Oh Diet Coke, How I've Missed Thee...

[LT1002 138]

I'm 9 days post-op and have been having a really tough time of it. Hard to get fluids down, hard to drink those stupid Protein Shakes. I so miss my Diet Coke - some people smoke, some people do drugs, drink alcohol - I do none of that, I just like my Diet Coke.

So today, I took one of my caffeine free Diet Cokes (when home, I always drank caffeine free), opened the bottle to let out some fizz, poured it over ice in a glass, and took small sips. It was like drinking a little glass of heaven. No stomach upset and I feel almost like a normal person again. No caffeine, lost a lot of the carbonation, and when the ice melts down, I'm even getting some extra water!

It's amazing how this diet can make a person so miserable at times, but the little things we took for granted before can make a world of difference now with just a little modification (I would chug all fizzy from the bottle ).

[Sammi25 18]

im a year out and i can (slowly) enjoy a caffeine free diet coke now, carbonation and all. i didnt try it until about a month ago, and i wouldnt recommend drinking it without taking the fizz out so early on but you will be able to enjoy it again normally at some point in moderation

[VACookey 111]

I figured this is a new healthy lifestyle for me and the chemicals in diet coke don't mix with that. So I've given it up completely. A side effect of that? My teeth look FABULOUS!

[ohsheila 2]

Diet Coke was my drug of choice. I really miss my Sonic drink.

[LT1002 138]

I figure it this way... Diet Coke didn't make me fat, ranch dressing, bacon cheeseburgers and French fries (washed down with a Diet Coke) made me fat.

[Jenhort 16]

I miss my Diet Dr Pepper!! I stopped drinking it 2 weeks before surgery. I missed my morning coffee too! My surgeon says no caffiene or pop until 6 months post op. Well, I did try the pop at 3 months post op and it sure does NOT taste the same!! And now, when I drink a Decaf coffee or a pop, my body is not used to the caffeine!! I pee like a race horse!

[MinaT 669]

I was told when I was about a year out I could have a hard apple cider, if I opened it up the night before poured it and put it in the fridge.

9 days out I could barely get in a healthy Protein shake.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but you posted and I think having it at 9 days out was not a good move at all. What would your surgeon say. Pouring it over ice doesn't release the carbonation.

There is absolutely zero benefit to diet coke, you get zero nutrition. The problem with justifying that it is okay to do this at 9 days is that it leads to more temptation down the line.

I would definitely speak with your nutritionist about this.

ps I don't drink, smoke or do drugs either, so that's also just a justification for drinking something I would assume you were told you could not do.

Wouldn't it have been safer to leave it sit overnight, or even make them into ice cubes to suck on to be sure the carbonation was out.

Edited July 26, 2012 by MinaT

[melyh0403 3]

Just go slow. I'm 8 weeks out and can tolerated carbonate drinks fine but choose not to have them. I was told to let drinks like that sit and go flat before drinking. Its all about the bloating and stretching. So...if you need it, well, drink it just ever that once you start and realize u can tolerate its VERY easy to continue and try even more next time. We've taken a huge risk in having surgery to screw it up and not get full benefit! Good luck!

[LT1002 138]

I was told when I was about a year out I could have a hard apple cider' date=' if I opened it up the night before poured it and put it in the fridge.

9 days out I could barely get in a healthy Protein shake.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but you posted and I think having it at 9 days out was not a good move at all. What would your surgeon say. Pouring it over ice doesn't release the carbonation.

There is absolutely zero benefit to diet coke, you get zero nutrition. The problem with justifying that it is okay to do this at 9 days is that it leads to more temptation down the line.

I would definitely speak with your nutritionist about this.

ps I don't drink, smoke or do drugs either, so that's also just a justification for drinking something I would assume you were told you could not do.

Wouldn't it have been safer to leave it sit overnight, or even make them into ice cubes to suck on to be sure the carbonation was out.[/quote']

I don't recall asking for opinions, but hey, if standing on that soap box preaching to the masses does it for you, far be it for me to stop you.

I'm an adult, a professional (attorney) with three degrees. I'm not a moron, and certainly don't need someone on an internet message board telling me what is right and wrong for my body. Let's face it, if you knew all there was to about nutrition, you wouldn't have gotten to the point of needing a sleeve, now would you? Lopping off 85% of your stomach doesn't suddenly make you an expert.

