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quick question - are you eating anything like Atkins Bars? or anything with sugar alcohols in them? I was losing fine, then I started adding in an Atkins Bar a day or even 1/2 of one, and my weight stalled out for almost 3 weeks. I finally realized maybe it was the Atkins - so I cut them out, and holy crap did the weight start falling off again! So maybe if you are doing any bar supplements or something like that, give them up for a week and see how it goes?

Thanks so much guys, today was better. No binge today, I did have a snickers, but I will say that is the only candy I have eaten today and after the past couple of days just that alone is a jumping a big hurdle for me. I still have not eaten over 1000 calories today, so that makes me feel better too. I will have to go cold turkey and I wish I could automatically get that feeling you have after you have done the Atkins for 2 weeks and you don't crave anything, let alone want anything to eat and yet you have massive amounts of energy. Damn that Atkins for working so well when you actually stick to it! HA! I'm at least in better spirits today and also realized it is PMS time so that could be the fire behind some of the madness and uncontrollable everything!! I know the peanut butter cups should be considered and taxed like cigarettes and alcohol, but that wouldn't stop me either way. Self control is coming back, it just took the horse and buggy instead of the Astin Martin...hopefully I can grab hold soon and stay off of sugar for a while. I bought the carnation choco breakfast drinks, so I will try them in the morn and see if that curbs my addiction any. Good luck everyone and thanks for the support!!

Sugar alcohols will do it, and not in a good way. That being said, I have a confession to make. A few years back while I still was still working, I used to keep a jar of jelly Beans on my desk. This one man that worked in the office was not only a jerk but pretty much cleaned out my jar each week. I enjoyed people helping them selves but most people would take a few but this guy would take huge handfuls and put some in his shirt pocket for later.I let him know one time that he was welcome to bring in a bag every once in a while to fill the kitty. He looked at me and said "why would I do that when you will do it?" Wrong thing to say to me. Next day, I went and bought 3 bags of the sugarfree jelly belly beans. It says on the bag not to eat more than a few because of the of the high content of sugar alcohols in them. He was all over them by 9am. I made sure I got up and left my desk area when I saw him coming. The warning on the bag is true. That's all I'm saying. To add to my delight, I let him know after the fact that those were sugarfree. He never ate another one of my jellybeans.

When I was first starting out my RN gave me the riot act over having surgery.told me that I would most likely become a drug user or an alcoholic. They do only see the negative parts....but remember a DOCTOR is doing the surgery! If they didn't think it was healthier for you then being obese then they wouldn't be doing the surgery in the first place!

I paid an upgrade fee to fly to San Diego (and back) for my surgery with Dr. Kelly in Tijuana. I didn't really need the "pampering" for the flight there, but I wanted to treat myself. It was MUCH more comfortable, and the service difference between first class (called Executive on Air Canada) was AMAZING. Only 20 seats in Executive and we had an attendant all to ourselves. drinks before we even left the terminal......nuts in an individual ceramic dish......Free headsets, newspapers, pillow, blankets, 4 course meal in real china with stainless steel cutlery, free alcohol, Snacks. Unbelievable difference! Of course, as I was on a clear liquid diet, I didn't get to eat anything, and no alcohol. But it was still really comfy and pampered! If you can afford the upgrade (or talk your way into one), you should go for it!

Yeah, The Whitman's uses Splenda too but when you check the ingredients they use lots of maltitol, a sugar alcohol as well. Pisses me off. Maltitol still produces the laxative effect. Not sure if Russell Stover's uses the sugar alcohols. I'll have to check on that.

I felt the same way as you and knew with my insurance it was a green light automatically. (The bariactric center is inside the hospital I work at and get my insurance). What you need to do is ask your surgeons office what your particular insurance requires and how you can speed a long the process while you wait. Thats what I did. In 2 months I had all my stuff done and I was banded. It's all what your insurance requires. Also ask what your pre-opt diet is going to be before surgery. I didn't expect that part. 2 weeks of liquids only before surgery, and 2 weeks of liquids only after surgery. No food for a month! I didn't expect that part. That was hard Now I'm to mushy foods (banded 7/15/08) and I'm waiting for a fill. Feels like I'm dieting on will power alone. I'm just following the lap band rules. This isn't the easy way I expected. I'm working for every pound lost. I now keep a pedometer on at all times and go for 12,000 steps a day no matter what. I'm working for this and have been working for every pound lost since I decided on the surgery. Your journey starts today. You start following the band rules today. (No straws, No caffeine, No non-natural sugars, No smoking, No alcohol, Cut back on bread & Pasta, Protein first, Vegetables 2nd, carbs if you have room left. Smaller portions, eat only until satisfied. no drinking liquids with meals, and 60 grams of protein a day, 64 oz of Water a day.) You don't need to wait to be banded. Banding just forces you to stick to the rules and takes stomach hunger (not head hunger!) out of the equation. Wish someone would have told me that upfront. Your journey starts today if you choose so. Best of luck.

