I am getting banded in 26 days and people keep asking me about alcohol.

I am not a big drinker. I dislike most drinks. I can have a beer or two sometimes, or maybe a Margarita (which I know is never going to happen again).

I was wondering if anyone had tried a drink with the band and what the results were.

My Mom is thinking of getting banded, but is a wine collector and does not want to give that up.

Thanks

I drink about as much as I did preband - a glass of wine 2 or 3 times a week. I dont think that much is going to do too much harm to the diet, but just like preband, I tend to consume too many alcohol kilojoules when I'm out that one glass of wine becomes two or three.

My alcohol tolerance did change a bit after banding but only for a short time becuase I went so long without a drink. But I"m used to it again now and can easily handle say 2 drinks over the course of a dinner, whereas I was getting quite hilariously tipsy on that amount for a while there.

Carbonation STRETCHES the pouch.... My surgeon said, " how many fat women do you know that love diet coke?" I said ALL OF THEM. He said that is because carbonation stretches the stomach and SODA drinkers can eat twice as much as other people. I thought WOW! He said that you can NEVER HAVE IT AGAIN. Your pouch will stretch and the band will be useless. I have taken my whole family of cokes for over 1 month now. No soda in this house EVER. I don't want my kids to have huge stomachs to fill. I thought is was easy to give coke(diet) up. Come to think of it...... I was not heavy until I started drinking loads of diet coke in my mid 20's. I grew up on unsweetend tea. Hope this makes sense.

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I found a drink that I can have when I want to unwind at the end of a busy week. I probably can't order it when we go out or anything, but at least I can make my own. I use a shot of vodka, ice, and fill the glass with Raspberry Ice Crystal Ice. Its so good and refreshing. Now I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I just have to not make it a habit of having one every night or having too many at once.

I found out that Crystal Light is the best mixer for drinks and a great way to get your Water in! Yeah, Yeah...what about the alcohol?! Oh well....would you rather drink the sugar-filled fruity drinks and carbonated drinks like beer or rum and coke?? I take a regular bottle of water (16oz) and put 2 packs (extra flavor) of Crystal Light Lemonade, shake well and then drink the top off...down to the label and fill with ice cold Vodka....OMG!!!!! Yummy!!!! and if you freeze it until it slushes...WOW! I also made it with the Crystal Light Fruit Punch and Jack Daniels....that is REALLY good!

I happened to stumble upon this concoction in Austin, TX in my hotel room....I made a Crystal Light Fruit Punch and my DH's Jack was sitting there and I got to thinking....and when I think....WHOA NELLY! And by golly! It was the bomb!

So to answer the question...."To booze or not to booze?" Why not! But you just have to find a way that is best for you...and I think I found mine. The only down fall is most bars can't do this so I think I will stick to a Bloody Mary or just Jack or Crowne and water w/some lime. :heh:

I am able to drink beer fine, no pain at all. I do drink slower now than I did before though. I am trying to find alternative drinks though for fear that the carbonation may be damaging my pouch even though it goes down fine. I really like Crystal lite and it is low in calories so I think I will try my vanilla vodka with that this weekend and see if I can tolerate it. I am just not a big liquor drinker--I get sick very easily so that is why I stuck with beer. I like wine on occasions too but also tend to get sick very easily. It will be hard for me to NEVER have a beer but I am trying to cut back on it to preserve my band.

~Liz~

banded 03/10/06

Dr.Ortiz

241/194/150

5'7''

Congrats on your decision.

I do frozen marguaritas every Friday and they go down good but makes my restriction tighter. BUt I do it anyway and eat SLOW. It just tastes so good in this hot southern weather. I did not do it for first 6 months. Now 11 months out and will write at my 1 year anniversary.

Boy, does that make me happy. I thought I would have to stop celebrating St. Patrick's Day. And for an Irish lass born in Savannah, GA, that is HARD!!!

I haven't had a drink since March 18th!!

Yeah - I miss the bacquardi/diet cokes, but can live without them. I like the lightness taste of the crystal lite and vodka - not a heavy taste and no carbonation. I'll have to try freezing them - perfect idea to take along camping!

I'd like to add my 2 cents worth here. I don't think it's a good idea to go overboard with the alcohol consumption all in one sitting (for obvious reasons) and also because you don't want to be dry heaving or vomiting profusely with the band. You could damage yourself or your band. That being said, I like most alcohol with the exception of gin (allergy to juniper berries) and moonshine! As I age, I find that the sulfites in wine really give me a horrible headache. I've had no problems with organic wines though but have a hard time finding them. Vodka is by far my favorite hard drink and I like the Crystal Light idea. I'll have to try that one.

I'm fine with wine. I loved Wheat Beer before banding (HD makes it), but I'm too uncomfortable after 1-2 sips to go much further. So, I've nixed the beer.

I have a vivid picture of what my surgeon said about beer. He said the foam has to have someplace to go and the first time it comes out your nose will be the last time you have a drink of beer.

I had a friend say to me that she thought drinks were out for me. I told her that if I choose to consume my calories in a liquid form, then I can do it. But I have to pay the consequence with a slower wgt loss

P.S- the Mai Tai's went down really well when I was in Hawaii last week. :success1: I haven't done it very often in 12 mos- so thought "what the hey, I'm on vacation"

Since I have been banded, I've noticed that it doesn't take much for me to get tipsy. I have had a couple of drinks, on the weekend, with my friends and everything has gone fine, no problems yet. Like a couple others here, I mix my favorite liquor with Crystal Lite and it is GREAT! But when you go to the bar or the club you are tempted to order something else, I just take Crystal Lite with me and I'll order some water and straight liquor and mix it myself...sometimes I luck up and they have bottled water. Forget it...just do shots...it won't take that many!:biggrin1: