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I am also in the same boat. I haven't gained any back ....occasionally I will be up 1-2 lbs but I haven't lost in 3 months. I haven't been eating but I have been drinking wine....lots of it! I started today.....no more alcohol, back to the workout regimen I was using. I only have 18 more to go....I can do this and so can all of you!

The bigger reason they don't want you to drink is because lots of us have "addictive" personalities.... WLS has a high rate of transferring that addiction of food to something else.... like alcohol. Some its gambling, Sex..... They don't want to replace one with another. Lots of people can't handle drinking anymore. I for one can only drink one glass of wine. I never drink beer, soda, club soda, tonic.... or anything carbonated. So sorry about your Uncle...

No need to stress about the psych eval. The doctor I saw started out by just talking to me and asking general questions about my health and weight in the past, why I was considering surgery now, and other questions to see if I understood the process and was knowledgeable about the surgery. Then I had to do 3 questionnaires. They were just to make sure that there are no underlying psych issues that were causing me to be overweight such as food dependency and other issues like alcoholism that may become worse after surgery. I was told that it wouldn't keep me from having surgery but would let them know if I needed his assistance after surgery to work through issues that could potentially be problems. Best wishes and good luck! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Great post, AR. Very detailed and helpful for presleevers to read. Glad you are home safe and sound and sippin'! One more thing... I am kind of surprised that you were allowed to have that last meal and alcohol the night before surgery with general anesthesia the next morning. Or did you not have general?

I try to eat different stuff all the time. I purposely still drink a Protein shake and eat a Quest bar every day so I can meet my protein goals. And although most of my food choices are high protein, the shakes and bars give me the freedom to eat a balanced diet including fruit, veggies and whole grains while still getting 60-80g+ of protein. From a physiological standpoint, I like the idea of providing my body with different nutrients all the time. From a psychological standpoint eatng the same thing over and over with no variety would only be frustrating and lead to cravings and binges (for me, anyways) However, the examples you gave (pizza, chips, Bloody Mary, wings) are all pretty poor choices when it comes to healthy, weight loss friendly foods. That first meal was pretty much all carbs and the second was some protein, but laden with fat and probably carbs from the sauces. If you want variety, great, but make sure you mostly focus on lean protein and non starchy veggies. Your only carbs should be from maybe a little fruit and healthy, whole grains. Alcohol, bread and chips certainly should not be regular choices.

@@Daisee68, Interesting question! I can definitely see your nutritionist’s point. She apparently sees your patterns at that meal as being similar to patterns that got you in trouble in the first place. And I think there is research to back up that the more variety you have at a meal, the more you are likely to eat. On the other hand, you didn’t have THAT many foods – you had 5 at the first, and 2 at the second. (By the way, my concern would be the Bloody Mary). I would ask if you were in control. If you were completely in control of what you ate, you made a sound decision, and you stuck to it, I don’t think it’s a problem. If you start with a chip and turned it into a two-course meal with alcohol, that is more of a problem.

I am 27 months post-op from RNY gastric bypass surgery. There are two stages to RNY. They are the Weight Loss phase and the Maintenance phase. The goals and meal plan in my humble opinion are different between these two stages. At 5 months post-op you are still in the Weight Loss phase and the weight loss will level out soon and you will slide into the Maintenance phase. In the Maintenance phase the goal is to maintain the weight loss that you achieved in the first phase. After surgery, the part of your stomach that processes fats and sugars were cut away. Therefore the meal plan excluded fats and sugars which would lead to rapid dumping syndrome. But somewhere around the 6-12 month post-op mark your body will change. The intestines will develop the ability to absorb fats and sugars in place of the stomach. This change is actually an opportunity. It give you the ability to reintroduce fats back into your diet. I am 27 months post-op and my weight is towards the lower end of the scales. I entered the maintenance phase 20 months ago and have done very well by not adding any pounds back on. (I have actually lost 15 pounds in the Maintenance phase.) For my meals, I concentrate on high Protein meals. I avoid processed sugars. I use only artificial sweeteners (Splenda, sugar alcohol), low calorie natural sweeteners (Stevia) and natural sugars found in milk and fruit. The other types of sweeteners I avoid like the plague. I read nutritional labels. After surgery I completely lost my hunger. Without hunger constantly gnawing at my bones, it was easy to lose weight. So from my opinion the key to succeeding in the Maintenance phase is to control hunger. Fats take away my hunger, so I reintroduced fats back into my diet and at 27 months post op, hunger still does not rule my life. I use whole milk, real butter and normal cuts of meat. When I snack, I snack on fats. I have one or two cups of coffee each day. On the coffee I put a heaping spoon of whip cream. This whip cream is home made and uses Splenda in place of sugar. During the day for Snacks I consume 2 or 3 Adkin's treats. These use sugar alcohol as the sweetener and contain fat that controls hunger. I have a sweet tooth and these satisfy this need. I limit my meals to one meal per day with complex carbs (bread, pasta).

