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Mostly that there's no alcohol in it and I don't like beer. I waited until at least 2 years post-op for actual alcohol. I didn't hit goal until about 3 years to put it in context. Good luck, Tek

Well I've paid for flights, deposit and insurance and have to do a 2 week low fat diet with no alcohol ready for operation on 8th April, my only worry is that my passport won't be here in time. Its kinda cool though as I can't worry bout op as more worried bout passport.

Kaiser explained to us that it can cause ulcers in the stomach or your new pouch. That said, I am one year 4 months post op and drink coffee daily. Let me tell you the worst pain I felt before surgery was the fact I did not taper caffeine use. So after I get admitted for surgery a few hours go by then I have surgery the headache from no caffeine was worse than the surgery pain and the heavy painkillers did nothing for the headache. I was lucky that the nurse brought in regular tea w my tray. As hard as it was I sipped that tea and boom headache gone. That is my story. I am not sure how my pouch is holding up because I drink alcohol and coffee. I have lost nearly 150lbs feel great! This just proves if we do not overcome our addictions they stay and manifest in other ways than just eating too much. GO TO SUPPORT GROUPS!!! Our group disbanded and I have to drive 3 hrs to get to a support group in person. Attending really kept me on the straight and narrow. A reason why I am coming back to this site to not forget the journey, its not over. I still weigh everyday follow eating plan mostly but little by little the past sneaks back in like drinking from straws, drinking & eating wrong things. I was hardcore rule follower going into this accept for the giving up caffeine. Anyway that is a long response lol. Good luck! Feel free to ask anything my journey is an open book!

There is also new research out that suggests CBD causes liver fibrosis. (Just like alcohol.)

Thanks, Silly Kitty and everyone else. I guess my fear is that my relationship with food is like an alcoholic--one cupcake and I would end up losing control. Perhaps I should go into this with the mindset that I may very will slip up from time to time, and not beat myself up when I do. I can always get back on track by keeping the ultimate goal in mind. I really appreciate your reassurance!

So when did everyone have their 1st drink? Be honest ppl

I gave up alcohol entirely because of the empty calories.

They are the cheapest and best tasting. There is no sugar alcohol in them.i would not tell somebody to try something I have not tried myself. If you don't want to chew than crush into powder.

It's probably best to ask your doctor, they all seem to have a different date in mind for when you can begin exercising, eating mushy food, eating solid food, and when you can drink alcohol. I can say that beer, or carbonated drinks in general, should probably be at the bottom of your list since the bubbles will fill you up (and expand in your stomach). If you're going to drink you may want to try wine or a mixed, non-carbonated drink first to see how you can handle it. I'm only 3 weeks and probably shouldn't be drinking yet but on New Year's eve I had a vodka and cranberry and Crown & Ginger (setting the ginger ale out in a glass a couple hours early to let it go flat).

Hi everyone I am new to this and am 6 weeks post sleeve doing ok i think would love to know if i can drink alcohol, in moderation ofcourse. I have a family party to go to this month and was wondering has anyone got any advise, my drink normally is bottle lager, or am i being to ambitious. Thanks for any help

