orionburn

Day 14. Finally here. Clear liquids day today. About this time tomorrow morning I'll be pulling into the hospital for my surgery. Hoping this day goes by quickly. Came in at 319.5 this morning, so that makes it about 16-17 lbs lost since starting the diet. Didn't feel like I'd lost much last week but now starting to feel the difference. Had a minor freak out last night, but ready to do this and move on to the next chapter.

My insurance would have denied me if I would have dropped below a certain BMI prior to approval. Once approved you'll be in the clear, well, should be anyway. Your doctor should be able to find out or look into your insurance. There should be requirement guidelines in your policy. Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App

Seems like every doctor has their own thing. I had to do a 6 month program for my insurance. First visit was a meeting with a doc and him asking me what I hoped to get out of the surgery. Met with the nutritionist and spent time with the office nurse doing general health things. From there it was meeting with my doctor about every 2 months for a check-in. About 2/3 of the way through I started doing all my testing (stress test, sleep apnea, upper GI test, etc.). I'm sure they'll want you to get started on following their diet guidelines right away. Every doc/office seems to be different in their plans so the first one will probably be more informative than anything and get the ball rolling. Good luck!

It is something to be concerned with. I cheated with about a dozen saltines on day 3 or 4. I know...I'm so wild...lol. Point is that afterwards I realized what in the hell am I doing risking everything I've done over the past 6 months. Isn't worth it. It really does get easier. Days 3 & 4 were hardest for me. My doc is a hard case so I don't doubt for second he'd scrap the surgery if he saw that my liver was still enlarged. Time will pass. Keep yourself busy and walk away when things get hard. You can do it! Use that fear to keep you on the up and up from here on out.

Congratulations! It's a great feeling to hit milestones like that!

It gets better, don't worry. I'm on day 13 now. Drink lots of fluids. My diet allows me 3 shakes a day and 3 other Protein sources - which are Fruit drinks and Soups I got from my clinic. That having something every 2-3 hours helps get through it. Keep yourself busy!

Going through this pre-op diet I've asked myself multiple times that maybe I should just do this for a few months and avoid the surgery, but I know I'd gain it all back in due time. Went from almost 400 down to 265 by living at the gym, and then slowly crept back up to almost 350. I'm tired of the yo-yo. Been overweight since I was a kid and I'm ready to be done with it.

Some times eating less of something that's no so good for you is still bad for you even if you reduce the portions. Have you tried doing a food journal yet? A lot of "healthy" meals I was eating weren't so healthy. It isn't that they were bad per se, but there were way more calories in them than I thought. Doing a journal can be a pain, but it is well worth it to see exactly where you're at with calories. Little things can add up quickly, such as condiments, salad dressings, etc. Those little things could make or break you for a day and you may not realize it. Second thing is do not stress as much about the scale. It isn't uncommon to see fluctuations in weight depending on how much Water you've had, time of day, etc. My weight goes back and forth all the time. The scale can be your worst enemy so don't get caught up weighing throughout the day. It's better to way yourself once a week at the same time. Try bumping up your activity level. Try to walk a little bit faster, find an area that has more hills and is more challenging, or try mixing in weights if you aren't already. Don't get discouraged. Starting out is rough.

Changing up your workout routine from time to time is really important. It's easy to get caught up in doing the same things week after week after week. Many will scoff at the idea, but there are times where it's better to take a week off of hardcore exercising. People tend to equate not exercising at 100% to sitting around shoving food in their faces. And no, taking time off doesn't mean if you've been working out for 2 weeks you deserve a week off...lol. I'm talking months of following routines. With lifting weights there are so many various exercises you can do for each body part to keep your body guessing. Whether it's simply switching from machines to free weights or different movements it all helps. When I was younger, and before I gained a ton of weight back after I quit smoking, I lived at the gym. Went from 395 down to 265 and got stuck. Didn't matter if I did an hour on the stair climber three times a week the weight wouldn't budge. Looking back that was a big part of where I went wrong by not changing things up.

Best wishes and hope all goes well!

Part of what's helped me get through this is the big realization of how much food controls us. I did the same thing worrying about how can I possibly do this, I can't have x, y, or z for months, and on and on. The only thing I can compare it to is when I quit smoking 5-6 years ago. I used to think I couldn't possibly go to this place or do this thing if I couldn't smoke. Looking back, yeah, it was stupid. Do I miss smoking at times? Sure. But it passes, I realize I don't stink like my coworkers, and I have a helluva lot of extra money. Don't beat yourself up too bad. Most of us probably have a tendency to want to do a "last hoorah" before those two weeks kick in. It is much more mental than anything. I won't lie and say that it's been a walk in the park, but I'm on Day 13 of my pre-op and it's become a routine now. The past two weeks has been mental training for things on the other side of the surgery and not eating as much as I used to. Hang in there. You'll get through it.

I'm a woman and I love lifting heavy. I am doing it now to build more muscle before my surgery. Intermittent fasting also helps. Not sure it works with WLS, but I think I read someone doing IF and weights too. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App The only way to build muscle requires the intake of carbohydrates with the Protein. And also try carb cycling. One day higher one day lower. it plays with the insulin levels on your blood and helps promote muscle growth. Lot of this. Carb cycling throws your body into a guessing game and can help break up plateaus. Do your weights on higher carb days and cardio on lower carb days. If you can't break it up at least save cardio for the end. My rule of thumb when lifting is that regardless of how many sets you do (3x10, 4x8, etc) you do not want to be able to get all of your reps on the final set. People think if you can't get all your sets you're lifting too much. The idea is to keep at that weight until you can do all those reps. Once you don't feel challenged then go up in the weights (only 5-10# depending on the lift you're doing).

