Do you drink with your food?

[Renea77 84]

I don't eat and drink together, I wait 30 minutes after a meal to drink. That was what my surgeon recommended and I have tried to follow that along with the no sodas, no chewing gum, Protein first, lots of Water and take your Vitamins everyday and exercise.

[Takingcontrol 467]

I have tried to not drink...but can't! I only take small sips though! :-/

[SaraLaughs 23]

I'm a big drinker, always have been, and this rule kills me! But so far, I've followed it faithfully. I will admit, however, that the minute I've been done for a half an hour, I drink again like a fish. I love Water, which I know is weird, but I do! My mother said as a small child, when I would start to get testy, she would give me a drink and my attitude would change almost immediately.

[Judy_asd 12]

Sometimes I just need one drink of Water becauseI feel like its stuck in my throat and need to wash it down.

[johnlatte 1,232]

I used to until my dr told me this week not to worry about it. He said it was an old rule for bypass folks. So I drink now. The dr said that it won't hurt you.

Mine told me the same thing. I sip along as I need to. I can't understand how you can't drink a little bit to help get the food down. I've never felt hungry quicker so I think it is one of those things like the pre-op diets, that every Dr. does differently.

[johnlatte 1,232]

I saw someone say they drink wine...how long has it been since your VSL? I am under the impression that I can't drink alcoholic beverages for two years. I haven't touched booze since my surgery, and actually I planned on never bringing it back in to my diet because....I love booze. Lol!

This one, is a big bone of contention on this board. There's a couple of schools of thought. 1 is that alcohol should be avoided all together (empty calories, bad on the gut, goes to your head quicker), then there's a group that wants to do it (yolo, lifes a party, don't want to be the only one not having a good time etc). Personally for me, I was a big drinker. That's part of why I was almost 300 lbs. So...climbing up on an operating table and letting them cut out a perfectly good organ, changed my perspective to a large degree. For me, it was more about my ultimate goals and changing my lifestyle. That meant that some things just didn't make sense in my life. Alcohol is one of them along with fast foods, white carbs, sugar and a whole lot of other things. I'm not saying that I won't ever take a drink again, that would be foolish. But what I am saying is that until I reach the goals that I set when I started this process, I have to stand firm. I don't feel that I am missing anything, my life is full and I like sobriety quite well actually. If you do decide to drink, understand that you may feel quite uncomfortable and you might feel the effects of the alcohol quite a bit faster than you might have otherwise. Just make the choice that you feel that you can best live with and go!