Coming up on 4 years, I drink alcohol as I did before the band...even Beer (but you have to know what you're doing and how to do it) I don't worry about calories, stopped counting them a few weeks after surgery but that's another story. Only side effect I need to be careful about is I have to have my Bloody Mary's on the mild side....I learned to give up ALL things hot and spicy due to reflux....also anything straight and harsh is not good....I stay with mixed drinks and beer. This has always been a hot topic on this forum......let's face it everyone here should be focused on loosing weight. And drinking may not fit into their plan.....but then everyone has a slightly different approach to WLS.... You need to do what works for you...too many people are worried about giving up things from their past...the very things that made them fat in the first place.

I meant only good carbs, I think at this stage bad carbs (refined sugars cakes chocolate ALCOHOL) shouldn't be part of are diet. In fatsecret.com the carbs come out when you log you're food in. I do agree though you need to see what your doctor recommends. As I said earlier I wouldn't recomend the bad carbs at this stage

To find out how to compare products to better understand added sugars, click on Natural vs. Added Sugars. Use the chart on the second page as a guide to compare products.The chart compares applesauce and Greek style yogurt. You will see the products with only naturally occurring sugars, products with added sugars and “light” versions of the product. You will also see that the product with the most amount of sugar has the most calories.The front part of the food label usually doesn’t have any clues that the product can have a lot of added sugars. You must be a detective and investigate the Nutrition Facts Label and the ingredients list. Start your sugar hunt by using foods and beverages in your pantry or fridge to discover where added sugars are lurking in your food choices. Like any hunting expedition, it will take some time and practice to find the healthiest products to use on your journey towards health. Sugar Comparison Chart We are born with a preference for sweet tastes. However, sugar carries calories without any fiber, vitamins or minerals. Sugar is basically empty calories. For bariatric patients, too much sugar can lead to dumping. Natural Sugars vs Added Sugars Naturally occurring sugars are in fruits (fructose) and milk and dairy (lactose). The current Nutrition Facts label doesn’t tell us the difference. A teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams of sugar. If you drink a 12 oz. can of regular pop or 12 ounces regular fruit juice, that means you’ve consumed 40 grams of sugar. This translates to 10 teaspoons of sugar. That’s almost 1/4 cup of sugar! Other names for sugar When you read the ingredient list, look for words like syrup (corn, high fructose, maple, pancake, maltose), corn syrup solids, agave, molasses, beet sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, invert sugar, cane juice, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, nectar (peach, apricot, pear), powdered or confectioner’s sugar, raw sugar, maple sugar, date sugar, malted barley, honey and anything ending in “–ose” (maltose, dextrose, glucose, fructose). These are all types of sugar. When you see these words in the ingredient list, look for foods that have sugar listed after the 3rd or 4th ingredient. When you see several sugar ingredients, look at the total amount sugar. Decide if it’s worth it to eat that food. Sugar alcohols These have less impact on your blood sugars. They are more slowly digested than sugar. Sugar alcohols have anywhere from 2 to 4 calories per gram. If your weight loss stalls, check to see if your “sugar free” foods have high amounts of sugar alcohols. You may be getting more calories than you think. Caution…eating too many sugar alcohols can laxative effect! Alternative Sweeteners Artificial sweeteners include Splenda (sucralose), Sweet ‘N Low (saccharin), NutraSweet (aspartame), Sweet One (acesulfame potassium) and Neotame. Stevia is extracted from the stevia plant and is considered a natural sweetener. Monkfruit is extracted from the monkfruit and is considered a natural sweetener. Natural vs. Added Sugars: Comparison Chart How do I find the amount of added sugars in a food? One way to find out what the added sugars are is to compare similar products. Comparisons of applesauce and Greek yogurt are detailed below. The order of appearance is the unsweetened, sweetened and light or low sugar version. Use this chart to compare other products you might choose. Remember that natural sugars are in milk/dairy and fruit. Is all that sugar worth it?

