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@@fancypants11578 The amount of time you can't have things is really short. People focus on that, but really that is just the first 6 months. I had a filet on Sunday, and lobster, took me a while, and I didn't have any sides but it was delicious. I didn't drink alcohol before surgery and I still don't no desire.

I love non-carbonated drinks, like vodka and juice cocktails. They come in easy, and it's a lot of fun. But I don't advise anyone to drink alcohol because it's a very insidious thing. Alcohol can be called poison. It destroys almost all the organs, but you feel perfect, and you're in a good mood. I've been drinking like that for over a year, and my liver said, "Bye, buddy. It got to the point where I woke up in the hospital with terrible results. I was told either you quit drinking, or you're going to die soon. I'm afraid of death, so the choice was obvious. After I was discharged from the hospital, I wanted a drink and thought about joining Alcoholics Anonymous & Other Mutual Aid Support Groups. It all worked out, and now I've been sober for over a year. It's a small victory for my loved ones and me.

What drinks does everyone order at a bar? Or make at home?

Most vets advise that you start slowly with alcohol at first, because it may affect you differently than before surgery. So it might be a good idea to try a glass of wine at home, where it doesn't matter if it ends up hitting you really hard. Then you'll have some idea of how much you can drink while you're out and be okay. Also, be careful that alcohol doesn't become a substitute coping mechanism to replace the food you can't eat anymore. It might sound alarmist but transfer addictions have happened to people (I had to check myself because I found myself shopping to get the emotional soothing I used to get from food). Other than that, factor those calories into your into plan and enjoy!

My surgeon and my Nutritious said I can start drinking. But next month is my 10th wedding anniversary i don’t know I’m excited I really do missed glass of moscato wine sunrise tequila or something I really need advice I just want our anniversary be so special

Six months post WLS and you've been put in a position to fail. Not by your doing but by an inconsiderate person. You have only ONE CHANCE to do it right. Only one. You need to give it your best shot and not have an inconsiderate person sabotage your path to better health. I once again bring up the comparison to being an alcoholic . Would you allow anyone to hinder your recovery from alcohol by letting them bring it into your home? NO, so why allow him to sabotage your recovery from poor health and obesity by allowing him to bring in junk food? The choice here is very simple, for you to succeed with weight loss and getting back to good health he cannot be a part of your every day lifestyle. Get rid of the food or pack it up and drop it off to the place he is going to but you need to get it out of your home. Remember you are only six months out and you've already gained weight. I'm out four years and I will tell you it gets harder NOT easier to lose and maintain the weight loss. Your in the best position of your life to lose the weight. Don't let Mr. inconsiderate ruin it for you. Despite what you might hear, insurance companies will not pay for a do over. Make the best of this golden opportunity.

I used to be an avid consumer of Quest Bars, but they changed their main ingredient several months ago and they just did NOT agree with me after that. Made me SUPER bloated and gassy. So I now switched to Combat Crunch. They are a little higher in calories and carbs than the Quest Bars were, but that wasn't a deal breaker for me since I'm now in maintenance. The one I have at my desk right now has the following nutrition: Calories: 210 Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 4g Carbs: 25g Dietary Fiber: 12g Sugar: 5g Sugar Alcohol: 1g Protein: 20g So it's basically 210 calories, 20g protein, and 12g net carbs. The Quest Bars were more like 190 calories, 23g protein, and 3-4g net carbs. So better nutritionally, but not worth making myself sick over.

Good Morning: This is my first post on this forum and I'd like to say how amazingly grateful I am for all the information and support. I have really immersed myself in the tide of knowledge and experience contained here, it's almost overwhelming. In addition to being an aspiring pre-op sleever, I'm also a sober/clean alcoholic/addict. I've been working the steps of AA for 15 years and my wife, who is also a newbie pre-op sleever, has 21 years. We're pretty active in our various programs but neither of us have had much in the way of results working an OA program. Furthermore, I've observed a fair amount of, shall we say "resistance" within the OA community where I live to embrace people who have chosen WLS as a solution. As much as I like and will continue to use this forum extensively, it seems like it might be difficult to preserve one's anonymity here and the Traditions we observe compel us to guard our anonymity at the public level. Therefore, I've decided to start a secret group on Facebook called "WLS Support for 12 Steppers" and we are welcoming anyone who is pre-op/post-op WLS of any kind, AND who also happens to be in any 12 Step program regardless of malady. If you are interested in being added to that group, please message me your Facebook email address (which is in the "About" section of your profile) and I will send you an invite. Thank you for your interest.

Post your username and you'll have 20 friends in an hour. If you're using it on your phone, go to summary and it will show you your friends' status updates, including their exercise..which motivates me the most! I keep my diary public. For any public diary, your friends can go in it and see what you're eating, drinking, and exercising on a daily basis. I find that this keeps me honest. You'll see that I have eaten sweets and carbs on occasion...and even that I've had alcohol. I figure I should post everything so that I can see trends later (if needed) and to keep it honest for those who are following me. I'm Lissa912 on there. Feel free to add me, just note that you're from VST if you use a different username there than here.

Hello, My name is Jennifer, and my husband and I went to one of the bariatric surgery seminars a few weeks ago. We have had a follow up with the surgeon, appt with the dietitian, and my husband has attended I think 3 weekly support/information meetings that his surgeon runs. I'm posting here, because I truly want honesty and I'm not sure where else to put this. I am having some major concerns at this point. A little about me-I am not overweight, and I have no idea what that is like. I am a recovering addict, so the "addiction" issues that my husband has I do understand somewhat, I realize however that having food as an "addiction" is very different than drug and alcohol addiction. My husband (and I ) are 40. He is about 5'10" and currently weighs about 280. He has struggled with weight his entire life, but there have been times he was able to lose and keep weight off. This is the most he has ever weighed. I know he is miserable, depressed, uncomfortable, in pain and has no energy. We have gone through every diet, Meal Replacement, weight loss pills, etc-if they work, he stops doing them and then the weight comes back. He hates diets, hates being told, "you can't eat that" All the diets we have tried, low-carb, high Protein, he quickly abandons because of the restrictions. After our first one on one discussion with his surgeon we were talking about some of the lifestyle changes. His surgeon is a vegan, and my husband very clearly stated, well, I'm not going to do that kind of diet. He came home after group last night and appeared agitated and angry. We are dealing with some budget issues as well right now, and one of our huge expenditures is eating out, so that's something we are trying to drastically reduce. I went grocery shopping yesterday and on the way home I was thirsty so I got one of those frozen coffee things from burger king. This apparently was what triggered my husbands anger. After he had been home for a while, (he went and laid down almost immediately after he got home) he came into the kitchen and we were eating dinner. We started talking about how his meeting went, and it became very clear that he was really upset. My husband is normally pretty laid back, so this was a bit odd. Basically what it came down to is that he feels that we ALL eat lousy food and he doesn't want this lifestyle change to be "all his fault" and we really need to learn how bad all the food we eat is. OK, so over the past few years, I have changed a lot about our diet. I have traded out regular pastas for either whole wheat, rice, or veggie options, we don't eat potatoes hardly ever, low sodium everything, more salads and fresh veggies and fruits. If hamburger is in this house at all its 96% lean, more often its been replaced by ground turkey. I read and try to stay informed about healthy food choices. I do have 3 kids at home, all of whom pack a lunch every day. They have available to them quick microwave heat up things like pizza or chicken nuggets, there are chips and granola bars and applesauce, and puddings for Snacks to go with lunch. There is also fresh fruit that they take as well. Jason (my husband) seems to think this all needs to change. There shouldn't be any "junk" type foods ever, we are teaching our kids horrible eating habits, they are going to hit their 30s and 40s and become overweight. Bread is a useless food, unless it's homemade due to preservatives and even then it's minimally nutritious at best, (he became aware just last night I believe that he prob can't eat bread, or pastries or pancakes etc once he does this surgery) Bread and carbs are a bigger attraction for him than say candy and Cookies. Eliminating those items in the past for diets has caused him to hate diets. I'm concerned that if he goes thru with surgery he will just end up more depressed and angry at the limitations he is going to be under. Any thoughts?

I believe it is all in the brain. I truly and finally felt what it was to be normal for the 3 months I was on Phen Fen, which of course was taken off the market. While on those drugs, I had no compulsions to eat, my body told me when I was hungry. I am in mourning that it proved harmful and was taken off the market. I have no compulsion to drink alcohol, I have no compulsion to gamble or take drugs. My compulsion is to eat. I pray one day the answer to obesity is solved. Certainly lifestyle has a huge part. We are some of the richest people in the world, with regards to food availability and 'soft' lifestyle. I am trying very hard to train my younger children to get lots of exercise and eat properly. So far, so good. I see one of my children with the same compulsion to eat sweets and carbs. So far she is thinish and she is kept busy. I pray, she didn't inherit my compulsions, my brain chemicals, whatever you want to call it or all the above. But I see the behaviours in one of my children and not in my other 2. Such a complex issue.

@@sonandonubes Please seek help immediately. You should not be mixing prescription drugs and alcohol to help clear you head. You are doing wonderful. I would love to lose a 100lbs. I know things are going to be rough and we are all going to have our ups and downs, but you cant let the downs get you this far down. You are amazing and an inspiration to many of us. If you need to talk to some please message me, I am a good listener. I am also 33 and I have no children.

I’ve had a couple very low carb 5% alcohol grapefruit hard soda water and for thanksgiving I had a cran, soda water and vodka. None of it has made me tipsy or drunk but I have a natural tolerance. If you’re going to drink, make sure you have a DD in case just one or two drinks hit you hard and just incorporate the nutrition info into your daily macros. Vodka and diet mixers are what I would stick to. Flavored vodka with soda is yum but I tolerate carbonation well.

Sugar free chocolate usually has sugar alcohol in it. Sugar alcohol gives me severe gas. I have to be very careful to see how many grams of it are in anything that is labeled sugar free.

Here is an interesting article http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news/20120618/after-bariatric-surgery-alcohol-abuse-more-likely

So, be careful. This is actually why they tell people who have had the surgery to not drink at all. First, too much sugar in it. Second, we can easily transfer our food addiction on to alcohol, which has bigger risks. We just trade one addiction for another. My surgeon, other surgeons that I know of personally who do this surgery, the NUTs, everyone involved say please do not drink. Anymore. From now on. Now, most of us do and are fine but it is VERY common for people who have had this surgery to become alcoholics. It is just a risk that we have and it happens a lot. To me, it is bad enough to be addicted to food but the other addictions really really scare me. Take care and whatever you decide, we are rooting for you.

The Core plan is different from the Flex plan in that you aren't alotted a certain amount of points per day. There is a core foods list, and you can eat any of the foods until you are satisfied. The list includes these (quoted) food groups: Lean meat and fish Fruits, Veggies and leafy greens Whole Grains Milk and dairy You still get like 35 points to use during the course of a week. On things like White bread, sweets, alcohol (any foods not on the core list) For me, since being banded I find this easier to follow and easy to get my protien. I feel that it pretty much mimics the food plan the doctors have perscribed for me anyway: Avoid refined sugar and flour, eat whole grains, limit empty carbohydrates, alcohol and sweets. So it's easy for me to get my Protein from the meat and dairy and Beans, then I fill up on veggies and fruit and use a little healthy oil in the mean time. And like others have said, have a glass of wine on special occasions or one peice (not a whole bar) of chocolate. For me, it provides the structure on a weekly basis for what has been advised by my doctors a few times on paper before surgery.

Don't you feel the world is attacking obese people this week? It seems each day a new article comes out with another poke at obesity. Now, they are saying that being obese is linked to mental illness and that the fat aren't jolly? True, I am an emotional eater, who added two hundred pounds following the deaths of my mother and my boyfriend --- BUT I have always been FAT AND JOLLY!! I never denied myself anything that gave pleasure, and food gave pleasure. Also, I am a people person, so sharing good company and good food -- with a lot of laughter -- was common in my life. Though I am learning smarter ways to manage my weight, I certainly don't want to lose the laughter and friends. Joyce Here's the AP article... Study says obesity, depression linked By LINDSEY TANNER The Associated Press CHICAGO — Obesity is strongly linked with depression and other mood disorders, according to a new study by Group Health Cooperative. Whether obesity might cause these problems or is the result of them is not certain, but there are theories to support both arguments. Depression often causes people to abandon activities, and some medications used to treat mental illness can cause weight gain. On the other hand, obesity is often seen as a stigma, and overweight people often are subject to teasing and other hurtful behavior. The study of more than 9,000 adults found that mood and anxiety disorders, including depression, were about 25 percent more common in the obese people studied than in the nonobese. Substance abuse was an exception; obese people were about 25 percent less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol than slimmer participants. The results appear in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, released Monday. The lead author was Dr. Gregory Simon, a researcher with Group Health in Seattle. The results "suggest that the cultural stereotype of the jolly fat person is more a figment of our imagination than a reality," said Dr. Wayne Fenton of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study. "The take-home message for doctors is to be on the lookout for depression among their patients who are overweight," Fenton said. Both conditions are quite common. About one-third of U.S. adults are obese, and depression affects about 10 percent of the population, or nearly 21 million U.S. adults in a given year. Previous studies produced conflicting results on whether obesity is linked with mental illness, although a growing body of research suggests there is an association. The latest study helps resolve the question, said Dr. Susan McElroy, editor of a textbook on obesity and mental disorders. "This is a state-of-the-art psychiatric epidemiology study that really confirms that there is, in fact, a relationship," she said. The study was based on an analysis of a national survey of 9,125 adults who were interviewed to assess mental state. Obesity status was determined using participants' self-reported weight and height. About one-fourth of all participants were obese. Twenty-two percent of obese participants had experienced a mood disorder, compared with 18 percent of the nonobese.

Fortunately today there are alternative to satisfying a sweet tooth such as low calorie natural sugars such as Stevia and synthetic sugars such as Splenda and sugar alcohols. And many of these are being integrated into products that you can buy in the supermarket.

I admit that I like to drink. In the last year I have cut my alcohol use down significantly from a cocktail or two per night to one-two per week instead. I also make smaller ones than I used to. After VSG why are we not supposed to drink alcohol? Is it just the extra [empty] calories or is there another reason? I have already cut down from 7 oz martinis to 3 oz ones. I have 1.5 oz martini glasses I can switch to in my bar if it is just the calories. I do enjoy drinking wine as well and have cut down from 3-5 bottles per week to just 1. If there is another health issue other than the calories? It is no big deal to drop my consumption to almost nothing but really don't want to lose the booze completely (although I am willing to do that if necessary).

Nice to meet everyone! I just turned 21 last month and am a junior in college! I'm majoring in Sociology and am going to do a program once I graduate to be state certified to be a Drug and Alcohol Addiction Counselor. My father was killed in an alcohol related accident about a year and a half ago and it has changed my mind about wanting to major in Business. I recently got a place with My amazing boyfriend and my younger brother. I am pretty much a mom to my little bro (he's not so little-19 years old) I love hanging out with my family and going to the lake/river or goin out to the desert to watch my boys (bro and boyfriend) race dirtbikes! We live by the beach and I am happy to say that next summer i might've actually lost enough weight to wear a bathing suit down there!

I was told that we couldn't have any for three months. Since then I've had some wine and some beer, but I'm not much of a drinker. Most likely yes, you will never have a pint of beer again, only because it won't fit in you. You would probably be able to have a few sips before feeling full. nothing against the poster but I find it interesting how much people worry about alcohol. don't drink much so it's not a big deal for me but I find it interesting to see people worrying about not being able to have a beer again. I would think that loosing weight and becoming healthy is more important than some alcohol. I felt similar about not being able to binge at a buffet, but I keep telling myself that it's a small price to pay for loosing all the weight

I think the hard part about stopping soda is the fact that besides water (usually only at the gym) and wyler's (bascially tha same as crystal light, but I like the taste better)raspberry flavor, it is the only thing I drink. I don't like ice tea, or stuff and I don't drink alcohol, yeah, so it will only leave 2 things I drink and basically only one, since I only drink plain water at the gym.

I have heard many similar stories, but the hair loss was due to people taking powerful drugs affecting their new hair. You need to take a vitamin complex to strengthen your hair. I also recommend using olaplex 0 and 3 as these shampoos work well and have been proven to work many times. In addition, you need to start eating right and get rid of bad habits, such as smoking and alcohol. By doing all this, you will definitely be able to stop hair loss.

The issue for people post surgery is addiction transfer & alcohol is an easy transfer from food. I enjoyed a glass of something (wine, gin, scotch) every night pre surgery but since my surgery I probably have a glass less than once a month. And then I rarely finish it. I also found that my taste buds have changed & a lot of alcohol tastes too sweet & just plain blah! Have to admit I don’t really miss it. If I do have something to drink it’s gin & tonic. I drink it very slowly - an hour + for a low ball. Most of the bubbles dissipate quickly which helps with the carbonation issue. A couple of things to consider: The carbonation fills you quickly & causes issues like discomfort. If you’re drinking, you’re not eating. Alcohol will dehydrate you. Alcohol has no nutritional value.