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Hi. You have the same surgery date as me. Im getting the MGB . I had been eating +++ to the point im sick of food and alcohol. Im getting surgery done privately so no follow up with any team. But i am starting pre op diet 2 weeks prior to sugery. Looking forward to been in control. Good luck maybelle Sent from my SM-G935F using BariatricPal mobile app

For me, I learned a lot of faulty beliefs about food as a child. My Dad, who had schizophrenia, was never very loving (actually extremely abusive) but on occasion, when he felt especially happy, he'd share his joy, and love with us buy buying junk food. I remember him carrying me on my shoulders at around 4 years old down to the corner store and bought me those little chocolates wrapped in foil in the shape if a football! That's a special memory for my because I've had very few experiences of feeling loved by him. (Food = love) I was the oldest of 9 children. I had a lot of responsibility and stress growing up seeing as my dad was unreliable mentally and our mom was a raging alcoholic with a mood and anxiety disorder. I felt very comforted with food. I liken it to a drug. I could eat so much pizza that it would get me high. I would feel relaxed and happy afterwards. (Food=escape) I was never called fat in kindergarten, but that changed in 1st grade. It was so humiliating. I was ostracized from my classmates and I hardly ever had friends through out school. Thats when I knew I was fat. My mom said I wasn't and that it was baby fat and I'd grow out of it. I didn't. I got bigger and bigger. I went through a little phase where I tried not eating. I wasn't very good at that. (Food=companion) So this little fat girl grew up to be a fat teen with very low self esteem. The first boyfriends I had at that time were real scumbags and of course that's all I thought I deserved, subconsciously anyways. They were into the drug scene and I made some pretty poor choices back then, experimented with drugs, sex, and alcohol. During this time I lost weight. I remember fitting into a size 16 and I felt like I was getting skinny. Food wasn't an issue for me at that time. Male attention was my drug of choice. It sure felt good to feel wanted and be given compliments and to have that void in me, that deep dark hole of just desiring to belong and feel significant temporarily filled by the strange men. By the grace if God, I was able to pull my self out of that. But at 15 and having had many many horrible experiences, I developed depression. And there was my good ol' frenemy FOOD. (Food=antidepressant) I got my first job at Taco Bell. I was 16. I ate whatever I wanted. I was up to 230lbs and 5'3". There were times I tried to diet and exercise, just never worked out. I met my husband there. He liked me because I was big. He was into that. I never felt pressured to lose weight and he treated me to anything I wanted. (Food= love) He didn't do it to hurt me, he saw feeding me as making me happy which it would do. For years though, I'd cry to him. "I'm so fat, my knees hurt, my back hurts, I can't climb stairs, I broke your moms chair, I hate my self, that's why I can't get pregnant, I'm too fat, I can't lose weight, I need help, promise to help me?, don't let me eat too much.... And on and on. He'd try. He would really try to help. The addiction was too powerful. I decided I need to do something about it. I started researching fertility treatments and they assured me if I were to lose weight I'd greatly increase my chance to get pregnant. I researched the lap band back then, before anyone really heard of the sleeve. I decided that that's what I wanted. I had to lose 30lbs to get the surgery and I put my butt to work! I wanted a baby! I was infertile for 5 years and once I lost those 30lbs I got pregnant. I was around 250-260lbs then. I said well to heck with getting the lap band now! At the end of my pregnancy with my son I was a whopping 310 lbs. (Food= I can eat more when I have an excuse...I'm feeding two!) Some of the weight came off and I was pregnant with my daughter at 276lbs. I was 300lbs at the end of that pregnancy. I was the fat mom. The lazy mom. I was the fat wife that just found out after (at that time) the whole 9 years I had been with my husband he had been cheating on me with another woman!!! I was not going to be fat anymore!!! I pursued wls and had my sleeve on 2/13/13. I am down 116lbs. Currently weighing in at 185lbs at 6 months post op. I have had the most bumping road I could have imagined for my self. I have had several breaking-up and getting-back-together episodes. I had an extremely slutty stage too where I was reverting back to what filled my void as a teen since food wasn't an option anymore. I cheated on my husband with random men. I was a mess. As for right now, I'm doing good. I'm happy with my husband and have not been promiscuous. Doing pretty good eating wise and working on becoming a better me. I'm learning to love myself in a way that heals my void so that I wont rely on an external substitute. I am learning to be really nice to me. Now if I can only quit smoking! Lol, but really I need to.

