FreeToBeMe

I had a three month wait for my surgery due to postponement for financial reasons. I spent a lot of that time stress eating because I was incredibly anxious about the operation. I had to spend January taking that weight off. I found a competent pyschologist and that helped me to work through my fear. I think that the important thing to remember is that you don't have binge on foods that you think you'll never have again in an amount that is emotionally comforting. You do crave them now but once you are sleeved that intense yearning will be gone and it is OK emotionally not to have them. People who have the sleeve longer than me can speak to this better. Good Luck! Pennie

Hi All, I am feeling pretty good except for the burping everytime I drink a sip of plain Water. Crystal Light does down more smoothly. How long did it take y'all to rid of the awful gas? TIA, Pennie

Hi All, I am on the losers' bencn now! Everything went well and my worse problem is the gas pains. Also, I can't drink plain Water too happily. Crystal Light goes down better. Take care, Pennie

Hi All, Without being to graphic now, what do the different clears taste like? I got the Fruit Punch Super whey from WalMart because it is the cheapest. The taste is like a sweet tart and I am not too fond of sour stuff. I am wondering if Isopure and Profect are sweeter? Is it ok to mix Crystal Light into it the first week post-op? TIA, Pennie

I know I need to ask this of my coordinator but would like to get y'all opinions on this. I love to make egg drop soup with the eggbeaters and wondering how soon after I am sleeved can I get back to it? What about adding ground black pepper? TIA, Pennie

I know that tea is out because of the caffeine but I wonder if herbal tea is ok?

Diane, good luck tomorrow. OMG, a three clear liquid diet on a full stomach sounds brutal. I too think about it will be like to live on the protein drinks and shakes and not have food around for emotional comfort. I plan on becoming obsessed with the Winter Olympics to take my mind of the liquid diet. LOL. Anyway, let us know when you are back and positive vibes for a speedy recovery. Bella, my surgery is on Wed at 7:30 in the morning. I have to be there at 5:30:scared0:. Good luck to all my sleevers to be. Keep in touch:thumbup: Pennie

So I am starting a 3 day liquid diet (not impressive for those for who have done it 2 weeks). I am not too nervous today but I expect that tomorrow the nerves will start. It helps to be busy packing and planning what to eat after I am post-op. I am also trying to do the 50 reps of breathing exercises the Doc prescribed. Anyone else have to do this? I don't mind because the deep breaths are actually relaxing. Just can't believe that I will be on the losers' bench on Wed. I did the class with bariatric coordinator on Fri and that was great because she detailed exactly what would happen starting with when I arrive at the hospital at 5:30 AM:eek:. I just want to wish all my fellow sleevers the best of luck! Pennie

I have surgery on Wed and I have to confess that I had one half of a girl scout cookie. Once that sugar hit my system that was all she wrote. I ended up eating about 2 cups of mac and cheese. I couldn't believe how the binge eating madness took me over. I have stayed away from sugar and other simple carbs. Assessing the damage, I decided that since I have lost 24 pounds over the last 3 1/2 weeks I will be ok. I am adding two days to my liquid diet starting today and will drink a gallon of water daily. I really didn't think that I would lose control like that and go food-crazy but I think something in that cookie set me off. Up to that point, I was low carbing it and not feeling intense urges to eat. Good luck all.

I finally upon a combo that tastes like comfort food. One chocolate Muscle Milk Light mixed with two tablespoons of PB 2. O my gosh, it tastes like a Reese's :drool5:and has 24 grams of protein. For those who do not know about PB 2, you can learn more at the Bell Plantation website.

OMG, I meant to write CAN'T spoil my pre-op! Freudian Slip. Pennie

OK, we are in the home stretch:scared0: I have to go to wedding today and I can't not spoil my pre-op diet. No cake, no appetizers, no champagne :sad0: But it's all good because I am doing it for a higher cause:thumbup: I hope all of fellow sleevers are feeling good and not too crazy with anxiety:crying: Let's stick together and post a lot. Pennie

Last night, I dreamt that I ate an entire package of Oreos! I woke up thinking I had ruined the pre-op diet. I had to look around and say, "No Oreos here." The strange thing is I rarely eat Oreos but now I crave almost all foods except vegetables.

Sending you positive vibes for a speedy recovery and wonderful new life! I love when you wrote about pizza-flavored emotions! I am in the same boat and am learning tools for dealing with stress and happiness too. Good luck. Pennie

I am on the pre-op diet and dream about forbidden foods a lot.

