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I had the exact problem. I was banded on 6.22.11 and the day after it was 8pm and I had not tinkled all day. I called my surgeon and he suggested that I pour rubbing alcohol in the toliet. Apparently, the vapors from the alcohol pulls the urine out. At the time, I felt it was a bit odd, but I was desperate....I did it and it worked like a champ!!!! Wishing you the best of luck!!!

OP is this your first deployment? I've been on this military wife roller coaster for a little over 9 yrs. I haven't dealt with any addictions so I can't relate to you on that level. Also in my wild days before I became married I would have no strings attached sex and I always felt empty afterwards. Alcohol makes me black out and it sucks when you're still up and moving around but yet you don't remember a damn thing. One night this older guy (15 yrs older than me) took advantage of me during one of my black outs and I've never been the same when it comes to randomly hooking up with people. I have zero desire to be with anyone but my husband. When it comes to intercourse I need the man to actually love me and care about my needs and all that other mushy stuff and that's not something you can get from a one night stand. I'm glad I had my wild moments but now I don't even find it tempting at all. I burn off a lot of my energy through exercise, oh and I have 3 kiddos who kick my butt every day lol

My wife and are both post op and prior to were heavy pop drinkers. Both if us being recovering alcoholics we have resigned to treating pop like alcohol. Not taking a sip is the best way to avoid reforming bad habits. Good luck. You can do it. Sent from my SM-G900V using BariatricPal mobile app

@@Livincrimson it may be the sugar alcohol that makes you feel sick. They don't always sit well with everyone.

I can tolerate some skins, like on potatoes or stone fruits, etc but I cant eat apple skins. I had the same worries though - I read everything on here and here there is a very protein focussed trend, it really worried me since to me a chicken breast and a few vegetables does not make a healthy meal - personally I consider the vegetables the more important of the two foods. I have continued to eat my way, I'm in Australia and we're not given the same guidelines anyway. Guess what? There's more than one way to skin a cat. I'm healthy, happy, normal weight, have all my hair and I most definitely dont eat enough protein by American standards. I'm also quite confident that I have a better long term outlook for bowel health and blood chemistry because I do eat carbs in good quanities - wholegrains, fruits and vegetables. If I can only fit so much in, I will always always choose my vegies over my protein. I actually decided not to be banded initially because the protein heavy, vegetable poor (by which I mean quantity - in Australia we have a guideline of 2 fruit, five veg every single day) diet seemed unhealthy to me. But I've found that you can eat any way you damn well please, as long as its healthy, lowish in fat, and low enough in calories and you exercise, you'll lose weight, barring of course that some people absolutely do have metabolic issues that are best managed by low carb diets. That's not to diss ANYONE's dietary choices, its simply what I believe is relevant to myself and my lifestyle. I also felt that mental health is an enormous part of our health in general and that achieving normality - giving up this stupid obsession with dieting, counting, foodwatching forever, for once and for all - was every single bit as important as achieving a healthy weight. If I have perfect nutrition but spend all freaking day obsessing over it, I have not achieved good health! So I eat what I want, when I want, most of the time its good, sometimes its not, I use food appropriately - for nutrition and as a social custom also, I can partake of things like sweet foods and alcohol moderately and my diet is most definitely NOT perfect. But because I have made such gains in terms of the mental side of it, I'd consider my outcome an extremely successful one.

First and foremost, food is an addiction just like smoking or alcohol. We all have reasons why we use food to "soothe" us. Emotional, past history, boredom, depression, joy, celbrations, family, culture, etc., etc. No excuses - just reality. Our brains chemically "change" the perspectives of our bodies partly due to the foods we eat. (I teach biology, by the way). It takes discipline and training to change remove our bodies from an addiction. Even with the lap band, my BRAIN STILL WANTS the same foods in the same amounts I have always eaten. However (and I thank God for this), my BAND will not allow me to eat that food, in those same amounts. After time with a band, and discipline combined with success - we CAN re-train our bodies away from the NEED for the food. Believe it. We can. It is no 'fast cure'. It will take time. Our 'fast food - I want it now' society doesn't help us deal with this very well, but if we are diligent and patient . . . the band will help us make this change. NOT do it for us, but HELP us. Hang in there everyone. I have enough HOPE for us all.

