When did you....

Ok, so tomorrow will mark 1 month since the date of my RNY and I am so happy I have made this decision, but I was wondering when some of you started eating/drinking certain things.

The reason I ask this is because I had a really big sweet tooth before I had surgery-I"m not looking to go back to that because then; really what was the point of having the surgery, however, I really miss having my Diet Dr. Pepper to help wake me up.  I haven't had any since 2 weeks before my surgery and I am really craving one.

So how long did you wait before you had:
Soda
Alcohol
Chocolate
Chips

I don't want these things all the time, but I really could go for some caffiene and I'm not a huge fan of coffee other than Frapps from Starbucks...speaking of which...how long was it before you tried one of those?

Hi, Samantha.

I don't want to sound like your conscience, but you are looking at a slippery slope.   I drank 3-4 cokes a day before surgery and quit them just the day before.   Loved my Cokes!   Luckily, I've had 3 sips since then and they all tasted crappy!   No bubbly pop for me.   
Try getting more sleep and you will wake up better as you lose weight and aren't so tired from carrying it around.
Alcohol. . . .I was looking forward to my first beer (and the first sip tasted lousy!) and maybe a ****tail.  In 5 months I have been out twice and I find I can do a bloody mary, but do ask the waitstaff for just 1/2 of the vodka so I am not getting too much too fast.  Not the right answer, I'm sure, but it is the true one.
Chocolate - bitesize dark chocolate doesn't seem to make me dump, but I didn't try that until after 3 months.  No more than one just to melt it in my mouth for the pure pleasure of it.
Chips - I love chips and salsa and have discovered a bean dip (Tostitos Bean and Cheese) that I like.   I load those bitesize chips up and never have more than 10.  It satisfies me but I only do this maybe twice a week.   I definitely do not want to get back into my old patterns and I think it would be verrrrry easy to do as I have an accomodating pouch!

Good luck to you, and please do be very careful to try these slowly and in moderation!

Tuna

These are my thoughts.........

1. No POP.... that will stretch your new tummy and you do not want that.

2.  Alcohol Not sure I am not a drinker.......

3. Chocolate if you can avoid it AVOID it.  I started with it and don't get sick and It will cause you to gain weight if you eat alot.  For me I have been stuck at the same weight for almost a year and it is not where I wanted to be.  I really wish I wouldn't of tried the stupid evil chocolates.........

4.  Chips that is in the same vote as the chocolates........ There bad for you and I just had to try them and I am hooked can't quit.  I really wish I could because I don't want the weight coming back.  You have worked to hard to get to this point don't screw it up by falloing back into your old habits.  this si a new start DO IT RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please don'r do what I did If you can at all stay away from the junk.  Good luck to ya sweetie...........

Samantha,
I am one day behind you as far as surgery goes.  You are doing great at a 46 pound loss from surgery or did that include pre surgery weight loss?  I have only lost 15 pounds since surgery but all of my clothes are loose and I can feel that I have lost weight and what I feel is way more than the 15 pounds the scale shows!!  I am lucky so far that I have not had any cravings other than salt and that was sorta taken care of when my husband was nice enough to salt my soup for me and forgot it was only three tablespoons and not a bowl....yuck!!!  I have not given into any coffee yet and I miss it dearly.  I have not even thought about sweets, great huh!!  I had trouble with sugar before surgery so that helps me now.  I have been told by those that have been there before not to give in to the cravings because they will come back to bite you.  I have stayed pretty true to the diet my program gave me except I became lactose intolerant after surgery so no yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, cheese etc.  I was a big yogurt and cottage cheese person before surgery!!

Even though I am a day behind you....try your best not to give in yet....hang in there if you can!!

Good luck to you.

Donna

Donna-
I was 307 the day I made my ticker and 303.8 the day of surgery..I stepped on the scale this morning and was 263!  So the majority of it is post surgery weight loss.  

Contrary to my post, I do drink a lot of water with small chunks of ice (I was an all day snacker before surgery to keep myself awake at work and now instead of snacking on candy I snack on ice) and I go for a 1-2 mile walk during my lunch hour (I work downtown St. Paul and I walk in the tunnel system under the city) depending on if I have to pick up my 3 year old from preschool.

