Heatherr

Holy cow!!! It's amazing how much of a difference 30lbs makes. You look great.

Every bariatric group/nut does it a little differently. I can tell you I am not following my NUT's guidelines and pre op diet exactly because I think it is way too high in carbs. Now, I'm not advocating not following your NUT and dr's advice, but the main goal is to shrink your liver. I'm sure I can do that and have done that without following the set guidelines to a tee. My pre op diet is 9 days of mostly liquids, but they also have 1/2c cott cheese, 1c. fruit juice and one small piece of fruit on the list per day. I'm probably just going to do liquids with a little lf cottage cheese as needed and cut the fruits. There are carbs in the milk and Protein drink.

I've lost about 16lbs in the last month doing low carb and i still enjoy my large coffee every morning. <shrug> Maybe i'll switch to decaf and see what happens this month, but I've given up everything else that I love and I am reluctant to give this one last thing up.

every morning since I came home he appears in the room (Much earlier riser than me) with my first Protein drink of the day, an ice bucket with my first 32 ounce Water, and a hot decaf tea. ^^^^awe, that's really sweet, Meggie.

I guess I'm in the minority here. While we'll always have to be around food situations and make choices accordingly, I think it is inconsiderate for her husband to be eating fast food regularly in front of her. Of course the family doesn't have to change, but I just cannot fathom how people that love one another wouldn't try to be helpful and considerate of their loved one's feelings. Does the man really need fast food several nights per week? I am here shaking my head wondering why many of you feel less worthy of certain respect. Here, let me put it into perspective from my point of view: If your child was recently diagnosed with diabetes, would you be eating ice cream in front of him/her several times a week while your child couldnt have any? Would you not change the family eating habits a little? Of course you would. Would you eat a hot fudge cake in front of your child for dessert while offering him a piece of fruit? Of course you wouldn't. What if your elderly parent came to visit for a long period of time, wouldn't you try to accommodate him/her with a comfortable place to sit, maybe a wheelchair ramp, foods they like? Of course you would. Would you be sloshing back the wine in front of your husband who just started attending AA meetings? I wouldn't dream of it. Sure, at some point he's going to have to be in social situations where alcohol is and be ok with it, and sure I'd still have my coveted glass of wine on occasion as appropriate, but I sure as heck wouldn't be bringing it into my home his first weeks in recovery. Why are we less worthy of the same mutual respect and care? ::shaking my head:: The difference is that the family still has to eat, I get it. But the family doesn't have to be gorging on decadent Desserts and bringing home trigger foods the first few weeks you are in recovery. Can they? Sure. I wouldn't do that to them if the situation were reversed because I LOVE them and want to support their recovery. Why don't I deserve the same love and respect? I do. And so do you all. I've explained to my family that I may not be able to eat with them while I'm on the liquid diet for the 4th week in a row and that I may have to leave the room while they eat. I also explained that I will still be cooking their meals, but I also asked that if some night I just can't do it, would they mind fending for themselves. They are all supportive of it and just asked that I buy foods to keep in the fridge/freezer that are easy for them to prepare on their own. Now having said all that, I don't believe I have a food addiction. I've been fine with the family eating fast food while I passed. I don't anticipate it being too difficult to deal with them eating when I can't unless the smell just makes me nauseous, which I anticipate immediately after surgery. I don't have a love of fast food or sweets and desserts. My trigger foods are savory foods and, yes, my feelings would be hurt and I would feel less loved if 2 weeks after surgery, while I'm on my 3rd week of liquids, my husband brought home scallops and made pan seared scallops served on spinach greens with a bacon vinaigrette dressing or made filet mignon with bernaise.

I've already started buying new lingerie. Seriously. Cannot. Wait.

I don't have any advice. Maybe spend some time thinking about it before you get the surgery and get your mind wrapped around the idea and not just made up about having the surgery. I made my mind up that I wasn't going to be fat anymore and that was that. Seriously. The thought of eating something bad makes me feel bad now. In the last 4 days I have sat through others eating fast food, chinese and pizza without desiring it. At. All. I am so badly sunburned and mostly just ticked off about it because it's hindering my exercising. (the extra showers) You will be able to eat the foods you like in moderation at some point. You're not saying good bye to eating, you're saying hello to being healthy. Take some time to really think about why you eat and how that will effect your outcome post op. Start working on your psyche now. GL

I'm doing this right now, though my insurance company never got to the approval point with teh bypass. I switched before all the paperwork was sent in. All I had to do was meet with teh NUT and surgeon again - did it today actually. It was such a waste of time because nothing was said that I didn't already know or discuss in detail with them before, but they required it, so I went. I now wait for the center to send the info to my insurance for approval, should take about 2 weeks and then I schedule surgery. I'm expecting surgery in about a month. ::fingers crossed:::

Hiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!! ::waving:: I'm still pre op, but at this point I have read and reread so much information and journeys that I feel like I have some insight. You do NOT have to be mega athlete superstar to be successful, you just have to move. What you described as your exercise goal sounds perfect. Obviously, you know you have to watch what you eat as well, but you don't have to become obsessive about eating and exercise, just smart. Start now - there's no time like the present. For what it's worth, I've been losing an average of 3lbs per week just by following the diet and exercising. I feel great! I can't wait until I have my sleeve to help that weight come off even faster. GL to you and welcome.