You definitely will feel the effects of the alcohol much sooner. Probably one drink will do it. I've had wine at parties and also an occasional margarita. I try to count the calories and definitely don't eat and drink. The no eating is probably why I feel it faster. Most of the time I just skip drinking because its not worth it to me. For someone young like yourself its OK. Just be aware that you will only need to drink a little to get the effect. :Banane33:

I too go to happy hour every friday. i used to have to drink alot to feel a good buzz (5 or 6 mixed drinks) - probably from all the appetizers that come along with the drinks!! now i am a light wt and 1 maybe 2 mixed drinks will do me for the whole night. i know it slows the wt loss but i am one of those people that want to be out there partying with my friends and if it slows down my wt loss i am ok with that as long as the number keeps getting smaller. i plan on living with my band forever and although i am tweaking my lifestyle and making better choices i still want to live and be me - which includes partying. becareful in over doing it though... i have a terrible fear of throwing up from drinking too much with my band so that alone makes me not push it like i used to. btw - yes i am still on full liquid stage, but to me alcohol qualifies as a liquid and yes i did discuss this with my doc and nutrionist prior to banding. i definetely stay away from all beer and soda.

I had nausea the day of and day after surgery. The nurses had me sniff alcohol swabs and it went away! Amazing! I've had none since the day after surgery.

I'm almost 6 months out from RNY and literally so happy I made this decision. I'm 25 and my parents had said the same thing. They love me but elective surgery is a scary thing for a parent to support for their child. When I told the chances of me losing in my own and keeping it off after a lifting of obesity they were still skeptical. Now my parents are 100% supportive The drinking part or not drinking part is hard socially. My friend had the surgery and drank about 8 months out, she just gets completely **** faced after one glass of wine and her drink choices changed. It's suppose to be one year with out alcohol, if you can't do that you might want to think about your life. It's weird socially eating out / drinking at first but you'll fall into a routine Seminar 12/27/16: wt 304 Surgery 3/23: wt 287 3 months post op : 236

I had a single glass of wine ???? at 4 weeks while on a date night with my husband. I sipped on it for an hour and enjoyed it immensely. I have no intention of giving up alcohol completely, but I have greatly reduced my intake. No more drinking during the week or even every weekend. In social situations only, which isn't that often.

I gave up craft beer. I tend to smoke when I drink and only like one ot two cigs. And when I'm drunk and in the right company I've smoked weed too. That being said, I'm looking for a different life. I want to do this surgery so I can be healthy, not be in PAIN, have energy, be athletic, feel good about myself, and look good for once in my life before I'm too old. All of the things (besides the flesh sacrifice of the stomach) the over indulgences of alcohol, laziness, food, drugs , ect... will ALWAYS BE THERE! They aren't going to stop making any of these things any time soon. There will ALWAYS be cheesecake and fried chicken and pop. Just because you don't or shouldn't indulge right now doesn't mean that you never will again. Do your body the favor and give it a chance to thrive and heal. It's a temple. I'm not judging because I've taken my temple to the hood and have had bums living in it too long lol! And it's easy for me to speak not because I'm still presleeve. I know that this os only a hell I can imagine and I haven't been through it yet so I hope I can have the strength in my conviction. Good luck and even though you can smoke and it hasn't hurt you yet, you know it hasn't helped. Later in life vices will be there waiting for us all. Just my 2

