Thank You For Your Interesting Replies

Actually I think my original post was misunderstood . I m experimenting with giving myself permission to drink a limited amount of red wine after a certain hour. That doesn't mean I don't try very hard not to drink it ( it's not easy not day drinking either trust me) .

More importantly I also make that hour or two sacred for relaxation ( which may be more important ) declining phone calls not obsessing about business etc . I read which for me is a lifelong pleasure and relaxation.

There are many days I don't drink at all ( approx 11 in the last two weeks ) . I don't think I've ever drank my quota ... day before yesterday I drank two sips and threw the rest out the next morning.

I'm not advocating drinking post op at all I think it's very risky both health wise and emotionally . Like I said I wish I'd been more open to regular therapy from the beginning to get the necessary emotional coping skills to replace the high of excess food with something other than a sports high .

I'm very curious how you guys cope - what do you at say 4 pm when you have the downturn in blood sugar ? How do get yourself to sleep at night ? What do you do when you have social or work pressure or anxiety ?

If you are dealing with a blood sugar spike, you should address that with food, rather than alcohol.

"I?m very curious how you guys cope - what do you at say 4 pm when you have the downturn in blood sugar ? How do get yourself to sleep at night ? What do you do when you have social or work pressure or anxiety ?"

It's part of my life. Where as I used to eat, I now exercise, read a book, walk, take my kid fishing, shop, watch a Yankee game, converse with a friend, my wife, etc. Stress, pressure, anxiety is part of life, part of living-there will ALWAYS be challenges, issues, anxieties. I know some have more than others, some cope better than others.

I drink a beer from time to time but never because I'm stressed, food was my drug of choice, as well as trying to ignore it. Texting, emailing, talking with others, along with exercise, other recreation, and addressing the issue is my new out. Problems still come in waves, they always will, but I always know that one week, one month, one year, I will look back and know I made it through-they are never as bad as we make them out to be. It's what works for me.

Ty Willie ((()))

Most of the time I cope by working or playing with my dogs, training has "mostly" been a passion my whole life. During a brief period when I was training full time and had major health issues it wasn't, actually it wasn't fun or relaxing at all during that time. Now I have a different full-time job and I'm super healthy it a my most significant passion. This is how I cope most of the time, sometimes I still make bad choices regarding my food, 98% of the time I make great choices so I don't dwell on the bad one. I had some regain after my mom died and I'm 1/2 through losing that. It wasn't much and I got a handle on it extremely fast. Work pressure is funny, we have Nerf wars in the office for stress, it helps A LOT!! As far as anxiety goes, I take medication for that and it's under-control.

But maybe this is MY issue . Maybe I don't trust people so much after a lifetime of bullying and abuse that I can't choose anyone decent . So often o just want to run to somewhere safe if not food because I can't eat like that anymore then somewhere else. I hate feeling so helpless and vulnerable ... so I run .

Please believe me it's not a lack of self discipline - I worked hard enuf this year to buy a half million dollar oceanfront apartment in Florida outright ( no mortgage :) ) I know I often sound like a nut on here but there's a big part of me that's very successful and manageable ( and socially acceptable lol) . And I do pretty well with the healthy diet and exercise part of post op which IS significant )

For the record I guess: The book(s) you've read are likely Geneen Roth's. She stressed intuitive eating and feeling your body, etc.

Wish those had worked for me. Even when I was slender I never had success with her suggestions. She comes from a good place that just unfortunately doesn't help as many as she had hoped I think.

Ooh ...at first it didn't help m either . For one thing I had a serious PHYSICAL problem ( a huge hiatal hernia causing acid reflux diabetes and metabolic syndrome )

She's just a healthy naturally skinny Jewish chick lol... so we came at the issue from very different places ... yet I felt instincintively that she was right that permission is the key to discipline ( at least for unteachable chronic rebels like me )

I eat everything I want now .. half a spoonful tasting at a time . I cook all the time and taste .... but prefer to cook for other people rather than freeze. It's harmless entertainment and honestly ... everyone compliments me on how healthy and great tasting my food is . I enjoy baking with my Mother because she's suffering memory loss and this activity helps her balance her sociability her willingness to read and follow directions so it's stimulation on many levels and also bonding between us .

I've learned to cook very small amounts like oriental people do - always fresh . And it's great to have healthy frozen snax available when U really want one .. just one .. I nibbled on a fat free sugar free dark chocolate morello cherry brownie for half a day and ended up throwing half of it away ... but it's nice not to have to resort to commercial products .

Hiatal hernias do not cause metabolic syndrome.

I had both though and diabetes as well. Before my surgery I was on Metformin for years.