I'd heard prior to having surgery that Lap-Banders have a higher rate of divorce than normal. The person losing weight becomes more confident and strong and able to make choices they'd been afraid to in their "prior" life. I was prepared for that and was not worried because I was totally in love with my husband (and truthfully still am). I've lost over 100 lbs in the last year and a half, during which my husband had his first and only severe bout of depression. I've tried to be understanding, loving, non-judgmental, encouraging, etc. I tried to be there every time he needed me and backed off when he didn't. I talked him down many times when he didn't see any point in moving on. He started volunteering working with animals to begin his bridge back to working (has been out of work for nearly 2 years). His lack of employment has been due to his emotional state, not due to lack of skill or opportunity. I've never once shown disapproval or asked anything of him, except to make the effort to get better. I've held his hand through drug abuse, self-medication with alcohol, public embarassment and more. I've never waivered in my support or unconditional love of him. He said recently, I was "an ideal wife". He says that I did everything a husband could ask for and more. So, imagine my confusion when I found out that my 42-year-old heavy and bald husband was not just sleeping with a college-aged girl, but exchanging "I love yous" with each other. I'm 35. He squashed any chances of us trying to work things out by faking "break ups" with her and resorting to name-calling and alcohol-induced rants where he displayed his inability for fidelity. I've never once, through this whole devastating process, raised my voice much less yelled at him or called him names. Someone explained that the non-Lap-Banded partner can feel insecure in their relationship and turn elsewhere for attention to validate their insecurity. I tried to be cognizant of this by telling him daily something I found attractive about him. I made sure that I let him know that he was often on my mind. I often made sacrifices for us financially (sewing my clothes instead of getting new ones as I lost weight, clipping coupons, etc) so he could have his comfort items - pipe tobacco, gummy bears and the like. So, I have to wonder, if I'd never had a Lap-Band, if I'd never lost the weight, would he have remained faithful? Was my losing weight the catalyst that drove him into the arms of another? I know he regrets his decisions and wishes he could take them back, but I also know he's not willing (or unable) to change that behavior and I won't continue to allow myself to live in a situation where I'm reminded daily of his girlfriend. He has many faults, as do I, and I have loved him just as much with those faults as I would have were he "perfect". I wish I could get to the point where I'm angry, but my heart is struggling to let go and move on. I feel like, while I look much better having lost weight, it's mostly with clothes ON. Clothes off in front of a long mirror serves as a reminder as to how I abused my body with inappropriate eating habits for so long. How can one expect to find another person who is willing to look past the skin that looks melted and saggy? Has anyone else experienced this situation and if so, how did you get through it? Sometimes I feel as though I'm at a breaking point and that my future looks pretty bleak. Thanks for any advice. And I know God is watching over me and he'll see me through, give me strength, etc.(my mother reminds me daily), but sometimes when it's quiet, I hear nothing and the silence is unbearable.

I’ve had counseling . I know why I eat . It’s due to boredom. But actually it wasn’t the food . It was the alcohol that took me out this time. I was sober for 3 years . Flunked out of nursing school and picked up the booze . The pound cake back easily. Now I’m fight a battle on two fronts . I’m clean two weeks going on three taking it one day at a time . I’m bored but I’ve decided to come out of this pandemic clean and sober and lighter with new eating habits

I am not truly planning out what to eat while in maintenance stage since I only had surgery yesterday, but a Facebook pal posted this and I wanted to share. http://www.halotop.com/flavors/ They have around 5 net carbs per serving because there are 9 grams of Fiber and 5 grams of sugar alcohol. Sent from my SM-G360T using the BariatricPal App

Well, Michelle may want to spa while we shop ... something like that. i just put it out there since she mentioned it. Bible study!! LOL.... :eek: Drinking alcohol is not a requirement, Judy!! Having FUN is, however one defines it!

Oh Lisa! You hit the nail right on the head! How dare Ryan Seacrest or anyone judge or make negative remarks openly about others being fat! You know, it's like you said. Everyone has something either internally or externally wrong with them. If it's not being overweight then it could be a drug or alcohol problem. If it's not that, then it could be a nasty judgemental attitude. (HHHMMM.....Mr. Seacrest?) If it's not that then it could be a huge nose. We all have something that needs working on, and I HATE IT when people act like they're flawless perfection embodied. Yeah....riiiiiiiiggggghhhhht!!!!! Even the most beautiful person in the world has some internal flaw that could use a little work, I'm sure. God made no one perfect except for His son Jesus Christ. In the words of Forrest Gump - "And that's all I have to say about that."

I have not personally experienced this, but I have heard divorce rates are high for people who have WLS. However, it sounds like you dodged a bullet! We don't need an abundance of food and alcohol to have fun!