Day 13. Down to 320.6 as of this morning. That's about 16 pounds since I started the pre-op diet. Tomorrow is my clear liquid day and surgery Wednesday morning. Mildly freaking out, but doing okay.

My crime was about a dozen saltine crackers on day 3...lol. I still felt guilty as all get out and that was the last. Supposed to be off caffeine but did have a diet Dew the other day. I miss my diet soda more than food, but it's something I need to give up. Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App

Welcome! I was lurker too and once I was into my pre-op diet I finally started to post being nervous as well. It's a huge help having such a wide range of people that are in process and have had their surgeries down for years now. Good luck on your journey! It may seem like it'll take forever but time will go quickly.

Right there with you. Been doing really well this week, but today has been rough. Not feeling so hot and headaches off and on. Ready to be done now. Wednesday needs to get here soon. Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App

We've got a pack of greyhounds so we usually take them in batches. Greys aren't endurance athletes so we don't even have to go a mile for them to be worn out. Between it being winter and my sciatica being off the charts horrible I haven't been able to walk near as much as I'd like. I try to walk "my" dogs when my leg allows it and my wife takes "her" dogs when she can. Works out fairly well. In the summer we'll sometimes round them all up and take them all at the same time. That's more for the amusement of seeing people's faces when you're walking 6-8 dogs (we're a foster home as well for our greyhound group so our numbers vary).

I'm going to say sorry from the get go that this has probably been posted a thousand times before by others. I know I am not a beautiful or unique snowflake I suppose it's just a matter of needing a place to vent my final thoughts/concerns going into this. My surgery is next Wednesday, January 25th. I've been on this road since May 2016 so it's not as if I haven't had time to ponder these things, but after meeting with my surgeon yesterday to do the final consent forms I'm mildly freaking out a bit. I've been lurking for some time and I share in many of the struggles that others have. It's not that I'm a fast food maniac and I really don't have a sweet tooth. My main issue since I was young has always been volume. So while I don't eat terrible it's just that I always could eat a lot of whatever it was, thus even healthy meals aren't so great when you're going back for another plate. I am having a seriously hard time wrapping my head around how small of portions I'm going to be eating in the weeks following my surgery. Knowing that I also have a hard time understanding how people can gain weight back after having a sleeve. While I can see it happening if you're drinking sugary drinks, milk shakes, or whatever, I guess I can't fathom how you can gain weight when you're essentially eating a cup of food at a time. Is it because of eating nonstop through the day? And if you're so full after a cup of food how the heck do you get more down even an hour later? This probably sounds silly, but one of the main things I'm going to miss is doing beer festivals. Both my wife and I are big craft beer people, but in truth I only drink a beer maybe once a month outside of the festivals. I know there are adjustments that I can eventually make to still go (like wine - just taste but don't actually drink it). I'll deal with that later. It's a social side of things that I worry about and will miss, but I felt that way when I gave up smoking years ago. I used to think there was no way life could possibly go on if I couldn't smoke doing X, Y, and Z. Obviously it has 5 years on now and while it's something I do still miss from time to time I certainly don't obsess over it. Actually registering and posting today has already helped deal with some of the fears. I'm sure I will be second guessing all of this all the way up until next week. This wasn't something I rushed to do and I do want to do it, but I know it's natural to get cold feet. Thanks for listening to the FNG

Day 11. Down 14 lbs now since starting the diet. This feels like lap 3 in running a mile....lol. Starting to wear down but the end is near.

The upside to being bigger is that usually weight falls off pretty quick in the beginning once you start exercising on a regular basis. When I was younger I got up to nearly 400lbs. Became a gym rat and got all the way down to 265. The early days were much easier and the weight came off quicker. Plus I started equating the calories I burned doing 15-20 minutes on the stair climber to the calories of food. I started looking at everything as "ugh...that's 30 minutes on the stair climber to eat that!" And thanks for the comment on our boy. He's our latest adoption. We have a greyhound obsession in our house...lol

Had a bit of caffeine earlier today and not sure if that's throwing me off tonight or what. Just feels like an cramp that's stuck and won't go away. Hoping it's just a hunger pang that will pass, but it's been sticking around for a few hours now. Oi...Wednesday needs to hurry the eff up.

Part of my insurance requirement was to do 6 months of food journals. I know it can be a pain in the arse to do, but it really is an eye opener. There are lots of programs out there but I used MyFitnessPal. Has a large database of food that takes a lot of guesswork out. Knowing for sure how many calories you're getting is important. Little things add up quickly and be the 100-200 calories that puts you over the edge of losing weight. Maybe try swapping out one meal for a Protein shake. Exercise will naturally help. My NUT always said do whatever you can. Get up and walk around for a minute or two just to get up. Good luck on your journey! It may seem impossible but if you really put your mind to it you'll get there.

Drinking is going to be the toughest challenge for me. I've always been able to down a massive amount quickly. If I wanted I could down a 44 oz. container of Water or diet soda in one shot and not even phase me, so trying to imagine that 2 oz is going to make me feel full does not compute...lol. I haven't even had my surgery yet (next Wed) but trying to do everything I can to have the right mindset when I come out on the other side.

Way my doc explained it is that your stomach will basically heal over them. Kind of like the scar tissue forms around them. They also said it's not something that would trigger an alarm going through a security checkpoint or anything like that.

Oh how I wish I could have at least had veggies. :::sigh::: So strange how much variance there is between doctors. I will say (for me at least) it does get much easier. The first few days were tough, but I'm honestly used to not eating now. Hang in there guys....it's the homestretch!