xoto2000

Hi all I am just closing in on my 4th month post op and I direly miss red meat, but I’m a little shaky and afraid to eat it. When were you guys okay with eating red meat?

I’m a 20 year old guy and I’m just over 2 months post op and down 64 pounds with about another 75 or so left until I reach my goal weight. Men (within 10 years of my age) who had a vertical sleeve gastrectomy procedure done, what did you look like when you reached your goal weight? Excess skin? Noticeable muscle definition? Just trying to get an idea of how I may look like it’s very difficult to imagine what I could look like after being obese for about a decade.

On 03/22/2021 at 07:37, Creekimp13 said:

^This. I used to love Egg McMuffins and Chili cheese dogs. Both taste different to me now. Dozens of old favorites don't taste the same, don't satisfy, taste flat and crappy.

Try new things. I've found new favorites. I used to hate fish. I love fish now. I used to feel meh about melons. Melon is my comfort food now. I don't think I like any treat as much as a chilled seedless watermellon stick.

Used to love cheese and eggs. I like them ok now. Somtimes. Ish. Depending. LOL.

I hated Beans. Love them now. Black Beans, chickpeas, white beans...green beans, soybeans, etc.

Hated potato skin. Love it now.

You'll find things you like.

Some things become less repulsive with time.

But for a lot of things, you might feel a little sad because they won't ever be the same.

Eggs and I don’t mix anymore, they taste like crap and make me feel like it too. I always liked watermelons even pre op but now I LOVE them. Same with beans. Surprisingly I’m having a pretty solid reaction to bread (toast) and low salt cold cut turkey. Do you have a sensitivity to onions and garlic?

I’ve been out of surgery for a little over 7 weeks now. Ever since I was cleared to have mushy food, everything just tastes so bad.. my mother used to make these AMAZING turkey meatballs, and now they taste repulsive, as do MANY things I enjoyed before. When will everything taste and smell normal again?

I appreciate all the responses and certainly appreciate the concern. I just wanted to hear about reactions I’m walking away from that party life but I know shit happens and it’s bound to happen once or twice so i just wanna be prepped

So I have an incredibly controversial and rather personal question for the lovely people of BariatricPal. I’ll be upfront, I’m a 20 year old guy in college so pre-op I was a party animal. My question doesn’t relate to alcohol but to illicit-drug use.. I understand this is a super touchy subject but is there anyone that would be willing to share how they get felt or reacted to the use of illicit drugs (molly, snow, bars etc.)

On 03/17/2021 at 16:48, ms.sss said:

There are a few controversial topics that get some strong (and not-so-strong) opinions/responses on this forum. Alcohol consumption is one of them.

With that said, I am a maintainer and a regular drinker.

Aside: I have mixed feelings about saying this even as I type this, as I don't want to inadvertently influence someone to drink if they are of the type who may spiral. I often drop hints about my drinking habits in more light-hearted threads (i.e., the food thread or the clothes thread), but in threads specifically asking about alcohol by those in the early stages, I have pause. But, we are all adults here and can make our own choices, so here goes:

Prior to WLS, I didn't drink regularly, but if/when I did, I drank ALOT. Think sloppy drunk. It was always at parties or nights out, and never at home (if we hosted parties, I'd drink, but not get drunk cuz I mean, I had hosting responsibilities after all, LOL).

During weight loss phase, I must have drank maybe 5-6 times the entire time. And it was very little, less than 1/4 of a single serving, if that. The first time I drank after surgery was 3 weeks post op. I had 2 sips of red wine at a party, and it was weird...I remember feeling the liquid in my stomach and the warmth of it travel through my intestines and I got surprisingly tipsy for so little that I drank. The second time I had a drink was 3-4 sips of a soju-sake concoction around 1-2 months post op and I had the most horrible dumping experience soon after. Like laying on the bathroom floor horrible. It was the sugar in it. The handful of times I drank after that (during weight loss phase) I stuck to gin/vodka sodas & dry red wine. I was definitely affected with just a few sips, and the effects wore off pretty quickly.

Now, lets talk maintenance. Freed from having to stay under a self-imposed calorie limit, I drank more. I drank more often than I did pre-op, but less overall, even including my occasional pre-op benders. I no longer only got to sloppy level when I drank, but to just a good buzz. And again, only when I was out and about. I'd say I had maybe 1-3 drinks a week. I still got buzzed relatively quickly (less than one full drink), and the effects did not last long (less than an hour). There were maybe 4-5 times I got pretty trashed during this time (i'm guessing on like 5-6 drinks), all while on some vacation or other, and once at a wedding.

Then came lockdown in March last year. I was about 1.5 years out when Covid reared its ugly head, and just under a year into maintenance. My drinking increased exponentially over a couple months. These days, I drink at least one drink a day (usually two, occasionally much more, on those nights we have an extended dinner seating time, or when it was patio season last summer).

Now according to the literature I have read, based on volume alone, I am an alcoholic. Go figure. Am I concerned? Honestly nowadays, not really. I did contemplate it in the beginning, especially cuz Mr would keep bringing up how my drinking has increased (in a joking way mostly...but he should talk, he drinks every day too. Almost always has...his drinking also increased with Covid. Granted, he has more mass than I do and has the metabolism of a hummingbird).