First, I want to say that I am happy with my weight loss so far (23 pounds in 7 weeks), although it is slowing significantly to less than 1 kg (2 lb) per week the last three weeks. Next, I want to say that I understand that there seem to be as many diet plans after the sleeve as there are dietitians. I actually have an appointment with a different dietitian who was recommended to me by a friend who has also had VSG, as a "second opinion" on what my primary dietitian (who works with my surgeon) has told me. When I spoke with this other dietitian on the phone she agreed with me that the diet my current dietitian has me on might not be the best choice for me. My current dietitian also uses basically the same diet for people with the band and sleeve, just reducing the calories a bit for the sleeve versus the band. The liquid stage was fairly standard. In the puree stage I was told that half of every puree should be lean Protein, a quarter should be non-starchy veg, and a quarter should be grain-based starch (rather than potato or other starchy veg), because the grain-based starches give us B1 and other important Vitamins. OK. This worked fine, even though it seemed a lot more specific than most people have for the puree phase. Then, he didn't really have a soft food stage, but just moved me straight to full foods, giving me some advice about things that I may have trouble tolerating at first. It turns out I haven't had trouble tolerating anything. The thing I am having trouble with is the composition of the full food diet. His advice is a lot different from almost everything I see here. Here is the guideline he told me: 1. I am to have a balanced meal, not particularly high in protein or particularly low in carb or fat. This is to make sure that I'm getting all the nutrients I need. 2. I should be eating around 1000 calories a day. He reckons I am burning around 1800 calories a day and this will promote a 2-4 kg (4-8 lb) loss per month. 3. I should not count calories. Instead I should be using an exchange diet as follows: a. 3-4 servings a day of grain-based carbs. A serve is one slice of bread, 1/2 cup rice, 1 cup Pasta (1/2 cup if it's dense or small), or 2-4 whole grain crackers depending the size. b. Max 1 serving starchy vegetables a day. A serving is 1 medium potato or 1/2 cup mashed potato c. 4 servings other vegetables a day. A serving is 1/2 cup cooked veggies or 1 cup of salad d. 1-3 servings fruit a day. A serving is 5-6 strawberries, 1 medium apple, 1 medium orange, 2 small mandarines, 2 plums, etc. e. 4 servings dairy a day. A serving is 1/2 cup milk or yogurt, or 1 slice of cheese (like the Kraft slices) f. A palm-sized 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick amount of protein, spread over 2-3 meals, per day. g. One teaspoon of fat or oil per day, or 1/8 avocado h. A max of 2 alcoholic drinks per week, and a max of 2 Desserts or other "treats" per week I am nervous that this diet has too many calories and too little protein. I am also nervous about the idea of not logging my food (he is strongly against logging and counting calories, because he doesn't think it is a natural behavior for live). I am also nervous that it is so different from what most people seem to be doing. Is anyone else here on a similar "exchange" type diet, instead of having a set number of calories or protein per day? Is anyone else on a diet that is radically different from the high-protein low-carb low-fat diet that most people seem to use?

That's my guess too. Shrimp is easy for even good restaurants to treat too casually and not keep it cool enough, etc. Wine stopped agreeing with me before surgery, but prosecco/champagne was fine, and so was my favorite; single malt scotch. I stayed away from all alcohol for a good year, then let myself calculate it into my food plan once in a blue moon. Amounts to maybe once every three or four months, and then only an ounce of scotch or 3 ounces wine. I count the calories as carbs, otherwise it doesn't really work on the macro counting I do on MFP. Anyway, just to say, a bit of the good stuff sits just fine, and once in a while hasn't bothered me in that way. Lets hope it was just a fluke of tummy trouble! Ick...ouch!