I found this about hitting Plateaus, thought there were some some good points/advice so I thought I would share. By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS When you're trying to lose weight, the question isn't whether or not you'll hit a plateau, it's when. Plateaus are like bad weather on a long hike: it's inevitable that you'll run into it, but knowing that in advance won't make it one bit less frustrating or annoying when it happens. Cheer up! Since plateaus are as common as rain, we have a pretty good idea what to do about them. At least one of the following techniques should help you break through a plateau and start losing again. 1. Be a Calorie Detective When clients tell me they've stopped losing weight, the first thing I ask is this: how many calories a day are you eating? Calories have a way of creeping up while we're not paying attention. Be brutally honest with yourself: food diary for a while is a great way to monitor this. And yes, sodas and alcoholic beverages count! A good calorie goal for dieters is your target weight times 10. 2. Change It Up When you're not making gains in an exercise program you change your routine. Same holds true with your eating plan. Low-carbers could go higher carb for a few days, high-carbers might switch to a plan like shake things up. 3. Try a Temporary Ban Food sensitivities can cause weight gain and bloat, and the frustrating thing is that most of us don't always know which foods are the culprits. So play the odds. Highest on the list of "usual suspects" are grains (wheat in particular), dairy and sugar. Temporarily ban all three and see what happens. 4. Take Your Workout Up a Notch Forget the "fat burning zone." High intensity intervals -- 30 to 60 seconds -- are the wave of the future. If you're accustomed to level three on your cardio machine, ramp it up to level 6 for a minute then slow down, catch your breath and repeat. Ever see a sprinter with love handles? Protein Studies show that higher protein diets make it easier to lose fat. Protein boosts the metabolism (in one study as much as 100 percent for 24 hours), and increases satiety, making it more likely that you won't overeat. A higher protein diet could be just what you need to break that plateau. 7. Try a Detox Unsupervised fasting is a really bad idea, but the idea of giving your system a rest makes sense. Try a "smart fast" of nothing but fruits and vegetables for a couple of days. The added Fiber is always helpful, and the massive amount of nutrients and phytochemicals is like "spring cleaning" for your sleep or medication. Take a look at what else is going on in your life that might need attention. Sometimes when you clean up the problems in one area of your life, problems in other areas just naturally take care of themselves.

Am only 13 days post op and have no plans to drink alcohol in the near future but I am curious about how long one should wait before having a glass of wine? I have an event in April and at that time I will be 6 weeks post op. I am going to be asked to have a drink and I really don't want to let on that anything is different as I have kept this surgery pretty much to myself. Do any of you out there think it will be ok to have the wine?

this time last year I was a mess, 196kgs and rising I had all the fatty food the big cake and all the alcohol i could fit in!!! Today,,,,I am on mushies Ill be having a low fat casserole, sipping my water and I think my kids are getting an ice cream cake, coz they are only 6 and 3 u cant have a birthday without a cake lol Funny thing is it doesnt bother me if i have it or not Next year will be amazing, people will be able to buy me nice clothes!!! I will want to go out somewhere, coz the chair wont break, coz the isle will all of a sudden be big enough for me, coz my seat belt will fit Today might be my birthday but i feel like today is a celebration of a new life. I am feeling reborn:biggrin:

I am 7 months out and 95 pounds down - and i weigh daily without fail on my bathroom scale after using restroom (and naked) first thing in morning before getting in shower. My weight can fluctuate within about 3-4 pounds overnight - in other words there have been major short-term swings over the months. Sometimes this is due to me having more calories the day before, bloating before/after/during ovulation/period, amount of salt/water retained in my system, alcohol night before (like I'm dehydrated the next morning - my weight is falsely super down by a few pounds - but it's all regained the next day from hydrating). Take heart - I do not know many people who go down on the scale every single day - there are going to be fluctuations - (and different scales always produce different results). Just stick to what you are doing and you will get to goal!!!!

Hi All, Well i have a little dillema...:confused2:I am getting my band May 12th. I have ran into a speed bump though. My husbands 2 best friends are having a birthday party this saturday. Apparently i cant eat anything and i cant drink (alcohol):rolleyes2:...I would have loved to go but it just doesnt sound like ANY fun due to my issues. I told my husband this and he got all upset about it. :angry:I told him to go by himself and he said no, i want you to go...so i said okay ill go but i do NOT want to be there for very long. He got upset with that but dealt with it..i guess:glare:. So i am going to this party with 25yr old single men who are going to be getting drunk with their skinny rude girlfriends and they are going to be wondering hmmm why is victors wife not eating or drinking?:blushing: I dont want to tell them i am having WLS...maybe i dont want to tell them b/c i dont want to embarrass myself:sneaky:. (He doesnt want me to have the surgery bc he loves me not matter what even if i have 13 fingers:lol:). I really dont know what to tell them. Can anyone help me think of something to tell them...i dont want them to think im being rude and i just dont want to be around them.:biggrin: ( i really dont bc of my surgery) Really confused and frustrated:incazzato: Mandi Jo

