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I guess I qualify for this group since I am 7 months post op as of last Sunday. Overall, it has been pretty easy and I am ecstatic about the results to this point. I still have a lot of restriction and do not get super hungry and get satisfied very easily. Biggest challenges for me are some occasional snacking and of course, alcohol. I am fully aware that I probably would have lost a bit more by now if I did not drink at all but I am just unwilling to do that. It is what it is... Hair loss has been ongoing but no one notices other than me and my hairdresser. I have very thick, naturally wavy hair and I never use heat on it now. When it was longer I used hot rollers every day but now I just apply product and let it dry naturally and use a pick to fluff it out when it is dry. I always get in at least 80 ounces of water in addition to 32 ounces of regular coffee and about 6 ounces of PP shake per day. Since I am low carb it is essential to stay hydrated since ketosis also dehydrates you and I do not feel right if I do not drink enough water. I never drink sodas because I don't like them. I tried prosecco once on Thanksgiving and it was bad, the carbonation was painful and I was burping loudly for 2 hours. No carbonation for me. I do use Mio drops occasionally for variety, the berry pomegranate one is my favorite and it is especially good in hot water. We walk 1.75 at least 5 days a week unless it is raining and then I do about 45 minutes on the elliptical. I need to start more weight training and there is no reason since I have the bench and free weights right here. Really want to start doing yoga once I lose a little more.

I'm not a good example for maintenance, or at least not in context of what we hear about here on BP. My goal always was to eat a normal diet, just smaller quantities. So that's what I'm doing. It goes against pretty everything preached here, so I'm keeping it pretty low key. That's why I'm not posting on the Food Before and After Thread. So far so good, but these are still very early days. I'm willing to adjust and eat more mindfully if the scale begins to creep up. But whatever I end up doing long term it will always be more of a "normal" diet vs. restrictive. I will always eat out A LOT, drink alcohol, enjoy ethnic food, etc., I just may need to balance that with being stricter while I'm home. I think I'm just at a standstill on hair loss. Maybe it's growing back? I don't know I've always had tons of fly away baby hairs, hard to tell if there are more than there was before. If yours is just breakage maybe try some hair masks? (And for you too @Orchids&Dragons) I just bought one from amazon that gets great reviews, because I flat iron my hair more now then I did before. So you don't like your hair down? I don't like mine up, because my ponytail is like the diameter of a nickle, vs. a quarter before , and it shows the thinning through my temples. I like the style a lot. Cause, it's basically my hair, only now it's shorter. . I like the color too, mine is similar as well. I had my colorist take some of the "golden" tones out last time because it goes a little too red for my liking, especially in the sunlight. So I'm starting to lean towards ash tones vs. golden tones. But my complexion tends to flush and go red, so I'm trying to counteract that a bit. You may not have that issue.

Thank you. I just ordered the last one on there cause it said no sugar alcohols. And saw they had orange breath mints too. That were the same. That I’m gonna get for my apron at work. Cause I always worry about my breath. Thank you so much. This sounds like a great fit. Fixes a craving why staying on track. They also have a ginger ale one I found. With actual ginger extract. So it might help the stomach. Without the soda and sugar. Thank you. I can’t say that enough.

I have a rant/complaint. This is December 5th, yeah less than 3 weeks until Christmas and I'm not sleeping. Just saw an Aldi commercial on TV for the eleventeenth time. Now Aldi' s is a nice enough place, have shopped there and saved money. And this advert is saying Food=Love. How many of us found ourselves heading to Bariatric Surgery for this reason? It is difficult to recover from alcohol addiction, rougher yet to recover from drugs, but when you are a "foodaholic: it is a life-long trial to become fast-food, high calorie SOBER. And it could have gone back to the 3 bags of Aldi chocolate chips YOU THOUGHT would make you a BETTER personmvNews Flash, They didn't!😧😪😧

Can I have zevia sugar free root beer soda, if I let the carbonation go flat? As far as I can tell there is no sugar or bad substitutes that would be harmful. Unlike some of the ice creams I’ve seen suggested it doesn’t have sugar alcohols in it that I can see anyways. I was told to watch their intake with gastric bypass by my surgery team. I know carbonation is bad. So do any of you drink sugar free drinks like Coke Zero or zevia once in awhile - as long as it goes flat or at least sits a bit to lose some carbonation. I miss the taste of the stuff and the bubbles too. But I’d settle for a few sips as a treat. Just don’t want to hurt myself or Stretch pouch.

My appointment with the patient coordinator went well-ish, I get my ass chewed out a little bit for drinking alcohol while on vacation last month but in the end I got my surgery date which is on January 7th, 2019! I’m beyond excited.

If your carb counting, only net carbs. Net carbs are fiber and/or sugar alcohols which our bodies cannot process.

Yes and no, your body may be starting to go into fat-burning mode. KETOSIS STINKS, IN THEORY AND IN PRACTICE! My own , not so much bad breath as my armpits, B.O. my armpits smell like rotting onions, keep cleaning, baking soda, ani-persp/deodorants, even wiping down with 90% rubbing alcohol, in case it was bacterium. Family says they smell NOTHING but Baby I Do!👿😕👿

I wouldn't. But only because of the amount of sugar alcohols. It could play havoc with your still healing anatomy. That said, I eat them all the time, just make sure to clear the calorie count with your daily maximums and you'll be fine. Arctic Zero isn't any better than halo top for sugars, they both have the same amount. But Halo Top wins out on ingredients, sugar isn't in the top 3 for halo top, but it is for arctic zero. Halo Top also has more protein than Arctic Zero. Overall, the 2 of them are pretty evenly matched. Halo Top wins out slightly for higher protein and not having sugar in the first 3 ingredients. Halo Top is creamier and more like ice cream than Arctic Zero because of the fact that Halo Tops uses milk, Arctic Zero uses water. Arctic Zero wins out in the amount of flavors available though. Either way, these 2 are miles better than regular ice creams. https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/halo-top-vs-arctic-zero-which-healthy-ice-cream-is-better

I had my surgery on October 10th of this year and have struggled with exactly the same thing. I'm so glad you posted about this. I did not realize what a huge role food and alcohol played in my life until they were no longer an option for me. I'm only down a total of 26 pounds from my heaviest weight, and only 16 since surgery, and I'm having trouble remembering EVERY SINGLE NEW THING that must be incorporated into my life: all the vitamins, getting down 64 ounces of water every day, trying to exercise 5x a week, waiting 30 minutes between eating and drinking, counting and getting in 50-60 grams of protein every day but never having a serving size bigger than 1/3 of a cup, strictly limiting carbs... ALL of it! I get emotional so easily and my poor family, god love them, has no idea what I'm going through or how to help. I do appreciate their patience with me as I navigate this new lifestyle. I've started a food journal where I also log how I'm feeling that day, and put the bariatric support group dates on my calendar. Now if I can just add making myself stop mourning the death of my relationship with food and wine I'll be good to go! I do have a therapist I check in with every two weeks, and that is my saving grace right now. I'd recommend finding one who can give you the support you need and keep posting here. Thanks again for bringing up a tough subject. Take care.

Hello all.... THis is my first post but I have been lurking and reading for weeks. My insurance doesn't have any requirements for weight checks or weight loss....but my doctor requires 5%. I have been STRUGGLING for the past month and half losing and gaining the same 6 pounds. I have to lose about 10 lbs total now before Dec 13th....any advice. This is the last step for me to get a date and I am really starting to want to give up. I am following around a 1400 calorie plan most days and not drinking any alcohol and at least 100ounces of water a day, sometimes more. I have a lot of excess weight to lose, so it's not that I only have a few pounds to lose..... SHort of dropping my calories to around 800 a day (which I know works), I am not sure how else I will lose this weight in two week.