So I am pretty active and I do stick to my diet and work my tool the way I should...however I really do miss my sweets but I do know not having them in my life is what's saving it and I realize the sacrifice is worth the rewards.

I'm like Donna - no desire to even try to do that yet!  I am afraid of dumping, and therefore am not tempted.  I did try baked chips (potato), just ate a few at a work party, but that's been about it.  I'm determined not to enjoy the same treats, but to enjoy the new body instead.  I was a diet coke fanatic, but no desire for it at all now.  I also miss my coffee SO much!

Keep in mind that you took this HUGE step to have surgery to change your life.. and part of that change is to break from old habits and begin new healthy ones. Thats the deal with this surgery.. if you go back to old habits, you won't lose, or if you do lose, you're going to gain back.

You probably won't be able to drink soda even if you desire it. You simply won't be able to tolerate it physically.. like others said it sort of blows up your pouch and you get very uncomfy quickly- I accidentally took a huge swing of water which I didn't know was carbonated and it totally sucked!!!

All the things you have listed are not part of our new lifestyles. Can you never have any again, well no. But at only one month out you should not even "want" to try these things.. don't slide down that slippery slope... all you're going to do is throw yourselves to the wolves and stop your progress, and go back to old habits that got us where we were pre-surgery. 

You should concentrate on healthy protein rich food at this point.. you want to produce the best results you can.

I had WLS on 9/30/09 so I'm 7 weeks out.  I know you're supposed to wait on caffine and alcohol.  But when I went back to work in week 5 I started mixing decaf with caffinated coffee and that seemed to go down ok. when i tried caffine alone I got an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach for hours after.  I heard it's hard on your pouch.  I don't drink much coffee but I really need it (bad sleep apnea - hope WLS cures me but it will be a while) on days I work.  i have about a cup or 1 1/2 cups every day and haven't had any problems. But definitely try decaf first, if you like it - you're good to go. If you don't like it (I couldn't stand it) try herbal tea for a while - that was good.  Then mix decaf and caffine coffee and see how you feel.  This is all if you just don't think you can follow the guidelines of no caffine ever again!  I knew I just couldn't do that. 

I'm not a pop drinker - so can't comment there.  And I haven't tried chocolate yet because I'm afraid! But I get my chocolate from carnation instant breakfast. I really like that and it had taken care of any thoughts I've had of chocolate. 

Alcohol - now that's a harder one. I know you're supposed to wait a year - right? I have always enjoyed wine - pre surgery I had a glass of wine or two a couple times a week with dinner or late at night by the fire.  Post surgery I've been avoiding it but did have a glass last weekend - very small glass and I had it stretch out over the course of almost two hours.  I never even got tipsy which is what they worry about.  So I was 6 weeks out when I tried it.  I haven't had it again - but don't feel like i absolutely won't have it -I just know that alcohol makes me hungry so will probably avoid it for the most part for the rest of my life except for special occasions and those times when I'm socializing with my friends.  I was lucky that my Dr. said he didn't share the same common opinion of 'beware of alcohol forever' but he did say it makes you drunk really easily and you definitely lose your ability to say no to food.  So that's the big reasons they don't want us to partake (unless there are other reasons - I think alcohol has a lot of sugar and calories too so that's a no brainer!).

Thanks for all your responses!  I am still at the stage where I'm scared to try any of it and I don't really want to dump so that's why I was asking.

I do have to say that my craving for sweet was really strong yesterday as I was having a bad day (when it rains it pours type of day).  I think this is a good revelation because now I know that I crave sweet when I'm stressed.

I am happy to say though that last night I did go out with friends and I did not have any soda or try any of the junk food.  I had some grilled chicken and broccolli cheese soup.  Then when everyone else was drinking their drinks and having fun, I was drinking my water (with a pretty straw and umbrella and a lemon) and having fun.  I think adding the "pretties" to my drink really made it feel like I was being more "risky" in my drinking.

Well, I know this is a ramble and the majority of it doesn't make much sense, but thanks for listening and for your responses.