Monday, July 6, 2009 Eating Disorders Eating disorders. Did you know that compulsive overeating is considered part of the spectrum of eating disorders? You think of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa as eating disorders but compulsive overeating, sometimes followed by dieting, is part of the whole binge/purge syndrome. Did you know that the average girl now starts dieting at age 8? Did you know that those who very rigidly follow the healthiest diet they can find, eliminating all fat and chemicals and whatever else they are convinced is unhealthy end up with life-threatening symptoms from not getting enough nutrition? That this newly recognized disorder has been given its own name--Orthorexia? I've seen a lot of that in some of the OA meetings I've attended. Here is a website if you want more information: http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ Here's part of their advice for preventing eating disorders: Listen to your body. Eat what you want, when you are truly hungry. Stop when you're full. And eat exactly what appeals to you. Do this instead of any diet, and you are unlikely to ever have a weight problem, let alone an eating disorder. Eat when you are truly hungry. Stop when you are full. I remember thinking I should be thinner as a teenager. It was easy to lose the weight. I was still able to eat a lot because I was very active. I still ate what I liked, which wasn't neccessarily good for me, I just ate less of it. I ate enough good stuff to still be very healthy. I got married at 19 and started gaining, but not much. Then I finished college while pregnant and each succeeding pregnancy brought bigger babies and more weight. Each time I dieted afterward. This was the start. And it just ballooned. Gain, lose, gain even more. Now my goal weight is a weight that I once thought was fat. How much of my eating disorder got started because of wanting to be pefect, physically? How much was genetic predisposition? How much was emotional issues related to living with undiagnosed, unrecognized ADHD? How much was co-dependancy issues from negating self and doing for everyone else? How much was a spiritual issue of not allowing myself to be fully loved by God? Don't know. Doesn't matter. I have an eating disorder. I am a compulsive over-eater. I am a food addict. I need to work on the physical side of the addiction hence the lap band surgery, following the food protocol and let's not forget to mention excercise. The psychological issues are things that I've been working on for a long time, learning to love myself the way I am including my ADHD for which I'd been shamed and shamed myself, and which always made me feel like a square peg in a round hole. And then there's my co-dependancy issues (think care-taking without taking care of self) which most Christian girls are well-trained in, and which having been married to an alcoholic were especially brought out in me. There are the social issues that impact body image--I held off on this surgery to make sure I wasn't doing it to look good (though there's nothing wrong with that), but because I genuinely craved better health. And there are the spiritual issues. I think contentment, mindfulness, gratitude, acceptance, and serenity are big spiritual issues. I have to learn to be content whether in want (need) or in plenty. No matter what the circumstance. And I can only be content in all circumstances through Christ who strengthens me. This blog is getting long. I'm not done exploring these topics, not by a long shot. But now I need to take care of myself and go to bed.

Day 1 and 2 were pretty bad. I'll be honest. I smacked a nurses hand when she waved a alcohol pad in front of me! Get out of my way I'm gonna puke! The Zonfran wasn't working at all, so it turned out to be that I'm REALLY sensitive to dilaudid, so when we changed the pain med the nausea went away and never came back.

Those things arent necessarily off the menu for forever. My dietician told me that there is no reason why I couldn't still enjoy the foods I did before just in moderation. I'm 9 months out from RNY..I eat all the same foods that the rest of the family does I just eat smaller portions. I went to the fair here where I live for the first time in like 8 years this summer (I was 7 months post op when I went). I had a corn dog. Well a bite of one because it doesn't take me much for me to get full. I also had Ice cream and pie a bite or two. I had some funnel cake..I went with my mom, bestfriend and her son. What I didn't eat I gave to them. I've also had alcohol..3 months post op I went out to celebrate my birthday. I was told that I could have alcohol 3 weeks post op. But to be careful how much I drink because alcohol will effect me differently now because its processed faster. I've had no problems at all.. it just takes time to adjust to all the new changes. You've got this! Sent from my SM-G960W using BariatricPal mobile app

I am trying to come at this as, this is my new "normal." All my friends ask - when can you start eating pizza, mexican food, etc., when can you start drinking again. It drives me crazy!!! I continually tell them, I can have anything I want right NOW. I'm making the choice NOT to have them because those foods/alcohol are what got me here in the first place. Might have to find new friends - those skinny b*&^es!

I think you really need to stop and think about your actual thinking here. :scalesno: Seriously, the whole idea behind the band is so that we can be like normal people and eat like normal people. With the band, for the most part, you can still eat all the regular foods you would normally eat anyway, right? So doing an unfill would serve what purpose? Allow you to eat like a cow again? I mean, that is what we do without a band, right? Isn't it a bit like suggesting an alcoholic drink since they are on vacation? The only value is so that you can eat mega portions. We are trying to get OUT of that mindset, not find excuses to go back to that way of thinking. We are trying to be normal again when it comes to food issues, not find reasons to go backwards.

