Search the Community

Yeppers, I actually 2 of them through the course of the night. I danced, jammed out, enjoyed the entire night. Alcohol doesn't really hit me hard anymore. If I just kind of nurse the drinks, I end up feeling just a little buzzed. Those pitchers were not full to the top, they were half full, and had a lot of ice. It literally took me 7 hours to drink 2 of them. I rarely get drunk off a few drinks. Plus, I ate before I left, and once I was there, I had some Snacks in my pockets LOL. I always carry some sort of snack with me, it helps keep things on an even kilter, and keeps my energy up. Carolyn - you should be so proud of yourself. . . I think you look fabulous ! ! !

Like Jachut (and also from Australia) I wasn't given a lot of rules to follow. I had a post-op diet, which I followed, after which I was told to eat healthily, exercise at least 20 mins 3 times a week, and only eat when I was hungry. I didn't do low carb, didn't count calories, ate a balanced diet from all food groups, I drink alcohol (always have) and I exercised. I started with a relatively low BMI too and I lost all the weight I needed to within 7 months, then lost more, and then have maintained for over a year now. I think following the post-op diet is important because that's when you're healing. But after that, how you lose is pretty much dependant on you, and how sensibly you eat. Mind you, I don't drink carbonated drinks coz they make me feel sick. If something doesn't 'sit well' with me, I don't eat/drink it. But I try everything at least once. Personally I think if I'd had too many rules to follow, I would have been more likely to fall off the wagon. Having few rules made it easier to 'follow' the rules I did have. I even drink with meals sometimes, when I'm out at a restaurant. Then again, I'm not very restricted anymore. :waytogo:

