was just so tired. Everyday was the same as the last. I would wake up and know that I was going to lose that battle with food, yet again. Some days I’d lose it before breakfast. Some days it might take me a few weeks before I finally lost control. Once, I made it over a year and lost 71 pounds…only to gain every ounce, and then some back again. So, I just wanted it to end. I just wanted peace. And don’t get me wrong; I refer to my eating disorder in the past tense, but it’s not a “past tense” thing at all. I consider myself to be a “recovering addict.” An alcoholic doesn’t get to say, “I used to be an alcoholic,” and I don’t get to say, “I used to have an eating disorder.” I DO have an eating disorder. I have to remember that or it will sneak up on me again and kick my ass. So, I say all that to really say this; people have to come into their own truth in their own time, and sadly, some never come into their truth at all. If you would have told me that one day I would have to be careful and remember to eat, I would have told you that you were crazy. If you would have told me that someday I would no longer be obsessed by food, I would have never believed a word of it. If you would have told me that one day I would give up sugar, I would have told you that you had the wrong girl. If you would have told me that I would no logger be plagued by, “when, where, what and how much do I get to eat, I would have told you, “Not in this lifetime.” But all of those things, and so much more has happed. My life is so great that I can’t believe it’s mine. Food is simply not that big of a deal to me any more, and I am so blessed to have this wonderful “tool” to help me succeed I’m free! I’m happy and really; the weight loss, those 60 pounds; that is “secondary.” YES; secondary; the peace of mind; that’s the PRIMARY benefit. Dropping 60 pounds in 5 months; that is simply an added bonus. I’m free! I’m happy and I am so BLESSED! So, all of you people who whine about liquid diets, or not getting to eat a bunch of junk or having to work out, or gaining weight, or the pain and discomfort of eating too fast or not chewing enough, or stretch marks, or not being able to pig out like you used to on holidays or special occasions…ENOUGH ALREADY! SHUT UP! I GET SO SICK OF THE UNGRATEFUL ATTITUDES! IF the bad is not working for you, it’s probably for one or two of the following reasons: You need a fill. You’re drinking with meals. You’re not working out. You’re not eating “protein” first, or taking in enough protein.. You’re “grazing” or eating a bunch of height/empty caloric foods You’re not “listening to your body,” when it tells you that you’ve had enough to eat. You’re not using the band as a “tool;” You’re expecting the band to do everything for you. Being banded is not a lifestyle change; it’s a lifestyle OVERHAUL. So, in life; if you're not getting the results you want, either change what you're doing or live with.

Move ON .... sorry if that sounds rough or rude. but it would be like being a recovering alcoholic and your friend getting mad because you would not have a drink to celebrate his birthday. maybe youcould try to explain it in a way he/she would understand but I'm betting you have already tried that. Good Luck with what ever you decide

I think the day will come when you cannot smoke ANYWHERE except the privacy of your own home. Newborns in Texas are routinely tested for the presence of drugs and/or alcohol and can be taken into custody by CPS if they test positive. I think at some point in the future, a similar test will be done for nicotine.

Thanks for the tip. I dropped my points down to 20 today to see if I can jump start. I also am ommitted all alcohol to see how I do. So far today I've done really well. I had my band adjusted to 2.8 yesterday so I once again don't have hunger. This has been a great day with lots of protein. I'll keep you posted and thanks for the tip!

I looked back on my food logs and it looks like I may be consume too many carbs and alcohol. They say you can drink 1 drink a day. I did use quite a few points on my 2point rum and crystal light drinks. I am going to bump up the protein and omitt the alcohol. I probabably will try core this coming week and make sure I eat a ton of protein. Also, I need to start exercising more and more water. My fill is really good from yesterday so I am not as hungry today. Before my fill it took me 1 package oatmeal 2 pts, 1 banana 2 pts, 1 egg 2 pts and 1 whole wheat toast with butter 3 points just to get through noon yesterday. Today I had a protein shake at 8:30 followed by a latte at 10am and so far the hunger is at bay. Wish me luck. I did WW quite a few years ago and did really well on it. Truthfully I would be happy with my 1-2 lbs a week again. That was my average with the band when I was losing. Thanks for the support! Julie

Hi girls, I don't have too many carbs in my diet. I think I am going to try core this week. My protein shake only counts as 2 points a day that way since skim milk is free. I know I need to continue to take alcohol out of my diet. I did drink quite a few points on NY eve.

Hi I have been researching bypass as I have to have my band out as having so many issues and now have regained all weight I lost with band so moving to bypass as soon as I can. In one article I read they advised not to try anything new when going out always test at home first so hopefully you won't put yourself in that position. Same advice with alcohol I believe.

I found out that Smirnoff Ice is sparkly at least in Europe. Good thing that I'm not a huge drinker. Sometimes months go between me having a glass of alcohol.

Also as I honestly think about it, before I got my NEW band placed last year, I was eating out at restaurants with my hubby, and not paying attention to types of food I was eating, I was 7 years out, living life. I had been eating LOTS of spicy food, salsa, etc, which caused gastritis, which CAN lead to ulcers, however, it did not get that bad, but when you have a lap band LONG TERM, you have to always be mindful of spicy food, too much alcohol, etc..... I think this contributed to inflaming a hernia which caused pain, and a revision surgery....so BE CAREFUL

Had surgery 1 1/2 years ago, lost 155 lbs, and at 6' 220lbs am pleased with my new body... probably still about 20lbs overweight and despite working out 5x/week still have a lot of loose skin. It was pretty easy losing the weight, but it was torture the whole time. Post surgery eating was a horrible experience - nothing tasted good, I never felt satisfied and I always felt sick after eating and extremely hungry all the time. It was brutal. The good news, though - was that the weight just seemed to melt off. The bad news was that to survive, I would cheat with candy, cake, Cookies etc on the side because they didn't make me feel sick and they felt satisfying, and it didn't seemed to slow my weight loss. Now, the sick feelings after eating seems to be easing. I still have to eat slowly or I will feel terrible, and I still have to have small portions, but my weight loss has completely stopped and I have actually gained 7 lbs from my low. No matter how careful I am with my calories, at levels where before I would steadily lose weight, now causes me to stay flat at best or even gain. Yuk. This is kind of depressing. BTW I have cut out all alcohol now for 2 years, which is very boring and I eat very little, exercise a lot - and am now gaining - yuk, yuk. I feel like I am back where I started, ever day I wake up and say to myself I am going to try to eat even less and exercise more so that I can lose more weight, ie DIET. This doesn't feel sustainable and doesn't feel good. Any words of encouragement/advice or similar experience? Thanks

Just curious if anyone has had alcohol after surgery and how long after surgery was it? I have a party in a few weeks and I want to have one drink. I will be 4 weeks post op.

Good for you <3<3<3 I have gone out "drinking" with my friends since surgery (I'm 6 weeks out now) and stuck to water, but found that the contact drunk and the atmosphere of the bar meant I still had a great time without the alcohol. I think you'll be surprised

Carbonation doesn't work for me. And my alcohol tolerance is WAAAAY lower than it once was---partly because my food intake is much lower, and partly because I just don't drink much any more. So a very little alcohol goes a very long way for me. Alcohol can impede loss--liquid calories slide in really easily, and can reduce inhibition so that you eat carelessly. For these reasons, my doctor totally vetoes it for the first postop year (when he wants us to completely revamp our habits). Does that mean I haven't had any alcohol? No. I'm 8 months out, and while I have yet to have a whole drink, I do take sips of my husband's drinks when we're out. Hey, a bloody mary is a vegetable! But you can, in fact, make room for it in your life, as long as you are aware of the possible pitfalls.

I realized the same thing about my sister this week. We are not close at all as of recent years. She had gastric bypass in 2004 or so. Lost a significant amount of weight. Got down to a size 6 but has regained to about a 10-12. Still significantly smaller than me. And she has held on to that too. Ever since I went to law school in 2005 our relationship has soured a bit. She became very jealous and resentful of me. She became an alcoholic and drug addict. Her life has been on a downward spiral and she has told many people that us because I was a planned pregnancy and she was not. All in all I guess she felt like the only thing she had over me was that she was of average size and I was not. A couple of weekends ago I sent a picture of my weight loss progress so far. She never responded and hasn't said a word to me since. I asked my mom the other day had she heard from her and she said yes. Then she casually mentioned that she kept tellin her she was going on a diet. Then my mom told me that my weight loss was probably pushing her over the edge again. I'm not worried about her. Everything I have accomplished in my life has been through hard work and dedication, including my weight loss so far. No one is gonna rain on my parade!