Hello all, I am going to be sleeved on Tuesday (19th September 2017) and I found myself on this website this evening creating a profile... I suppose I am on here for some support and guidance, but also because I thought it might help center my own thoughts about my journey to 'have to' type it out. Mini therapy, I guess. I also couldn't find - maybe I was being lazy - too many people sharing their journey with my sort of stats, so many I will be helpful to some younger, female patients on the 'light' side of the scale in terms of what to expect etc. We are all in this together! VITAL STATS Age: 26 Height: 159cm or 5'1" Weight: About 86.5kg, or 190lbs - I will verify this and put it on my signature when I am weighed pre-op. Female Location: Australia, home for the operation but I live in London, UK. Surgery + Date: Gastric Sleeve 19/09/17 JOURNEY TO NOW I suppose I always had a bit of a problem with my weight. I have certainly gone through periods in my young adult life where I was slim. The trouble for me, I suppose, is that I have an identical twin sister who has always been slimmer than I have (maybe 5-7kgs) and, as such, I have always subconsciously felt like the 'bigger' twin. My twin is tiny - she is now about 20kgs lighter than me and it really gets me down. She lives in Australia still and I am in London, but imagine living with a 20kg lighter version of yourself! Someone who is exactly like you but 25% less weight. It can be hard, although she is really supportive. I am a really emotionally stable and rational person, but I have self-control issues and I emotionally eat. In the last 2.5 years, I have gone through 2 serious break-ups. The first was with my boyfriend of on-again/off-again 9 years...and the second was with a man I loved possibly more. I turned straight to food and alcohol (which I seldom drank prior) to forget the pain I was feeling and to be able to get on with work. Over this 2-2.5 year period, I have gained about 25kgs. I remember being 62kgs at Christmas 2013, and when I was weighed a month or so ago at the surgeon's office I was 86.6kg. To say I was devastated was an understatement. Although I admit I have self-control issues, I certainly have it within me. I guess I would classify as an 'all or nothing' person; I can easily eat and eat and eat, but when I reallllllly get on a roll with a diet, I am the type to be able to starve myself. This has lead in the past (over 10 years) to yo-yo dieting and I have tried it all; starvation, protein shakes, exercising, duromine/metermine pills...really anything. Sometimes it has worked, sometimes it hasn't. My mother has been overweight my whole life and although she doesn't have diabetes, her mother did. I live in a family of eaters and providers, and I see patterns in my own behaviour that mirror my mother. My mother was a very attractive woman in her youth - she is still attractive now actually - but I do not wish to see the same health and aesthetic issues she has repeated in my own life. I find myself not wanting to go out and socialise because I have nothing to wear; my clothes don't fit and I always tell myself I should lose weight before I buy more...I say no to outings, I hide away and eat. I am embarrassed about my weight - I hear myself telling people that I 'put on weight recently' and over-compensate for it by saying how I used to be slimmer....I go shopping and I don't even bother to look at perfectly normal, lovely clothing because I seem to have subconsciously (or otherwise) decided that I could never wear something like x, y, z. All of this might seem extreme given that I seem to be less overweight relative to some people on this forum - but I am sure these are issues we all share to varying degrees. Also, I am so short and small in frame that my weight is probably largely as evident as others. All in all, I suppose I subconsciously 'decided' I was chubby years ago and have become obese as a result. It is such an unhealthy pattern. GOALS First goal: get under 80kg. Second: get under 70kg. I want to take it as it comes. But, longer term: to be 60kg or under. 55kg would be ideal. 60kg would be great, too. NSV: Throw out all the old clothing I have been wearing to cover up - aka my 'fat' clothes. NSV: Buy size 28 jeans for comfort, like I used to. I am currently in a 32 of the same jean. To be honest it's really hard to write my goals as I have not yet even conceptualised this working! It has been so long since I lost weight and felt good that I can't even remember....perhaps I will work on the goal list later! I'm also gonna post some headless pics....I think that will help me... Anyway, this is a start. I have an appointment on Monday to see the Dr and take bloods...then it's straight to it on Tuesday. Wish me luck!

