Susie in Lima

You are right, the pre-op diet is the hardest part! Once you get through this, it wont be as bad! Just keep on keeping on and do what you are supposed to be doing and keeping busy and the days will pass quickly and before you know it you will be post-op dieting. Keep up the good work!

Yep, you have to up your calories. You can try by adding another carb per day into your diet. My nutritionist says to add a pat of butter to each meal as well. Make sure you arent adding in empty calories though, try to make the calories as healthy as possible. Congrats on making your goal. I have reached my goal but keep pushing mine back and making a new goal. haha Guess I need to stop soon!

It shouldnt take too much longer. You have already lived the worst of it (barring unforseen complications) just take it slow and know that you are well on your way to healing and losing!!! have a great day!!!!

first happy birthday! secondly yes it is normal, dont worry, the weight will come off! i think it is from all the fluids they give you during your hospital stay. No worries, just focus on healing, drinking and walking. Before you know it 20 pounds will have vanished!! once again, have a super birthday!

Just go slow and keep sipping. You will be surprised how much you can get down just by taking sips all day. Your tummy is still swollen right now so things will get easier as the days go by! Just concentrate on sipping sipping sipping. Also try different temperatures of your liquid. I could barely get in any water until I started adding mio and keeping it ice cold, now I pretty much gulp it down! Hope you feel better soon!

Gas X strips really helped me, plus walking a lot. Also when you are on your bed, if you can get onto all fours (knees and hands) and kind of stay that way for a little while, it helped to pass some of that blocked gas. Hope you feel better soon (you really will feel better before you know it!)

I usually ate between 800 to 1000 calories per day. Now that I am in maintenance I eat about 1000 to 1200.

Its fantastic!!!! I run a 5K three days a week now! Pushing through some hip and knee pain (which stinks) but I dont want to quit! Keep it up! It will be so much easier when you have all that weight off of you!

You will do great! Good luck!

You will do great! Good luck!

OH YES! DO IT!!!!! I took pics before my surgery and then each month I took pics in the same clothes until I had to wear something different because they were just way too big. It isnt fun taking those first few pics but they will be treasures when you see where you began and how far you have come! DO IT!!!!! I suggest to take the pics in the same place each time with the same clothes or similar clothes (pretty form fitting if you can so you can truly see a difference) ALSO, measure yourself! All over! Keep these measurements and update them each month. This will be nice too when you are in a stall to realize that your body is changing even if the scale isn't! DO IT!!!

Hope this is a big turn around day for you!

Welcome! Hope your appt goes well! Ask lots of questions and prepare as much as you can. Look through the posts here and it will give you lots of things to think about and to ask your surgeon and your nutritionist about. I am excited for you! Have a super day!

Yeah all dr's and Nuts are different. My nut never told me how many grams of carbs to have, just to have one carb at Breakfast and one at lunch. Now that I am in maintenance I can have a carb at dinner as well. So all that to say, ask your nutritionist or dr, they will tell you what you should be doing and what they expect.

I agree with newat52, traveling is a lot easier than you would think. You just have to prepare ahead of time. I always, even when I am just running around town, have snacks in my purse (nuts, protein bars, beef jerky etc) Also when my husband and I go out to eat now, we share a meal which is nice when you are traveling because you dont have to worry about wasting what you didnt eat if you cant bring it with you. By the time you go on your trip, you should be on solid foods, knowing pretty well your sleeve responds to things as well. The neat thing is, every trip I have taken post sleeve, I have returned weighing less than I did before I left. That would have NEVER happened pre-sleeve! Have fun!