Sorry for your loss, but don't let that deter you from what's right for your health. Just from what you've said, it is way more likely it was drugs/alcohol than.. the band. The band doesn't do anything to your brain to cause a coma. And if you're weighing gastric bypass because it's safer.. statistically the band is safer. Very bizarre situation, but I doubt it has anything to do with the lap-band.

I was banded the same day you were. I feel like I am doing very well so far. If I were in your situation, I would pass on the margarita because you are still healing. Alcohol isn't the most tummy friendly drink. Also, margaritas have a lot of lime juice and any citrus juice is quite acidic. I would be concerned that a margarita may cause acid reflux issues. Good luck and have a good time at the party.

That is so messed up!! What is her problem? People are so cruel and stupid at times. They are jealous and just downright mean. As if you cheated or something. They came up with this surgery as a life saving intervention for people with weight issues. Someone is an alcoholic, and they get medical help. Do we judge them?? No we applaud them!!! It's bullshit that wls gets this treatment. You should feel so proud and you should definitely go above her head with a complaint. That is your PERSONAL information she shared. When people I don't want to tell ask me, I say I eat low carb, no sugar, and workout, and portion control. Which is all true. I do tell a lot of people however and the reason is because I know how nearly impossible it is for most people to lose weight naturally and i don't want to spread false hope that the diet industry does. The fact is once we become overweight our bodies reach a new set point which is very difficult to undo. I feel natural weightloss is mostly a myth and I want to raise awareness that this surgery is a wonderful thing and put there for people. But strangers? Yeah I don't usually tell them. It's too personal.

Hey all! I had sleeve surgery on 6/25, tomorrow I see my surgeon for my 1 week post op and I’m containing the urge to weigh myself until then. 

I spent 1 night in the hospital, was able to get in enough fluids and was discharged the next afternoon. I live about an hour away from the hospital where I had surgery and summer traffic in the area doubled the time it took to get home. I was glad to have had a pillow in the car (after reading another person mention it to help going over road construction & such) it definitely helped with the stop and go traffic car jerking my hubby fought to drive me home. 

Everyday has gotten a little better with everything from pain to sleep, I slept for 5 solid hours last night before waking up (it’s killing me to sleep on my back, I’m a side sleeper normally). 

My incisions have been the most tender things once the gas pain dispersed. Mainly my large incision and the one to the right of it. But they are healing well with no heat, inflammation or anything concerning. 

I’m not taking real walks yet but have made sure to walk around the house often (every hour or so when awake) But today felt like a giant leap in energy as I got an itch to organize and unpack some things in my kitchen and did it before getting too tired out. 

Makes sense I get worn out quick as I’m on a watered down juice diet since surgery. But after my checkup tomorrow I will start 1 week of shakes on Thursday, followed by 2 weeks of soft foods, before moving into solid foods after my 1 month check up. 

Important side notes- I had my first BM 4 days after surgery. I attribute this to adding daily liquid Probiotics to my regiment (add to my first Water in the morning) when I came home (it was cleared through my program) & it helps promote healing. After all 70% of your immune system comes from the bacteria in your gut good,bad, or ugly. 

-I also dilute concentrated Protein with some water to get some protein in even while drinking mainly juice and I think this has helped with everything from having some energy to not feeling nauseous. 

Both of the above products are non-gmo/vegan/organic/no sugars/no sugar alcohols in them. I can’t wait to see the scale at my doctors tomorrow 😍




Hypnosis didn't work for me AT ALL! The way I look at it is I'm a foodaholic. Literally. I really, truly feel like I'm addicted to junk food. I've done this over and over again. If I have ONE tiny bit of 'bad' food (chocolate, ice cream, chips), tomorrow I'll have two, then I'll have four, and it spirals until I am literally out of control. When I decide to go on a diet, I initially get the shakes from withdrawal. When I get banded in Nov, I'll have to do that liquid diet. That will be the 'getting clean' portion. Once all the junk is out of my system, this is it, I am not going to have one bit of junk ever again. I've done it before and I've gotten more and more out of control over the years. It's as though I have to 'stay clean' just like alcoholics do. I'm not paying $16,000 to then F it up. I'm sick of it already. I don't know why I eat the way I do but I know when I have a long amount of time when I'm 'clean' of the bad stuff, it's easy to eat well. Anyway, does this have any relevance at all to the topic at hand? It's late, I'm tired. I just know this is the end of the road for me, my last shot at losing the weight - nothing else has worked, this is it, I've got to do it the best way I possibly can. Linda