Hi Lan, I hope you are feeling better. I have been on Abilify for about three years and take it to augment the Lexapro for depression, anxiety and OCD. The main side effect for me is to feel light-headed when I stand up after sitting for a while. Exercise really helps curtail that one. Abilify is an anti-psychotic but it has a lot of off-label uses like treating depression. I see it advertised on TV a lot for depression. I sounds like you have an excellent psychologist too. I just found mine in Oct and really like her. Good luck and stay strong! Pennie

Another day, another Muscle Milk. LOL. Yesterday, I mixed a vanilla Muscle Milk with PB2 (the lowfat Peanut Butter powder) and it was great-a break from the sweetness in most of these shakes. I also got my box of Protein powder samples from the Vitalady website and I don't know if I should try them now or wait til I am post-op. I hear one's tastes really change. Bella, I am sorry too that you got postponed. What a bummer! I had to delay my operation three months and that let me have one too many "Last Suppers". Take care, everyone. Pennie

Dear Lan, I really feel your desperation through your words. I think that it is a good idea to try to find another psych doc. I have been through a few clunkers myself. Just as aside, have you tried to get your Omega oils in? I take krill oil and it elevates my mood. I had to go off of it this week because of the upcoming surgery but I will be back on it. Also, consider your level of Vitamin D. Are you taking supplements? I don't know if this might be applicable to your situation but I take 15 mg of Abilify as this really help take the edge off. Abilify is the most weight-neutral of the anti-psychotics IMHO. I don't know if it is generic yet. Now that I am on the pre-op diet and can't eat food I want for comfort, I am freaking out. Here, for the first time in my life, I am deeply stressed and can't turn to eating to calm down and go into a food coma. I can see how you may be extremely depressed over the absence of your old eating patterns. To deal with this myself, I started seeing a psychologist which a I prefer over a psychiatrist because they don't usually have that arrogance that some MDs have. The psychologists are there to listen to you instead of concentrating on meds to do the work. I know that is not something that you want to hear when you are down and listless but try to get some exercise in. Start off slow. I find that just doing something for 10 mins can perk me up mentally. My surgeon told me that I only have to stop taking my psych meds for a day so I don't expect a major disruption. Take care.

Hi All, Here I am sipping on my Muscle Milk Light (I love it too) and I wanted to say Hi to all my fellow Sleevers-to-be. I just picked up my post-op pain medicine and it is a huge bottle of syrup! I wonder how long I will be on it. It looks like it will last a long time. Tomorrow, I am going to Wal Mart to get my final shopping list done. I need to get a sippy cup and the rest of my Profect-like drinks. And I want to get new underwear--is it funny that I care about how I look in the hospital? That's my mother's influence there. Take care everyone. Pennie

Hi All, I noticed that broth is the only non-sweet thing I'll be able to eat for a spell post-op. My question is this supposed to regular broth that I can buy from the grocery or is it a special kind of broth? TIA, Pennie

How do/did y'all deal with the pre-surgery nerves? I have never had an operation before and as the big day, Feb 10th, draws near I am getting super anxious. It is very difficult now that I am on the pre-op diet and can't use food to calm my nerves. I know that this is the start of a new lifestyle and I have been preparing by seeing a psychologist and cleaning out my kitchen. Still, it is hard to be in one of the most stressful times of my life and not have food as a comfort. I am going to push myself through this and would love to hear from others about they handled this difficult time. Thanks!

I don't have experience with Remeron but I am interested in how you fare. Right now, I am on Lexapro and Clonazepam and plan to continue that after my surgery. I have tried most of the SSRI's and found Celexa or its follow-up, Lexapro, to be the best fit for me in controlling anxiety. Although, the Klonopin does make me drowsy and I sleep more than I would like. Good luck!

Hi All, I am scheduled for the 10th. The anxiety is really starting to increase and last night I went a few hundred calories over my pre-op plan. I told myself that this is it and I have to decide if I am for this surgery and new way of eating 100%. It so hard to not to be able to stress eat but I know that I will make it because I decided that I really do want this. I can't wait til I can go shopping in my own closet. I have cascading sizes in there--really tons of clothes that I have collected over the years in the hope that I would lose weight. So I am 38 and haven't worn a dress or a skirt in over 10 years because I feel so dumpy in them. I have to go to a wedding on Saturday and I wearing black pants and a shiny top, It's ok but I would love to wear a cute dress. Thinking about the fun of losing this weight helps me get through the pre-op nerves. I am going to have excess skin in my tummy but I will settle for that any day! Positive vibes for great surgeries and speedy recoveries for all of us!! Pennie

Howdy All, I have reading this forum for a few months and am now on my way to a sleeve on Feb. 10th. A few days ago, I had that infamous last meal and it was a learning experience. It interrupted a previous week of drinking Protein shakes and going low carb/no junk. Now, I did enjoy that Last Supper. It was yummy. But, afterwards, I felt sluggish and in a food coma. Coming off a week of losing weight and feeling more energetic, I realized that I didn't want mass amounts of junky foods like I thought I did. Now that I am on the official pre-op diet of 2 shakes and a sensible meal, it is a bit of a struggle but I am glad to be back to a healthier lifestyle. I am quite nervous about the surgery but I am also very excited at the prospect of losing all this excess weight that I have been gaining steadily since college. My BMI is around 51 and I hope to lose something like 180lbs:eek: which seems like such an overwhelming amount. I have closets full of clothes spanning just about every size from then to now. I even have a trunk full of clothes from high school that are now just hideously out of fashion:scared0:. Thanks to everyone for all the support and the totally useful info I get from this place. See y'all on the losers' bench!

We all make mistakes. Just learn from this one and try to get all your Water in. It must be very difficult to be on an all liquid diet. Can you eat any solids at all? I am on two shakes a day with one low-carb meat and veg meal. Good luck! Pennie