Well, i have figured out that if i eat a large breakfast im not as hungry and i dont snack during the day time.:w00t: But i was kinda bad today....i am not going to be bad anymore tho! :fish:I am fully comitted to the band and that is how its going to have to be.:thumbdown: My mother on the other hand sent my grandma a text message saying that she was hungry and didnt have any money. So who gets to send my mother money...ME.:sleep: As much as she fucks up and doesnt take care of her responsibilities i still cant tell my mother i wont give her money for food when she says shes hungry and doesnt have any money to buy something to eat. :confused5:Intervention just doesnt work in my case, i dont have any family except for my mom(who is a alcoholic/drug user), grandmother and my aunt (who is a alcoholic). Today i was thinking i dont think i have even met my real mother bc the only mother i have ever known has always been on drugs and alcohol.:thumbup: So how do you tell family no when we are all that each other has. :angry_smile:ERRRR i wish they would both get better! Mandi Jo Today I ate: -3 scrambled eggs, 3 turkey bacon, 1 wheat tortilla and 1 f/f peach yogurt -apples and peanut butter -2 burritos from Taco Bell :thumbup: -Protein Drink

Did anyone who had to do Optifast before their band have such severe issues with it as I am having? I feel like an alcoholic trying to stay off of liquor only my liquor is food. I am so frustrated and tempted to eat and I have to call people to help keep me occupied so that I do not eat. I have followed my doctors orders thus far with my 5 shakes a day and some sugar free jello but I am so frustrated and miserable. I need to do this and I don't want to cheat, heck I have even incorporated 30 minutes of walking during my lunch break at work, but I am seriously going nuts when I get home and ahve to make dinner for the kids. Hubby has been doing what he can to help but he works three nights a week this week and next and I HAVE to make dinner for the kids. I am just so frustrated and looking at the prize at the end is not even helping. I don't know if I can make it though 9 more days of this.

Addiction gets such a bad rap societally. It is one of the most difficult things to recover from, yet it is so socially stigmatized that we don’t often talk about it freely. Food addiction is the most difficult addiction, in my opinion. Think about it: what other addiction do you have to wear on your sleeve? Alcoholics can drink to excess without anyone being the wiser. Pain pill addictions go unnoticed for years. Even people with addictions to cocaine, methamphetamines, and other hard drugs can go unnoticed for years. Gambling and sex addicts also go freely into society everyday without anyone raising as much as an eyebrow. In addition to having to “wear their addictions on their sleeves,” - food addicts can’t ever have the luxury of quitting “cold turkey.” We can’t quit food. In OA they say, with drug and alcohol addiction recovery- you slay the dragon, with food addiction recovery- you still have to take it for a walk three times a day. This is why understanding why we eat vs. just focusing on what we eat is so paramount in re-establishing a healthy relationship with food. If you’d like to take my free online course that helps you with this very concept, click here. Author Laura McKowen talks about the concept of the “pregnancy principle,” when people are recovering from alcohol addiction. She talks about the idea that when a woman is pregnant it is societally acceptable to say “no” at any time. A woman can go to a party for a mere 15 minutes and say “hey I’m really tired, I think I am going to go home now,” and everyone responds with “of course, you need the rest,” or “you are caring for two now- you have to listen to your body.” So why can’t one treat themselves with the same courtesy when recovering from food addiction. If you are at a party that has a bunch of triggering foods, a co-worker’s birthday party, a potluck, a restaurant where everyone has decided to order dessert- why does it feel so unacceptable to say “hey guys thanks for the great time, but I’m going to head home now.” This is much in part due to inherent shame surrounding addiction. One feels that they should just be able to be like everyone else. Yet study after study has shown there are key genetic factors that often play into overeating, food addiction, and obesity. We shouldn’t have to have another person inside of us to give ourselves permission to take care of ourselves. Aren’t you enough? Whether you are in the beginning stages of your weight loss surgery, or 6 years post- this month, try to look at your recovery the same way a pregnant woman looks at taking care of herself. If you know something is going to be too triggering, not fun, exhausting, mentally draining- either bow out politely, or go for a short period of time and excuse yourself when you’re no longer feeling it. If you are interested in receiving more free weight loss help with the psychological part of recovery, please check out my free course here.