Thanks for such a long post! You are too kind to take you time to post this. Actually, I am familiar with many of these points. I am an RN and am graduating in 13 days with my Master's in Nursing and will sit for boards in less than a month to be a Family Nurse Practitioner. In my clinical rotations (Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Ob/gyn, even Peds), I give my patients talks about eliminating simple sugars out of their diet. In fact, I did my capstone project on the Medical Management of Bariatric Patients, and in addition to the inflammatory processes that simple sugars inflame, you are at high risk for dumping syndrome. I experience extreme dumping syndrome--bother early and late dumping syndrome. Early--from the simple sugars (for example, if I would ever eat like a cookie or half a cupcake) and late (from high fat, like bacon or fast food.) I have had my gall bladder removed so it exacerbates the late dumping syndrome more than someone who has their gall bladder. I'm a stage 2b breast cancer survivor and couldn't tolerate Tamoxifen for a variety of reasons. So, against my doctor's wishes, I had to d/c that med a few years ago. They wanted me to take it for 10 years. I couldn't even tolerate 18 months. I ended up on 13 other meds to ameliorate the s/e caused by the Tamoxifen. Then I had to have a salpingoopherectomy (hysterectomy but left the ovaries so I wouldn't go into premature menopause.) I am quite familiar with the troubles of Femara--my mom took for a while and was MISERABLE. I have the same experience with wine--it causes me pain too. I don't even bother anymore. It's unfortunate but it's just the way it is. I don't know about the actual percentages of for every x y z pounds you lose, your pain is reduced by x percent. I'd love to read the research on that. If you happen to ever get the citation, please post or msg me. That is a powerful statistic that I would love to use with my patients I see in clinic. It would motivate them to get moving on weight loss. Nonetheless, I am continuing to work on my weight loss, having lost 100 pounds so far. Exercising is more sporadic now, especially in the last days of my MSN wherein I'm having to submit so many papers, assignments, take finals, etc. Terrible excuse, but it's my reality nonetheless. I do what I tell my patients to do and get up and march around the house for 10 mins multiple times a day, when I'm not at clinic. And/or walk outside when it's not 29 degrees here! My husband is runner who runs at 7 mins/mile (old guy now who used to run 4min/mile) so when he walks we me especially, he keeps me on a good pace. As you probably know, weight loss and eschewing alcohol are the two major actions you can take as a breast cancer survivor to prevent a recurrence. There are numerous studies on this and I can post if you would like. (I'm in the last few days of coursework and working like a dog to submit assignments, study for finals and boards! So this moment is kinda bad, but soon!) It sounds like you have been through the ringer and I appreciate your post. I'm off all pain meds. I have muscle relaxants that I can use for spasms but I don't use them that much b/c of s/e. The one muscle relaxant that doesn't cause sleepiness is Lorzone, but it's not that effective. I have never had a prednisone shot, although it's sounding mighty enticing. My concern about that is the same as with my patients. It raise blood sugar, puts you at risk for fungal infections, etc. I'm not a big advocate of prednisone injections in general. Thanks again for your post and I will continue my quest to continue to lose weight and very SOON be able to up my exercise even more that my paltry amount. The rebound pain is real with NSAIDs (which I cannot take anyway, as all of us with GBS) and the endorphins released by exercise (and sex, btw!) are inimitable! Keep up all your great work!

Challenge Starting weight: 210 Current weight lost: 167 pounds Losing or maintaining weight: still losing- 35 pounds to go. Fitness/exercise goal: 4xs a week at gym, 5 miles of walking each day. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019) 11 pounds, onederland by Jan 1 Check in: Tell us how you are doing - I was doing really well, I was down to 208 but after Thanksgiving over indulgence and major stress (my cat of 15 years passed, and two people at work accused me of alcoholism because I look tired and puke in the bathroom---but you can all guess why---I am borderline anemic, low on zinc and vitamin A---but still the accusation had to go through legal and I had to disclose the fact I had a sleeve) hoping to toughen up, stop the stress eating and have a big weight loss for December.

