I'm going into my senior year this fall at a big state school that has a LARGE social scene surrounding drinking. I hate to admit this but I've always taken pride in how much I can drink and not go crazy. I've only thrown up twice in my life and I'm proud of the fact that I can drink just as well as most of my guy friends. I'm pretty terrified for going back this year because my doctors have said to wait around a whole YEAR to drink again and although I know I'll never be able to keep up again, I do NOT want to be the only sober one at these parties and I refuse to let my social life suffer because I can't drink with my friends. Any help/tips? I know my case is very age-specific, but I'm sure most of you have experienced college or a similar party scene? PLEASE HELP!!

Hahah. Guess I could have just said I go to Penn State! I forgot what my username was!

Ugh, it sucks to be the only person in the room without a drink at a party. I drank a lot of Water with limes. I was told to wait a year but waited 9 months. I felt full and bloated the first few times but never got sick or felt any really bad effects. However since I wasn't at goal I kept the drinking to once every month or two.

Now at two and a half years out, I get very tipsy off of one or two drinks. I definitely don't enjoy drinking the way I did pre op. Getting buzzed off of one glass of wine is embarrassing. Two drinks and nighty-night. So the trade off of not drinking and living life as a size 4- totally and completely worth it.

What would suck more than not drinking during last year of college is to not find a job after college because you're too fat! It might be "illegal" to discriminate, but it is reality!

At the risk of sounding like a fuddy-duddy (boy does autocorrect love that one), it breaks my heart to hear that after three years of college (where you haven't even reached legal drinking age) the one thing you think defines your experience is drinking, and drinking to excess at that.

Believe it or not, you can have fun stone-cold sober. You can dance, you can socialize. You also can learn a lot, get better grades, and most importantly exercise better judgement -- about risks, relationships, etc.

Even if you never take another drink the rest of your life you can live a full and exciting life.

If the thought of taking a break from drinking in order to improve or even save your life is so terrible, I really think you would benefit from some soul-searching.

so many thoughts about what your auto correct changed fuddy-duddy to lol

Maybe you're not ready. Alcohol was never an issue for me except for tailgating at DMB shows every summer and let me say, after spending a weekend tailgating with 300+ DMB fans, I did great. Had one sip of a drink and decided it wasn't worth it. Your feelings mat change post op. Much like most of us no longer want fast food or junk or even soda. (I was a HUGE diet coke junkie). If you're that concerned about your ability to stay sober at a party to reach your weight loss goals than maybe you should postpone until after graduation

I'm thinking you would be better off with a glass or two of wine rather than hard liquor.

With the small amount of food we eat it is very easy to get tipsy. Believe me wine will do the trick easily!

I like prosecco and was given approval from my surgeon to drink it. The one I like is only 50 cals/glass (I use the small champagne flutes from Target). Some will balk at this but as I said, I got the okay directly from my doctor. He said let it sit in the glass for 5 minutes before drinking to let some of the bubbles out first.

Since you have quite a bit to lose, I would really wait as long as you possibly can, try your hardest for at least 6 months - just for the sake of maximizing your weight loss.

Please believe it when we say alcohol WILL slow your losses.

Protect your honeymoon period like it is a precious, priceless diamond!

What would suck more than not drinking during last year of college is to not find a job after college because you're too fat! It might be "illegal" to discriminate, but it is reality!

I hate that this is a reality but it is so true

Everyone is different. For me, not much has changed in terms of alcohol. I can have few drinks just as I could pre-surgery. I don't notice getting inebriated any quicker. Same issue applies, however - alcohol calories will make it harder to lose weight. If you want realistic answer, I'd say take it slow, listen to your body, and accept calorie trade-off. I probably had first drink couple months post-surgery. I probably only drink once every couple weeks. But except for the calorie issue, I think I could have drink everyday if I wanted.

Thank you so much to all of the people giving me honest and helpful answers! I understand that I need to be extremely cautious and I will definitely be waiting a while until I even try to drink again. I will definitely keep in touch and let you know how it all works out. Thanks again for all of the helpful info and the encouragement!

Just checking in to see how your summer is going. Are you in school this summer? If not, when do you head back?

I noticed you haven't posted in a while and am curious to see how you are doing.

I would hate it if we discouraged you and want to make sure you are ok.

I'm doing well! Thank you for asking!! I've hit a bit of a plateau for a bit and it's been messing with my head and a lot of other crazy stuff is going on in my life right now but I'm almost at the "unrestricted textures" phase and I'm excited to try making new recipes and such! I have decided that I am going to wait at the very least until thanksgiving break which will be about 6 months from now before I try to have a drink again. And after that I will practice extreme moderation. I'm going into senior year and I have a lot of plans for things I want to accomplish so I'm hoping that it won't be too hard to keep up with my friends and my old social life without all of the drinking. This whole process has been very thought physically and mentally and I know that it will remain to be difficult in the future. Just got to keep trucking! "Slowly but surely" has pretty much become my motto lately. How are you? And thanks again for checking in! It really means a lot to me to have people care about how I'm doing!