What a great thread! I am on around 1,300 calories a day, as I've worked out. (these are Kcals, I'm not sure if they're the same as your yankee calories - apparently 1 Kcalorie is the energy required to heat a litre of Water by one degree). A typical day... Breakfast - Branflakes. lunch - some crackers and humus, maybe small, grilled low-fat sausage too. Mid-afternoon - A banana. dinner - a meal of around 600 Kcals. Evening Snack - half a roll of fruit gums (a small, chewy candy) Nutritionally, this works out at - <TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=150 bgColor=#eaeff2></TD><TD vAlign=top width=190 bgColor=#eaeff2><TABLE cellSpacing=6 cellPadding=0 width=190 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=15 bgColor=#5796a6></TD><TD>Carbohydrate (51.7%) </TD></TR><TR><TD width=15 bgColor=#d2981a></TD><TD>Protein (19.7%) </TD></TR><TR><TD width=15 bgColor=#b22c20></TD><TD>Fat (28.6%) </TD></TR><TR><TD width=15 bgColor=#dedede></TD><TD>Alcohol (0.0%) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> According to www.weightlossresources.co.uk This combined with 9,000 steps a day means I'm currently losing around 4-5 pounds a week.

I've had a few sips of alcohol at about 6 months. My NUT had told us stories about patients that drank alcohol and died. I also must say that the class was geared towards the GBS. So I tend to stay on the safe side.

My PA told me that you are more tight in the morning because of the stomach being a muscle that has been "idle" all night. One thing that I noticed about the band and myself is that I can eat A WHOLE LOT MORE if I have a drink or two. I think the alcohol relaxes you, and your stomach as well. But like the saying goes, this is my experience, we are all different. Birdee!

More than 3 would be pretty dangerous after the surgery and I guess I will have to get used to that, but yes I hold my hand up and will honestly say I can have upto 7 drinks (not wine, too strong!) and still get home without stumbling through the door and just feeling happy/buzzed. My drink is jd and Coke, it just affects me completely differently to wine, I try to avoid wine if I can. You make a good point though, I can always have none alcoholic drinks in between so I can keep up with everyone else and not end up getting rushed to hospital with alcohol poisoning lol. I hope this post doesn't make me sounds like an alcoholic [emoji28] it's very rare I have that much but nights out that last about 6/7 hours do pop up every now and then and I'd like to be prepared for it! Sent from my F5121 using BariatricPal mobile app

I guess some people are less botherd by it than others! I just love my nights out with my partner, we've been to a few weddings this year also and have enjoyed having a few and dancing and coming home late feeling like we've really let our hair down. Alcohol isn't everything, but this past year I've had a different outlook on it, and instead of drinking when I'm unhappy, I'm drinking when I'm in a good mood and am actually liking how it makes me feel! [emoji28] Sent from my F5121 using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm gonna be honest.... It's not the "I've had 6/7 cocktail nights..." that makes you sounds like an alcoholic. It's the PLANNING for them and feeling anxious that you might not be able to have more of them that does. We've all had those nights. But it being so important that you make sure you can keep having them that worries me. Also know that the amount of Alcohil in a jack and coke is way higher than in a glass of wine. Some people get sleepy or flushed or other weird thugs with wine but it's the tannins not the alcohol. Now that said, I will warn you the coke may be an issue. Carbonation is tolerated differently by many people after the surgery. I still get stomach aches from it four years out. Some people do fine though.