It sounds like you have a lot going on in your life so try and take it one day and one issue at a time . I also have reflux and have found a few things to do to keep it at bay. Do not eat late at night , slow waaaay down when you are eating and throughly chew your food . Avoid acid producing food and beverages such as alcohol and foods that just do not mix well. Keep your meals simple and make nutrition a priority, not what the scale says . I take an OTC acid reducer when I feel I have eaten to late or had some alcohol. It helps a lot . I had esophagitis and learned my lessons the hard way . Change is often hard for many of us , and if one goes back to doing as they did before banding ,your body will tell you . I disagree with taking pharmaceuticals as a crutch ,there are much more effective products available OTC , such as Saffron and CLA , check out LEF.org , do your research and find what works for you and your body. Banded in "08 and finally have settled into a rhythm and effectively dealing with the band . Work it ! and you will be successful. ~

I am presurgery and can honestly attest to the fact that majority of my extra caloric intake is from fruit juice! I have never finished a can of soda in my entire life, I don't drink alcoholic beverages regularly and other than liking baked products, my severe vice is fruit juice as I confess that water doesn't go down well in my throat especially after I moved to a state that the water is kinda hard no matter if I use water softeners and purifiers. I detest artificial sweeteners as well. So I love my juices. That said, since starting this process, I've cut out juices (probably the most difficult thing I ever gave up!). I've not made any other severe diet changes (though definitely doing the head work) and I find myself losing a few pounds here and there. If you are able to keep it at one juice a day, more power to you as that seems manageable (juice was my water previously and I imagine if I even give an inch, I fear I may backslide completely). My nutritionist recommended HINT water as well as the infusing fruit water bottle thingy and it helped me transition from drinking juice to liking the taste of water and now I drink more water than I previously did, even uninfused [emoji1] Best of luck in your journey[emoji106] Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I completely understand your fears. Like you, I looked forward to the movie popcorn (and junior mints) more than the movie. Sometimes I couldn't tell you what I saw, but I could tell you what I ate...! I had surgery on 8/22. Here is what I can tell you about it. The surgery itself wasn't bad at all. I had the worst time the few weeks leading up to surgery. It was a real mind f--k. Soooo many fears (similar to yours). After surgery, it was really easy for the first couple of weeks to follow "the plan." You don't feel good enough to not follow it. Now, at 4 weeks, I feel great and I am struggling with my "food issues" again. Last night, I was at a party and there were all my favorite foods there. I grazed some on Cookies, which then awoke my carb monster and I got pretty miserable because I wanted to eat more. But... I look at it this way: Before, if I would have grazed on some cookies, I would have followed it up with a couple bowls of Cereal and then a PBJ to top it off. A "binge" these days isn't much food even when I make a bad choice. And, today, I'm back on track. I'm doing things now that I NEVER would have/could have done before surgery. For example, today, I am spending the day cooking my meals for the week, creating 1/2 cups of healthy, Protein rich foods. Then I will do what I said I would NEVER do -- track it all in My Fitness Pal. Again, don't let these things overwhelm you - I never thought I would be able to do this. My fear was: If I were able to diet and exercise, I wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. Surgery DOES help with it. I hope you will reach some peace with your decision, whatever it is. Only you know what is best for you. That said, given you have insurance approval, I'd think long and hard about it (I had to self-pay...with insurance coverage would have been much more incentive for me). One more thing I will add: I am in AA. I don't bother myself too much with the question of whether I am a "real" alcoholic. I have a desire not to drink, which is all that is required for membership. The 12-step program has helped me SO much with all of my addictive behaviors (I quit smoking for surgery). Like you, I can get addicted to pretty much anything. And after surgery, you aren't going to be able to drink for a long while and, when you can again, it will be in limited amounts. AA has been a real life saver for me. If you don't go with AA, you could also consider OA, which is another version of the 12 steps. Each of these programs costs $1 per day - much cheaper than one-on- Good luck to you!!! -Angela

I am working toward the band, with my surgical consultation this Thursday. Wondering how alcohol plays into life with the lap-band. Not that it is a major part of my life, but I do enjoy going out with friends and having a drink. Are certain drinks better than others? (If something is already posted out there about this, I apologize... I did not see it).

I wouldn't drink because alcohol will have an immediate and significant impact on your liver. Definitely talk to your surgeon ahead of time, but if it were me, that close to surgery, I wouldn't risk it. That said, you can still have fun without drinking. If your friends are true friends, then ask them to respect your decision not to drink. Have fun and Happy Birthday!

Honest answer- if I want a cocktail with friends , I have one. One is the key . I can't afford to waste my precious calories on alcohol , and since surgery, one drink goes a long way! My first drink was 8 weeks post op. I think one of the biggest reasons for caution (bedsides the empty calories) is the possibility of cross addiction from food to booze. That's another reason for my " one and done" style.

Welcome--you are in the right place, the right place to ask anything you want! I would have been fine a month out, I am sure the wedding will be fine. You should be feeling good again, losing well, and back to eating pretty normally by a month. The wedding would be good to keep your mind off of the hard time, following surgery, when liquids are your main food! It passes quickly, and is done so that you can heal. As for alcohol, I have had several drinks at different times in the last 8 months. I will occasionally have a margarita with my dinner at a favorite mexican food restaurant. The other night we were at a friends bridal shower, and they had Fuzzy Navels---I drank that without issue. I don't notice a difference in how my body reacts, I do not drink much, never did, a drink or 2 here and there, never in excess. Pretty much anything non carbonated is fine. My friend who is banded drinks vodka and cranberry juice she says. So it should be fine. Please feel free to ask away!!! You have found a great site---with great support, and we believe fully in our bands!!! Kat

there are food restrictions the first few months, but after that, there aren't any limitations as long as you can tolerate whatever the food is (I can no longer tolerate really high-fat meals - and it's not uncommon for people to develop things like lactose intolerance after surgery - but you won't have any restrictions per se. I'm "allowed" to eat anything - and have been for a long time). I was never a big drinker even before surgery - I'd just have an occasional glass or two of wine. We weren't supposed to drink for the first year (according to my clinic, anyway), and I didn't at all for the first three years. Now I'm back to having my occasional glass or two of wine - by which I mean, maybe four or five times a year. So for ME, I don't notice any difference...other than alcohol hits me a lot faster than it did pre-surgery. taking vitamins becomes pretty automatic after the first few weeks. I don't even think about it anymore. I take a small handful when I get up in the morning, a smaller handful around dinner time - and my iron and vitamin C before I go to bed. complications aren't common and most are minor and "fixable". The most common one with sleeve is reflux, which in most cases (if you happen to develop it) can be managed medically. In severe cases, there's always the option of revising to RNY - although I don't know how common it is for it to get to that point. Might be worth asking if you're concerned. I didn't mind the puree stage. It was a relief after being on all liquids. If you're not crazy about the puree stage, just keep in mind that it doesn't last very long. You'll be on soft foods - and then solid - before you know it. it'll be pretty obvious to others the first month or two by how little you can eat that something is "up". I mostly just tried to avoid going out with people so the question wouldn't come up - or I'd suggest meeting up for coffee or tea or some activity instead of a meal. After that, for several months I'd just claim I wasn't very hungry and order an appetizer or some soup or chili. Now I'll sometimes still order that - or if I do get an entree, I'll eat half of it and have the rest boxed up. Pretty much the same as a lot of my never-been-obese women friends. No one can tell anymore that I've had surgery. Basically, this will all take some getting used to - it can be overwhelming at first - but after the first few weeks, it really isn't. And you're right - pre-surgery nervousness is pretty common. I've had four surgeries in my life, and I get nervous every time - but they've all gone off without a hitch!

Only during the healing, and initial losing stage were certain foods and drinks prohibited. I had a 3 month wait on raw veggies, fruits, and nuts. Alcohol was also a 3 month wait, but my surgeon preferred that we wait until goal to start indulging in alcoholic beverages due to the empty calories. As for after hitting goal, I have zero food or drink restrictions. I have drank soda, which some surgeons say they are forever off the list of drinks, since being around 6 months out. I really do eat and drink anything I want or need. I live a life of moderation at this point, and have since being at goal. It's just works for me.

I use Pure Protein bars. They have sugar alcohols which can upset your digestive track of you eat too much, but at 4 months post op, I can really only handle half a bar.