My doctor and I had a discussion about soda when I was banded and he said all things in moderation. The flat out ban is because there are people who who will drink multiple Big Gulps of sugary drinks, not for the the diet soda drinker. And carbonation isn't stretching out anything - it's a fallacy. It causes gas. Shocking, right? I can live with a little extra gas when the alternative is feeling like crap from being miserable.

[O.T.R. sleever 3,386]

I don't recall asking for opinions' date=' but hey, if standing on that soap box preaching to the masses does it for you, far be it for me to stop you.

I'm an adult, a professional (attorney) with three degrees. I'm not a moron, and certainly don't need someone on an internet message board telling me what is right and wrong for my body. Let's face it, if you knew all there was to about nutrition, you wouldn't have gotten to the point of needing a sleeve, now would you? Lopping off 85% of your stomach doesn't suddenly make you an expert.

My doctor and I had a discussion about soda when I was banded and he said all things in moderation. The flat out ban is because there are people who who will drink multiple Big Gulps of sugary drinks, not for the the diet soda drinker. And carbonation isn't stretching out anything - it's a fallacy. It causes gas. Shocking, right? I can live with a little extra gas when the alternative is feeling like crap from being miserable.

[/quote']

Adult, professional, three degrees, & still haven't figured out that if you post on a public forum, you are likely to get responses? Even a few that you don't want to hear. I'm guessing that you don't actually make into a courtroom very often if a post on a public forum gets you this bent out of shape.

[LT1002 138]

Actually, I'm a trial attorney.

There's a major difference between being criticized on a message board for drinking a few ounces of diet soda, and critique in the professional arena.

While these forums have been an excellent source of information, it never ceases to amaze me how a few hyper-judgmental posters can ruin the forum for the rest of us who are trying to get through this. Being sleeved sucks. The diet sucks. The emotional and mental toll sucks. And when someone comes along and posts about one little thing that has made this miserable journey just a wee bit more tolerable, there's always that person (usually the same few people), who think it's their duty to come along and cut people down, offer their opinions and "expertise."

Give it a rest. I have support at home from my loving spouse and friends, I have a doctor and NUT whose opinions I trust more than a few former overweight people on a message board who, like me, couldn't control their weight and ended up needing one or two surgeries to do what the rest of the world can do with a little diet and exercise.

It's sad that the only people who can understand the pain of being overweight in a thin society feel the need to cut each other down over food and beverage choices.

[alexb 9]

My doctor said that the worst stretch he'd ever seem was due to carbonation and that his patients are never to touch it again. Just sharing!

[LouiseC 1,029]

I figure it this way... Diet Coke didn't make me fat' date=' ranch dressing, bacon cheeseburgers and French fries (washed down with a Diet Coke) made me fat. [/quote']

Do you realize that diet coke probably did make you fat? The effect on your brain from the artificial sweeteners in the diet coke was to make your body anticipate sugar. When no sugar came, your hunger levels increased and resulted in you eating more in order for your body to get the hit it was waiting for.

Having no sugar in that chemical laden toxic beverage was likely sabotaging your weight loss more than if you had consumed the full sugar coke.

You have gone over a week without it, what a great opportunity to kick an unhealthy and potentially sabotaging addiction.

Personally, I think even alcohol is better for you than diet coke.

Sent from my iPad using VST

[LouiseC 1,029]

Just read the other posts and can see that my contribution is likely to be attacked also.

Ah well, you can't change the opinions on those too afraid to be wrong.

Sent from my iPad using VST

[LT1002 138]

LouiseC, what you posted is fine - you weren't judgey, you weren't cutting anyone down, and that's fine.

As for all those artificial sweeteners, that's exactly what's in a lot of the substitutes that our doctors and NUTS are telling us to eat and drink now. Going through the literature from the hospital NUT, they even say to use those substitutes in place of regular sugar.

And yes, soda has chemicals. So do a lot of other foods we eat. Unless we go on a completely natural, organic, straight from the earth diet, we will fill our bodies with chemicals.

And believe me, it was the cheese fries with ranch dressing at the Outback, the deep dish pizza at UNO's, the chicken marsala and Oreo cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory, and the Asiago cheese Bagels at Panera that made me fat.