Well, I have had such a busy week this past week getting prepared for surgery. I'm mentally and physically exhausted, but excited about having everything out of the way. Now, I just have to continue my pre-op diet and make a few last preparations before my surgery on the 22nd. I thought it might be a good idea to post what I went through with pre-op appointments in case anyone out there is wondering about this aspect of things. I actually scheduled all of my own preop clearances. (The surgeon's office scheduled the preop appt I had with them and the hospital.) The surgeon's office has specific doctors they work with for the clearances and I went with those instead of trying to do something closer to home. I didn't want any delays with the results getting to my surgeon. This actually ended up being for the best because the surgeon's office and all of the doctors they use for clearances are tied into the hospital's computer network. They are all able to view most of the same info, reports, data, etc. about patients using the hospital's doctors. This should help prevent any delays if a piece of paper gets lost along the way. I actually had my first preop clearance last week, which was pulmonary. This appointment was quick and to the point and a total breeze. I guess that's because I don't have any pulmonary isses, but it felt somewhat like a waste of time. I wish I had scheduled this one on the same day as one of the other appointments and that would have been one less day of driving 45 minutes each way to the hospital offices. This past week, I had the Upper GI, cardiac clearance, phone intake with the hospital admissions department, pre-op appointment at the surgeon's office, and pre-op intake at the hospital. This was all done over 3 days. Wednesday morning I went in for my Upper GI. This required that I have nothing by mouth after midnight. I was allowed to take my meds that A.M. with a sip of water. As others have said, this test is not pleasant. It's not the one where they put you to sleep and put the camera down your throat. This is the one where you drink a ton of nasty stuff and roll around on a table like a beached whale while the GI doc looks at live action xrays of your stomach handling all the nasty stuff you drink. I got a quick look at my GI system in action at one point during the test. It was pretty cool to see the liquid running through my system on the screen as I drank, but I was too queasy to stare at it much. I managed to drink everything they threw at me, but I was SOOO sick to my stomach afterward. I had planned to run and eat immediately after, but I didn't feel like it. My stomach was full of chalky stuff! But, I decided that instead of walking around without any sustenance in my body, I would make myself eat something. I went and got a meat omelet from IHOP and immediately felt better. Lesson for me, go ahead and eat after the Upper GI even if you don't feel like it. The stuff seemed to move through my system fairly quickly after I ate. I learned a couple of days later that the results from this test were that I have significant GERD. Go figure. That explains all the recent burping - which I never did up until about 3 or 4 months ago. I did my phone intake with hospital admissions after the GI appointment. This was basic info gathering, a review of my current medications, and somewhat of a test of my understanding of what I was about to do to myself. Later that afternoon was my appointment for cardiac clearance. When I got to the back, I was given an EKG. Then, the cardiologist came in and reveiwed the EKG and my history information. He said that the EKG was normal and that I seemed to be in good health for my weight. He then said he wanted me to do the treadmill test. Now, I had thought this was automatically part of the cardiology clearance, but apparently it's not because they had not scheduled me for one. They couldn't fit me in that afternoon, so I had to come back the next day. GREAT! :cursing: But, I didn't balk because I am too determined to have this surgery to let an extra appointment get in the way. For the treadmill test the next day (which was Thursday), I had to have nothing to eat or drink - except small sips of water - 4 hours before the test. I was instructed to wear or bring something comfortable to wear during the test. Since I had to go in to work that morning, I took a gym bag with me. I changed in the private exam area and the tech swabbed off my chest area with alcohol and hooked me up to an EKG machine. I was allowed to keep on my bra, a hospital gown, and my bottoms and tennis shoes. She took my vitals and then had me get on the treadmill. I started off at a moderate paced walk and then the speed picked up. I never had to actually run but I did get sweaty and exhausted toward the end. The point was to assess how much exertion it took to increase my heart rate and how my body responded during the phase with a high heart rate. I was able to do this at a fast walk. I think the whole thing took about 30 minutes from the time I entered the room. The actual treadmill time was about 5 to 8 minutes. The next morning, Friday, I had my appointment with the surgeon. This went really well because my diligence with my preop diet paid off and I came in 1 pound under weight from my initial consultation.:thumbup1: Lord I was so worried about that because my weight had been up and down (mostly up) since that initial consult appointment and your surgery can be cancelled if you gain weight. I think I"m in the clear now because I don't expect to gain any weight on this low carb preop diet. I turned in all of my surgical clearance forms to the insurance coordinator and she put together the packet for me to take to my hospital appointment later that am. She had to get the GI clearance from the computer network through the hospital because they hadn't given me anything after my GI appointment like the other two had. I then spent some time with the nurse reviewing my preop and postop instructions and the progression of the diet. This was really interesting because my surgeon has changed his bariatric diet progression recently and it's much more liberal than it used to be. I plan to post it in another blog, but I'm thrilled to only have 2 days of clear liquids post op!! Yay!!! :thumbup: By day 7/8 postop, I'll be on pureed/soft foods. I'm really excited about that. After talking quite a while with the nurse (she also took some measurements for reference points), I got to meet with the doctor. I think I surprised him with my list of about 20 questions, but he took a seat and answered every one of them. I'm going to try to post that as a separate blog also for anyone who needs ideas of questions to ask. I thought of a couple more as we talked, so it was very informative. I'm very comfortable with getting the procedure done after our Q&A session. After that, I went over to the hospital and completed my preop admission. I met with the intake rep and handed over my ID and insurance card (for the umpteenth time) :scared0: and got a nice little armband for the remainder of my preop. Then, I went to the testing area to meet with the preop folks. First, I talked to the anesthesia nurse practitioner about my anesthesia history. Nothing significant there. Then, I met with the bariatric nurse specialist to review everything I would go through on the day of surgery, immediately post op, and long term post op issues. This aspect of the preop visit was unexpected and very helpful. I learned about the bariatric wing of the floor I would be on postop, some things to remember for the morning of testing (like to request an antinausea patch before surgery), got to review aspects of the diet progression, and got some tips and tricks for eating postop. The bariatric nurse specialist will be visiting me throughout my stay in the hospital and checking on me post op for quite awhile. It will be nice to have another point of contact when I have questions. The last leg of my hospital preop appointment was the general surgical nurse. She took some vitals and reviewed my chart and history briefly. She made sure that all clearances were in order and on file and made sure that my chart was complete. She then took a few vials of blood and took that hospital bracelet off my arm. I was so glad of that because I once had to wear that thing around for almost a week before a surgery because "that" hospital had to know that I was the same person who had given the blood during the preop - STUPID. The nurse reviewed the procedures for the morning of surgery with me and that was it. Anyway, I hope this "book" I just wrote about my preop tesitng helps someone get a better idea of what they might be in store for in the days before surgery. I'm sure it's done differently in many places, but I guess the overall point is the same - to make sure we're healthy and sane enough to go under the knife. If I had any advice, it would be to plan your appointments strategically and be clear about what's expected at each appointment. I'm not sure that I could have cut down on my driving any because there was so much to get done, but I might have been able to cut out at least one or two days of the back and forth with better planning. Now that I'm done with that, it's on to week 2 of my preop diet and just trying to keep my head on straight until surgery day. I'm still getting a case of the nerves here and there, but I'm going to see it through. :thumbup:

