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I don't get the fibromyalgia thing, but the other one I take to mean that if a parent hosts a party for teens that has alcohol, they risk losing a lot.

You can eat around a lap band, you can eat around gastric bypass. It happens. Slider foods, sugary drinks, too many carbs and alcohol are just come of the things that can contribute to regaining weight. I assume since you are here posting, you don't like what's happen and want to fix it. So my questions are, when was the last time you went to the doctor and got a fill? How full are you and what size band? If you haven't been to the doctor in the past six months, GO. Fluid levels in bands can decrease slightly over time; bands can sometimes leak. Get it all checked out, get a fill ... and get to work.

I don't think anyone considers prostitution an addiction, at least from the prostitutes side of it---possibly from the customers side on occasion. The subject at hand leads to other subjects some times. And sad to say prostitution and addiction, often times go hand in hand. Which could maybe be controlled some with legalization, and required UA's like they do at my DH's work. Random urinalysis, and if you test positive, you lose your job. When you have to go back to the streets with no protection---maybe it would be incentive to avoid the drugs. Yes it is a long shot, but they have nothing encouraging them now..... Nothing HAS to be an addiction. And some are easier to break than others, and easier for some people. My brother has smoked for years. He smokes a few cigarettes a day----many times his pack goes stale before he finishes it. He will not make a trip to the store just to buy cigarettes, they don't matter much to him. I on the other hand, smoked like a freight train when I smoked, and worried where the next pack was coming from when I was opening one! It was hard to quit for me.....he could likely do it without issue. BUT he is an alcoholic! He has been sober for 8 years but he cannot drink a drop----he would be back to a bottle of vodka a day. I on the other hand can and do go months without even wanting any kind of drink, then can have one or 2 and stop----something he could never seem to do. We share the same parents, and were raised in the same manner---yet our issues with addiction differ vastly. Your experience, nor mine, bears any effect whatsoever on another persons addiction, or how hard it will be for them to kick that addiction. Just because it was easy for us, or difficult for us, it may be a total different story for them.

I got a sale flyer today for Memorial day, so put in alcohol orders now. I know sour mix, tequila, triple sec. Does anyone want vodka, gin, bourbon, scotch or some other mixer? Actually I don't know if the mixer are on sale, but I am the sale shopper and the booze is!!

Have you ever heard of addictions patty? Everyone has one, smoking, drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling, eating. No one is perfect, and no one should be denied food or medical care just because you don't think they are worthy enough or live perfect enough to receive it.

I've read some articles that indicate that "addictive" personalities - those addicted to food, alcohol or drugs - sometimes end up "switching" addictions. Their personality traits still lend them to being addicted to something, and they switch from bad stuff to exercise. Though I don't have this issue, I, like Beth, would have assumed that people would revert to prior bad habits with food. That's what we've seen in the tabloids and on web sites - Biggest Loser contestants struggling to keep the weight off once the show is over. I've never understood anorexia - and I feel bad for those who suffer with it. I do know of someone addicted to exercise...she was a bank teller at one of our local institutions. Always thin, but usually healthy-looking. Over the past 5 years or so, she has gradually gone from thin and healthy looking (she has a small frame) to looking almost skeletal. If she were younger (she appears to be around my age, maybe a bit older) she would make a decent supermodel - she's that thin now. She's always out walking - seemingly for hours at a time...or in the gym on the aerobics machines (that was a couple of years ago when I was there too). I almost want to say something, but I don't feel I know her well enough to do that...I just hope she really is healthy and I just don't know it...:eek: But then who am I to judge? :sad:

I have a great aunt who has been an alcoholic all her life. Until just recently (3 years ago) Know why she stopped drinking? Because after a lifetime of one family member or friend after another constantly 'Giving" to her, they stopped. We gave her money, we bought her food, we took her for job interviews, we put up with her verbal abuse, we paid her rent at times and I could go on and on about how we all enabled her to continue in her sin of abusing her body with alcohol. she had state ins. she couldn't hold a job for more than a week or two. Fourty years of that! Finally, we chose the tough love approach. No more enabling. No more money for food, no more help with rides, nothing. She had noone to turn to. Even her daughter and son gave up helping her. Simply because she wouldn't help herself. She was dependent on all of us. Once we stopped giving, she HAD to do it herself. She lost her apt, her job, and was even going to live on the street. We allowed it to happen FOR HER SAKE! Do you think we wanted to let our beloved aunt live on the street for that time? Absolutely not. But within one month, she walked into the Hospital and they committed her into rehab. She was hungry and cold. Now, She is in a wonderful community apts. with new friends she has made, hasn't had a drink for 3 years and has a job for the last 2 years. We put up with her drunken abuse for 40 YEARS! and in less than 6 months of disenabling her with our 'help', she started to take care of herself. When you 'help' people they tend to rely on that help and not 'do' for themselves. I am all for helping those who can't help themselves, or for helping people who are "trying" to better themselves and in the meantime need a hand. But I don't condone helping a prostitute who gets an STD because she CHOOSES to have sex with others for a living unless she leaves that profession for an honorable decent one. If she chooses to continue in that lifestyle, why should I have to pay for her medical care? She knew what the consequences of her career could bring. So, out of her own pocket is where her medical treatment should come from.

My bad, i had a drink the second night I was home, to numb the pain you know, purely medicinal lol. If you can take it, enjoy it. Did anyone say you couldnt have alcohol? My surgeon didnt tell me not to, so I thought I need one and I'm having one. atm I am struggling trying to get an alcoholic drink down, but i am persevering

I don't know why I can't figure out this tracker thing! Oh well, so I post without one. I have only told my daughter and a friend, both that have a band and of course, my husband. I feel the same way. ashamed of how many times I've lost and gained it all back. I don't want to hear "well if she'd just work out and stop eating she'd lose it". I can lose it, I just can't maintain it. Damn, Sure I wish I could but I need help and hopefully this is it. If you're an alcoholic you don't take that first drink. With a food addiction it's different. You have to eat. You have to take that first bite. You know, the people that don't understand why I can't "just do it" seem to be the ones with a cigerette in their mouth. You know, the ones that say they could quit if they want to?:ohmy:0

Wow...your post was touching. I too am an ex smoker (6 months out) ex BIG drinker and ex-BIG eater. What vices are left? Where do we seek solace in times like this? Well...it's been hard, however...I am more in touch with my body than I ever have been...watching it get smaller, measuring it, putting makeup on everyday, reading a good book while sitting at starbucks in a corner drinking a decaf coffee...taking my dogs for a walk and knowing they are having the time of their life, doing internet research about lap-band recipes...looking forward to great tasting food, not quantity...reading US weekly, People, all those fun but silly magazines...I would recommend you make a list of all of the things you would like to do, but don't feel you have time to do, or feel you are or were too heavy to do...what if exercise...perhaps running was your vice? What if you "trained" for a 5K? This is a difficult road...I miss drinking. I haven't quit, although my doc says no alcohol for a year, so technically I have quit, but I miss it...but then again, I never have to worry about beer or liquor showing up on the scale. I used to! Additionally, I don't have to take my inhaler anymore because my asthma is gone because I quit smoking...the fact that health is not a major source of stress anymore keeps me going...Good luck. I will pray for you. Oh, and find yourself a church that you love...get involved...volunteer...keep yourself busy.

Jackie, I did Lighter Life when my first band was working as I wanted a quick fix. I dont think I had enough restriction, how silly am I ...but if you arent told you dont know. I wasnt really hungry, just missed the chewing of the food, with it being liquid. Why dont you try the pre-op diet of low fat and no alcohol (dont know if you drink or not) The milk thistle like has been said is to shrink your liver and cleanse it. I keep forgetting to say to Flirty, my daughter who is in Oz, is a size 12, and she had lipo on her stomach cos she couldnt get it flat. She went to Belgium, not Dr Chris though. I wouldnt recommend it really as she has a flat stomach now but seems to have put weight on around her thighs, weird. She says the fat moved lol, although we have a piccy of the fat removed, so they did take it out. I have a friend that also had lipo on her stomach, bum and thighs. I'll ask her if she would recommend it if you want me to. She went to Marbella for hers. I still cant get much down and I'm starving lol:w00t:

People who prostitute themselves don't need a help with their sin like gluttons or drug addicts or alcoholics do. They just need to change jobs. Like I said already my problem is not with those who CAN'T help themselves, like drug addicts or abused victims or the mentally retarded. It's with those who CAN help what they do. Like PROSTITUTES. If they are USED to making 700. a week and can't afford to live on a Mcdonalds paycheck of 325.(my son works there and makes that much, full time take home pay)then they need to down size. Get rid of cable and cell phones and any other unnecessary bills they have , move into a cheaper rent, stop buying expensive clothes and do some tag saling, whatever it takes to stop living that way. People in this country live on less than that and don't have to resort to prostitution to get by.

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

Hi All, I have just come back from the same clinic that Rukhshandah went to for the VGS. The post op diet for the 1st 4 weeks is below. Is that the same as Dr Aceves? I was very impressed with Dr Cierny in Brno, both Rukhshandah and I went there via a UK company called Cosmetic Bliss (don't be put off by the cheesy name). First day diet: Usually an i.v. Fluid has been administered and a contrast X-ray examination precedes per oral alimentation • Drink slowly in small sips of Water, tea. • Wait in between the sips for a minute or two. • Do not drink more than 50ml at once. • Nothing but tea with or without sugar, or still mineral water. • Wait for least 10 minutes between drinks. Your total per oral fluid intake should be not exceed two glasses or 0.5 litre in the first postoperative day. First two weeks • Clear broth or Soup without vegetables or meat and not too creamy. • Low fat, sugar free yogurt. • Skimmed milk. • Natural fruit juice or pureed soft fruit (apple, banana, pear, etc). • Vegetable juices. • Low calorie drinks. • Sugar free Protein supplements, with skimmed milk. • Water (6-8 cups / 2.0 - 3.0 litres a day). Between meals you may drink vegetable juice, milk, fruit juices & water to ingest sufficient liquids and prevent dehydration. Sample Menu - Week 1 & 2 Breakfast 1/3 cup pureed fruit ½ cup yogurt lunch ½ cup consommé or broth 1/3 cup pureed fruit dinner ½ cup yogurt ½ cup pureed fruit Third and Fourth Week after Sleeve Gastrectomy A liquid/pureed diet for your meals during week 3 and 4 after the operation may help you to get used to smaller stomach. Remember to keep a high level of protein in your diet. You will need to use a blender or food processor. The food has to be blended until reaching a applesauce consistency. Avoid spicy foods; they may irritate your stomach. Here is a list to give you some suggestions for what you can eat on weeks 3 and 4: Liquids or beverages, and milk. • Good options: Tea, non-carbonated drinks, natural fruit juices, coffee, water, skimmed milk, low fat and sugar free yogurt. • Limit or try to avoid: Artificial fruit juices, soda, alcohol, all carbonated beverages, Iced tea with sugar, milk or yogurt products with nuts or seeds, chocolate milk, sweetened condensed milk, whole milk. Fruits. • Good options: Applesauce, pureed pears, and bananas. • Limit or try to avoid: Canned fruits or fruits with syrup. Vegetables. • Good options: Pureed vegetables, vegetable juice. • Limit or try to avoid: Raw vegetables, canned vegetables, vegetables that cause discomfort (gas forming). Soups. • Good options: Broth, cream soups make with skimmed milk, egg drop soup, low sodium bouillon or consommé. • Limit or try to avoid: All other. Starches. • Good options: Mashed potatoes. • Limit or try to avoid: Bread, Pasta, rice and all other starches. meats or protein supplements. • Good options: Pureed chicken, fish, tuna, veal, beef, low fat cottage cheese, baby food meats, mashed or pureed tofu, pureed egg or egg substitute, sugar-free Protein shakes, No sugar added Instant Breakfast. • Limit or try to avoid: Peanut Butter, others. Fats, sugars and others • Good options: Sugar free Jellies and puddings, sugar free ice cream and frozen yoghurt, low fat (slimmers) puddings. • Limit: Others. Sample Menu – weeks 3 & 4 Breakfast 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup pureed fruit (or4-6 tablespoons cooked refined Cereal, adding 3 tablespoons of skimmed milk) 1 hour later 1 cup fruit juice (or milk) 2 hours later 4-6 tablespoons yogurt 1 hour later 1 cup water (or unsweetened fruit juice) Lunch 3 tablespoons pureed chicken with 2 tablespoons pureed vegetables and 2 tablespoons mashed potatoes, 1 cup water 1 hour later 1 cup water 2 hours later 1 cup protein supplement (or1 packet No Sugar Added Instant Breakfast) Dinner 2-3 tablespoons chicken (or fish or tuna)with 2 tablespoons vegetables and 2 tablespoons mashed potatoes 1 hour later 1 cup skimmed milk 1 hour later 3 tablespoons cottage cheese with 4 tablespoons pureed fruit 1 hour later 1 cup broth-type soup or milky (semi-skimmed or skimmed milk) drink General Recommendations: 1. Eat small meals five times a day and limit snacking in between meals. 2. Eat slowly and chew food until it reaches a mushy consistency. (15 to 20 times per bite). 3. Stop eating or drinking right before you feel full. 4. Eat only good quality foods. 5. Drink low calorie liquids. 6. Drink enough liquids /about 2.0 – 3.0 litres per day. 7. Drink after each eating 8. Exercise moderately, however not sooner than 2 weeks after the operation

Beer. I don't miss it yet, but I am in mourning for it already. :grouphug: I love beer like a wine afficionado loves wine. I'm a stout/red/amber/black/micro-brew fan, but there's nothing like an ice cold domestic light brew on a hot day at the river... And since it has carbonation, it's on the band no-no list. :puke: My surgeon recommends no alcohol for a year, mostly due to the calories and the potential for addiction transferance. Once I do drink again, it's dirty martinis for me. Good thing I love good vodka too! :hurray:

No - too many bits! plus "maybe" alcohol is not a good substitute for food! It would be nice though wouldn't it.

Actually obesity is much worse than alcohol or drug addiction. With help, you could completely stop drinking or taking drugs and while the temptation might exist, you wouldn't have to deal with drinking or taking drugs in small amounts every day. But obesity? You still have to eat EVERY DAY! So for lots of us, this is a way of stopping before the food gets the best of us.

I wish I would have kept my big mouth shut before telling my mother in law what I went thru this week not being able to eat for almost 3 days. She said: why don't you just get that thing taken out? Then proceeded to lecture me on all I ever needed was diet and excercise. Of course she is a size 2 or 0 and has been her entire life. All I could say was that I love my band and it was the best thing that has helped me control my weight all my life and that obesity is on the same level as being an alcoholic or dug addict. A few days of not eating was not going to kill me. Still...she is verrrrry opinionated and I feel like she is shaking her head at me. It's not like I need her approval for what I have done- but I don't like the feeling that she thinks she knows more than me on the subject. This band was invented for a reason. It angers me that she doesn't get it.

Good Morning Ladies, I've been reading your posts this morning and am so glad that everybody got the same feeling from Dr. Fisher. I thought I was trippin! I have my appt with him on June 3rd but since he seems so anit-band I'm wondering if he's the right Doctor for me... So this 1200 Calorie diet isn't as easy as I initially thought!! I did great till 4:00 yesteday evening - routinely I sit on my bed with a bag of almonds and snack away while watching The Doctors. Not yesterday and hopefully not today. I now fully understand the term "head hunger" I wasn't physically hungry but I absolutely could not watch my show and not snack so I had to go wash my car & keep busy. I missed the doctors. I had a slight headache still from the diet coke withdrawl so I took more excedrine after dinner and laid down - then it hit me! Excedrine has caffeine in it - grr!! This is where all the anxiety kicked in - can I really do this for the rest of my life - "forever" is such a long time - and "never" is even longer - never have pasta again, never have diet coke again, never have peanut butter again... So I woke up this morning happy that I made through yesterday but worried about today. I got on this site and read everybody's logs, saw all your progress and I WILL do this. THANK GOD FOR THIS SITE AND ALL YOU GIRLS THAT HAVE GONE BEFORE ME - LOL. I come from a long line of drug addicts & alcoholics and did my very best not to become an addict - I don't drink, smoke or do any kind of drugs but turned out to be an addict anyway-food addict! So I will approach this like atticts do: Take this one day at a time and keep it as simple as possible - forever will come on its own! Have a great fill, Christine!

Very good point rodriguez! In fact, it wasn't until I was preggers with my dd that I read up on and became informed about all the things that could go wrong. Both environmentally and genetically. Also, I never learned until after I was married that women have all the eggs that they're ever going to have and that a lot of our own behavior can cause problems with producing a healthy egg. Like using drugs and alcohol. I never knew what all the side effects could be from birth control pills or those heavy duty patches or IUDs. These are all things that would help women when they consider whether to have sex and whether to have children. And some of those decisions come when girls are teenagers. Another aside, just to clarify: not using a condom is not the same risk factor as not using a condom properly. And not using a condom is not figured into the stats for the percentage of condom failure. If a condom didn't enter the picture, how could it fail?

FAO Garrymcfall! hi you can possibly help me with a question or two i was needing answered mate? i am hoping to get banded in june or july just waiting on confirmation,where did you find was best(cheapest) to fly from in scotland? so you can still drink alcohol after the band is inserted?? cheers and well done so far!

Good Morning Gang Thought I would post EARLY but see Karla has beat me :0) Ruby as to your struggles - hugs -- You need to get back to the basic - Go back to the beginning - I know it's hard after you have lost your motivation - but I think doing that - Logging calories (you were good at that) and following a healthy eating plan and not allowing so many treats - that's what gets us all the time .... Remember food is our drug of choice - plan and simple - I was talking to a lady last night from back east she's getting banded 6/17 - and I told her clean out your kitchen - get all your trigger foods out of the house - you would not leave a bottle of booze on the kitchen counter if you were an alcoholic so why would you leave a bag of cookies (or whatever) in the pantry. You explain this to your family and they should understand.. We have no control when it comes to food. I know that you get plenty of exercise cuz you walk and don't drive - but are you still doing your gym and karate (or what ever it was like that) Oh ya - Ruby met Karla (cremark) Karla meet Ruby - She is one of our Original #7 - maybe cuz we were talking about how many pple have left she came back - Ruby, Karla is a friend of Steph and was just banded and cuz Steph loves us so much asked her to join us.. Karla - My doc is tough after a fill its 7 days liquids - 7 days mushies - 7 days soft then back to regular food - I pretty much did that the 1st fill but the 2nd fill I didn't - I did like 2 days liquids then mushies then soft then regular.. 1st fill felt right away remember eating yogurt and almost pbing - but that fill seemed to dissappear within 2 weeks so I called and made another appointment - then my 2nd fill took about 2 weeks to finally settle in. Kari - My friend who's getting banded next month has knee issues - I told her that you just biked - she asked what kind of bike do you have regular or recumbent?? I didn't remember.. I think I am going to invite her to join our thread Karri - Did you get some sleep - I saw on FB that you realized that you aren't super human and needed some rest - did you get it?? Denise - How goes the battle.... Phyl - How's the knee doing - how long with DD be gone on vacation - is this the one with the little kids (thomas) so far I remember Tracy has the 2 older ones (Adam & Alisha) Steph - How's the back doing... Candice - When to you leave for France !!! Ok gang it's 5:30 - I can't beleive how fast time goes when you are on the computer !!! Gotta jump in the shower... Talk to you all when I get to work...

:thumbup: TOTALLY ! Used to be not overweight in school, never was "skinny", but used to be "healthy" and a competitive swimmer. But since I started working fulltime, eat out more often, alcohol nights and got heartbroken.. :smile2: I lost balance in exercising & eating. When I feel hurt, the more I don't like to look at myself... I eat to find comfort. :thumbup: Until I realize it, I've lost myself. In a span of 5 years, gained from 130ish to 220lbs...

Scheduled to have surgery on June 12th. Meditrim (pre-op diet) on the 29th of this month. And God Damn it I cheated :mad2: Supposedly I should stop smoking from today the 12th. I knew this was coming, so I purposely had more yesterday, but today I feel like it's on the 12th I can cheat a lil bit. But sigh, I feel so bad, I had craving and in the end i had 2 full "120 Capri" cigarettes I am an occasional smoker. I smoke none a day, or if i feel stressful i'll have up to 3 a day. ( unless i'm drinking i have alot more ) But I know I can handle the alcohol issue though i loveee drinking ( I don't drink beer, but i love cocktails shooters bicardi pineapple ), but I overestimated myself for smoking. Hope to meet people that had gone through "quitting smoking phase" and looking for a companion to "not smoke" together.