Did yoi do better today, Jeni?? :thumbup: My day today was good. Tomorrow will be TOUGH!!! I have to take a client to lunch (I dont like eating out because I cant control my calories well) and I have happy hour with the team in the evening. My challenge for tomorrow is: a) Stay within 1500 calories by checking the calories of the food at the restaurants in Advance :cursing: Dont drink Alcohol at Happy Hour c) Work out - Tae Kwondo - I know, LOFTY goals - wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Junior Guru, I am so sorry for your troubles but it sounds like a mirror image to mine. Do not wait an longer to get the reflux under control, it can be very dangerous if left untreated over time and can lead to erosion and cancer as well as erode the enamel from your teeth. My reflux got so bad that I couldn't even bend over without throwing up acid, and even Water irritated it. I went and had 1cc removed and although most of my reflux symptoms have reduced it is still there. Everybody is different, so what is tight for someone at 3cc's can be totally different for someone else. I still have to take reflux medication, but I found a doctor who is also suggesting black licorice. No, not the jelly bean kind, but get some chewable black licorice root pills, they taste pretty good if you like licorice and it is an herbal remedy for reflux and it seems to help. I chew 1 before each meal and 1 before bedtime. I also stay away from the worst offenders, alcohol, chocolate and caffeine (I know, just kill me now). I also HIGHLY recommend getting your next fill/unfill with fluoroscope, it is an eye opener and you can see EXACTLY what is happening in there. I sometimes have a feeling of regret with the surgery, but I was insulin dependent, with horrific cholesterol levels, sleep apnea, etc. and all of that is resolved. S I try to keep that in mind. The doctor I recently went to admitted that Bariatric Doctors on the whole are doing a disservice to the overweight population at had. They are selling a "golden ring" that does not exist. Expectations for extreme weight loss with just the "tool" of LapBand does not exist. I thought I was being reasonable wanting to get down to 150lbs. at 5'5". But apparently wanting to go from 230 to 150 was unrealistic at best. I am at 176 now and my new doctor, said if wanted to lose any more, to get off my ass and run. There is no golden ring or easy way out that I was sold back in 2009. Oh, well, off to run...lol The best of luck to you, and I hope you get to feeling better soon!!

Tough Love: Alcohol slows lipid oxidation (the burning of fat) by about 75%. So yes, it's likely the alcohol causing your weight gain. And it's probably contributing to your nutritional deficiencies. You should be eating nutritious food, not alcohol. Particularly if you are deficient. DUI is selfish and dangerous. You are extremely lucky that you...or anyone else.... wasn't injured/killed by your poor choices. 3-4 mixed drinks, or a whole bottle of wine a night....is an addiction. I think you're trading one dangerous addiction (food) for an even more dangerous addiction (alcohol). Try to stop drinking for a month. If you can't? Seek help. I don't mean this to sound overly harsh, it sounds like you've been through a lot. But sometimes being kind means being honest....even if the truth hurts a little. Please take care and let us know how you're doing.

Look up the terms 'cross addiction' or 'addiction transference.' Cross addiction is a very common phenomenon in the bariatric surgery population. Instead of overeating, many weight loss surgery patients simply adopt another addiction (e.g. alcohol abuse, shopping, smoking, gambling, risky sex, video gaming). Essentially, bariatric surgeons operate on our stomachs and not our brains. Therefore, overeaters who abused food still have addicted brains after weight loss surgery. Nothing, other than professional help, will properly address a person's addictive tendencies. Yes, the wine leads to weight gain, especially in the quantities you drink. It is full of empty calories. Combined with the sedentary lifestyle, it's a perfect recipe for weight regain.

Donna, These are my concerns, that the surgery to "fix" the band can cause additional problems. While your Dr. was in there wasn't it possible to fill your band and look for leaks before he closed you. I have already mentioned to my Dr. that if he thinks anything else could be damaged to my band, that he should be prepared to install a new one. I will discuss this with him again to be sure and I appreciate your warning about this. I am so sorry you are going through this, I know how alone and defeated you must feel. Is your Dr. willing to go back in? Are you willing to endure another surgery? My Dr. says these are the risks when we chose a "device" to help us instead of a procedure like GBP, but then there are other risks. We are guinea pigs and pioneers in this weight loss surgery struggle and that is because we are desperate for help. Medicine has made big advances in many areas, but I don't think we have progressed enough with helping obese people and based on statistics the world is getting fatter still. How do we explain that one person seems to be able to stop after a reasonable portion and another cannot? OR how do we explain that one person can have two alcoholic drinks and stop but another person can't stop after two? What band do you have?

I feel like I have struggled from day 1. I was banded on June 6th and I've lost about 15 lbs total. I finally have some good restriction so I am hoping this will help . One of my biggest issues is alcohol consumption. I am trying not to drink too much but sometimes I want to drink so the calories are empty.