Well, that MIGHT be me. I'm not a rule breaker, I was into this 100% and the carbonation and drinking with meals and Protein stuff were NOT rules for me. So technically, I follow my doctor's advice and would advise anyone to do so. But patently, since we have such laxer rules and no rules at all a lot of the time in Australia (of course it depends on yoru doctor, like anywhere) then those things simply ARENT hard and fast rules. I really echo ada's sentiments above - most of the nutrient balance, drinking, alcohol, caffeine advice are recommendations, not rules. If you can lose weight drinking wine, well, wine in moderation is not an entirely bad thing, it has some health benefits. There's no rhyme or reason to the caffeine thing, thats nothing more than one doctor's personal views over anothers, there's no evidence at all that we shoudl avoid it. The drinking thing, well I could drink with meals for the longest time without discomfort, and I did. When it started to hurt beyond certain restriction, I stopped. If I'd stopped losing for any significant time, I might have tried low carb, certainly would have given up alchohol. For each of us, this is OUR body, our experience is unique to US, and any doctor that insists on a cookie cutter approach wouldnt be a doctor I'd choose. Carbonation hurts. Its very uncomfortable to drink a very bubbly drink with the band. They're also generally rubbish for you. Good enough reason as any not to drink them. Drinking with a meal with adequate restriction is likely to make you vomit. Great reason to avoid it. But does it wash food through and make me feel hungry sooner. Absolutely a resounding NO. It doesnt. So why would I need to obsess about finishing drinking exactly 30 minutes before my meal and WHY would I watch the clock obsessively for an hour after? I personally believe that the rules doctors set tell an awful lot about the doctors' attitude to fat people. Some seem to want to punish. "i wont do this surgery unless you do this", "you must follow this rule, that rule, avoid this list of foods, count this nutrient" shows quite a lack of understanding about what it is like to be fat, to be an overeater, and definitely shows no empathy for a person who has to live like this forever. I'm very comfortable with my doctor who emphasises finding our own groove with this thing, adapting a lifestyle you can live with, is not unhappy with slow loss (my personal view is slow loss is good, healthier and maintainable, high protein fast loss is unhealthy, consists of a lot of muscle tissue and long term ketosis will damage your eyes and kidneys, but hey, that's an entire different argement with compelling evidence on BOTH sides). If you love rules, you probably like a doctor who gives them to you black and white, but me, I'd probably tell him to get stuffed. I also dont think doctors are GOD and argue regularly with my GP but then, that's just me. And the simple truth is, you just dont strictly have to live with rules to be succesful. I lost 100lb in about 18 months, I've kept it off for nearly 3 years now, I have a low BMI and I did it simply by eating sensibly, from all food groups, allowing treats but keeping them to a minimum and excercising regularly and intensely. I can definitely live like this forever. Look, if you love rules and love being dedicated to a diet and love to count, journal and such, its not a bad thing. Its defintely not going to hurt you. But its not strictly necessary for everyone, it has some disadvantages for many and not wanting to live that way is NOT an indication that someone will fail, will suffer complications or will not keep their weight off. You can indeed treat the band as a tool to control portions, eat sensibly but more like a normal person and lose weight and keep it off. But I think the post op requirements are remarkably similar between doctors and are VITAL to stick to. You've just had major surgery on your stomach, you want this thing to work and last, you have to allow it to heal. Why you would f-ck with that, I have no idea. That is just not negotiable. If that's the hardest thing you ever have to do in your life, then you're lucky. I found it really easy to be honest. I was full of new joy and good resolutions about what I was going to achieve. This time it was going to work. That was all the motivation I needed.

I'm almost three months out and I don't take TINY bites any more, although I am taking much smaller bites than the giant ones I took pre-surgery. As for alcohol, I have had a small glass of wine or half a margarita a few times, but haven't had much alcohol because (a) the sweet drinks fill me up and take a long time to drink -- same as a Protein drink or any caloric drink would, (:scared0: I don't choose to ingest too many empty calories via alcohol, and © it does hit me a little harder and faster than it used to. For a couple of weeks I had a lot of social occasions where there was alcohol served and it seemed to stop my weight loss dead in its tracks. SO not worth it!!

