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The vacation was booked a year ago and I haven't had one since 2004. Three of my best friends and I flying out to spend a week in Napa/Sonoma for a tour of wine country. Each and every day centered around traveling from vineyard to vineyard for wine tastings and food. Travel arrangements were booked and non-refundable. Fast forward to September 2012 when I asked my nutritionist about this trip and the scheduling of my surgery. It had to be either by September 26 or after October 30. The doctor scheduled me for September 26. Now it is getting close to the date of the trip, October 21, which is 25 days after my vsg. I have had no problems, complications, issues. I have started soft foods at about 1.5 weeks with exceptional results. I feel fantastic and have dropped 16 lbs so far. So I now have to figure out how exactly I am going to negotiate this trip. Soups and soft things in restaurants, bottled Water on the go. The question I will ask my doctor at my two week checkup, which will actually be 3 weeks post-op, will be if it is ok to "taste" wine. Not sit and drink a half of a bottle, but to participate in tasting. Comments, ideas, suggestions?

Last week I was losing weight like crazy. This week the weight loss slowed to a crawl and hit a speed bump. I did keep up with my exercise. And I faithfully, brutally honestly, kept up with entries in My Fitness Pal. I am eating soooo much better than I used to. No fast food, no sodas. Lots of healthy food. This week though, I ate out 3 times and went to gatherings at a friend's house twice this weekend. Wednesday I went to lunch at Chuy's (a mexican restaurant). I felt I made a really good choice with my meal. Lot's of protein, not much carbs. Didn't even finish it. Only ate about 5 chips from the basket of never ending chips. Later that night the hubby and I went to dinner with his parents at Texas Roadhouse. The thought of it mortified me.That place seems so unhealthy. I looked at the menu online before I went so I would already know what I wanted. I had Grilled Shrimp with rice and broccoli. I only ate about 1/4 cup of the rice and all 10 shrimp. I had 10 peanuts so that I would stay away from the bread but I did pinch off a small piece of the bread and dip it in that delicious cinnamon butter. Thursday I worked my butt off at work and picked up Chinese for dinner. I've really been trying to stay away from the carbs but I'll allow myself some rice every now and then. I ate leftovers for lunch the next day on Friday. Friday I had a long exhausting day at work. Some friends had invited us over to see their new house. We had appetizers and I drank an entire bottle of wine! Oh boy! 615 calories worth of wine down the hatch! Plus appetizers. I didn't go crazy over them, but it was hard not too. I had about 8 meatballs and a couple of spring rolls. And it was the first time I have gone over my daily calorie limit on My Fitness Pal. The next day I was up a pound. Of course. I am a daily weigher. I know some people think you shouldn't but I'm a rational person. I know weight goes up and down. I like though, that that one pound makes me say, hey! don't eat so much today. That night, Saturday night, we unexpectedly went over to a friend's house for her birthday. And again. Appetizers and wine. This time I didn't drink a whole bottle, but I had a few glasses. My Fitness Pal almost reached out and slapped me in the face. And...I was up another 1/2 pound. I really haven't eaten out since I had my surgery, then all of a sudden it was like everyday. It made me feel a little out of control. Though I can guesstimate calories on My Fitness Pal, you don't really know how that food is being prepared behind the scenes. Bobby the cook could be a little heavy handed with the butter. Oh and the wine. Whine whine. I love my wine. I don't drink all the time. Maybe an average of two to three times a month, but when I do, I like to catch a good buzz. But the calories!!! I guess I will really have to watch my meals a lot better on those days. I'm looking forward to my first fill this Tuesday to help with the between meals hunger. And this week all meals will be made at home. No wine for a while. No whine for a while.

I'd be interested in knowing the science behind why not to have alcohol after surgery. I just think it would be lovely to be able to have an adult beverage with hubby in the evening occasionally. I know you can get inebriated more easily, and it also is reputed not to stay with you as long. My physician recommends not drinking any alcoholic beverages for six months after surgery. A few questions: Does it interfere with your wound healing? Does it impact your liver adversely? Does it slow down your weight loss? Looking forward to hearing from everybody!! C2

Ok Guys, so I've heard that you should be careful drinking after sleeve because you get drunk faster. I'm not a heavy drinker...but I might have a few cocktails, a beer, and a glass of wine if I'm out with friends. Since I'm 385..that really doesn't affect me. Just wandering if you guys can shed some light on how different or not different your tolerance is post-sleeve. I meet with my surgeon in 3 weeks, so I still have a way to go b4 getting sleeved.

Hi all. I am 3 weeks post-op as of this past Monday and I am not going to try either of these things any time soon, but am curious about a couple foods. How does everyone tolerate salad and raw veggies? I was sent home with diet literature and it says that starting with stage 4 and continuing on that you may not be able to tolerate raw veggies. I want a salad so bad that I can’t see straight! How does everyone tolerate alcohol, specifically wine? We love vineyards/winery trips and wine festivals. About once a month we would pop open a bottle at home with dinner. I will miss that greatly if I can never do it again. It is one of our “us” things. Like I said, don’t plan on doing any of this tomorrow or even next week, but I am thinking about the future. Any insight or personal story would be helpful. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond!