I'm so glad your surgery went well. I guess it liquids for a couple weeks now but that passes so fast My blood pressure had been elevated because of my alcohol abuse and weight. I had stopped drinking a year before my surgery and combined with the weight loss, my doctor stopped me from taking them right before my surgery date. Now it remains normal and I am blessed it does. Take it easy and start digging out your smaller clothes, you will need them before you know it. Terri

Just my 2 cents...in the first month I tried alcohol and it made me sick...but now 7 months out I can drink..I'm not a big drinker so maybe one cocktail a month and I'm fine.

Stay away from the alcohol, you got the lap band to lose weight and need to follow the program. If you sabotage yourself this early how will the rest of your journey go. I agree with the above post, I would rather use my calories to eat then drink. Good luck

Very sorry to hear that your wife is not that supportive. This certainly has to be a factor in your present situation. I, too, have a huge sweet tooth. I could stop eating fatty foods without a problem, but controlling intake of sweets is one of the hardest things for me to do. I changed over to sugar free candies. What that does for me is that it satisfies the craving for sweets, but I know that if I overdo it, I'm going to be hurting, in the form of gas pains and other short-term gastric issues from the sugar alcohols.

I'm a HUGE fan of the chocolate brownie flavor Quest bars--they are my morning Breakfast of choice on workdays. The other flavors? Not so much--either the taste or the texture just doesn't do it for me. But don't get between me and my breakfast brownie, LOL! Here's a direct cut-and-paste of what their website says about the sweeteners they use. Keep in mind that if you're sensitive to one of these, each flavor of Quest may or may not use the one that triggers the "bombing run"! A plant that's been used as a sweetener in China for over 1,000 years. It only takes a TINY amount as it's 300 times sweeter than sugar. Stevia is an herb in the Chrysanthemum family which grows wild as a small shrub in many parts of the world. The glycosides in its leaves, account for its sweetness and it has been used as a sweetener in many countries for many years. While Erythritol is classified as a sugar alcohol it is ENTIRELY different than all of the others. It does not upset stomachs, it contains only 0.2 calories per gram and has little to no impact on blood sugar. We know it's important to give you control over your nutrition which is why select QuestBars are sweetened with Stevia and Erythritol, and our Original Line is sweetened with Sucralose. Sucralose is generally recognized as the best artificial sweetener available. It's over 600 times sweeter than sugar so it's used in almost microscopic amounts.

Sunday, June 14, 2009 Surgery as surrender Having once been married to an alcoholic and having attended Alanon for many, many years, I've learned a lot about addiction. I know that we are addicts because we are addicts. Environmental issues can impact the predisposition of our genes, but once our addictions are triggered, we are addicts because we are addicts. I also know that in order to recover you have to be willing to do whatever it takes. You surrender your will to God and become willing to do whatever it takes, to go to whatever lengths it takes. For an alcoholic or drug addict that may mean going through rehab, going on meds to treat depression that could drive them back into addiction, working the 12 steps constantly, going to 90 meetings in 90 days, calling a sponsor and being sponsored, and never ever touching another drop of alcohol because once they start they can't stop. In a very real sense this surgery represents my surrender. I will always have to eat to live. Everytime I pick up food it can trigger my addiction. Having attended many Overeater's Anonymous meetings, I can testify that very few people are able to permanantly keep their weight off. Only those who are capable of being really anal seem to succeed. Weighing, measuring, checking every ingredient, counting carbs, calories, points, filling out food plans. These may all be good things but I'm not capable of them--at least not for long. Just the thought of doing these things gives me a panic attack. I hire people to do my paperwork and attend to details because I'm so bad at it. I've accepted my ADHD as a gift and I no longer try to be good at what I'm not good at. I do what I'm good at, which is being a highly flexible, very creative, gifted teacher. I generate ideas like confetti. My lesson plans are barely a guideline. By having this surgery, my stomach will become the weigher and the measurer. I can follow the simple food guidelines which will take me from clear liquids to 1000-1200 calories a day of healthy food without having to make food plans the rest of my life. Unhealthy food and too much food will make me very uncomfortable. I'll experience satiety--a completely unfamiliar feeling. And I'll be reprogramming the addiction center in my brain. It won't be easy. I'll still be triggered by the sight, smell, and taste of food. The surgery will be a jumpstart on food sobriety, like going into rehab. I'll still have to surrender my food to God every day. But with my body cooperating instead of fighting it, I stand a much better chance of success. This is the length to which I am willing to go to acheive food sobriety and better health. This is my surrender to God. If your stomach offends you, if it causes you to stumble, if its an obsession that takes you away from being able to love God above all and your neighbor as yourself--tie it off.