1) I'm a year out, and take fairly normal sized bites and have been for a few months. I still chew well, but do not have to chew things to a mush. 2) I was released for alcohol at 3 months. I was advised to steer clear of red wines. I steered clear of it during my heavy losing because #1, it's wasted calories, #2 our livers are working double time when we are losing quickly, no reason to task our livers anymore by having to break down alcohol (I avoided Tylenol and a lot of other meds during that time as well for the same reasons). I would recommend drinking at home first so you can see how your body will react. When I first started having a glass of wine here and there, it hit me hard and fast. Now, my tolerance is the same as it was pre-op. I'm a social drinker only, and really only go out once maybe twice a month. I can catch a decent buzz and maintain it if I just kind of nurse my drinks. If I'm drinking heavy, I do get drunk. 3) Once I was released for regular food, the experimenting began. Some things worked, some things didn't, it really is trial and error. If you try something and it doesn't work. Log it, and try it again in a few weeks. I still stuck to my guidelines of Protein first, watched my carbs, and measured my food. I didn't start adding in extra calories/carbs until my surgeon advised me to do so to slow my loss down because I was losing so fast. Once you start adding stuff in, you'll see a difference in how you lose (at least that is my experience). I was able to get my loss to completely stop by adding carbs, and going from 600-800 calories to 1500-1800 calories per day.

You may not be having any adverse affects, but you may not be having optimal results. My experience has been that I have really tried to follow all of my doctor's rules (at least for some time) and then started experimenting w/only the rules that were problematic for me. Some of the rules that were hardest to follow (no carbonation, no artificial sweetener, and no caffeine) turned out to be the best for me. I very begrudgingly gave this all up for the first month after surgery wondering how I would ever satisfy my sweet tooth or have any energy without all of this. As it turns out, I no longer have a sweet tooth (the Diet Coke and artificial sweeteners were just driving my cravings for sweets) and I have more energy than ever (caffeine just had me on a horrible roller-coaster). So, I never went back to any of that. My doctor also says to go on Clear liquids for 72 hours after a fill. And, trust me, I have TRIED! In the beginning, I just did not have enough restriction to go 3 days w/no food at all. So, I would go as long as I could (usually 24 hours) and then work my way up. By my 3rd fill it got easier, and by my 4th fill (last one), I wasn't hungry at all after my fill so no problem at all. My doctor doesn't say you can't drink any alcohol, but she highly recommends against any liquid calories. Boy, this was the hardest for me. I love my wine and cocktails and have an active social life that always includes drinking. I was happy to find that as long as I was exercising and following all the other rules pretty well, I didn't have to give up my alcohol and I could still lose weight pretty well. That is until I plateaued the last three weeks. So, I finally had to slay my sacred cow and decided to commit myself to complete abstinence from alcohol until I reach goal. I didn't get this surgery just to make it halfway to goal. So, there you have it. I think we all end up experimenting w/the rules, but I say just try to give them your best shot to start out with. You just might find out your doctor and nutritionist are right.

1. I still have to take small bites and chew well. If I don't, especially with Protein, it'll come back up or i'll begin to feel discomfort. 2. I haven't attempted to have alcohol yet but I was advice to limit alcohol as it will hit me much harder now. My doctor said that I could try having 1 drink but must take an acid pill 45 minutes prior. 3. I am on solids and eat anything I want. I've tried different foods in small amounts and haven't had the greatest results. You don't want to introduce too many foods at once. I mainly focus on protein and some vegetables. I've had other foods like sushi rolls and even an egg roll. I really limited my portion and I took really small bites. Usually I would stuff the piece of sushi in my mouth but this time I had to use a knife and fork.

I was also banded this week, on Monday. Diarrhea started today, at first I thought it was from all the sugar free popsicles that I have eaten. Sugar free items have sugar alcohol which can cause diarrhea....I then looked at all my meds, my Potassium has diarrhea listed as a side effect...So I don't know!!! I see the nurse on Wednesday, at that time I can start the next phase of food....full liquids!! I still have days before I get solid food again:blink:

My surgery is July 1st. I am really excited. My biggest concern is the recovery time for return to work. I am trying to prep my body for surgery by eating healthy, trying to exercise, and cutting out alcohol. I have told many of my friends about my surgery. Everyone has been supportive so far. They just want me to be healthy.

