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As far as getting your fluids in if you are running around. Carry bottled Water, or whatever you are drinking. Just drink it as you are out. And if you have to mix your Protein drink (meaning you are using powder) then have it pre-measured in a snack size zip lock baggie and keep it in your purse. You can mix it up when needed. No biggie. While going out on the weekends . . . I am not sure what your doctors say but mine says DO NOT drink ANY alcohol on LRD. In the grand scheme of things it is a very short time, only a few weeks. You can still go out, just have a tonic, or selzer , plain water, or bring your own drink. Your life does not have to stop but things are going to have to change. And even after the pre-op and post-op diet things are going to have to change. That is why we are doing this. I suppose it comes down to how important is it to you?

OOOooohh... so that is what i had yesterday night.I had nothing to eat,nothing to drink and suddenly i got stuck . I started spitting saliva, my stomach hurting for an hour like hell and i vomited once white foam.I was cold all the time.Fortunately i put a towel soaked in alcohol above my stomach and i felt a little better.Yeah..that is no fun indeed.

I've had my band for a year and a half. I've been coming on here to read about people's experiences with their bands since before I was banded, and reading so many of the positive stories people have to tell was part of what helped me make the decision to get my band. I'd like to say before I go on, I did a lot of research before getting banded, it was not something I rushed into. I believed myself to be very well-prepared for getting banded. I saved to pay to have it done privately. I spent a long time coming to the decision and talking to worried family members, convincing them that I knew what I was doing. In a sense, the band has partially worked, I lost some weight immediately after the operation, and I do believe I would have continued to put on weight had I not got the band, whereas as I am now, I've reached a plateau. I remain overweight, and honestly, I'm still in agony over my relationship with food. I knew the band would only be a tool and that a lot of the work would need to come from me, but I believed that I was ready to completely re-assess what food meant to me. I see now that no such change has happened. I have restriction, I have discomfort when I over-eat, but such has been my compulsion to eat that I've forced it down or sought out softer foods, falling into a pattern of eating that allows me toundermine what the band's meant to be doing. I haven't been able to shake my fixation with food. If there is food in the house, I fight and fight in my head, driving myself to distraction, it's like something continually nagging at me that I can't ignore, I feel helpless with it. Giving in brings no relief, I really don't enjoy eating, it's a crushing thing to keep losing to this compulsion. I knew as well as anyone that the band alone would not cure this problem, but hearing about other people who got the band and managed to overcome it made me think it could help me do it. At this stage, I wish I never had to eat again, I wish I just didn't have to deal with food at all, I wish it was like cigarettes or alcohol, something where at least there would be the option to stop altogether, rather than having to keep on with it, but in limited amounts. It's there, day after day, and I feel like it's ruling my life. I know that for so many people on here, the band has worked and has somehow forced a change in the way they relate to food emotionally, I just want to know how many people there are like me, and I'd like to know where they went from here – did you decide to have your band removed? Did you turn to counseling/therapy to deal with your eating problems? Did you work out a way to work with your band? [i'm starting this discussion here rather than in the 'Support' section because I get the impression more people will read this here, and also it would be nice if there was a sticky post in the general section with accounts of why the band maybe didn't work for them or how they struggled. There are plenty of success stories here, but I think for people still wondering whether or not to get banded, reading a balanced account of people experiences means seeing both sides, when it works out and when it doesn't]

Its harder to get a to go box (or doggy bag as we call them) in Australia, its actually against health regulations, but sometimes the restaurant will do it. What I do when I go out to eat - which applies more so now that I have no fill than when I had good restriction - first off, I never order something I know will be huge, yummy and very hard to leave on the plate. Just. Dont. Order. It. I stick with the entree menu or size (which I think for you guys is an appetiser) rather than the main meal in anything that resembles a pub, bistro or smorgasbord because "pub grub" is huge, stodgy and megacalorific. I would never ever for example order a chicken parmigiana - I know it will be as large as a dinner plate, come with a heap of chips and I will have great trouble stopping. I've learned to stay away from the bread, many's the time when I had restriction that I'd give in and have a nibble on the garlic bread that the rest of the table had ordered, a sip of wine or two and then bam, stuck and even though I've never actually pb'd in that sort of situation,its really annoying and embarrassing to then be unable to eat even a bite of your nice meal that you paid a lot of money for. Again, Just. Dont. Eat. It. But finally, for me anyway, going out for dinner or lunch is a treat, I dont do it more than once or twice a month. food is to be enjoyed, and shared in social situations as well as being just fuel and it is actually OK to let your hair down (in a controlled manner) occasionally. We all know that caesar salads for example are hugely fattening, but I darn well love em and I'm going to have one if I feel like it. I try to keep the wine to a minimum, I like a nice wine, but more than a glass and my eating control tends to go out the window. For long afternoon barbecues and such when I can start out good and then hit the cheese platter in a disastrous way hours later, I ban myself from drinking alcohol at all.

