Cape Crooner

You may be building heavy muscles with all that PX90, that would explain a lot.

Nothing's wrong with anything as long as it's within your nutrition plan.

How long did you abstain pre-opt? I quit 6 weeks before surgery and I'm glad I did. Not only did it help me lose 30 lbs per-opt and accelerate obtaining my goal, but each week I abstained, the easier it got. By the time on went on a liquid diet, alcohol was the least of my fond memories.

I doubt it, but the fact is there are tons of skinny people who drink and plenty of WLS people on the forum who have reported that they do drink in moderation and have not seen any issue staying on their weight loss program. BTW, I did not start this thread seeking some sort of validation for drinking. My surgeon has given me permission within limits. Like many people on this forum, I am reaching out to others to help refine my strategies for maintaining my weight within the context of my surgically modified stomach. I don't eat oatmeal, bread, rice, Pasta, and many other things I read folks talking about on this forum, but I have been a social drinker for decades and plan to continue. Again, I welcome hearing from anyone who drinks and has either developed a strategy that worked or one that failed. The experts are all over the place on this topic and thus real first hand experience is wonderful.

Here is a link to the major study: "Among men, alcohol had only a slight effect on weight in either survey. However, among women, alcohol was associated with a substantial reduction in weight, which was as large as the effect of smoking. Compared with nondrinkers, women who consumed alcohol 7-13 times per week had the greatest reduction in weight: -3.6 kg (95% confidence limits [CL] = -5.6, -1.5 kg) in HANESII and -3.2 kg (95% CL = -4.9, -1.5 kg) in BRFS" http://www.ajph.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=3498373

Hopefully, we can continue this discussion, stick to the subject, hear from people who had wls and drink alcohol responsibly - without any judgmental bullying. I found this link on one of my other discussions that supports what I'm observing. Essentially, it says that MODERATE alcohol (1-2 low calorie drinks) actually speeds up our metabolism and contributes to weight loss. I know it's in Wikipedia, but the references all look legit... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_and_weight

I haven't tried beer yet, but I was never a big beer drinker (too many carbs). That said, on the boat on a hot summer day, it was my beverage of choice. I did try seltzer Water and vodka. It didn't go down as smooth as bourbon and water or red wine, but it did go down, just filled me up. When we go out to dinner, the only thing I can drink is red wine. One glass (5 ounces) lasts the whole night, and doesn't interfere with my 5/6 ounce dinner. It's a good discovery because my wife really likes dinning out and it's only 100 calories. I probably won't try beer until summer and I'll stick to Mich Ultra.

Hey Steve The the Church Lady, Exactly how am I cheating? BTW, I'm down 5 lbs since this exciting thread started a week ago. 7 lbs from my goal. Time for a drink!

I'm never quite sure how to handle this sort of person (and I know a few). I've tried just about everything, but the one I'm most fond of is to look them in the eye, squint and turn my head in disbelief, the walk away in silence and never look back,,,,

By the way, I found no difference in how booze hit me, but I do drink much less and much slower. Before VSG I would have 5-6 drinks over 5-6 hours. Now I'm having 2-3 over the course of an evening.

Well, if you look at my posts, you'll find a couple of heated discussions about alcohol. I have been a confirmed social drinker and disciplined low carb dieter for 40 years. I never drank during the week and generally followed low carb diet guidelines. I gained 75 pounds very slowly over 40 years by eating too much low carb food (nuts, cheese, dark chocolate) when I drank alcohol. I entered this journey knowing that I'd have to abstain from alcohol for an extended period of time. My program guide said 6 months, but in further discussion, it became clear that this was just a typical guideline - "your mileage may vary!" There are three issues to consider. 1. Damaging your surgery: The biggie here is creating a fertile condition for ulcers. Discussing this with the surgical team, I learned that the surgery effectively heals at 6 weeks and if you google around, you'll find some surgeons who recommend 6 weeks as the earliest green light. If you have ever had any kind of acid reflux, you should proceed with caution. I did have a glass of wine at 6 weeks with the extra protection of an extra antacid pill and plenty of Water and food before and after. 2. Your Liver: The kind of rapid weight loss we see through WLS puts a stress on your liver; as does alcohol. One surgeon mentioned this in the context of waiting until you're near goal to restart drinking. I was about 75% toward goal before imbibing and have continued to limited my daily and weekly intake. 3. Your Weight Loss: I have found that the top rated programs have the longest abstinence waiting period. I think this is for our own good, because alcohol is generally a empty calorie and many drinks have lots of carbs. In addition, alcohol can increase hunger, which makes it tougher to stay on track. I continue to log calories on days when I drink - including the alcohol. One doctor told me 300 liquid calories won't hurt my Weightloss, but potato chips, candy, and ice cream munchies will. My program closely tracks patient weight loss for life and uses our data to promote their effectiveness. If none of us every drink again, they're numbers would likely look better. I am about 4 months out and I've added 10 ounces of alcohol to my weekly 9,000 calorie diet since Christmas. To my surprise, it has not reduced my weight loss one iota. Now the biggie for you is RNY. I had the sleeve and in my orientation at Newton Wellesley, one of the top surgeons in the country (Sheila Partridge) recommended the sleeve for social drinkers and/or people who needed to take NSAID'S. She suggested that RNY patients should abstain from both! That said, I have heard from plenty of RNY patients on this forum who do drink. That's all I know...

1600 could be the problem, depending on how much you weigh what your goal weight is. I have read a few times that our calorie intake should average our goal weight times 10. For you, if your goal weight is 160 or more, you could be eating too much, Of course, as we all know, a calorie is not always a calorie and the level of activity/exercise also matters. Here's one story from Dr. Oz... http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/lisa-lynn/fat-loss-tricks-actually-work

I'm almost 4 months out and still logging everything and weighing in every morning. I'm only 8 pounds away from my goal and once I hit it, I plan to stop logging, but to continue to weigh in daily. To me, it's the easiest barometer to check up pn my maintenance program. If I'm up 5 pounds, I plan to go back to logging. BTW, I weighed in every day for the past 10 years before WLS and it was the key driver to getting help.

Hey, most of us are incognito. If we can't scream about our journey to people we know, we may as well scream at strangers on Bariatric Pal!

Actually, about 1/3 of the responses are useful. A third are Church Ladies, and a third are trolls just happy to talk about something other than: Stalls Eating enough Protein Telling people about your surgery Drinking Water Dress sizes Loose Skin Etc...

A question for VSG Veterans... I'm 4 months out and 13 pounds away from goal. One of the things I've been enjoying is a local lounge that has a three slider appetizer and incredible Truffle Fries, which I split with my wife. In my past life, I would have steered clear of this and gone with a more protien oriented dish. Now, I get full after one slider and about 10 shoestring fries. I'm guessing this culinary junk delicacy is under 300 calories and reasonably balanced except for the fat. My question is, how long will I be full after one little slider and a dozen shoestring fries?

From Oxford Dictionaries Definition of Judgmental Having or displaying an overly critical point of view: "l don’t like to sound judgemental, but it was a big mistake" http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/judgemental

Miss Mac -- As a veteran, can you tell me how your sleeve's restriction has matured over time. I was always a low carb dieter and eventually became obese by eating too much healthy food. Now with my sleeve as a consumption governor, I'm dropping weight a startling pace.

"It's also an example of how every plan is different and you kind of have to find your own way eventually to be able to go on living your full life. For me, it's no hardship to give up soups. I steered clear of them for many years pre-op because of the high sodium" Yep, my surgical crew said there was no medical reason not to eat and drink at the same time. The issue rest with how full you feel, how hungry you feel, and your calories. I find that soup doesn't feel me up as fast as solid food, it's low in calories, and doesn't leave hungry an hour later. They also said they want me to get plenty of salt to help retain Water....

I'm not sure who told you that, but it makes zero sense (at least to me). Why would a hearty low fat soup be empty calories? Why wouldn't a 150 calorie Protein shake also be "drinking your calories"? I did speak to my surgeon about soup/liquids versus solid food and she told me that it made no difference other than how full you feel (very much with solid foods, not so much with soup). A few weeks ago we had lunch at PF Changs and before I ordered, I went to their web site and looked at calories. I end up having a cup of Hot and Sour Soup (80 calories) and Pan Fried Shrimp Potstickers (190) -- quite a treat, low carb, and only 270 calories. That said, you must be well informed when you order Chinese. There are a lot of high calorie dishes that look healthy! Check out this vegan magnet -- "Hand Made Butternut Squash Dumplings" - 1110 Calories! https://www.pfchangs.com/menu/nutrition/main/

I will add that during my first 2 weeks, I had Cream of Wheat with a micro pinch of brown sugar. It was quite a treat and now that I'm thinking about it, I may try it again!

One trick that I've been doing is to make my own pita chips. I start by buying the thinnest ones I can find and cutting them into the skinniest little triangles possible. With any luck, each one ends up under 15 calories. Then I warm up some EVOO with crushed garlic and brush them lightly. Then top them with cracked pepper and sea salt. Bake at 350 and watch them until the edges get brown. You should try to bake them at the party and serve them hot. You can serve these with any healthy dip or humus and people will go crazy. I like the Greek yogurt dips which are low cal and have some Protein.

It's tough either way. I'm surrounded by people who don't know I had wls and they still want to ask me questions about my weight loss. I've started giving them advice that shuts them up - I share a formula: 1. You can't eat more calories in a day than your target weight multiplied by 10. 2. You must eat more Protein than fat or carbs. 3. You must exercise 3/5 days a week for 45 minutes. They all look dumbfounded when I tell them this, but it certainly changes the subject fast!

I bought a very good German scale and weigh/post everyday on Lose It. That way, I can review my one week, one month, and 3 month progress even if I didn't lose anything that particular morning. It's great to see that I lost 8-10 lbs in the last month.

I'm not sure where you are in your timeline, but I would stick with some sort of egg dish and here's why. A no carb/high Protein breakfast will curb your appetite most of the day. If I eat any carbs (natural Peanut Butter on whole wheat toast), I'll be hungry all day. That said, I'd choke on scrambled eggs in the morning. I have to make a super savory dish that includes egg whites. My favorite is a mini omelet with a turkey sausage, wilted spinach, and graded Parmesan cheese. I then top it some sort of Mexican sauce (salsa, hot sauce, or Crema). Less than 150 calories and very tasty. I also eat Morning Star Chipotle veggie burgers with a fried egg on top and/or Mexican sauces (less than 200 calories). My final pick is a fried egg (cooked in Pam) over refried Beans and topped with shredded cheddar and Mexican sauces (also under 200 calories).