The band has changed a lot since then. I think the truth is though, the band is a foreign object in the body. It only does so much. So if people are unhappy you have to see why. I had my band done, one incision through the belly button, I ended up with an infection, other than that, I have been golden. The band is a medical device that is put into your body, of course there are chances of complications. Having the Gastric Bypass you can leak and poison your body, the sleeve has complications, etc. I do not recommend doing something like this unless someone has tried EVERY OTHER OPTION.... Honestly, I hope to get down to a good weight, then I would like them to remove all the liquid from the band and give myself six months and see if I can keep it off. To me this is a tool, not the cure all. IF you read lots of posts, you will still gain weight if you make poor dietary choices, or drink alcohol (lots of empty calories) and don't exercise. Many people over restrict and cause trouble for themselves. Some people it just doesn't work for. In the end this is a very personal decision and one that should not be taken lightly. I believe if you have concerns about the media coverage, talk to your doctor. They can tell you the changes that have been made to the band, etc. Good luck, I did it and I don't regret it at all. I am nearly half way to my goal. To me that is amazing. I am in a size 16, haven't been there in 8 years, no matter how much I watched what I ate and exercised. I have medical things that were going on that once I put on the weight it is nearly impossible to take off. I think for me, it was the right decision, maybe not for others.

Lying awake in bed due to reflux caused by attempting to eat steak earlier tonight and I get this "revelation". ( Nothing like the clarity that comes in the middle of the night) My mind must have been thinking over some of the stuff I read earlier today and I suddenly realised that the symptoms in this article describe what used to happen to me in my early 20s. There were a number of occasions when I would feel hot, cold, nauseous,shaky have ringing in my ears and want to pass out. In fact the once I was at the pub with my BF who is now my DH and I literally dropped. I was fine 1 minute and passed out on the floor the next. It was so embarrassing as everyone must have thought i was extremely drunk when in fact I was on either my 1st or 2nd drink. At the time my GP said that it was probably a hernia but reading this dumping seems more likely. It was usually brought on by alcohol especially any type of clear spirit such as vodka. Luckily I haven't had those symptoms for years

I went to today for my 3rd weigh in/fill and was down another 10 pounds! Wooooo-hooooo! Every time I zip up a size 18, I still can’t believe it! It’s strange that I can pretty much predict down to the pound how much I’m going to loose every month…and yes, I only weight once a month. My mom asked me if I’d lost as much as I was hoping for, and I told her, “yes,” because even though I was hoping to loose 12-15 lbs, I knew that was unrealistic, and I knew going in that I was going to be down about 10 lbs. And really, when you think about it, what difference is two more pounds going to make? It’s not. It’s not like people won’t notice that you’ve lost 38 pounds, but they WILL notice 40? A steady loss of 2 lbs. a week is fine with me, hell, it’s more than fine; it’s GREAT! So, here’s what’s weird…and this is sooooo difficult to explain to people who haven’t been banded. At my last fill, I actually felt real restriction, so for the first time in my life, I don’t obsess over food. I don’t binge. I don’t eat and eat and eat and then eat some more. Food has become a non-issue. When anyone asks where I want to eat, I tell them I don’t care; because I really don’t. It’s just not a big deal. So, what’s the problem? Here’s the problem: For almost my entire life I’ve been an addict. My eating disorder had as much of a hold on me as heroin would have on a junkie, or booze would have on an alcoholic. Now, when I’m not hungry, or I’m satisfied…when I’m not “using” food, I associate that feeling with “binging”. Does that make sense? It’s just that it’s been that way for SO long, that my mind has trouble accepting that I’m satisfied and not hungry, and it’s NOT because I’ve eaten everything in sight…it’s because I’m banded. So, I’ve walked around these past 5 weeks thinking, “Shit! I can’t believe I did that! How could I have eaten all that food? How could I go back to “using?” Then, I have to actively remind myself that I haven’t gone back to my old ways; I haven’t binged. It’s just strange…a good strange, but very unsettling all the same. And, get this; I go in and tell my nurse that I don’t think I need a fill, but I’m not sure. She hooks me up and has me drink the “stuff,” and she says, “Oh yeah, you need a fill.” I ask her how she can tell, and she says that she can tell by how easily the liquid is going down. So, as I’m getting ready to leave, she reminds me that I won’t be back for three months, but if I need a fill I need to let them know. My thing is this; I won’t know if I need a fill. I didn’t know this time! I tell her this and she says, “Well if you find yourself getting hungry, then you know you need a fill.” O.K…I didn’t get hungry this time. And I won’t get hungry next time. I guess what I do, is just push it out of my head and ignore it. I joke around that I’m really good at being hungry, but I guess, it’s not a joke. It’s kind of pathetic in a way; I’m so used to being hungry that it’s normal now. Ah well, I guess that’s a concept only a former fat kid can grasp. At any rate, I will close saying this: My life is so GREAT that I can’t believe it’s MINE!

Question!? And I am sure this is repetitive but I can’t find a specific answer! So I am 8 weeks in post operation. And my friends invited me out for drinks I explained that I can’t drink and they said for me to just try a buzzball which is 19.9 grams in carbs, 22.1 grams in alcohol, 248 in calories and also it’s gluten free! And I think I could probably only do half of that anyway. So my question is can I have a little to drink ? And how would it affect me if I do? Besides getting intoxicated faster. Thanks in advance and hope everyone has an amazing new year!!!

LOL - yeah, I get it, thanks guys. The more I think about it, the more I see what a waste of calories any alcohol is... so, I'll happily wait till I reach goal, at least, maybe by my birthday at the end of July! Yay Crystal Light...!

Lemme guess...your nut was like my nut....about 10% body fat. I mean don't former alcoholics lead the group at AA? Shouldn't people like us be NUTs for WLS patients? Those forever skinny people have no clue what it's like.

There is a very real phenomena called transfer addiction. There have been many documented cases of people who can no longer abuse food easily suddenly abusing alcohol, drugs, and various process addictions. So even go on to become anorexic and bulimic. While it can happen all of that seems to be the exception and not the rule. When going through major life change people have two common responses. They either fear it or embrace it. It sounds like you are embracing it. My advice as a person living in recovery, take it one day at a time and be honest with yourself. The surgery was one small part of this process. There is a lifetime of work we need to do to understand ourselves if we want long-term health. Looks like today you are headed in a great direction.

I drink if its an occasion and I feel like it. Why not ? My team have never banned it and I am old and fairly sensible. I choose low alcohol spirits and a lots of diet mixer. At 2 months out, we went on a All inclusive holiday and I carefully tried a few Bloody Mary's. I lived to tell the tale, nothing bad happened.

That is a pretty strong drink. Don’t know what your daily calorie intake is but 248 is a lot of calories to waste on a single glass of alcohol which provides no nutritional benefit which should be your focus. 248 calories would have been 3/4 of my daily intake then. The carbs would also be a significant percentage of your limit too I would guess. And alcohol dehydrates you & slows your metabolism. In saying that I had a gin & tonic at around 2 months at my cousin’s 40th. I nursed that drink for more than 4 hours. Didn’t really enjoy it either & I didn’t have another drink for months. I don’t drink much at all since my surgery. An odd glass of champagne or a G&T maybe once a month or less often. My friends don’t pressure me to drink even though they drink. I realised I don’t need to drink to socialise & enjoy being with my friends. My question is what sort of friends are they to try to force you to drink when medically you’re advised not to? Are they trying to sabotage your weight loss? Ultimately though it is your decision. If you want to have a drink maybe look for a lower calorie drink with fewer carbs & less alcohol.

I am becoming increasingly annoyed by older people on this site. Though it is not the intention of some posters, many people come off very condescending in their responses. I am twenty three, my way of life is different than someone who is in their late thirties and forties. My relationship with things like alcohol is different. If someone posts that they just turned twenty one or are about to turn twenty one, I am not going to berate them because of their desire to be a normal twenty year old. I will let them know the complications and that certain things will not work with having surgery. Support. Not tell them they are an alcoholic and have a problem. My rant got a bit specific but is anyone else having these problems/frustrations?

One of my worst anxiety ridden fears is that someone will say something to me or the gate agent or flight attendant is going to take me out of line and tell me I need an extra seat. I've even had dreams about it.... it is one (of hundreds!) of the reasons I am doing this. I just don't want to live like this anymore. My husband and I were having a heart to heart talk a few weeks ago. I had kept the gastric sleeve thing to myself until I made a decision. When I finally told him he was very apprehensive. He said it breaks his heart that I loathe myself. I've never been and never will be the fat girl/woman who accepts herself and moves on. It is not possible for me. Fat has stolen my life. So my husband said most everyone has something they carry with them that has broken them a little ( his father was an abusive alcoholic). I started crying and said, yes, but you don't have to go through life with a giant sign wrapped around your body telling the world what your weakness is. Ok, not sure how I got off the actual subject here..... back to the subject - I dread flying - I am filled with utter terror that I will be humiliated in some way....

Well I had the sleeve done - This is the story. Left for Vegas on Tuesday got off the plane and headed for my appointment for Pre-surgery - everything was a go. So my wife and I hit the strip and I played black jack and won.... not much but still won. We ate normal and I did not drink alcohol. Went to bed on time for a 7:00am surgery at a surgery center. We had signed up on one of those package deals where the hotel is included. So we were up and headed to the center (by the way rent a car it is better to have the freedom to go) I went in and filled out some more forms and headed to the prep room. Met the anesthesiologist he went through a few items and the nurses were wonderful. Then I saw my Doctor (Thomas Umbach ) not long after that I was being wheeled to the surgery room. I was give something that made me feel very sleepy but could understand everyone. Then told to breath deeply two breaths and I don?t remember anything except being woke up saying surgery went fine and it is done. This was about 10:30 or so I think. Surgery was about an hour and recovery 2 . I took some pill for pain and they started me walking. It did not hurt to walk so I kept going after hearing everyone on this site telling me how walking really helped. Dr Umbach also installed a pain drip system that hung around my neck and had some small tubes planted around where the surgery took place, with a big ball that would dissipate in 3 days, this provided a pain free experience. I was released at noon to go back to my hotel which I walked and slept and drank water (very very very small sips) the fist night I had some small discomfort felt like acid reflux so I called the doc on his cell phone which was nice about 10pm and he said I could get some pepto or any over the counter acid reducer I wanted. My wife drove out to get it and also got liquid Tylenol which I recommend very much. I burped a lot and had to raise my arms when drinking water to get it down. The doc said for the first day my stomach would be swollen and until it went down it would be a bit tough. It was, but by the end of the next day it eased up. Sleeping and walking is the trick and the Tylenol made everything right as rain. On Friday we went back for a follow up with the doctor, and everything was perfect so we said our good bys and we headed for the Hoover Damn wanted to see it. I even drove ? I don?t feel the surgery hardly at all it is the drinking that lets me know it is there. So we got back from there and got our flight out back to Kansas City ? Because I have traveled so much we both were in first class so that was nice, bigger seats if you know what I mean. This is the first day back home and since the 2 weeks prior with the protein shakes to today I am down 27 lbs. I am just starting to feel hungry this whole time prior I have not had a desire to eat. I have force the drinking because I know that is good for me. I hope this helps with those who have not taken the plunge yet. I plan to keep you up to date on the progress. My doctor told me to walk everyday so my wife and I are headed to the gym in a little while, course I will be on slow mo for a while. Thanks for listening and hope it helps someone else.

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.

Sounds like addiction transference. I worry about it all the time. I don't drink a lot (once or twice a month) but I wonder if I ever kick this food addiction if I'll switch to something else. Some people transfer their food addictions to alcohol, some to drugs, some to sex, and some to exercise. I'm hoping for the exercise one! (Hah!)

It sounds like at least a chunk of this is due to not taking supplements and developing an alcohol and painkiller addiction rather than the surgery itself. I'm sorry that you did not get better advice and support from your surgeon.

My surgeon asked me very specifically not to change my eating habits at all pre-op -- no dieting, no overeating or bingeing. (Of course I couldn't eat anything after midnight the night before surgery.) There are also very few post-op restrictions, and liquids only for three-four days post-op. The rules post-op mostly are don't eat sugar or drink alcohol at first, wait till four weeks post-op to eat raw fruit/veg, and eat 'circle-wise' -- one bite Protein, one bite veg, one bite carb (preferably not white carbs), repeat -- and drink 1.5-2 litres of Water per day. There is quite in-depth training and examples given about how to eat post-op, it's just full foods right from the start, with no liquid or mushy phase per se, though they advise a lot of joghurt and quark and very well-cooked veg during the first couple post-op weeks. This is all from a very experienced and academically respected hospital and bariatric team, who've led a number of studies and are well-published. I'm not saying that their rules (or perhaps relative lack thereof) are any better than all the liquids pre- and post-op -- I am just saying that, knowing what they know and how much experience they have (particularly with VSG), there is clearly huge variability in what is actually okay, or safe, pre- and post-op, from a quantifiable, replicable, medical/scientific evidence perspective. And all that is prelude to the following: I believe that, without seeing the evidence or knowing the medical rationale firsthand (e.g., actual fatty liver is certainly not present in every heavy person and can be determined through a simple blood test), I personally would have had a hell of a time staying on any extensive liquid or other severe diets. I need a very good reason to feel that shitty for two weeks lol. And now THAT being said, one very good reason many of you mention, is that your surgeon requires it for you to get the surgery -- that would be quite motivating I'm sure. Anyhow, best of luck to all of you in getting through the challenging times!!

Ask your team about there alcohol policy/timeline ❤