Hello all! I know that this conversation has been had a million times, but I would really like feedback from people who are further out post op then I am! I was sleeved on 10/13/14—and I am doing great! I’m 25 and like to go out with my friends and have drinks. Birthday parties, New Years Eve, girls night in, etc. Nothing Crazy. I drink responsibly (got all of the blackout stupid behavior out of my system in college) But I’d like to plan ahead because I’m apprehensive about how what I drink will affect me—I don’t want to get sick! I saw the nutritionist right before thanksgiving and she said I could drink to be careful because I’ll get drunk quick. She said to avoid anything carbonated, sugary wines, sugary mixes like Pina Coladas, and also sugary juices. I stuck with Cranberry and Vodkas when I went out and I was fine—got buzzed but nothing crazy! I’d like to try something else! I am weary of beer but has anyone had hard cider and been okay? I really, really enjoy Riesling but I’m worried about volume and sugar. What about other hard liquors, gin, vodka, tequila whiskey, etc? What do you mix them with? Low sugar wine coolers? Also, my friends LOVE doing shots, so has anyone done shots? Do you put the shot in the glass and Water it down or take it straight? Does anyone have any suggestions or horror stories? Thanks in advance!

Can we talk about alcohol? Shhh! Don't tell my Dr. But I started drinking again. I'm still loosing, so I'm not concerned about the caloric part of it. I mainly feel guilty because he told me not to drink for a year. But I'm single, 30, loving myself and my new body and I've been a SHUT IN for the last 4 years! I want to go out and have fun! Don't judge. If i do drink it's a wine spritzer or beer. I find that I get tipsy, then sober up real quick. I guess it goes right through me faster now and doesn't absorb like it used to? Anyone else have similar stories to share?

Hi all: Went out with a group from work last night and was able to enjoy myself drinking my delicious, delicious ice water with lime. But I'll admit, I really wanted to order a manhattan. I've only ever been a 1-2 drinks a week kind of guy, but I really enjoy those 1-2 drinks. Have you started drinking? When did you start? How did it go? Anything to worry about? I was something of a margarita connoisseur, but I'm worried about the sugar content. I've heard you can drink, but you may feel the effects very quickly. What should I be thinking about here?

I started my weight loss journey in Sept 2008. Had absolutely NO complications or problems and lost over half my weight in 3-4 months. I weighed 247 on the day of my surgery and quickly plummeted to a sexy 125!! Felt amazing and looked it too! However, 5 years later I had picked up a brand new habit!! I started going out...like to bars...which I had never done in my life ( I was married w/ kids so this wasn't acceptable) anyway, Now, I was divorced and had alot of free time on the weekends. Had a wonderful job, gaining new friends, hobbies etc. However, I also started drinking. Would never have more than 3-4 Captain and Cokes but my god they were delicious to me!! I had never drank before nor did I drink much soda. I quickly found myself drinking on the weekends while out with friends. Long story short, 2 years later I got a DUI !!! The first and ONLY person in my family that drank much less, get arrested. This killed my spirits, and I felt I had let my family down so I swore off alcohol. Fast forward 2 years...no job, new relationship that required a move 3 hrs away from everything I had ever known, only to find he was an alcoholic who was also physically abusive when drunk (strangled me on numerous occasions)...I started drinking again (along with him and only at home) just to get my mind off the fact that I was so far away from my family and other miseries. I am now on my own, doing very well, great job, my own place but have now started drinking wine (a whole bottle of Pink Moscato) a few nights a week. This didn't really start until this past April when I had a full hysterectomy....Thankfully, I have never had a hangover, never get sick and am actually really productive around the house..(which isn't a bad thing) I guess my question is, I have gained about 13 lbs since this time last year ( my job is sitting for 12 hrs 4 days a week) when I am home ( I live alone) I am just sedentary and don't really have any energy to do much of anything ( severely anemic and get Iron infusions every week ) so do you think it is the Wine that is causing the weight gain, the Full hysterectomy, the desk job or just a combination.??? I would really like to stop any further weight gain and any answers would be appreciated.

I am 10 weeks post op and so far have had a pretty good experience, taken all the advice and been very much a rule follower. On Friday last week we went to an annual Prawn Day fundraiser and I had one weetbix and zymil milk for breakfast with no issue. At midday I had one prawn, half a moreton bay bug (very small lobster like crustacean) and one oyster. Probably a total of 1/3 to 1/2 cup of food. I had this over a period of half an hour or more, and well after half a very small glass of rose wine. 10-15 minutes after the oyster, I felt this god-awful rush to my face, breathlessness, rapid heart rate, dizziness, shaking and wanted to roll over and pass out. I had to go outside to the medical tent and sit on the bed (after assuring them I wasn't one of the drunken arses at other tables 🙂 ) and felt just horrible with the cold sweats. One of our lovely local police officers took me home and I recovered after about two or three hours. I've read up and it sounded more like late dumping syndrome, where the body feels a rush of sugar to the system and releases a lot of insulin, resulting in a sudden dip in blood sugars. This is supposed to happen two-three hours after a meal so can only assume it was the weekbix. Has anyone else felt like this after having such a good run of no real bumps in the road? I sincerely hope it wasn't the seafood, but it's the first time I've tried each of these items since surgery. I have had weetbix before and wine - not together of course - with no issues. I guess I am answering my own question, seafood/shellfish very likely to be the cause. Sigh.....