I can admit to having lots of doubts in the beginning. I woke up thinking "what in the heck have I done to myself" and then the first time the family had pizza and I had my chicken broth I thought again "what in the heck have I done to myself". But I can honestly say, that very quickly I realized that there are NO REGRETS! I am a year out, at my goal, exercising, loving the way I look and feel, encouraged by all the positives comments I get on how good I am looking, my health is better and I have confronted a lot of emotional issues that led me down the path to obesity. Yes, it is drastic surgery. Yes, it is good that you are taking your time and taking it seriously. I did the same thing. I researched for a year before I had the surgery but I am sooooo glad that I did!!! Best thing ever!!! But you have to decide for yourself what is right for you. I am like DUBRookie, I can eat just about anything. There are a few things that my tummy doesnt like but nothing that I cant live without. (Almonds and eggs make my tummy hurt) But my husband says that the meals that I make now compared to before are much tastier and that he enjoys them more (and he has lost 60 pounds alongside me!) I can have a piece of pizza if I want it, I can have a cookie or some frozen yogurt, I just have to make sure that this is occasional and not a daily thing. Life looks a lot better without the extra weight and without being chained to the kitchen always wondering what I will eat next. My experience has been a great one! Hope you have a great one too!

Pre-op liquid diet is definitely the hardest. Although pretty boring, during the post op phase you will not be as hard. No worries, just get through the preop diet!

Congrats! Keep it up!!!!! I know you must feel better!!!

There is a homemade bread substitute that I have made. Now not everyone likes it but me and my husband think it is just fine since we had not had real bread in so long. It is called Carb Free Cloud bread. Just google the name. My nutritionist allows me to eat pita bread and now after a year I can have any type of bread I want. I find that it always sits real heavy on my stomach and I kind of feel bad after eating it so that helps with me becoming addicted to it again. Hope you find what you are looking for.

My suggestion is to track what you have been eating. I use My Fitness Pal Ap on my smart phone and also I use it on my computer. It is easy to enter in what you eat to keep up with your calories and your exercise. It will tell you how much you can eat in order to lose up to 2 pounds a week. I also have been exercising like crazy. Are you exercising? If you are, switch things up and do a different type of exercise to kind of confuse your body. I started the Couch to 5K running program a few months ago and it really blasted my weight loss! My nutrionist also is really strict on my carb consumption. She only allowed me a carb at Breakfast and a carb at lunch. Since I am on maintenance I can have an extra carb at dinner but that is to maintain. Really watch what you eat, drink lots and lots of fluids (of course without sugar), eat your Protein first and eat a snack in between each meal that will help with energy such as few nuts, a Protein Bar or a piece of fruit. Stalls are normal, dont let it get you upset, as long as you are doing what you are supposed to be doing, your body will catch up, right now it just is trying to stabilize things. You can do it! Keep up the great work!

Yeah I think that is pretty normal, of course I am not your dr nor Nut but I am about a year out and I fluctuate between 900- 1200 a day. That seems normal for me and I reached my weight loss goal already! If in doubt, ask your dr or nutritionist. Keep on keeping on!

Well this is the worst part! Just do your best and do not cheat! I promise it will get easier! You can do this. I know it is hard!

Well it is good that you are facing these issues now. It is best for you to be able to figure out ways to handle these things before you get your surgery. I tried to work out some things before I had mine and although I still had to confront some issues, it really helped that I already had some things set in place to help me. I am a little over a year out and I really dont suffer with food cravings anymore. so maybe that will help you out to know that once your tummy is smaller and once you have the surgery, you will automatically have some tools to help you. You wont have as many cravings and You wont be able to eat as much. Just concentrate on eating the things you should during that time. For now, I know it is hard! I KNOWWWWW it is HARD!!!!! But do your best to follow your surgeons and your nuts advice. This really is the hardest part!!! I promise!!!!! You can do this! You are strong and once you begin to see changes in your body, you will notice changes in many areas of your life! YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Keep your eye on the prize!

Yep, that is why you have to have the liquid diet before your surgery. It somehow works quickly to shrink it! No worries!

Hoping you feel better soon. Sip Sip Sip all day. I know you dont want to, but you have to darlin! You dont want to have to go back into the hospital again! Feel better!