Ok, so sorry you are going through this and have to live with it. The worst thing in my opinion is always being on a level of pain where you can't sleep, move, etc. But here's where I probably won't be popular, and I can only give you my story. And everyone is SO different and lives a different pain history. In short, I have osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, cervical stenosis and sacral stenosis, bone spurs on my spine, hips, joints. etc, etc, chronic bursitis in both hips, a 50% ACL tear, and neuralgia 360 around my chest extending 8 inches + neuralgia in my hands/feet from hand/foot syndrome during chemo. And in addition I'm a stage 3c BC survivor on Femara (a drug that causes even more bone and joint pain). I've been on opiod pills, neurontin, tramadol, flexeril, nsaids, tylenol, pain patches, pain gels, cortisone shots to the joints. Oh and now I have a Parkinsonian trimmer in my head and hands from the radiation/chemo--so it causes constant muscle tension cuz I trie to keep my head/hands/shoulders from shaking deep inside my body. I used to not be able to sleep longer than 1-2 hours at a time before waking from pain and unintentional movement. I still sleep in a recliner. And every day I woke, I'd wake in at least a 6-7 pain level. I would not medicate until it was an 8+ to 10 cuz I hated the side effects of the drugs. And now that I had surgery, most of that or a lot of that is off the table. Here is what finally helped me. 1. Adjusting my diet to be as clean as possible. (Every time I eat beef or pork, I wake the next morning 20 years older... Every time I have carby carbs like grains--pain so bad I feel 80 years old. Every time I drink any kind of alcohol other than a little red wine--pain like cray. Cheese and dairy is the same way unless it's very very small amounts of reduced fat or fat free dairy.) 2. Started doing severe calorie restriction, then IF and that reduced the pain ENORMOUSLY! Like...magically. 3. Lose weight. I think my doc gave me some number like: for every 15% of body weight you lose, you reduce your pain level by 20-30%? 4. Get PT and then do the frickin core strengthening exercises religiously. (I'm slacking on this! But I can tell when I do them and when I don't. The difference in pain level is a magnitude of 10 with v. without.) 5. Walk daily. Daily. Even when I don't feel like it. Even when it hurts. By the time I'm done, it always hurts less. The best thing I've done is lose the weight. I can do things now without pain meds that I never thought I could or would be able to do. My goal is to get to 125-130lbs to take off as much extra stress as possible and improve my pain level as much as I can. I think the pain meds caused a continual cycle of spring-back pain (forget the name of it). So it was like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because I medicated, I would have more pain at the end of the cycle and need to take more meds. And because I medicated, I'd built up a tolerance and needed more and more meds to help. Now if I absolutely must have one, it takes maybe 1/4 of the amount it used to take. I now wake only in a 2-3 and end of day is usually only a 4 which is entirely manageable for me. Some meds that play well together and amplify their effects: 1. Gabapentin + Tramadol together 2. Tramadol + Tylenol together (this one is especially good) 3. Norco 10/325 + Flexoril (last resort med) Lastly, this is the killer part. (Sorry in advance...and you can only do what you can do--and only you know how clean your diet is and if you are eating low cals.) If you are 5'5" and 178lbs and female, you still have some fluffy slush to get rid of that absolutely would help reduce the pain level. I wouldn't say that if I didn't feel the difference in myself. It was night and day relief. I'm no longer on any pain drugs. And the only scripts I take are my Femara, thyroid, and omeprazole. I walk daily. I try to do strength training 2-3 days per week as much as I'm able. And I can actually "fast walk"/jog which I never thought possible. It's now been 1+ year since one of my cortisone shots and about 6+months since the other and I'm holding up really well. I hope my story helps you. I'm sorry for going on about myself. But I just think, if it was possible for me, how many others would/could benefit from it. The freedom from drugs is really just a great gift of this surgery and lifestyle.

Congratulations on your great weight loss! I'm also 7 weeks post op, (surgery 10/9/18). So far I'm down 45 lbs since initial visit, 19 since surgery. I'm half way to the goal my surgeon set! My personal goal will probably be lower. I guess I'm not quite as adventurous as you though because I just reached the point of trying "all foods" this week per my plan. Haven't tried alcohol either. I've had a pretty nice recovery too...followed instructions as best I could and am happy with results so far!

I do think about how WLS has changed my life for the better, so many things are easier now than a year ago I feel so grateful and blessed. The truth is out there for those that wish to find it. There are TV shows about weight loss surgery, you tube videos about it, books about it, countless Instagram posts about it. It is not my job to inform every obese person that they could lose weight, they are most likely aware of this. If someone I know asks me how I am losing weight, or inquires about my diet I do share with them. If a very obese person asked me, I would even share that I had surgery if I thought they were honestly interested. Most people want a quick and trite answer though. Eyes glaze over once you mention exercise and lowering carbs so it’s not a topic I discuss with people. Just as other people with unhealthy habits need to want to make changes: smokers, alcoholics, drug users, etc....people have to be ready to change. Making comments to strangers does not inspire change, likely just shame and embarrassment.

As a compulsive over eater I can't eat like a normal person. Just as an alcoholic can't drink like a normal person. I don't drink because my drug of choice is food. It has and will always be. That's why every day is a struggle for me. Keep vigilant and try to get support from where ever you can find it.

I do think transference of addictions is a legitimate thing. Addiction issues usually aren’t limited to just one thing. You see people quit smoking and develop gambling or food addictions. It happens all the time. It is super common for post ops to develop alcohol dependencies. As someone who previously went through some dependency issues, I’m incredibly aware and sensitive to being at an increased risk. I think the worst thing people can do is think it can’t happen to them. If you don’t think you’re susceptible to addiction transference, then you’re less likely to recognize the signs.

