Search the Community

I would consider myself a 'heavy drinker' before surgery. I used to drink almost every night and could drink most of my friends 'under the table'. While its true that lapband doesn't change your plumbing at all (like gastric bypass), the alcohol will hit you harder. Basically, it hits me like I'm eating low cal (like on WW), BUT (and here's a big BUT) I often forget that I am eating low cal because different from WW, I am NOT hungry. So, I feel like I ate dinner, but I didn't, and whamo, I just got a little more 'tipsy' than I meant to. So, definitely be careful w/the alcohol! Also, as someone who really loves to drink, I did finally have to get real w/myself and accept that fact that alcohol is A LOT of empty calories. And, although I could still lose well for many months w/the alcohol, I finally hit a plateau and had to cut back dramatically to get the scale moving again. So, experiment w/it, but realize its definitely one of the first places to cut if you stop losing. For me, the things I have to work on the most is cutting back alcohol, sweets, and upping exercise to keep the scale moving. :->

By the way Laura, I LMAO reading about you getting a buzz on Nyquil. That stuff is 80% alcohol. Next time just make yourself a "hot toddy"! Cheaper and probably better tasting!

I also used to partake of the daily white russians during cocktail hour. It would normally take about 3-4 to get me buzzed. My Dr. says i can have one on my birthday in Oct. And he assures me it will affect me sooner. I think perhaps it's due to decreased body mass? A bigger person will tolerate alcohol more then a thinner person. And after you've been off the stuff a few months I'm sure you decrease your tolerance. I still plan to have the occasional cocktail but have to remember that our bodies DO NOT use the calories in alcohol for energy. It gets stored as fat and can be utilized later if needed with the breakdown of fat into energy. That's why alcohol makes us fat. In men especially it gets stored around the abdomen, hence the "beer gut". When I started drinking at age 40 is when my abdomen started getting so big.

acutally I am looking forward to getting stuck! The band is a tool.....tool that if you eat too much or the wrong kind of food has a consequence. That consequence is getting stuck or vomitting. I need a negative consequence like that. Obviously the consequence of weight gain when I eat certain foods is not enough. So although I do not aim for always getting stuck 'I do aim to feel something. You have to see if from my point of view. I had this surgery, put this foreign object in my body, paid this money, and I feel nothing. It was like I never had it. That is alot to go through for nothing. So I am ready to feel the stuck feeling. At least I know it is in there and I will have a consequence for my action if it hurts that much. I am not saying that it will solve or speed up my weight loss but let's call a spade a spade. I am feelling no restriction what so ever right now. Although I am sticking to no bread, no rice, no Pasta, no soda... I know myself...that will get old. If I could keep doing it I would not have needed the band in the first place. So down the road, when I am craving that bread, and I actually eat it, and it gets stuck and feels horrible...guess what I will think twice about eating the bread. It is the same principle for having an alcoholic take antabuse. You take it, you drink, you vomit. Now obviously the person taking it does not think...man I can not wait to take the medication, drink, and vomit. But obsiously they needed more consequences for their drinking than what they were experiencing. And just like anything I know there is a way around the band. I am not looking for it. I hope that clarified everything for you.

Judy, I started going to Celebrate Recovery on Friday nights. It is a place for anyone who needs support for recovery no matter what it is. Anyway, the leader, who is a recovering alcoholic said sometimes you need to "fire" your friends.....the ones that bring you down and enable. It really hit hard for me.....I had to put my friend of over 30 years on the back burner. She is like a distant cousin now. I love her, but don't need to be in contact with her daily or weekly. She enables and brings me down. So, I can relate.