If you follow your NUT/surgeon, which is probably the best right now, please make sure you tell them that you work out that much and make sure they know you are not just talking. Everyone says they "work out". You can work out and barely burn 150 calories walking at 2.5mph for 30 minutes. You can also work out lifting weights for an hour and then doing 30 minutes of intense cardio. Make sure your doctor knows what you do and adjusts your calories/meal plan accordingly. You only consume around 400 calories, and your trainer is absolutely right to say that you cannot workout on this low calorie count. His recommendation is clearly not for a fresh sleeve, but you have to find a middle ground between the person who knows your medical history and the person who knows your activities. Cross check his recommendations with your NUT and you should be good. If you cannot eat that much, tell your trainer and ask for some foods with a higher calorie density - a slice of whole grain bread with Peanut Butter and some low sugar jelly can give you a good energy boost with 200 calories and should be easy to eat. Don't try not to eat more - it may look counter productive, but it isn't. Even if you drive your car very fuel efficient - you MUST have fuel or you don't go anywhere or strand half way down. Just when working out, you don't strand but keep going and damage your engine. As for Snacks, I too eat snacks. I was told 4 meals - ie. two meals, one snack, but I usually have two smallish snacks and at times, it looks more like I am having 5 meals with a little less than 200 calories for a total of 900 calories. In the end, the NUT gives you recommendations - you have to find what works for you. Over the last 3 months since surgery, I have found that it doesn't matter too much when I eat, what I eat or how often I eat, what matters is my total calories and my workout. If I stall, I stall no matter what. If I lose again, it's just because my body is ready and not because I worked out more/less, ate more/less carbs/fat or so. I just came off a 23 day stall, and that after I ate everything "wrong" (like sushi, alcohol, snacks)

I should have started this yesterday, but it was a bit crazy around here then. On Sunday, my niece (she's 36) called to let me know her father died. He'd been an alcoholic, from a family of alcoholics, as long as I've known him. My dear sister died in 2003 from complications of Redux(part of the phen-fen family of drugs). So I had little to no contact with him in the intervening years. My brother-in-law's family has been of no help with planning or even being supportive, while that should come as no surprise...but the sheer selfishness they've exhibited is amazing. Ugh, I could go on forever about that...... But, I won't bore anyone with my epic ranting about them. For my pre-op diet I'm supposed to drink three protein shakes totaling no more than 600 calories altogether. They have to have no more than 10 carbs and at least 15 grams of protein each. I also get a meal of no more than 400 calories a day. This is a standard low-cal but now too low carb meal, I'm allowed a serving of whole grain w/ the meal. My day should be 1000 calories and 100 grams of protein. I did pretty well yesterday, I got in 906 calories and 115 grams of protein. Although my niece would say that I was mad at the world and weirdly forgetful . Today is better, I'm not mad and I think I'm doing well memory-wise (although I can't be 100% sure).

LOL! That's so funny about thinking about eating the little girl's popcorn! I can relate to feeling sad about not being able to eat like everyone else. But I want to look at it the way alcoholics look at drinking. But at least alcoholics can go cold turkey. I think that might be actually easier than the way we have to do it. We still HAVE to eat, just not as much. Can you imagine an alcoholic being told that they can have 1 drink a day but that's it? How many do you think would actually recover? This is going to be really hard I think. But I know I can do it. I just need some help. Stay strong, we're worth it!

