I am completely understanding of your problem. I use food as a crutch for every emotion. I am 2 months from surgery so I am trying to work on this. It is my biggest fear only eating liquids. I have heard from many that you must have 3-4 protein shakes a day and no chewable food and sugar free popcycles, crystal light, 64 oz water. They say the protein helps with your hunger. You have quit smoking now also wow what a woman you are. I'm counting on you to get through this and let me know so I know I can do this.

Thank you so much,

mokee

the first day was actually a breeze for me, and now on my 4th day (i think) im not having 'real' hunger. it's all my brain! it's that i'm missing the food and i give in, so now i am going to have to come up with a plan to stop sabotaging myself!! if we don't see it, we can't eat it right? the protien shakes really do fulfill your true hunger....i start out my days on a great note, when i'm truly hungry and have a no sugar added instant breakfast and i'm satisfied....then it's all down hill lol! i think we need to set ourselves up for success and throw everything out(or at least get it out of sight) that we cannot have...it's the only way(for me i think) to get through this pre op diet crap! I KNOW we both can do this, it's just a matter of mind over food!

I did ok on the pre op but mine was basically the Atkins diet not liquid. It was when I came home after surgery and couldn't eat anything but liquids for the first 2 weeks, my head was playing some games on me!! I cried and had a little pity party but now I'm 3 weeks out and halfway to normal foods again =) YAY! It's not that you can't have anything but liquids but that I can't eat but a few "licks" or sips of whatever and I'm done. I look at the rest of the food and get so aggravated I can't finish it or at least get a few more bites in. I know I need the protein and nutrition but it takes me all day to get down the protein and vitamins!! lol Such a weird head game, wanting and needing food but simply not being able to get it in. Good luck with the pre op and your sleeve journey, it's harder than I anticipated but I am down 32 lbs since I started pre op till now so it is all worth it!!! Almost to Onederland!!!

I was a 3 shake a day person with sf-popsicles/sf-jello and crystal light. I had 14 days of it.

If you did a big meal before you started this you are probably going to suffer more.

Day 3 & 4 are the hardest. The cookie, bad idea. You keep saying you want to do it, and you keep saying you want this, but yet, you ate a cookie. Dust it off .

Each time you cheat you are justifying it, by your job, your kids whatever, you are making it "ok" in your mind, it's not okay to cheat though.

There was a woman in the last few months that did the same thing and went into surgery and was told..sorry your liver is too big, and got it postponed.

The sleeve is a tool, it's up to you to use the tool. You actually get REAL food. People that only get 3 shakes a day were able to do it.

Blaming this on obesity isn't helping either. It's just another excuse.

Tell yourself YOU CAN DO THIS, and you will. Get a behaviorist or psychological help somewhere along the line. Food cannot be your "best friend" it's not living and breathing. it's nourishment, that's all it is.

If you want comfort hug your pillow, a friend, your kid, a dog. Tell yourself you can do it and just do it.

Good luck to you, I am sure you will get lots of hugs and encouragement from others, I'm a realist. You need to up your positivity to make it through this and you need to depend on yourself. The sleeve is only a tool, it's how you use the tool that depends on your success.

My surgery is also on July 23 and I have found that the pre-op diet---well---sucks. We are being asked to do an extreme diet for 2 weeks without the tool that we will have after surgery. Plus, add to the mix the anxiety of an impending surgery, getting things wrapped up at work for your time out, getting family settled and prepared for your hospital stay, reviewing the risks vs benefits of surgery to make sure we are ready to go through with it...the list goes on and on. If you are at all an emotional eater.....and I don't know how in the world I would have reached 300 pounds without being one--some nice comfort food would really help. The first few days I was whiny, overly sensitive, had a headache, shaky, irritable and just basically unpleasant to be around and miserable. Then I made a mistake of posting something on here and got a dose of "tough love" and comments like "if you can't do the pre-op maybe you shouldn't have surgery." It was not helpful at all.

Look at all you have done thus far. You have already broken several bad habits....that is great. Some people try to quit smoking for years without success. Pop was very hard for me to let go of. I of course will encourage you to stick to the diet, but I would also encourage you to not be so hard on yourself. After surgery you will have a tool to help.

Also, consider going and seeing a movie. I have found it is the perfect thing to do for a distraction. I sneak in a bottle of crystal lite and take only enough money for the ticket. Then I can relax and get engrossed in the movie and all the diet issues take a back seat for a while.

We can do this! Surgery day is just around the corner!

If you think you need a behaviorist, it's probably a good idea. If you cannot break the hold food has over you, you WILL fail. I have friends who have had RNY bypass and are putting the pounds back on because they were unwilling to make the changes necessary. Like others have said, the sleeve is just a TOOL, not a miracle. You CAN do this, but you must believe in yourself.

"If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse."

i am completely willing to make the changes, it's just harder than i had oringinally expected! Obesity is not my excuse....there'a a lot to my life history that i am not going to divulge to complete strangers that would explain why YES food is my best friend.....i understand it's not living and breathing but it still is my best friend. my issue is not a "well i never feel full" it's a mental issue....i'm not the type of person to hand out hugs or console in an animal(it's just my personality)...i chose food....as a child, my family chose food....it's a life time of habit and emotion that i am going to have to break....I get frustrated really easy and tend to giveup. BUT i haven;t given up this time, i did dust it off and came back at it with a vegance today...and i'm doing great!(so far lol) i appreciate all the feed back and the "tough love"! i will get through this and be happier and healthier in the long run!

The "mental issue" isn't solved through surgery, and as KS Fort Worth pointed out, without a mental change, the weight will come back. I found that having admitted I couldn't lose the weight on my own, and having decided that I was going to do the surgery, it seemed to "break" some barrier in me about asking for help. I don't know about you, but changing the habits of a lifetime didn't come easy and I was incredibly grateful (and helped by) a CBT therapist, especially at the beginning.

Making the time to see a CBT therapist with experience in motivation or coaching could be the difference for you between success and the alternative.

:)CE

seein someone for the mental side of this is something i have strongly considered, but i just don't have the money for that right now....it's a miracle in itself that i'm even getting the surgery done! i have a great support system at home, and i know they are there if i need to talk things through, but I have to be able to open up and i'm not good at that at all....i'm a very independant and stubborn person, and i hate admitting i need any kind of help. the surgery itself was admitting defeat(at first) but i DO need help with my weight, i can't do it on my own....now i just need to get my mind wrapped around that with the emotional/mental issue and i will be good to go! thanks for all the input : )