Published on SelfGrowth.com (http://www.selfgrowth.com) Does it really matter why? By Stephen Hosaflook On Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - 14:03 As a recovering obese person I’m starting to question all this examining, digging, and analyzing of WHY people are obese. That there’s some deep dark secret we’re hiding that causes our obesity. Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser, and now her own show, Losing it with Jillian, is a big proponent of digging into people’s sordid pasts and trying to find that deep dark secret. I love Jillian, The Biggest Loser, and Losing it with Jillian. She cares and I understand what she’s trying to do. But how is understanding why, if there is a why, going to help us at that critical moment when we’re faced with that piece of apple pie a-la-mode? When it comes right down to it, we’re still going to have to make the choice. Do I eat this or not? And if I do, is it because my dad ignored me all those years ago? Or was it my mom and dad’s divorce when I was 6 years old that’s going to cause me to eat this pie and ice cream right now? What we do right now, at that critical moment of temptation, has nothing to do with what happened a hour ago, yesterday, or 20 years ago. I just don’t agree with that. Don’t get me wrong. I feel for people who’ve had horrible pasts. Do our problems weigh on us? Sure they do. We all carry tremendous burdens and hurts from the past and possibly even yesterday. People can dredge up all kinds of painful events from our past. And it might even help diagnose something. But how long are we going to use those past events as excuses for overeating or being obese? This has made me wonder how Jillian would handle me. Okay, I’ll bite for just a moment here and make public three of my own past and current troubles. Could these three things be the reasons why I’m a recovering obese person? Let’s see…here I go, #1…When I was 10 years old and in the fourth grade, it was mandatory for all fourth graders to take swimming lessons at the local High School. We had 30 kids in our class. Mrs. Gilligan was the teacher. For twelve weeks we boarded a bus every Wednesday and went to the pool to learn how to swim. At the end of the program, I was the only one in the class who didn’t learn how to swim. I was afraid of going in water over my head. Well, believe me, I was the butt of some unbelievable hazing from my classmates. Even Mrs. Gilligan let the whole class know how disappointed she was in me. That’s pretty traumatic for a ten year old, don’t you think? But I don’t think about that anymore. Well, until just now. #2…My brother was an alcoholic and passed away about a year and a half ago. To this day I harbor tremendous guilt about not doing enough to stop this tragedy… maybe not being tough enough. I enabled him, to keep the peace in the house. I thought him seeing me change would give him the will to change. It didn’t. Why didn’t I do more? This is very stressful but it’s just another thing I have to live with, and I think about it a lot. #3…Currently I'm the caregiver for my elderly ill parents. It's my role now and I fully accept it. This was the single most important reason for me retiring this past March. I put in my thirty plus years and the timing was right. I need to be home as much as possible now. But at times it feels like I'm trapped. I still do things but traveling is out of the question now. I can't go on a golf vacation like I used to, let alone be away overnight anymore. I love my mom and dad more than anything in this world...it's not their fault. Sometimes it seems unfair though. See, I'm looked at as being the "Rock" of my family. I'm the oldest and I'm expected to do everything, say all the right things, and be responsible for anything and everything. I'm never allowed say no and I can’t defend myself when people think I make a wrong or unpopular decision. Even though I’ve willingly accepted this as my responsibility and wouldn’t change it for the world, it’s still very stressful at times. Now that’s a lot of baggage, but no more and probably a lot less than some other folks have. But okay, I said it. You made me say it Jillian! You wanted to drag some baggage out of me so you can say… “Now we know why you’re fat Steve. Now we can fix you.” Sorry, I disagree. I think I’ve got this one figured out though. And no analyzing needs to be done. See, what it all boils down to is this... no matter how many horrible and traumatic events I haul out of my past or current life, I can't use any of those things as an excuse to over eat right now. As tough as those things are some days, as much of a weight as they can be on my shoulders...I cannot use them to say something like this... "It's just too much for me today and I can't handle it! Everybody laughed at me when I was 10 years old and afraid of the water. I just didn’t do enough to help my brother. I'm all alone here with no help… so I'm going to sit down, relax, and reward myself with a big bowl of ice cream because I deserve it!" When I’m sitting there staring at that bowl of ice cream or that piece of apple pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on it, am I thinking about those three things? No, I’m thinking how good that stuff looks and whether I should dive into it or not. Will thinking about my baggage make me start eating it or give me the strength to throw it away? No, because I’m not thinking about my baggage at that moment. I’m just thinking about what’s sitting there in front of me. Now, if I CHOOSE to, I can use all of those things as excuses. But all I’ve really done is cooked up in my own mind a reason to justify my binge eating. See how easy it is to do? So why do I want to think about why? It’s tough enough to say no to that garbage in the first place. In my humble opinion, we all do what we really want to do. Past or current experiences can’t make us do anything. Cruel and uncaring people from a day ago or 30 years ago can’t make us do anything. We make our own choices right now and we do exactly what we want to do right now. It doesn’t matter why we choose to do it…we just choose to do it. How decisive are we? Are we committed or are we just involved. “Want to be decisive? Start by deciding to live. Getting dead is mandatory, living is a conscious choice.” Now, both of those things are decisive, but only one is mandatory. Do we decide to give up...or do we decide to fight? I found that particular quote while I was looking for one I could use to explain the commitment needed to achieve our weight loss and maintenance goals. This is a pretty cool one too about a chicken and a pig and breakfast. Here it is... “The chicken was involved in creating your breakfast; the pig was committed.” That raises a couple of questions...Are we committed to our goals? Or just involved with them? And what excuses are we using to stop us? I heard a new one today… “My food addiction is an inherited family behavior.” Are you kidding me? When is this madness going to stop? Face it, we're all here because we want to lose weight and keep it off. Knowing what we want and how we think we can achieve it is having a strategic vision. That’s helpful, even necessary, but not enough for success. We can have a vision without commitment; that’s called a dream. Not even involvement is enough to make dreams come true… we have to be committed. We have to be willing to do whatever it takes. We have to be willing to commit our soul to this task. The problem with this sometimes is not everyone will understand or appreciate our focus. There will be those who "try" to give us an out. Or those who'll even be jealous of our commitment to success. Some may even fear we're leaving them behind so they'll lay a guilt trip on us. These are things we can use as excuses too. This is upsetting for many of us because we really do want to succeed. If you're like me, you'll even want to take those family members and friends by the hand and say to them... "Come with me, we'll all be successful together." They may not be ready yet, but that shouldn't stop us. We can't let that stop us! Whatever it is you like to use as an excuse, break free from that. I battle using my guilt and anger as excuses. And when I do, I have to make a conscious choice...am I really committed or am I just involved? Am I willing to be the pig and commit all? Will I risk being called a name or two, or allow a guilt trip to be laid on me in order to get what I really want? Or will I just be an involved excuse making chicken? Author's Bio 53 year old retired school custodian 4 time loser of 100 pounds or more Author of soon to be published book... LION UNLEASHED: A Journey of Weight Lost and Courage Found Fulltime caregiver for elderly ill parents Owner of weightloss and maintenance website... http://www.lionunleashed.com I'm not a doctor, nutritionist, dietician, certified physical trainer, or psychologist. I'm an average Joe. I've battled weight issues my whole life and I just want to help save at least one other person's life, like someone helped save mine. All I can offer is my personal lifelong experiences and my personal plan of taking off the weight and trying to keep it off. There are many ways to get from point A to point B. My way is just one in a thousand. The important thing is to find YOUR way and stick to it. My site and my book are dedicated to helping all my obese brothers and sisters who battle weight loss and maintenance issues every single day. Together we can do it. Source URL: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/does-it-really-matter-why

