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what's the deal w soda? can i ever have it again?



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my surgery is 1 week from today

started pre-op the other day and harder than giving up the food and harder than giving up smoking co0ld turkey (which i did 9 yrs ago)

is giving up DIET PEPSI

i love it. i really do.

i know it's bad. i know it's poison etc

i am not looking for those responses.

i am wondering is it ok to ever have it again or should i never?

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My surgeon's plan is no carbonated beverages, ever. I adhere to that. I'm not sure if it actually would do any harm, like stretch your stomach, but since it adds no nutritional value, and I agree, it's "poison", I just don't ever drink it. I've read plenty of articles about how your body thinks it is sugar and processes it as if it was sugar, causing insulin spikes, so it's not worth it to me. It's one of the rules of bariatric surgery that I just follow.

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I was a Coke Zero "addict". I could easily drink a 2 liter a day. I gave it up about 2 months pre-op and didn't drink it at all for my first 6 or seven months post op. When I did try it again, the bubbles made me very uncomfortable -- overly full and as if I had a weight sitting on my chest.

Now I have some Coke Zero almost every day. I can only drink it poured over ice and stirred a bit. I CANNOT drink it from the bottle or can. I love getting a large fountain drink with a lot of ice and sipping it over the day. It's not ideal, my doctor doesn't love it, and I do not recommend it. That said, it doesn't make me crave other foods, it helps me get my liquids down, my doc gave me a sort of ok, but only if I drink Decaf, so I indulge a bit. If it's my biggest vice, so be it.

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It expands your stomach and since we have little room it can cause some serious issues. Also it is a big red flag as there is no nutritional value to it at all and pushes the need for artificial sugars or the refined sugar to the extreme.

My nut told me that if she sees a patient who drinks soda of any kind it means they are doomed. I took that seriously. I do not drink soda of any kind. Others can handle it. Me nope, and now that I have hypoglycemia (reactive) It is no longer even a thought.

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I asked my surgeon about it at my 4-week follow-up exam. He said if I don't mind the burping it causes, I am free to have a diet soda once in awhile. Since pretty much everything I eat or drink makes me burp, I have had a fountain soda 3 or 4 times a week since then. Always over ice, usually with a straw. I don't have a NUT (and don't want one, I hear they brainwash people) so I take my surgeon's advice.

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I've drank carbonadted drinks - soda and beer, but it was probably a year post-op that I did. I've always been real careful how much I drinking per sip. I also tend to pour it over ice to get rid of some carbonation. It does make me feel full very quickly. But I'm a Crystal Light kinda guy, so I rarely drink canned or bottled drinks.

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I asked my surgeon about it at my 4-week follow-up exam. He said if I don't mind the burping it causes, I am free to have a diet soda once in awhile. Since pretty much everything I eat or drink makes me burp, I have had a fountain soda 3 or 4 times a week since then. Always over ice, usually with a straw. I don't have a NUT (and don't want one, I hear they brainwash people) so I take my surgeon's advice.

My nut is part of the Bariatric team. She is like no other nut. She believes in moderation and balance in all things except things that can hurt your surgery. You would be thrilled to have her. She is amazing and has been there for me whenever I have needed her. She taught me to eat again after 5.5 months of not eating. She believes we live in the real world and need to eat in the real world. I am not brain washed, I have learned a lot from this lady! :)

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@RJ'S/beginning

I know you have had your struggles since beginning this journey. I was not trying to discredit NUT's everywhere, but only commenting on those that I've run into. I am very happy that you have found a NUT that you can trust!

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@RJ'S/beginning

I know you have had your struggles since beginning this journey. I was not trying to discredit NUT's everywhere, but only commenting on those that I've run into. I am very happy that you have found a NUT that you can trust!

I know what you were referring to. I too think that nuts in the traditional way can be demeaning to us. I mean who really should follow the 5 food groups? Who even came up with that? And I think it was formed in the 50's. Hello. Times have changed get cracking with the times. I know it was not personal. I just wanted to let you know that there are some out there that really know their stuff. I got one. One thing went right eh.. ;)

But you are right, most of them are stuck on the 5 major food groups and they have little bed side manner.

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I don't believe in being doomed nor does my NUT, thankfully. :)

I drink soda, I am not doomed. I am a few pounds above my stretch goal weight but I am healthy as a horse, I make great nutritional choices 90% of the time, I log my meals, I exercise. I have a three pound bounce range that my body has settled into quite comfortably.

I'm good. Definitely not doomed. HA!

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I don't believe in being doomed nor does my NUT, thankfully. :)

I drink soda, I am not doomed. I am a few pounds above my stretch goal weight but I am healthy as a horse, I make great nutritional choices 90% of the time, I log my meals, I exercise. I have a three pound bounce range that my body has settled into quite comfortably.

I'm good. Definitely not doomed. HA!

Her words not mine....lol! I doubt you would allow yourself to fail..I think you got this! :rolleyes:

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My surgeon said no carbonated beverages, so I have no carbonated beverages. I drank diet soda heavily before surgery, gave it up when I was banded in 2010, never went back to it even after having the band removed. I don't miss it and much prefer my healthy sleeve to a glass of soda. Now, coffee, real, caffeinated Black coffee, that I still miss.

Susan

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I have one once in awhile now, but didn't until I was more than six months out. I hold it in my mouth for a few seconds before I swallow so most of the carbonation fizzles out. I think in moderation, its fine. I have a diet soda maybe twice per month, and usually don't even finish it. I also don't believe that it would stretch your stomach unless you were drinking big chugs of it all day. You're more likely to stretch your stomach with too much solid food or foods that expand like rice. For me at least, liquid just slips right through, and the soda fills me up so fast I don't really want a lot of it, usually just a few sips.

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@RJ'S/beginning What is a "nut" are we talking about someone's profession? I'm confused at the "nut" acronym? Who's a nut? Do I have a nut?

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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