I'll throw out my experience just for s&g's. . . I've been drinking soda for a year, and have zero ill effects from it. I rarely drink diet soda because most are sweetened with aspartame which I hate. I recently found Diet Shasta cream soda which is sweetened with Splenda so this one is doable. I can say without a doubt that drinking soda has not changed my sleeve capacity in the least. Nor has it effected my weight loss in a negative manner. My restriction is the same as it was a year ago unless I cheat (take longer to eat my meal, sip throughout my meal, drink a glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage before my meal, drink hot fluids like coffee or tea before my meal) to get more in. I don't even let it go flat before drinking it. Early out, I would get a gas bubble, burp and it was over. The whole soda leaching Calcium from our bones is obviously a concern, but in my opinion, moderation is key. There is ZERO scientific evidence that soda drinking causes stretching. Even for RNY patients, there is no proof that soda causes the pouch to stretch. We have a normal stomach with a pyloric valve intact. The fluids, be it soda, Water, crystal light, all go in, hit the pyloric valve and dump into our intestines. It isn't like the soda is sitting in there brewing for hours on end. Plus, there is NOT enough tissue left to stretch out our sleeves if the surgery is performed correctly. There is only so much stretch that can occur. It isn't like the stomach tissue regenerates, or can stretch back to pre-op size. It just is not physically possible. Not that I'm advocating going against any particular surgeon's recommendation, but this has been my experience and my opinions on soda drinking post-bariatric surgery.

Hi there, I have been where you are....I am what I would like to call myself "a professional dieter". I have done it all....weight watchers, Jenny Craig, Southbeach, or whatever fad diet there was at the time. I went to extremes...starvation, purging, overexercising...you name it! The problem was that I ALWAYS came back to the food. It medicated me when I had any sort of emotion that I couldn't handle....stress, boredom, sadness, happiness, etc. The food was always there for me and comforted me. I was a closet eater too....drive through windows, eating in my car, etc. I hid wrappers so get rid of the "evidence", I ate off my kids plates, I (embarrassingly enough) ate out of the trash. I was and am powerless over food. I can't stop eating something that is not healthy for me if I start. In saying that, I became a member of Overeaters Anonymous in June 2009 because I was in a deep depression because my world revolved around my food, my weight, my dress size, etc. I was on TWO antidepressants which only helped marginally. Through the process of being OA, I have found peace and some semblance of control around my food. I am accepting now that I am a compulsive overeater. I am addicted to carbs (flour, sugar) just as an alcoholic is to liquor. I have found out WHY I overeat and how to manage it. OA has given me the coping skills to deal with those emotions that are unsettling and how to handle situations that come up without using my drug of choice. If any of this rings true for you, you may really like OA. There are meetings you can go to or even phone meetings so you don't have to travel anywhere, just sit in the comfort of your own home and just listen to what others' experiences are. I do not want you to think I am pushing this on you or anyone, it is just I have found so much peace over the last couple of years. I am off my antidepressants, I am calmer, I don't cry anymore......and I can see that I am meaningful and that life is worth living! Good luck. If I can help at all, let me know. Thanks, Katie

It's pretty common, and if you're taking Tums or Rolaids the lovely Calcium carbonate and sugar alcohols are probably responsible for the gas and rebound reflux. I would get back on a true PPI, take it on an empty stomach and wait about 30 minutes to eat anything other than liquids.

There will always be naysayers. There will always be those who don't understand. There will always be those who truly worry for you. My sister has severe stomach problems. She could not understand my willingness to risk ANY possible complications to my digestive tract. She still thinks I was nuts. But she loves me and supports my decision to take care of my health as I see fit. You need to say thank you for your opinion, but I have made my decision. food addicts cannot go cold turkey and avoid food as smokers and alcoholics can. Not that the road to sobriety is easy. It is different. Quitting smoking is no easy thing, either. I am assuming you are not entering into this lightly. You have tried all options that are easier than major surgery to help you get your health under control. If they had worked, you would not even be considering this last step. Diets fail. We have proved it over and over again. WLS succeeds. You have to do your share. But you should have done gobs of research by now, and know what you are getting into. Tell them you appreciate their concern, but you are well aware of the risks and the benefits outweigh them. You are ready to proceed in this next chapter of your life!