I put the "benchmarks" on my calendar i.e., "Can try pasta..", "Can try steak"...so far at four months out, there's not too much I can't eat - including the occasion bagel..but it takes me forever at a pinky tip size bite at a time, so not really worth it. I'm not a big alcohol drinker, but I love the occasional margarita or gin & tonic - so far no problem, but I feel the effect very quickly. Was a diet soda a-day girl and gave that up - Love SoBe water and still have a cup or two of coffee a day. My NUT encourages me to 1) Eat Real Foods(don't rely on protein shakes except past recovery or post-fill), 2) Focus on Protein first, then fruit and veggies, 3) Limit but don't eliminate carbs, 4) Have the occasional treat but watch the portion size - that said, I really have to control myself around ice cream which has always been a favorite and slides down the ol' pie hole real easy! :cool:

Well how soon for alcohol then? I am about 10 days post op and would love a glass of wine but I really do not want to mess myself up after spending all that money!!!!

I started drinking again about 3-4 weeks post surgery. I felt a buzz after about 3 oz of vodka :cool:, but im assuming thats because I hadnt had a drink in about 2 months. I mixed it with zero calorie Vitamin Water and found I could taste the vodka much more than if I had mixed it with, say, orange juice, but I was able to tolerate the taste better than before as well. Dont know why. As you get smaller it takes less alcohol to get you buzzed too. I've had drinks the last 2 weekends and it hasnt affected my weight loss, so as long as I keep losing I dont see a reason to stop :wink2:

I tend to believe the perceived effect people are experiencing from the alcohol has more to do with decreased tolerance than anything else. The less you drink the less it takes to achieve the same intoxication level - especially having stopped cold turkey for a period of time. Brad

In my opinion (totally my opinion) I think that the affect is felt more because of the deficit of food calories we consume. I don't think that the effect is felt because of metabolizing or anything else but the lack of food. Before my surgery if I barely ate (and anyone can contest to this) my buzz was MUCH faster than if I ate before going out. I will say that my alcohol consumption has cut down ALOT...and it does only take a small amount of alcohol to get me tipsy. I have to watch it, I will be stumbling drunk by the second drink (I drink liquor not beer).