Donali, after reading your post about your 20 things you "will" do, I am really jealous. You really have your stuff together. I guess that is why you lost 100 lbs since January. I haven't even lost 100 yet and it has been 14 months for me.. If I were facing losing the band, I could not be as in control as you are. I am not in control now, I ate cookies, and ice cream and God know what for the last 2 weeks. AND I KNOW BETTER ......You would think someone that has had the band as long as I would be someone the new ones could look up to, instead I am reading you guys posts looking for new motivation. I just seem to have lost it... I got it in my head that I can't lose anymore and I have gained 12 lbs.....I have managed to get 5 of them off, but what the heck would i do that for......I can tell you this..... I need help... i have an addiction as strong as any alcohol or drugs.....My addiction is not illegal, it is everywhere, and i have money to buy it without fear of prosecution. But when I read your post, I felt new motivation... l think you are so strong, and I am extremely impressed with your attitude. I pray you will not regain the weight

I have two that I don't think have been mentioned yet. When others try to pressure me into drinking alcohol. I am 9 months post op and could have a drink if I wanted to but honestly I don't really enjoy the taste of wine or beer and I am cheap. Which brings me to the next pet peeve of how much food I throw away because I can't eat it fast enough. This could range between veggies and fruit I didn't eat quick enough to left overs because left overs are usually at least 2/3 more meals. Just a few pet peeves Love the thread. ~LA

That's exactly it. When we met, I was about 150. Could have stood to lose about 20 pounds, but the food wasn't as big in my life as it became over time. When we dated, everything revolved around eating out. And often during our marriage, we'd eat out 3-4 times a week, which is waaay too much. Sometimes it was just because neither of us felt like cooking, other times it was because we wanted to try this or that new restaurant. I willingly went along for the ride and enjoyed it. Then "one day" I woke up more than 100 pounds over where I was when we met. When you are trying to eat chicken and fish and he's talking about going "just this once" to have that steak dinner or other delight at that restaurant we both love, it can be easy to eventually succumb because you really WANT to have that instead of another. night. of. chicken. It's MY fault for eventually saying yes. I take FULL blame. But at the same time, when he knows that you're trying to behave, why tempt? Because HIS wants come before YOUR needs eventually, that's why. That's my frustration. This time I have essentially laid down the law -- where *I* am concerned, not him. HE can go out whenever he wants, but I won't join him. But that wasn't good enough in our last conversation because he was trying to convince me I can still go. It's like taking an alcoholic to a bar and saying you can be safe and order Water. Yeah, but... When one is in a close relationship like this, the other should not do anything to try to sabotage the other. If he had to do some new training for work over the weekend, I would not put my needs to be paid attention to over his need to do his work and go upstairs and bother him and harass him, you know? This isn't just about vanity or what I want. I NEED to do this. I was staring major health issues in the face, and I was afraid I wouldn't live into my 50's if I didn't do something. I didn't just get the band for vanity's sake (well, that will be a nice side effect, but that certainly wasn't the reason). I NEEDED to do something more drastic, something that would help me. Too many people get the band and feel like, whoopee, I can do anything I want now and eat like before. Wrong. Sadly, I guess so do some spouses. Again, WRONG. One day food may not have the hold on me that it does. Until then, I at least need some support from him in the form of understanding that this is MY cross to bear and I don't need him becoming a stumbling block for me. That isn't really too much to ask, and anybody in any kind of relationship should understand this, no matter how block-headed they are.

I think your analogy to alcoholics is close to the issue. He's probably reacting to the fear of how his life will change because of your lap band. He needs to learn how to adjust, eventually he'll realize that you can still go out to dinner and he can normally even though you will eat differently. He may feel "pressured" into dieting with you, but if he doesn't want to diet, he'll go back to his old eating patterns soon enough. Look at the bright side, if he's loosing weight, your band has worked for both of you. Would he have the initiative to loose weight if not for your decision? Stay positive and give time for him to see that you're only changing your own eating patterns, and I bet he'll calm down soon. i.e. ignore negative comments for a little while and hopefully he'll tire of making them. If that don't work... good luck.

I hope not. I drink coffee by the gallon. Yeah I know its not good but it sure beats the alcohol habit which I did give up which I used to drink by the gallon too. That's for another thread sometime though.

What has your doctor recommended? If your bone loss & calcium absorption level is poor they should have you on appropriate meds, etc. to help you better manage it. A friend was put a high calcium diet (including more dairy, oily fish, tinned fish with soft bones -salmon, mackerel, beans, etc.) to support hers. She walks a fine line though as she also has a heart condition & too much calcium cause heart issues. How are your vitamin D levels? Your body needs D to help absorb calcium. Not sure if you drink alcohol but it impedes the body’s ability to absorb calcium & vitamin D. I was prescribed Creons (pancreatic enzymes) to help with my protein malabsorption issues. I believe they can help many malabsorption issues. Worth asking your doctor.

Hi there. I'm a newbie to this site/forum. Used ObesityHealth for all my pre/post op journey. I hadn't heard of this site though so giving it a go. You can never have to much support! My story, very briefly is that come Nov 2nd I'll be 4years post op from having a VSG. I just turned 31 on the 22nd of August, was 27 when I had the surgery though wanted it forever. I was always the fat kid even in high school when I suffered thru Ana/Mia/EDNOS. Had crazy co morbitities before surgery. High BP (took meds), type 2 diabetes (took needs and SS insulin), high cholesterol and my triglycerides were SO high my Dr couldn't get a read on the blood work-we tried numerous times. I was 6'4" and at my highest weight 435 lbs. I was 410 by surgery. My goal for myself was between 200&180lbs though I went and still go more by inches and measurements and how I feel more so than the scale. I quickly dropped to my lowest post-surgery weight of 220lbs within about 14months. However, I cross addicted and returned to old patterns of EXCESSIVE excersise to fill the other voids in my life I didn't want to face. It was to the point where if I had to work at 9am I'd be getting up at 2:30/3am to workout before work. And I always worked out at home. I'd start with a 15min Oxycise session (an aerobic breathing program that focuses on isometric/isotonic and stretch positions) then I'd move to weightlifting for an hour then a 30-40min session of Hip Hop Abs followed by 2hrs of Tae Bo and I'd finish it all off with an hour of Power Vinyasa Yoga. I did this daily for months on end and often without rest days. Eventually life happened and I started to realize how crazy I was being and tried to adjust. At this point I was happy with my body-in retrospect I was happy with myself but at the time I still saw the fat guy in the mirror who's Dr wanted me down to 170, I would have made peace with 200 at that point bc I was almost art my personal goal. Still, as fit as I was by scientific standards I was still obese, had a Dr pushing more loss and friends/daily worried I was "too skinny" and through all this I never took a breath to actually ask myself what I thought, where I wanted to be and where I'd be comfortable. Yeah, stupid. Then, started going out with friends, experiencing restaurant foods and things I'd never touched since surgery...including alcohol. Started dating and now living with my partner but in my comfort, indulgences and dealing with a back injury that limits my workouts now-prob for the best-I managed to gain back about 90lbs over the next 2 years or so which brings us to present day. I'm back looking for support from others who may have regained and are in the same boat and hopefully finding a friend(s) to lose the regain with. Also hoping to continue to help other post op newbies from making the same mistakes I made. Its quite easy if you're not careful. Anywho, that's my Story and why I'm here. Hope to chat with some of you and see you around the boards. Anyone else in this room in the regain boat?

Hello I was just banded on Monday March 3rd and my 21st birthday is on March 20th.. So is this too soon to have a first drink of alcohol if not what would you recommend I drink?

Hi everyone, does anyone know how many weeks after surgery i will have to wait before having any non-carbonated alcoholic beverage ???