I quit cold turkey, meaning without any aids, but I had made my mind up to quit and started cutting down by a couple of cigarettes per day every week or so. By the time I threw my last pack away, I was smoking 10 cigarettes per day. I truly believe that made it easier with withdrawal symptoms.....which were only bad for a few days. After that, if I had a craving, all I had to do was change whatever I was doing and my mind would change gears as well. If you;re going to quit for all that time pre and post op, you may as well make it permanent. Also, I found mini bottles of Water to be helpful with the whole hand to mouth habit. It will be tough, so you really do need to psyche yourself up into doing it. If you're not ready, it wont work. Very GL to you.

glad you're feeling well

Bummuh to hear. I have been dieting and will likely have about 30lbs off before I do the 9 day pre op liquid diet. I suspect I should be 35-40lbs down on DOS. I don't want to hear that it could cause me to lose less at first. Wahhhhhhh. No, really, that just puts a bee in my bonnet, so I'm going to prove y'all wrong and still lose big the first month post op. Now.....off I go to rub some budduh belly, toss a penny in a well, click my red shoes 3 times and throw some salt or whatever else I can think of.

Say what? Low carb doesn't work if you have caffeine? Splain this to me.

You look great!!!! Your arms and legs are going to look fabulous, they are shrinking without the loose skin. I hope it keeps going that way for you. Well done, gf!

what's your secret? what is working for you? I seem to be in a very disciplined mode right now and should take advantage.

Protein first is a good rule of thumb, but there is more leeway when you're in maintenance. You'll have to up your calories to maintain, so as long as you get enough protein regularly, you can have all that delicious fresh produce that summer produces. And the beauty of maintenance is that you can fudge your diet a bit. You just compensate other days. ^^^^that is not my professional opinion but my Heather opinion on what I plan to do. I have no clue about the liquid Proteins. But, seriously, the whole reason I changed my choice to VSG was so that I can have a piece of pizza if I want, have a piece of wedding cake or pig out on caesar salad with grilled chicken and not worry if I eat a crouton. I just expect to know ahead of time that we're having pizza and compensate earlier in the day with my diet and up the exercise that day. <shrug> While early out and losing, I expect to be fairly strict with the diet plan.

Yeah, agree, whatever you're comfortable with. Me, personally, I'd be weighing right away and then having a mental cheer session every time I went pee for the next 3 days, but I'm a dork that way.

Congrats to you! Hope your new diet is agreeing with your sleeve and you're feeling FABULOUS <<<<In my best Oprah voice

I am still pre op and although I run, I'm too large to run comfortably for long, so I walk fast on an incline too. I actually burn just as many calories speed walking on an incline as I do runnning. Anyways, I can't tell you how great it is for the back of the thighs and arse. Even my husband commented on how nice my rear end was looking. I dont think I'll ever stop that as part of my regular exercise as it seems to be giving me the most results so far.

seriously, try fitday.com. I log my foods every day, and they save the last 30 or so, so you an just click on the same foods. the reality is that I do eat a lot of the same things often, so it's easy to just click from the list that's already there. Also, it tracks my weight. I get satisfaction in seeing my little goal chart and that my weights are below what they shold be to meet goal and so far it's all on my own without surgery. Plus, it keeps me honest. When it's evening and the hubby wants popcorn or beer, it's easy for me to look at the food log and see I'm maxed out on carbs and pass without feeling deprived. Instead, I feel satisfied that I have stayed within limits.

I mean, seriously, just think about that logically, you'd have to be -3500 calories a day to achieve that. Also, if losing 90 lbs in 3 months was typical, there would be a line from here to Texas of people waiting for surgery.

my Dr. actually said you should loose 1lb per day in the first 3 months ^^^^ Huh? I'd bet you'd be hard pressed to find many, if any, that statistic is true for. Your doc is a quack or you misunderstood.

...just feel like I have to put my NON expert opinion out there as food for thought.... Tiffykins is a great role model and I have been pretty much following that plan as my pre op diet (with a few more calories) and losing well. Having said that, isn't Tiff very petite? I just think 600 calories is very low for someone who is 5'8. So, those of you who are male or taller women, maybe try to end up on the higher side of that 600-800. I only say this because 600 calories for a tall person seems very low.

I have a whole binder full of information and food ;logs that I am supposed to bring with me to every appointment, and not once has anyone bothered to look at it. I'm not bringing it anymore, and my food logs are now on fitday.com. If anyone ever needed to see them, I could print them.

I don't think its fair to ask him to change his eating habits because you have to. ^^^^ I disagree with this statement on a few levels. She's not asking him to change is habits completely, she's asking him to not do it in excess around her. Personally, I think it's time to have a "come to Jesus" talk with the hubby because he is either the biggest jerk ever (which I doubt) or is just not full comprehending what he's doing. <<<much more likely By the logic that he shouldn't have to change his habits, you're saying it would be ok for him to constantly smoke in her presence and buy her cigarettes and offer her cigarettes if she were trying to quit smoking? Would it be ok for him to bring her home wine and drink beer all night while he watched tv if she were a recovering alcoholic? Of course that wouldn't be considered socially acceptable, so why is his overindulgence in food and always throwing it in her face more acceptable? If he wanted a stuffed crust pizza that badly, he could have gone out, especially considering the time frame. No, the family shouldnt have to give up everything, but there are simple manners of decency and love involved.