Fair warning – This was a lot longer than I thought it would be. You might want to have your Water bottle with you before starting! Today (plus one day that I've confessed to above) makes one year out for me. WOW! What an incredible year. In some ways it seems like forever and in other ways, just like it was yesterday. As my signature states, I’ve gone from an 18W to size 4/6. My BMI changed from 32.8 to drum roll please .... 20.1. Hard to believe!!! My surgeon was Dr. Thomas Umbach in Las Vegas, NV. I found him through Medical Tourism and am very thankful that together we’ve made sure I have a nice long, healthy life. The typical question – would you do it again? YES, YES, YES! I was known as a “lightweight” since my BMI was “only” 32.8. Was I fat? Definitely! Did I have risk factors? Definitely! I’ve often said that I was the smallest obese person in my family, but I had to personally realize that I was still obese. I really considered this surgery due to my father. I lost him in March 2009 due to complications from his obesity – congestive heart failure and uncontrolled diabetes. He was only 64 years old. It broke my heart to lose my dad at such a young age. I want to be around for my kids (currently 20, 17, and 9) and their kids! Not only do I look better, I feel better. I can run up and down our stairs all day! No more having to sit down because I’m tired after one trip up. I can go to costco, shop, put the food away & still have energy for more chores/tasks. INCREDIBLE!!! With that being said, I still have not been good about regular, planned exercise. My stomach may look better if I had (but part of me thinks not – skin just isn’t going to bounce back but so much). I am thinking breast augmentation, but I probably won’t. Just invest in more push up/padded bras. Do I want to punch out people that say I took the “easy way”? Yep! Is it hard? Yes. Do people who say I’ll gain it all back annoy me? Yep! Does my new tummy give me a tool that can make me successful? Heck yeah! Am I already successful? YES I AM! Am I concerned about maintenance and gaining again? Yes, but with continued dedication & support groups like this one, I can make it! The next question – how much can you eat now? Slider foods – more than I thought I could/should. I can pack down close to pre-surgery amounts of Cookies, ice cream, popcorn, etc. I have been testing a bit with “normal” foods … the other day, I was able to eat almost all of a McDonald’s hamburger with just the top bun & all but 3 slices of the Apple Dippers (no caramel sauce). I had one or two more bites left of the top bun, but knew I was done. I can eat about 3 ounces of steak with a bite or two of salad & maybe 1/4 of a baked potato. My biggest battles right now are (1) head hunger at night and (2) not counting foods as “bad” or “good”. I am trying to change my thinking to “good for me” or “tastes good, but not very nutritious”. I met with a nutritionist last week to talk about my eating plan for life. While she questioned if I still needed to track every bite I eat, I told her that it helped me be accountable. I am now tracking to 60g Protein, 64+ ounces of water, 100+ grams carbohydrates, and somewhere between 1500-2000 calories a day. I will add a confession here – I track Monday to Friday, but rarely on Saturday & Sunday. I just kind of eye ball/mentally track on the weekends. OK – enough rambling … Just want to leave with 2 more things. (1) If you are on the fence about this surgery, I want to strongly encourage you to investigate further. This surgery has truly saved my life & given me a new future and (2) At one year out, I thought it would be fun to go back and read some of my old posts – my worries, fears, doubts and successes. I don’t know if it will help anyone or not, but I’ve listed a few here: Surgery & Post-Op: · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3255-on-my-way-to-the-airport/page__p__29783__fromsearch__1#entry29783 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3363-weird/page__p__30519__fromsearch__1#entry30519 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3403-surgery-recovery-sucks/page__p__30905__fromsearch__1#entry30905 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3471-im-gagging-over-here/page__p__31374__fromsearch__1#entry31374 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3538-concerned-should-i-be/page__p__32047__fromsearch__1#entry32047 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3602-finding-the-time-to-stop/page__p__32545__fromsearch__1#entry32545 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3687-advice-for-road-trip/page__p__33232__fromsearch__1#entry33232 Losing: · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3884-took-measurements-today/page__p__35215__fromsearch__1#entry35215 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3944-time-to-increase-the-portions/page__p__35826__fromsearch__1#entry35826 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/4565-need-some-support/page__p__40607__fromsearch__1#entry40607 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/4263-wanting-to-eat-more/page__p__38113__fromsearch__1#entry38113 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/4778-size-12s-and-medium-tops/page__p__42293__fromsearch__1#entry42293 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/4827-gotta-get-serious-about-exercise/page__p__42772__fromsearch__1#entry42772 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3769-am-i-the-only-one-wanting-sweet-liquids/page__p__34103__fromsearch__1#entry34103 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/5217-its-a-fat-day/page__p__46024__fromsearch__1#entry46024 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/5065-post-op-when-did-you-have-your-first-carbonated-drink/page__p__44749__fromsearch__1#entry44749 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/6305-my-funny-nsv/page__p__55830__fromsearch__1#entry55830 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/5869-normal/page__p__51835__fromsearch__1#entry51835 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/7060-why-cant-they-just-say-congratulations/page__p__62386__fromsearch__1#entry62386 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/7964-irritated-with-people/page__p__69470__fromsearch__1#entry69470 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/7376-i-cried-tonight/page__p__64804__fromsearch__1#entry64804 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/8064-need-to-be-accountable/page__p__70372__fromsearch__1#entry70372 Moving to Maintenance · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/8602-calling-those-on-maintenance/page__p__75039__fromsearch__1#entry75039 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/6171-weight-regain-with-vsg/page__p__54548__fromsearch__1#entry54548 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/8392-today-7-months-out-and-642-pounds-gone/page__p__73224__fromsearch__1#entry73224 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/9506-goal/page__p__83431__fromsearch__1#entry83431 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/9995-almost-9-months-out/page__p__87012__fromsearch__1#entry87012 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/10260-i-am-not-controlling-my-sweet-tooth/page__p__89285__fromsearch__1#entry89285 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/10135-holiday-strategies/page__p__88283__fromsearch__1#entry88283 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/10981-nsv-nsv-nsv-for-me/page__p__95104__fromsearch__1#entry95104 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/11548-so-discouraged/page__p__99499__fromsearch__1#entry99499 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/12379-this-is-why-journaling-food-is-so-important/page__p__106369__fromsearch__1#entry106369 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/12406-fruits-and-veggies/page__p__106553__fromsearch__1#entry106553 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/12769-not-quite-a-year-out/page__p__109462__fromsearch__1#entry109462 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/11607-i-have-a-question-about-alcohol/page__p__99986__hl__alcohol__fromsearch__1#entry99986 For newbies … this is a great place to start: http://www.obesityhe...or-New-Members/ (yes, I know this is another website, but many of us frequent there as well as VST.J)