Quick update: Recovery is going so-so. Struggling with the AA style, full abstinence, but my total alcohol intake is way way down from what it was, so I still feel mostly successful. As to my vitamin theory, I still think it has a lot of merits, despite a few people\medical professionals calling it into question, especially the use of Vitamin b12 injections vs pills. As an experiment, I stopped the shots and doubled up on B-complex pills for a week. Of course these things are hard to measure scientifically, but I definitely felt an increase in the intensity of cravings. I switched back to the injections, and the craving lessened. Your milage may vary.

I am seven and a half months out and the wine is a slippery slope, although the OP said she didn't have any. I started having a glass, it didn't make me buzzed or anything off one or anything they told us but that was me. So I'd have another while cooking or whatever and I'd maybe get a buzz. Since I can't eat while I drank I'd enjoy the buzz, have a little more. Blah blah blah. Transfer addiction is real, although I never thought of myself having a food addiction. My mom became a full blown alcoholic for 7 years after her bypass. Luckily I saw the signs with me and was like, nope! So...water, with lemon for me. I realized i don't drink to have one glass, it's almost 2 and maybe that would've been ok pre-surgery but it's not now.

I have gained 25 pounds on the dot and in the last month have only lost 5. So it is clear like you, I have slipped into old habits. We worked too hard for this god damn it. It was NOT easy, it was pain and suffering. SO LETS DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!! I am going back to the old old old diet that I started on. I am going to be eating a clear soup for at least 50 percent of my daily meals. No more junk, no more snacks, NO MORE ALCOHOL. My capacity to eat is still really small. Anyone wanna do a thing for a month? Like a support group? For real, no judging we encourage each other and try to reconnect with the habits that worked.

Perhaps your friends who self-paid for their surgery in Mexico are more compliant at eating less post-op than the ones that had it covered by insurance in NY because they paid more money out-of-pocket. Or the ones who went to MX had lower BMI so less to lose, or do not suffer from Binge Eating Disorder, or didn’t go back to their old eating habits, or drink less alcohol, or lots of other reasons that could result in better weight loss & maintenance. Just because their bougie was smaller doesn’t mean that’s why they’ve maintained their weight loss compared to others.

It has made me BETTER, yes traditionally it is cautioned that surgery makes it worse. Nope, I feel validated, it is a new start to a,new life, no longer in the Blue Put of Depression I am now seeing some sunlight🌟🌞🌟., Like alcoholics we never reach a total cure, but I now have the strenght to keep it in the background, inactivated. And my Wellbutrin has helped, went from 150mg Er twice daily pre to 100mg regular 3 times daily afterward. I have lost 64+ pounds since the end of July, something no ordinary diet or even childbirth and lactation did. God Bless Bradley J Needleman MD who took a chance on a 72 obese has-been, bless Ohio State University and his staff ,thank you for my RNY and most of all, for helping ME believe in ME again. Will prayer, a strong will, and the emotional support of others on Bariatric Pal, I BELIEVE,I,AM GOING TO MAKE IT TO MY FINAL VICTORY! And I know you can d9 it too!

My "bad" wasn't the amount of food. It was my typical choices. Carb, carbs, carbs. Could have made some better choices. Add that to my sugary alcoholic beverages and it was a day of super not so great choices. My really BAD was carbonated alcoholic beverages. More than one. And I enjoyed them too easily. I've lost almost 90 pounds since April and I felt like I just stood at the top of a very slippery slope for myself. Remember, this is my tool but my long term success has to be my choices. And if I'm already trying to go around my tool, I'm afraid I'll be setting myself up for future failure. Stretching my pouch due to carbonation was a true concern for me though. I like having a restriction. In the moment I felt just like I have during every previous diet. Sabotage. Regret. Failure. But the amazing thing with this surgery is that yes, I felt like that. But the next day I didn't stay in my cycle of just screw it. Instead, I still had my typical restriction. I had my tiny meals, exercised, drank my water, and for my own personal mindset I tried on my beginning clothes which literally fell off my body. I'm good. Not as great as I'd like to be. And woah, the bloating from my 'bad' day was off the charts. Here we are 3 days out and my bloating is gone, I'm back on track, and I'm still able to shop at regular stores and not even in the plus section. Life is still amazing!

I think it's because the alcohol went down so easily. Carbonation, not a problem. Sugary combination, not a problem. Like I dipped my toe in the water and hoped I'd get bit by a shark. But, nah, the water's fine. Come on in. I didn't want to really know that I'd have zero reaction to a high sugar drink. I'm doing better today. And biked 10 miles at the gym so I'm feeling better about myself for at least getting my butt there and doing it. It reset my head. Today's a new day.