It's been almost a year of this daily drinking now, and while I believe I could benefit from cutting down, I don't see it as an issue at the moment in terms of any decrease in quality of life or my own safety or the safety of those around me (but I suppose this is what anyone who drinks would say). We'll see.

Back in the summer we agreed that each person in the house can call a "dry day" at any point and everyone must abide to no drinking that day. Though to date, no one has called it. That probably speaks to the mentality we got going on here, lol. I did a couple "dry weeks" on my own accord months ago, just to prove to Mr. & myself I didn't have a problem...these weeks went by uneventfully, but I'm not sure if it really proved anything.

Very long story short, while I'm not advocating nor discouraging drinking either way to anyone, as with anything else in life, the hope is that you can be self-aware enough to know what YOUR acceptable limits are and try to stay within them.

Sorry this was so long.

Good Luck ❤️

P.S. In case you were wondering, I have pretty much maintained my weight (115 lbs +/- 5lbs) this entire time. Last year I reached my acceptable upper limit (120 lbs for more than 3-4 days in a row) twice and then switched gears to get back to 115. First time took me 3-4 weeks, second time took me 3-4 months (granted, I didn't try very hard). Today I am actually 6 lbs under my "normal", BUT I'm in transition at the moment as I've had zero exercise for about a month due to injury and i'm trying to offset that with a reduction in calories...and yeah, I haven't found the right level yet...so this is temporary, as far as I'm concerned. BUT I'm still drinking, lol, am just having less dessert 😜

P.P.S. I also smoke. But that's a whole other topic...

Wow quite the response. You are your own person and I don’t wanna make any rash judgement but from what you said I think slowing down on alcohol is a good idea. As WLS patients we all suffered from some degree of food addiction and I just don’t want you to transfer that addiction to alcohol. Glad to see you’re still maintaining a healthy weight and not reverting to your old self. Just be careful, wish you the best

On 03/17/2021 at 00:37, Prestonandme said:

I didn't try alcohol until nearly a year post-surgery. Everything changed. Before surgery, I could drink wine or mixed drinks and develop a lovely mild buzz that would last for about an hour or two. After surgery, I had to give up wine and mixed drinks because of the new effects they had on me. I'd feel nothing for about 30-45 minutes after drinking, then suddenly feel extremely inebriated -- overwhelmed -- and the whooziness would last for several hours, plus sometimes I'd then get a bad headache. And diarrhea (TMI).

These days I only drink one can of beer (Guinness Stout) at home. I wouldn't dare drink away from home because of the possibility of severe inebriation. A blood/alcohol card listing weight and BAC showed that hypothetically, a person of my weight would reach a BAC of .10 after drinking just one and one half glasses of wine!

If and when you're ready to introduce alcohol back into your life, definitely drink at home first so you can find out how the alcohol now affects you. About a year ago, a woman posted that she drank alcohol at a party and felt completely fine driving home but during the drive she suddenly became overwhelmed by drunkenness and had to pull over and lie down in her seat. She got a DUI.

Great idea to try it at home first but even pre-op I never drove to parties just in case, so I’ll definitely continue to do that thanks for the answer!

On 03/16/2021 at 20:04, OAGBPal said:

My program allows alcohol from Week 5, just keep it within your calories. It takes about a fifth of what I would drink before to get me tipsy. It goes over fast, too I'm drinking twice a month and my weight loss is going fine.

Wow 5 weeks I wish. I’m not allowed to drink until 6 months out and I’m currently at 6 weeks..just glad it’s in time for summer

Hi all so I’ve tried searching for this but couldn’t find anything. I’m personally no where near the maintenance phase but for those who are do you imbibe? Is it anywhere as much as before? Does alcohol really hit you that much harder?

@WishMeSmaller wow you look great if I were you I’d definitely wear a bikini you practically don’t have loose skin I can absolutely see everything tightening up

@HealthyLifeStyle I read
somewhere before surgery that it really depends on your body fat distribution

This question is for anyone in the maintenance phase of their WLS. Are there any of you out there who experienced 0 to minimal loose skin?

So I’m 5 weeks out of gastric sleeve surgery and I have been vomiting bitter bile about once a week or so at random times. Thought it was a food issue at first but now I’m starting to think it’s GERD. mayo Clinic said more than twice a week may be GERD. For anyone who unfortunately has GERD do my symptoms match yours at all?

So far gastric sleeve is the best decision I’ve ever made. I was 340 on 1/28 as of today I’m sitting at 293. The weight loss in the first month or so especially is DRASTIC. First month is also the hardest there’s a lot of adapting to do accompanied by some frustration. It does get better I promise. broth, Jello, and even Water may irritate you for the first week or so (at least they did with me) but in time you’ll be fine don’t stress

I’m only about 5 weeks out and honestly the only real side effect I’ve experienced is the occasional vomiting from eating something too quickly or something that just didn’t sit right. I remember how miserable I was 5 days out it does get better I promise!!

I was sleeved on the 28th I packed so much stuff thinking I’d be up to it. Only thing I actually did was listen to music and go on walks throughout the wing I was in. Hospitalized for 2 days btw.