That literature is for gastric bypass patients, who, unlike band patients, do have different absorbative properties. Our stomachs aren't any smaller and alcohol should not metabolize any different. Brad

here's a snippet from another article on the same study: "Morton said the obesity surgery patients don’t produce as much of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol because their stomachs are smaller. Also, the alcohol passes to their small intestine faster, speeding up absorption, he said." Again, referring to bypass. Not sure if the same applies for bandsters.

Here's an article on alcohol and WLS, but it talks about gastric bypass. People Get Drunk Faster After Bariatric Surgery, New Study

[OK someone needs to explain this to me.... There are no plumbing changes with the band and when properly adjusted, liquids go straight through the band, so how would alcohol have any different metabolic properties? Brad Beats the heck out of me. All I know is after a normal dosage of nyquil there was a party going on in my head. :sad:

If your surgeon allows carbonation (many do) and if you tolerate it, beer is still on the menu too. Drinking beer slowly gives me no problems. :sad: OK someone needs to explain this to me.... There are no plumbing changes with the band and when properly adjusted, liquids go straight through the band, so how would alcohol have any different metabolic properties? Brad

Yes, you can, but also keep in mind that alcohol will affect you much more instensely post op. My surgeon said one glass will hit you as much as 3-4 glasses. Heck, I got tipsy on a dose of Nyquil post op. Good times.

You have youth on your side. The weight will come off. Beer may give you some trouble depending on how tight your restriction gets. A drink every once in awhile won't hurt you but it is high calorie and may slow the weightloss for you. If you only have one drink on special occasions and stay away from being a heavy drinker, your life will turn out better in the long run. You are so young and have so much life ahead of you. I think you have a bright future and it is great you are getting rid of the excess weight so young. Drinking heavy messes with your liver over the years anyway. You can find other ways to have fun and keep the alcohol consumption down. Good luck on your life journey !

Simple answer; yes. If we could not do the things that we enjoy, including drinking alcohol following surgery; many of us would not have even considered surgery. I've cut it down quite a bit and only drink every 2 or 3 weeks but I enjoy it and it has not interfered with my weight loss.

So I'm having my surgery in around 4 months or so. No set date yet. I used to drink a lot on the weekends, but I quit that so I can lose weight. I probably won't be drinking after surgery until I lose the weight I want to lose. So, can you drink when you've had the surgery?

I will admit, the big rule I break is drinking with my meals. Although, I don't gulp it. I may take tiny tiny sips. I barely drink 1/4 of my glass, if even that much. It does not affect my hunger, nor does it make me pb or uncomfortable. I drink alcohol on occassion. I haven't had a drink in over a month. I don't eat bread anymore, although I can still tolerate rice. And I don't drink any carbonation at all. I took a sip of my husband's flat Dr. Pepper once, and never again! Exercising makes my port sore too. My husband and I just moved into a new house, and when we were packing up, I was so sore in my port area. It went away after about a day or two. I will see how sore unpacking makes me.

my doc said diet soda and alcohol are fine in moderation. i make my soda flat by shaking it though because the bubble theory of stretching the pouch makes sense to me. i don't usually drink alcohol anyway but it is high in carbs and sugar so it's not something i would drink anyway.

Cheri, Margaritas????? And I was dumb enough to have my surgery here! My preop diet was NPO after midnight and no alcohol 24 hours before surgery!!!!! I don't drink much or often, but a little send off before surgery would have been nice. ARRRRR Oh well, at least I could eat the whole day. Prior to my lapband I had the two week liquid regime. But then my BMI was over 40. Sunshine, you will be pleasantly surprised. I thought I would feel many times more pain than I did with my lapband, but honestly I don't think it was as much. Go figure. Euphoric, nibble nibble nibble. LOL My DH laughs watching me chipping at the crackers with my front teeth. I have to make sure I'm very careful to THINK about what I'm doing. I realize it would be so easy to thoughtlessly take a regular bite and give it a couple of chews and swallow. Most of the time when I got something "stuck" with my band, it was because I momentarily forgot. Not pretty.

Just as everyone suggested...I would try OA. It is free and then everyone there would know exactly how you feel. When you feel like you want to binge, try going on the chat here or if you do start going to OA maybe you could call someone there. It is an addiction, just like alcohol or drugs, and that is why those people have "sponsers" to talk them out of going back to old habits when they are under pressure.

So I spent like 13K on my lap band surgery and have been struggling to drop my pathetic 8lbs this last month. No alcohol, no bread, no Pasta, no soda, only sugar free sweets, no fun. And walking my tail off on the treadmill. My husband cut back to diet Jack and Coke and stopped eating quite as many Cookies in the evening and has already dropped like 15lbs in 2 weeks. Yes, this is why we hate men.