I've been reading this thread since it popped up. WOW!!!!! is all I can say...Lots of emotions. Which I believe in 100%. This is a VERY EMOTIONAL subject for everyone involved. It seems we've all been to the point of being overweight and can't do alot about it no matter what we do. The weight will drop and then come back with more attached to it. As I say all the time 'my fat and I, we've bonded. we're best buds' lol. I think the questions everyone has asked are legit. All doctors have different ways of treating there patients and giving advice. Mine won't do the surgery if you are going to continue drinking sodas or alcohol. As he said why waste his time and yours if your not into it 110%. Alot of it is trial and error. What works for one may not work for another. I believe the rules are put in place to help you. Not necessarily hurt you. If you didn't want to loose weight and have a better quality of life then you wouldn't have made the first step to do the research on it and go to the doctor and inquire about it. The way I compensate for the cravings or 'rules' is I tell myself that I'm allergic to it and I can't have it. That way I won't be tempted to eat and/or drink it. So for me that is my rule. I'm sure at one time or another anyone of us will have something we aren't supposed to. BUT I know with me it won't happen again. I have to much invested into this to screw up and throw it all away. If you aren't serious about wanting to loose weight then go have the band taken out and be on your merry way. It's not a miracle band that will make you loose weight. It's a tool to HELP you loose weight. You are the one that is in control of what you put in your mouth. So if you deem that you want sodas, beer, or whatever else your not supposed to have and your not loosing weight then it totally falls back on you. There is no one else to blame but yourself. You are in control of your own destiny.

No question alcohol works against you for fat loss. At 7 calories per gram it is the most dense fuel choice short of fat (9 grams) and nearly double that of carbs and Protein (4 grams). Occasionally consuming alcohol though for some (me included) is a reward "food." When I'm focusing on a goal I stay away from it. When I'm on vacation or easing back a bit, I may "tie one on." After all, how relaxing is a campfire next to a cooler full of ice cold beer? :frown: Education and moderation are the key... Have the alcohol if you desire, but clearly understand the consequences of it - both inside the body and out. Brad

My surgeon's recommendation was to wait one month. I can't say I made it that long. :-o I love my wine and cocktails. Even though I started back before I was supposed to, it never made me sick. But, a week ago, I decided to make a commitment to give up alcohol entirely until I reach my goal weight. I have been stuck around the same weight for a few weeks now and I know these empty liquid calories are not helping. I decided I didn't get this surgery just to get halfway to goal. So, I'm stepping it up and eliminating the alcohol and increasing my exercise.

This is a EXCELLENT article, Debster!! Thanks for posting it!!! I was a major beer drinker prior to getting my band (on June 3rd). I guarantee beer was a lot of the reason I put on so much weight in the first place!! Not only did I consume a ton of empty calories, but I would binge eat afterward. Then, the next day my blood sugar was all out of whack so I would eat the wrong foods. For me, my decision was to completely stop drinking alcohol once I got banded. I do worry about transfer of addictions. Everyone is different, though.

I actually find your post to be totally offensive. I'm usually happy to help people who are struggling if I can, and would never judge, but you just sound like a humorless ass. Questions about coffee, soda etc. are asked time and time again and are totally legitimate. We've all done our research about giving up these things and have made our decisions. We're not blind sheep following Hitler into battle here. We're educated and curious, sacrificed a lot to have this band, did our due diligence, and made our own decisions about abstinence and moderation and special occasions and coffee and alcohol and liquid diets etc. etc. There's nothing special about you, buddy. It's just as hard for the rest of us. When you're ready to lose the tone, let me know. I'd be happy to respond. In the interim, I'd suggest some soul searching...