I don't think many people are going to get into this, just read the post 'alcohol' to see how touchy some people are about a little drink!! I can only tell you my personal experience and that is I have had alcohol since being sleeved and have had no problems whatsoever.

First of all, congrats on your weight loss thus far! That is truly an accomplishment. I admire your willpower and self control you show in making those changes. You are right about one thing, alcohol and weight loss just don't go together and I see that more than ever now. Thank you for the inspiration

Find out what kind of sterile prep they used on you. there is a newone called Chloroprep that numerous people have had an allergic reaction too. I had it after a biopsy. It occured several days after surgery. I had to wash real good and clean with alcohol, and they gave me a cortisone to put on it. It went away right away.

@@librarianlk - Great question and you have received some great answers. I am only 8 1/2 months out, but not only did I have the same question as you pre-op, I recently had a similar conversation with my therapist about wanting to be "normal" with relation to food. In the beginning, I felt very food obsessed, so I completely understand where you are coming from, but now, I am just more mindful. Having said that, when discussing with my therapist she said something that resonated with me. "You aren't normal yet" she said. I obsessed about food for at least 40 years of my life and to expect that I would undo all that and be "normal" in 8 short months is unrealistic of me. I hope to reach a point in my life where I have a more normal relationship with food; however, 1) who is to say what "normal" really is? and 2) just as an alcoholic is a recovering alcoholic for the rest of their lives, I too will always be in recovery from my obsession of food. For the rest of my life.... That is daunting sometimes, but the struggle does change (and will continue to change) and I strive for being mindful yet not obsessed of every bite. I hope this helps a little. I am trying to explain that your fears are reasonable but please do not let them get in the way of making the decision of going forward with the procedure. It is an incredible journey and I would highly recommend therapy as you move through it. It will be the biggest tool you have (next to the actual surgery). There is a really good article posted today called "Food and Eating...the Extremes" that addresses the extreme obsessiveness on the other end of this journey. It is worth a read.

When did everyone start drinking again? My surgeon's office said to wait 3 months post op. I'm not wanting to overindulge but I would like to enjoy a mimosa at the baby shower I'm going to in a couple weeks because heavens knows I will need help getting through it.