Honestly I don't get it either. To me alcohol is a lot more harmful. How many families have been torn apart because of marijuana compared to alcohol? I don't think either is good for you and consumption should be limited but I don't get why pot gets the side eye from so many people when getting drunk does not. Plus with pot at least you don't get a hangover the next day! I actually have a couple family members who are on medical marijuana for chronic pain and/or anxiety.

I'm not a smoker of any variety. I believe if pot is illegal, then cigarettes and alcohol should be as well. They're far more destructive and addictive than pot as proven to be. I know many people on a personal level who use pot and are extremely high functioning intelligent people who are quite successful at the careers they've chosen. All that said, pot is illegal and it amazes me that the owners of this site have no problem with promoting illegal behavior. As for those who choose to break the law so publicly...at least when you get caught (post banded), you'll have the consolation that you'll look so much better in those prison jump suits than you did pre-banding. .

First off, anyone that compares smoking pot to smoking crack is probably on crack. And as far as the legality of it, I have yet to hear a decent argument for it even being illegal. It is less dangerous than alcohol and has a 0% OD rate. As Dr. King said, "We have a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws". Now with that out of the way... :-) My biggest problem with smoking pre-op was that I would get some serious munchies. In a way I thought banding might fix that, not that weed munchies is the reason I got banded or anything. I just thought it would be a nice side effect of the band. I tried it a couple of weeks after surgery and I got some SERIOUS munchies. I didn't pig out or anything but I did eat more than I probably should have and I'm lucky I didn't cause slippage. I would be careful with it, just make sure there are no munchies around the first time you try. Everyone is affected differently, and I found out that even though I couldn't eat a lot that didn't keep me from wanting to. Good luck :-)

hmm not that I would know :thumbup: but I believe it can be a great alternative to alcohol. I definetly would drink more calories with alcohol than I could ever eat with munchies. I believe if you prepare yourself for munchies with a 100 calorie popcorn you would be set :tongue_smilie:

My nutritionist and surgeon have both said NO ALCOHOL for at least six months and even after that, it must be "skinny" cocktails and "light" beers, etc. At 6 weeks I'd double check it with your surgeon and nutritionist as I know different practices say different things. Good luck!

I just had my two month appt a couple of weeks ago and my NUT told me physically i was OK, but to be real careful,,dead calories and high sugar and carbs in alcohol. Plus you will be a real cheap date as you haven't had anything in a long time. We also tend to make bad food choices when we drink. I have had a couple of really small (2oz) of wine and one mixed drink (no carbonated beverage). and had no problems, but it definately hits you. Remember one 1oz of red wine has 25 calories, so one glass at a resturant is 4oz which equals 100 calories, which is a tenth of the calories at your stage. plus you should only be taking in 30-40 carbs per day. Hope this helps. Good Luck

My doctor told me I can if I want to. With that said I'm actually drinking a diet coke right now. my surgery was 2 years and 1 month ago. I have never had a problem with drinking sodas. Nothing has happened to my band. My doctor advised me that most doctors say no about carbonated beverages such as cokes/ alcohol just because they want you to change your diet and such and not really rely so much on the band. I've lost almost 100 pounds since surgery. Today I weighed in at a check up dr apt at 130.2. I'm not really the best example only because I haven't had any problems with band slipping or anything and I still eat everything except not much bread or rice, just smaller portions.