It started about 3 years ago, My sister, then, a 21 year old young woman was living her life normally when she was overtaken by a horrible pain in her abdomen, followed by throwing up and not even being able to keep water down for days we decided it's time to take her to the emergency room, the doctors wrote it off as a stomach virus and said it would pass. Months go by without a trace of another "attack" when again same scenario, back to the E.R- again told it was a stomach virus, not one doctor did a test, MRI, CAT anything.. this happened more times than I can really count in the years to follow, when finally she had the worse "attack" ever which lasted for weeks, no one had a clue what was going on "could this really be a virus?" It got to the point where, her face had sunken in at her cheek bones, she looked sick, I thought I was going to lose my sister and I was terrified. After the last episode we met with our family doctor yet once again, he sat and brainstormed with us for what seemed like forever, then finally he thought "it's a long shot but let's check your pancreas" – A long shot because not only was she a 22 year old otherwise healthy young woman, but she wasn't an alcoholic. He performed the necessary testing and made the astounding discoveries, not only were her triglycerides at alarming numbers, (normal triglycerides levels should be 130 or under) hers were at 5000, but my sister, my best friend, was suffering from pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) causing the "attacks "of dehydration, excruciatingly painful episodes and constant vomiting. Now you can imagine how angry we were with the hospitals and previous doctors that not one of them thought to check her levels, not one of them cared enough to get to the bottom of why my sister was withering away slowly and in such pain. Once we knew this info we thought "ok, give her some medication and let her get back to her life" They experimented on her as if she was the poster child for narcotic exploration, she tried it all from high doses of Niacin, Omega 3 fats (which spiked her triglycerides even more) to Trilipix, Nothing helped, Now it was starting to become an issue of just when her body was going to give up the fight because she was tired, fed up and sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I had been researching the Lap-Band®®® procedure for myself and brought it to her attention, "Well it's known for helping with diabetes.. maybe it will help with this too". She searched for a surgeon right away, we didn't need any surgeon, what we needed was someone experienced and had a "clue" about this monster inside her. She came across Dr. George Fielding at NYU Langone Medical Center, when reading his bio we thought maybe this is the guy to help, we hoped that finally our prayers would be answered and within the month had an appointment to meet with him. Now let me get into why I wrote this, This isn't one of those writings of mumbo jumbo or blah blah hear my story blah.. No, this is for you, the reader to understand the extent of the situation before any action was taken, and for you all to know that without Dr. Fielding, my best friend would not be here with me today. During the consult he was what some would call brutally honest, but coming from all the flakey sugar coating doctors we came from, this brutality was utterly refreshing. He told her that while the band would help lower her triglycerides, at her severity, it wouldn't have made much of a difference and she was a ticking time bomb. So here we thought "back to square one" When Dr. Fielding mentioned there was another option called the Biliopancreatic Diversion where he would by-pass the pancreas so that she would only be using a small percentage of it, It was a dangerous procedure but considering that by the time she'd be 30 we were looking at heart attacks, strokes or even worse, this was our best bet. I must mention that both my sister and I have medical backgrounds, both went to medical institutes and both have an above "average" knowledge of medical terminology and physiology but this, was foreign to us. We had no idea what it would entail, was it going to work? So the researching data started. This was it! Why hasn't anyone thought of this before? Why didn't any of the doctors we saw in the past even mention the option? The answer, we shall never know but one did, and for that, and I speak for my entire family, are eternally grateful. Dr. Fielding performed the procedure within 2 months of her initial consult, The procedure itself took less than 2 hours and here I am writing this over 2 months later and she is doing fantastic. Her triglycerides are down to numbers I am even to scared to mention because they are so good and she is finally able to eat normally, just live. Without him, I don't know what Id be writing about today, but chances are, nothing good. I'd like to express my gratitude, my appreciation to him and his staff for letting me keep my sister, We could never express it accurately or enough but, know, that he saved my sister's life and I can never repay him for the gift of a normal life he gave her. Thank You so much for everything, we are forever grateful from the bottom of our hearts. -Jasmine (scheduled for the band with Dr. Fielding 6/14)

I was about 8 weeks out before I tried a beer. Its considered a fairly big NO-NO considering the carbonation. I enjoyed it and had no real adverse effects (might have burped a bit more than usual? ) The biggest difficulty with alcohol is the calories. Any high calorie "drink" that slips on past the band is always best in moderation. There are other ways that alcohol hinders our greatest goal.....to be healthier and thinner...if you are interested check out this article. Just How Bad Is Alcohol for Weight Loss? Read more: Just How Bad Is Alcohol For Weight Loss? | LIVESTRONG.COM

The rules exist because all of that stuff CAN affect a person. My doctor is a common sense kind of guy. I like that. He allows caffeine, soda that has been debubbled a bit, and limited alcohol. I drink coffee. I have had a handful of sips of soda, usually when necessary, and alcohol is empty calories. A sip or two works for me. Exercise is important for life, mental health and physical health.