Hey everyone, I came looking for the thread because I guess most of us are approaching our 6 month surgiversary. Mine will be on Wednesday too . I was banded 8/16/10. I am down 39 lbs but like some of you have said I can be doing much better . My biggest problem is the weekends my Dh and I are in the habit of eating out all weekend or getting take out. I also like to have drinks on the weekend. So whatever progress I make during the week is set back on the weekend. I am recommitting to my band for the next 6 months still keeping the hope that I can be at or close to goal by my 1 year surgiversary. I have to follow the rules every day and stop the drinking on the weekends. Alcohol stalls me and bloats me so no more for now. Failure is not an option.

i'm not able to drink as much anymore since i've been banded. i get both full and tipsy faster but maybe its because i don't eat while i'm drinking? long island ice teas are my drink of choice so i'm feeling pretty good after 1 now when i used to be able to handle 3 or 4... but i was eating while i was drinking. each surgeon is different... my surgeon said no soda or alcohol 3 monts post-op. i've been drinking 20 ounces of diet pepsi a day for the past 2 years and have been fine BUT follow your doctor's orders!!

I used to look forward to Friday nights with friends and a few beers. Since I've hit restriction I still look forward to Friday night but I only have one beer which most times I can't finish. My doctor said that the only reason that we shouldn't drink alcoholic beverages is that they are empty calories. He said that a drink here or there won't sabotage your weight loss and won't stretch your pouch.

I'm 11 months out and I can eat anything in very small portions. The only thing I have trouble with is sweet alcoholic drinks like margaritas and so on -- I stopped ordering them because they are SO sweet and fill me up too fast and I end up not being able to drink more than half!

Since the only thing that is absorbed IN THE STOMACH is alcohol it would make sense that you would get buzzed faster if your stomach is smaller now. Granted all liquid passes through the band, but that is my thought on the matter and I'm sticking to it LOL

My surgeon said no alcohol at all for the first year, but the reason was because it will sabotage your weight loss.

We metabolize alcohol the same as we ever did. Unlike our bypass pals, who process it differently. If our tolerance is lower, it is from drinking less often and thus, feeling it more.

You are right in being concerned, many are just scared of the surgery and are taken by surprise by the changes afterwards. The way I see it is that you can consider it like you and food are getting a divorce, you will not have as close a relationship and you just remain friends rather than lovers. You will eat to live, not live to eat. I had not problem keeping down liquids and had no vomiting but many have. The secret is simply small sips taken often. At first it will be probably be VERY difficult to get enough liquids. As you should refrain from exercise and hard physical labor for about 6 weeks it should not be an issue to remain hydrated. After the 6 weeks you should be able to get in more liquids although if you are like me still not as much as before or in as large a gulp as before either. Again, small, frequent sips from like a sports bottle will keep you hydrated. Restaurants are a big change as well. My wife and I go to a restaurant and usually order ONE entrée and split it about 75/25 with her taking the larger portion. Sometimes we even end up taking some home. Other alternatives are getting child's portions or senior portions. I've not been to a restaurant yet that would not cooperate if I explained why I could not have full size portions. If I ever did I would just eat a small part of the meal and take home the rest or leave it behind. It'll be 4 weeks or more before you can go to a restaurant so you'll have a good idea by then what you can eat or not. remember to eat Protein first and then carbs. It's a matter of selecting the best food for the small amount you can eat. Alcohol is out for at least 6 weeks. It can be consumed but be careful as alcoholic drinks usually have a large amount of calories but an occasional drink will not hurt much. The lifestyle choice after surgery is in reality the largest change, more than the surgery itself. It is where the battle for weight loss is won or lost. The surgery itself does little to cause weight loss, it's the consuption of fewer calories that does it. If you sabotage the sleeve by eating too often, too much and the wrong foods then you will fail the sleeve and not the sleeve fail you. There are psychological effects from the sleeve for most people and the desire to eat is lessened. However this can be overridden if you allow old habits to take hold again and eat in excess. It will be a massive change. Just plan on it and it will work out.

Since we are on one of my favorite subjects...alcohol ..I have a question. Those of you that are saying that you aren't able to drink as much as you did before, etc. Did you drink a lot at all before? On a normal night out.. how many drinks would you have? I haven't had a drink since this whole thing started... so almost a month...that's a long time for me. I normally drink a few times a week.. just being honest..so I'm just curious how much you drank before being banded as opposed to now...that you can feel so much of a difference.. does that make sense?

