Heatherr

I keep reading how many of you struggled very much through the pre op diet and felt very hungry and miserable from carb withdrawals. I am doing a strict low carb diet now while awaiting my surgery date and have lost 42lbs already. I am wondering...er....hoping that it will make doing the mostly liquid pre op diet easier. Any feedback or comments are appreciated. What were your experiences?

If you really want breakfast foods, don't forget turkey bacon and sausage or meatless sausage. The turkey bacon you really could have every day. Is it eggs in general that don't work? I make the kids breakfast burritos sometimes. The egg mixture is made with chopped veggies, sausage and american cheese. It ends up very moist and would probably slide through a bit easier than just plain old rubbery eggs, especially if you added salsa. This morning I mixed a little sf raspberry syrup in some plain greek yogurt and used it as dip for strawberries. That was 11.5g of Protein. If I added a couple slices of turkey bacon it would have been a few more. GL

My 42lbs loss has been over 3 months. I just dieted and exercised while waiting for all the paper pushers to do their jobs. I do have a mostly liquid pre op diet to do 9 days before surgery, so I expect to have about 50+ lbs off before surgery.

I know little about dumping and what it's like post op, but even in my normal life, if I had been dieting and eating well for a while, then ate fried fish and full fat ice cream until I was full, I would feel ill for quite some time.

Now that I don't do carbs, I use so much less butter. I actually can't remember the last time I used butter. I am a fan of the I can't believe it's not butter spray for veggies as needed. Clams are on sale this week, so when we have clams, I'll likely use some real butter for dipping. I use olive oil spray for when I saute or make omelets.

I only wear thongs unless it's my TOM and I'm still pre op. I prefer them, but agree you have to find which style works for you. My favorites are from Kmart and are stretchy lace. Target never has the bigger sizes. The bins are ALWAYS empty. Grrrrrr, but I like the looks of theirs for the price.

^^^^This

There are a lot of calories in carbs. Keep track of those. I try to keep mine under 30 and often come out under 20g. By doing this, I actually have a difficult time getting 900 calories in.

For what it's worth, the detox symptoms went away fairly quickly for me. It was only bad for 2 days, then annoying for a few more, but now I feel great most of the time. I have to struggle to get more than 800 calories and I am never hungry unless it's been more than 6 hours since I've eaten. I look at my small plate of food and am satisfied with it, often quite full after I'm done and I'm still pre op. I never would have thought 5 ounces of protein and some veggies would fill me up, but it does. You'll get through it and start to fell so good that you won't crave bad things all the time.

Wait!!! 80g of carbs is considered low enough to cause detox symptoms? Wow. It's funny how we all vary. I had to stay below 30 for a while for the dizzy, headache, lethargy thing to happen.

Yeah, it is way different. I'm curiosu to see what size I'll be when I'm at a normal weight. When I was lighter, I wore a 10 at about 145-150lbs and looked good in a bikini. (athletic build) Now, I see many of you wearing 6's at that weight, even a size 4. There was no size 0 that I remember either...or maybe I just didnt notice because I was never close to that size.

I'm still pre op, but even losing the 35lbs I have lost, the incontinence issue is far better. I had 5 vaginal births and thought I was out of luck, but am so thrilled to not have to wear extra protection anymore.

Frozen shrimp is almost as good as fresh. The thing is to buy it raw frozen and not cooked frozen. Once it's cooked and frozen, the texture is all wrong. I buy the frozen bags of raw shrimp all the time. I live off the stuff now. And I love that I can take out just a few at a time and defrost them in warm Water in minutes. I prefer the jumbos because they hold the heat better. The little ones get cold fast. I am usually in a hurry and don't go all out with fancy shrimp dishes unless it's a special occasion, but for a quick meal at home I usually just saute them in a pan (sometimes with asparagus) with some garlic or cajun seasoning or hot sauce. If you make them spicey, Greek yogurt mixed with dill makes a great dip. I also make stir fry with them. I just saute whatever veggies I have with the shrimp and make a slurry with soy suace, sesame oil, asian spices and toss it with the shrimp and veggies before serving. If you want it thick, add a little corn starch, but you don't need it. Another favorite is to toss them in ff Italian dressing, put them on a skewer and grill them. The grill gives the shrimp nice flavor. Pre wls diet, I would make shrimp marinara and shrimp scampi. You could make both without the Pasta, but it depends on where you are in your diet. You could probably doctor those recipes up to make them more healthful. Seriously, I live off the stuff now. I eat chicken breast, shrimp or salmon daily.