Congrats on your perserverance and success. You are right about the process requiring a great deal of toughness! Every great thing in life also requires that so I see you bound for great things!

It's great to hear you are doing well. You are at such an exciting and rewarding stage in your life. I know that the process of going through WLS and getting healthier will pay so many dividends for you. Yes, it's tough, but anything worthwhile is going to be hard.

I am doing well. (Thanks for asking!) My 3 month follow up was this week and I couldn't be happier with my progress so far. I am looking forward to regaining my mobility, energy, and stamina so I can get on with my life.

Keep us posted on how you are doing!

@@Inner Surfer Girl Hey girl! You are doing fantastic as well! Wow! 130 pounds thrown overboard! Surf's up!

I'm doing well! Thank you for asking!! I've hit a bit of a plateau for a bit and it's been messing with my head and a lot of other crazy stuff is going on in my life right now but I'm almost at the "unrestricted textures" phase and I'm excited to try making new recipes and such! I have decided that I am going to wait at the very least until thanksgiving break which will be about 6 months from now before I try to have a drink again. And after that I will practice extreme moderation. I'm going into senior year and I have a lot of plans for things I want to accomplish so I'm hoping that it won't be too hard to keep up with my friends and my old social life without all of the drinking. This whole process has been very thought physically and mentally and I know that it will remain to be difficult in the future. Just got to keep trucking! "Slowly but surely" has pretty much become my motto lately. How are you? And thanks again for checking in! It really means a lot to me to have people care about how I'm doing!

Well done so happy to hear that you know your limitations and your not letting it get you down. You have goals and plans on how to get there. You will succeed!

For those of you TELLING her to go back and rethink the surgery she already had it done so go back and read that part. I don't think ANYONE is in ANY shape to be advising someone to NOT have the surgery all because they have a LIFE. And while their LIFE may not be OURS or what WE DEPICT to be a life we should still be courteous of her feelings and stick to the topic. She's asking for opinions based in drinking if you don't drink don't answer simple as that! Not being rude but merely giving MY OPINION like most of you are. ☺️ everyone enjoy their day

Thank you and well said Harley.. I know that a lot of the critical comments in response to this are coming from a place of caring about the OP. BUT. I never took it as a desire to have tons of alcohol. I think the OP is worried her friendships will suffer based on the changes. That doesn't mean those changes aren't good or that she won't stick to them... OR that she wasn't ready to get sleeved. All of us have our own unique concerns for life after sleeve. Coming from someone that was horribly bullied all the way K-12 and didn't have friends until college.. if I felt making the right decision for my body or myself might interfere with my friendships.. I wouldn't hesitate to make that decision but I -would- be nervous about if I might feel... left out.. from my friends and my place in the social circle.. I -don't- think this is about an amount of alcohol.. it's about not wanting to lose the place she's identified as hers in her social circle just because she can't partake the way they do...

Hang in there! and BTW I definitely think it's okay for you to have a drink to Celebrate your graduation. Check with your NUT but that's a long way from now and I suspect you will have healed by now that one small drink of your choice won't be a big deal Just remember : Moderation and keep it in check and you'll do fine!

Good luck at school this year!

Even though I think everyone here has some very valid points about long term consequences and potentially setting yourself up for trouble by drinking, I must say that I really empathize with your predicament and know that there is a different kind of stress and shame socially when you don't partake in your usual eating and drinking routines while out with friends at our age (I'm in my mid 20's so slightly older)

I was still finishing grad school when I had my surgery, and even though my social group is less intense party wise than yours is, people in their 20's are under much greater pressure and scrutiny than when you get older and your friends start to settle down and the pack mentality lessens. I've been put on the spot in front of large groups of friends (not maliciously) and it is hard to explain a sudden huge shift in behavior to people who you aren't close enough with to tell, especially since partying at our age is a frequent occurrence and we don't have careers (I do now, but not until recently) and families to lessen our social activities.

I'm a year out now and started having a glass or two of wine from time to time. I now find drinking to be somewhat physically uncomfortable so it's easy for me to self limit, but I'm sure that will eventually change. It sounds like you will be out of the college atmosphere soon, so consider the first several months to be a time to set better habits without feeling like you can never drink again. The way I think about it is I have a choice between being the biggest party pooper in the room or the biggest girl in the room. It's hard to practice in reality but my guess is that you'd rather forgo the partying for the weight loss when you look back five years from now.

I also want to say that I respect everyone who is older and who has been through this' opinions, but to remember that you can't save people from making your mistakes. If I could go back in time I would tell middle school me to have more confidence, more compassion towards my peers, and more respect for my parents. But that's not how life works. Hindsight is 20/20, and we learn from our mistakes as we mature. Weight loss surgery is hard for people in their 20's just like it would be hard for someone in their 40's getting divorced and dealing with teenage kids. Wherever we are in life weight loss surgery is a deeply personal decision with individual challenges, and I have compassion for all of us who want better, healthier lives for ourselves.