Congratulations Diva!! I am so happy for you. No one understands what the band does both mentally and physically to a person!! I am also creeping up to my lowest band weight.....only 7 pounds to go. My doctor said he won't consider my surgery a "success" until I am lower than my lowest band weight. You are certainly right about the first month but the feeling of being lighter, healther, and dare I say......sexier .....LOL is sure worth it. I make sure I visit this site every day to keep my eyes on the prize. I am a recovering sweet addict. I know that I can't have them just like an alcoholic can't have a drink. I savor my sugar free fudge pop each night and I am fine with that!!! I know you will continue to reach your goals...Keep up the great work! Nina

I began my 3 week pre-op December 1st and was banded the 20th. Since beginning this journey I am down 55 pounds - averaging about 5 pounds per week. Its definitely not easy. I see a trainer twice a week and work out at least 3 times a week on my own. I calorie count and try to stick to 1000 - 1200 calories per day. For me at this point its all will power, I feel little restriction and do get hungry a couple hours after I eat. A personal choice for me was cutting out caffeine, alcohol and red meat. I think that has helped. We are all doing well! Mar

my Doc & surgeon, said to stay away from alcohol sugar..soo i do!!!

Wow! Great stories! This is exactly what we need to keep ourselves on track. Having gone to Alanon for many years and attended open AA meetings to hear special speakers and having hung out with a lot of recovering Alcoholics, a lot of their phrases stick in my head. When someone relapses they'll say, "It takes what it takes. There but for the grace of God go I." "They're not ready yet." "They haven't gotten sick and tired of being sick and tired." Many of them refer to themselves or others as "rehab rangers" because they relapsed and went to rehab so many times. A hospital in Dyer, IN had an emergency short-term rehab known as the "Dyer dryer" mostly for falling down drunks. Some of the recovering alcoholics I'd met had been there several times. Over and over again, every alcoholic who spoke was willing to tell his/her story in jaw-dropping detail and honesty. Helping other alcoholics recover was the key to their own recovery. Honesty about one's past and present is stressed to the max. That's got to be part of our recovery, too. We have an addiction. It brought us places we never wanted to go. We didn't grow up thinking, "I want to be a morbidly obese food addict when I grow up." We are horrified to find ourselves there. And we can never forget. To do that we need to share our stories in all their embarrassing details. How about having trouble wiping your butt or getting all your parts clean? Wondering what that smell is and realizing its you? Trying to clip your toenails with your stomach hanging between your wide spread knees? This is a serious life-threatening-shortening illness. Embarassing. Gross. Ugly. We think we only affect ourselves, but what about the children we robbed of quality time with us? The $ we spent on food that could have been spent improving the lives of our families and beyond? The employer's and insurance companies and the government (the American people) we ripped off with our inability to do our jobs to the best of our abilities and the ailments whose cost got absorbed by our families and the rest of society? Take your bands seriously. Treat them right. Take your disease seriously. Are you ready to do whatever it takes to be "clean and sober?" Cheri

Wow, I must have missed the mean posts you guys have been reading...either that or I didn't read that into it. I think there is a definately a problem with written words as you cannot hear the intent or see the person writing it --- so something that may be said with sincerity may not come off that way. I guess for me I figure if I put something out here for the world to read/respond to then I have to take what responses I get and ignore any that rub me wrong. Don't let a few bad experiences chase you off -- people are imperfect and you never know what was going on with that person that day....we all have bad days/weeks/months....and sometimes it takes our buffer off and we may say things and not realize how it comes across to others. Ya know? I know on days that I am feeling stressed and tired that things annoy me a lot more than they normally would....and it could be the case that I could say something that someone takes wrong. I would hope that nobody would intentionally go in and be mean....if so I think we need to vote them off the island! LOL Hang in there --- there are lotsa wonderful people on here and everyone has their own experiences and advice...those grey topics like alcohol or soda pop will always spark a debate, it seems, and it is one of those things that folks will tell you what they did/heard from their doc/ etc and then you make your own decision. I can't tell you have many times I have read the negative posts about how wrong it is to drink pop, yadda yadda, which irks me...but I don't care as they are not my doctor. *I* make my choices and my doctor said it was OK after you have healed....and I like the caffeine free diet pop....I figure one or two a day isn't going to kill me, regardless of what everyone else thinks! My advice is to stay here and focus on the positives ----- and cut folks some slack if they may say something you don't like....unless it is a regular thing where they are being rude all the time to folks and then we need to take action and report them. This is a place for us to find compassion and understanding from our peers, not knock them down! Good luck! Kim