If they cover GB, do they cover 2-stage DS? If so, maybe you can go that route & just choose not to have part 2 of the surgery at a later day. ^^^^ooooo, good idea

Oh, and just to add......10 minutes walking on the treadmill and 10 minutes of lifting light weights or using the bands is suddenly 20 minutes of exercise that you hardly had to put effort into. And, it's over before you even hate it. Not bad...20 minutes, eh? Start slow. You CAN do it.

Yep, yep, yep. What they ^^^^^ all said. Start small, so it doesn't seem like a chore. All of a sudden you'll want to do it a little more and a little more because your body will crave it. I'm still pre op, considered morbidly obese <blah> and run over a mile per day now because I want to, but I started by walking and only ran for an exhausting 2 minutes the first time. I put the treadmill on an incline and walked at a fast pace at first. I cannot begin to tell you how much that has had a positive effect on my hips, thighs and buttocks. Even under all this fat, you can see some serious muscle tone now. And where I started at an incline of 3 walknig 2.6 mph, within 2 months I can have it at a 5.5 incline and walk at 3.2 mph. This is burning almost as many calories as I do when I run. Seriously. And it didnt take long at all to work up to that. Just start small. 10 minutes a day is still over an hour more of exercising a week than you're doing now.

Yep, normal. You should be feeling better in a few days. I can totally tell when my body goes into ketosis now. I get ridiculously thirsty no matter how much I drink, my mouth taste like feet and I get a headache, but that means I'm about to lose a lot of weight - something to look forward to.

Oooo, I have a 12yo son who is very scientific and may want to see. Do you have the a link to the animated video? I want to show the kids. I told my kids but kept it simple for the 4yo and 6yo. My 9yo daughter was crying last night when we talked about it because she was sad that I would be in pain and not able to eat. I explained to her that I would much rather feel bad for a little while so I can feel really, really good for the rest of my life. She understood when I explained it that way and settled, but she did express that she would miss the old me. Change is stressful for kids.

Have you tried unflavored protein powders? You can add them to soups or make a shake and add sugar free syrups to it so YOU control the sweetness. You can also add greek yogurt to things to add fat, calories and protein. Can you do mushed up refried beans yet? You can add some yogurt, sour cream or milk to thin them out. GL

Low vit D is fairly common. Mine was very low as well, but they did the test in March. I live in upstate NY, so I'm sure my vit D is low at the end of every winter. We get so little sun in winter. It's usually easily treated with vitamins, no biggie for most.

I still do veggies, but I don't do fruit and I can usually keep it around 30g a day. I have a protein powder that I mix with coffee and it comes to 25g of protein and only 3g carbs. I often eat eggs for breakfast and sometimes throw in some turkey bacon. My favorite is 1 egg plus 2 egg whites made into an omelet with portabello mushrooms and low fat cheese. I also eat a lot of low fat cottage cheese, string cheese, grilled shrimp and grilled chicken which I sometimes put on a salad. Sometimes I just grab some deli meat and roll it up for a quick snack. I make pizza bites by microwaving pepperoni so it gets a little crispy, then i top it with a little dollop of sauce and some low fat mozz cheese and toss them back in the microwave again. Dinner will often be salmon, chicken or shrimp by itself, in a stir fry or with a side of asparagus or broccoli. I like to snack on almonds or celery dipped in hummus. Last week I was craving tuna salad, so I made some but used romaine lettuce leaves as a wrap instead of a bread product. I even had corn on the cob one night and had a lot of beer last weekend at a bbq. I just planned it into my diet and made sure to be ultra low carb for the rest of the day and I still managed to keep total carbs around 30g.

I plan on continuing only going father as I lose weight, but I've always been an athlete and have been active. If it's not your thing, just walk and do some light weights to keep your muscle tone as you lose weight. I started out only being able to run for 3 minutes before my knees hurt and my shins burned. It didn't take long at all to have the pain gone and my body craving it. Honest!

Start slow. I'm still pre op but now run for 15 minutes in a row without a problem. It actually feels good. I could do more, but I want to go easy on my knees until I weigh less. I also walk fast on the treadmill on an incline and burn almost as many calories doing that as I do running. I also weight life, low weights, high reps. I can definitely see a difference and it's only been 2 months.

OK, fess up! How did you do this? I'm pre op and taking notes.

Seriously, if you're ever hungry, just watch an episode of Hoarders. Cures my hunger every time. :vomit: