I am 4 months post op and 3 days before my surgery, my wife of 12 years decided that it was time for a separation. Great timing. Anyways that was 4 months ago and now I'm on the dating scene. I've been on a few dates and most of the dates revolve around going out to restaurants or bars. The food isn't an issue but the drinking part is what I'm curious about. Will having a few drinks on the weekends impede my ability to lose the maximum amount of weight during my rapid weight loss phase?

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Unless you subtract out equivalent calories to make up for the alcohol, yes, of course it will. Extra calories = slower weight loss. You could always choose to do something like skip breakfast and lunch to make up for drinking alcohol -- how much food you need to cut out of your diet depends on what kind of drinks you are having and what "a few" drinks means to you.

Not saying I think it's a healthy choice (AT ALL) but it's your body, your decision.

I am sorry about your wife's leaving. I can't imagine how hard that must be.

Thanks for the response! I stick with vodka and cranberry or something of that nature. I'm not drinking 8 or 9 beers. I'll have 2 maybe 3 drinks. I've already lost 50 lbs so I want to keep it going strong but I still have to sort of live my life too. By the way, I haven't told any of the girls I've dated that I had the surgery. I don't think they need to know that yet. If I get serious enough with one of them then I will tell them

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It's ok to drink but what I would try is to burn those extra calories you drank the next day with cardio.

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Although Alcohol is frowned upon due to lack of nutritional value, empty calories, sugar content etc. You have to gage it for yourself. Is it worth it? Are you following your plan? What will your limitations be? This could turn into a regular thing and that's where it can start to get fuzzy.

My personal experience I am a little over 4 months myself. I do drink occasional cocktails. During the summer MY husband and I were going out approx. 3 nights a week. Alcohol would sometimes be involved. I explained to him I can't drink like that but I don't mind joining you for a drink just understand that I'm concerned how the calories affect my weight loss. If I were dating, I'd just say, I'm trying to lose a few lbs so I'm trying to chill on the drinking for now.

I exercise 4 days a week. 1 hour. I follow my plan as best as I can. Sometimes I don't eat enough but I'm working on it. If I have plans to go out that day, or later I adjust my eating to accommodate a potential drink. If I'm having a bad week plan wise-- I don't drink. It is a very fine balance and I'm very disciplined. I've not experienced any stalls since surgery. If I felt like it slowed down my weight or caused me to stall I would not do it.

On the other hand, I have a friend who had the sleeve. She has stayed within 10 lbs of her goal weight for 4 years. I feel that she drinks often. Maybe because I'm not a big drinker. She goes out at least 3-4 nights a week and drinks 2-3 cocktails each time. Mind you she had to have a revision because drinking stalled her weight loss after the first surgery.

So think about that. It's not a good idea... WLS patients tend to give up one vice for another. If you can be sensible about it I don't see it being a problem. Just know that by you being on the single scene... the opportunity may present itself far more often in the months to come. I'm a married old hag so I don't go out much-- not as many opportunities to get in trouble.

I exercise regularly and I'm really watching what I eat so I think I'll just keep going on the pace that I'm on as far as the alcohol. I don't drink during the week and I'm not getting ****faced on the weekends. I need some type of outlet with all of the stress I'm dealing with now lol!

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Two things- yes it will affect your loss. Your body will burn that alcohol before it burns anything else. THe people that I've seen going through regain MOSTLY have issues with alcohol. It's a lot of sugar and carbs, and even if you choose a lower carb option, choosing to drink less often will help in the long run,

Secondly, transfer addiction is REAL. The number of patients I know that drink most nights or every weekend is HIGH. A gal I know had to have her lapband removed because she couldn't eat so she drank herself sick. Maintain control, don't let your drinking get to that point. Alcohol is not a coping mechanism. It's not an outlet. Use it sparingly.

I would hold off on a lot of alcohol until you're MUCH further out, which is not advice anyone wants to hear but... yes it will affect your weight loss.

You need to be careful with alcohol. Wls patients can become alcoholics, by trading one addiction for another. Not only is it empty calories but our bodies no longer process alcohol as it did pre-surgery. If you're going to be drinking be careful driving. You may feel fine but if you got pulled over you more than likely will blow over the limit even though you feel fine. Not only that but you're in your honeymoon phase still so may not effect your weight too much but definitely will after you're out of your honeymoon phase. I have seen it with someone I know and they are now having a hard time losing even gained some weight back because of drinking and that person does cross fit at least 6 days a week but what good is the cross fit going to do if you're going to go and drink on weekends and put all that hard work to waste by putting all those empty calories back into your body. I personally want to get to my goal weight as soon as I can and I know drinking alcohol is not going to help me get there. This is a decision one has to make for themselves.

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Here's the thing......you are losing the weight and hope to better enjoy life and living.

Hopefully you've added exercise to your daily regimen. Occasional drinks are fine....be mindful of what you are having as mixers in those drinks, though. A good bartender can help ensure you are not getting sugary mess. Vodka and light mixer.

Sip not pound down.

All things in moderation.

Enjoy yourself yet keep on the scale and ensure that you are on track with your overall goals and making progress.

It definitely is empty calorie/carb intake, but hey, it happens! It's probably unrealistic to think that most of us will go through life without ever having another drink socially. What I try to do is limit it to the least amount of damage, First, I'm a lightweight with alcohol since surgery, so I limit to 1 drink and sip sip sip. :-) Second, I limit to the lowest possible caloric option, which is usually a vodka & club soda or something. I know, soda is bad, and you probably can't do the bubbles since you're pretty early on. My usual go-to is a boring (but fabulous) glass of wine. Not great, but not the worst calorie wise. You may see that you stay the same instead of losing the next morning, but I just would not make it a habit and save it for those social occasions. :-)

Thank you everyone for your replies! I guess I'm in a unique situation where I find myself a newly single father of two boys this quickly after my surgery. It sucks, I won't lie but I am going on dates and I'm really only drinking in moderation on the weekends, mostly only either Friday or Saturday, usually not both nights. I'm just nervous about derailing my weight loss abilities. My doctor said that I've lost about half of what I'm ultimately going to lose which is around 100 pounds. I feel like I'm kind of at a plateau right now. Not gaining but not losing as fast as I was early on. Is this normal?

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