My personal view is that following the after surgery liquid to mushies to solids regime is VERY important. All the rules about soda and caffeine and Protein and stuff, well this may not be popular but I think they're rubbish. Every surgeon differs, and I personally wouldnt drink soda anyway, but I certainly drink coffee, moderate alcohol and I havent and will never ban healthy carbs, and I've had a great band experience. I havent "broken" any rules because those things were NEVER rules for me, my surgeon simply says to eat sensibly from all food groups, dont overeat to the point of feeling very full and dont have fills you dont need. I guess i've followed those ones religiously so I do value rules and can be compliant, but not with ones that have no real basis in any logic. To me weight loss is NOTHING more than calories in v calories out, so if you want to occasional alcoholic drink, then bearing in mind your overall nutrition and where you get your calories from, I see no problem with that at all.

I had a cocktail about 5 weeks out. There was a celebration and I went for it. Had no adverse reaction. Life goes on. Just don't turn to alcohol to replace your addiction with food... Be very careful switching one addiction for another. It happens.

Hi guys! I was banded May 27 and I am 15 pounds down and holding! I lost the 15 in the first week and a half... but have stayed the same for the last 2 weeks! Anywho...how long was it before you started drinking alcohol? I am just nervous that I might get extremely ill! Feedback is helpful!!!

Sorry.... I can't let this one slide by without comment... First the disclaimer... the following is my opinion only... You know what they say about opinions... Okay... that part is done... Now... I don't want anyone to think that you can just get banded, eat chips, drink alcohol, and full sugar soda and lose weight so long as you just walk around the Home Depot all day... :eek: Oh if it were only that easy... She was just banded in March? She may be losing weight right now... Well guess what, come along August or September she's going to be due for a big a$$ wake up call... She'll be complaining that she's plateau'd and stalled out and this damn band thing isn't working at all... that'll be followed by "maybe I should go get a fill." If she isn't exercising, but has a good calorie deficit from intake alone (diet), then the weight she's losing is, percentage-wise, far larger Fluid and lean muscle tissue when compared to someone who is sufficiently exercising. What's the difference? The exerciser is maintaining a healthy metabolism by keeping as much lean muscle tissue as possible, which will keep the FAT loss going. The other is slowly but surely crashing their metabolism, losing lean body mass, and when the equalibrium is met - the plateau arrives. And walking around the home depot, or anywhere else for that matter, is a part of a good active lifestyle, but that aint exercise. Ok... I'm done... Brad

Oh my gosh... Well I'm not perfect, and Doctor's aren't Gods- so I try to listen to my body! I switched to mushies without my Dr's approval b/c I knew it was the right thing to do for MY body- I continue to lose weight successfully! This is YOUR tool to use with YOUR body- everyone is different! That being said, medically, soda is not recommended b/c of the carbination which can expand the pouch AND because it is very acidic and your risks of developing ulcers after banding is increased b/c acidic foods (which can cause ulcers) have a smaller pouch area to penetrate and concentrate in (same with coffee and alcohol). Further, the number 1 cause of band slippage is vomitting. Thus, if you are tolerating the foods you are eating, you should be fine- regardless of the seemingly baseless comment made by another user. You asked for facts, so, I hope this was CONSTRUCTIVE feedback.... p.s. I'm not a baaaaaaa either!

I never and still do not experience any hunger. I just eat because I know I have to. I rarely got shaky, or totally weak. Especially once I got to mushies and was hitting my Protein goals almost every day. I survived on 600-800 calories very easily. I drink sometimes once a week, 4oz of Riesling or a German called Eisswein wine. I did refrain for several months because alcohol is just wasted calories. When we go out to a bar, or I go out with my girlfriends, I do rum/cokes, occasionally white russians, and various shots. I have zero issues with alcohol.

I follow the rules for the most part. I think I've had one soda, a few beers, lots of wine (although for the last two weeks none), since being banded. My doctor says that if you can tolerate it you can drink it. My daughter, who was banded in March, does break the rules. She probably is giving 60 % to her diet and doesn't exercise. She does work at Home Depot so she walks a lot. And she IS losing. She drinks with meals, eats chips occasionally, drinks soda, drinks alcohol all occasionally, She told me she has about 5 sodas a week and they"re not diet. So here you have an example of a sheep and a rule breaker, both successful. I do think attitude has something to do with success though and committing to something makes us feel better and lose weight. So you can't go wrong with the right attitude! Best wishes on your journey!