Creekimp13

Little Green, I feel your pain. Sticking to my diet and changing my eating habits has been a mean angry beeyatch for me. LOL. After a lot of years of losing and regaining 50 pounds (plus a little extra, why not?)...my bad back, climbing sugar numbers and a cancer scare (I don't have it, thank the gods) finally forced the issue. Somthin gotta be done...I ain't happy like this. I just hit that...Ah crap, moment. Some people call it an Aha! moment. I think they're liars. LOL. For me, it was definitely Ah crap! One thing I noticed at a bariatric group support meeting...is that people lie a lot. The psychologist running the group asked, "What have you done this week to boost your activity?" And people's responses were: "I've done three hours of circuit training and cardio daily, when I'm not running marathons with disabled children and teaching the homeless to jog to keep warm" "I built a home gym and have networked with friends to workout together every day after work with a healthy recipe exchange. I've also joined a rowing team and take salsa dancing lessons three times a week." "I ran a triathalon, climbed Mt. Everest, and built new organizers into all my closets for the new clothes I can't wait to buy!" ....and I'm kinda lookin around at this group of 250-500 pound people thinking to myself... These people know the right answers. They've studied this. They are REALLY knowledgeable. (but are they seriously doing all this crap they say they're doing?) Then the psychologist asked the room, "What BAD eating choices have you made this week?" And I piped up, "One night I got really desperate and stupid, woke up at 3am, and slathered a piece of white bread with butter and put chocolate sprinkles on it and ate it in the bathroom." People looked at me in horror and laughed nervously. Psychologist, "Anyone else?" Crickets. Thanks guys. I'm the only freak here. Right. That's why most of the folks in this room have to buy two seats on the plane. LOL. (I didn't say that, of course) So yeah...I get it....this stuff is hard. A lot of fat people are perfectionists. They don't like to talk about being imperfect. For some, it's really hard to admit when they've been human, caved into the addiction, and had to get back up again. And I think that's the key....learning to get right back up after you did something stupid....and do the right thing again. Not hating yourself for it. Not beating yourself up. I'm not saying you shouldn't be accountable to yourself. Not saying that's a license to not improve. Just saying...accept that you're imperfect. It's ok. The best people aren't perfect. It's ok to struggle every single day, and make the choice to keep working. Now, to answer the question myself... I'm making some "good progress changing my eating habit" (I hope you read that in Dr. Nowzaradin's voice...cause that's how it was in my head) The fitbit has helped me A LOT. Making substitutions for things I really love to eat and can actually tolerate...has helped, too. I'm a carb ***** (rhymes with war)....but I've switched my carbs to low glycemic carbs, and I'm mindful of eating more protein. When I'm having a carb craving from hell....I have protein pancakes and can keep it at bay. I love my smoothie maker. Frozen banannas with cocoa and splenda and almond milk....saves me from most stupid impulses. When I "Need" pizza...I grab a California Kitchen four cheese pizza and dress it up with mushrooms, green peppers, onions and diced Canadian bacon. Half the pizza is about 470 calories. I have it with a big garden salad and life is good. I have learned to cook a lot of Thai and Chinese. I limit the rice to a quarter cup, and indulge in all those great flavors...garlic, ginger, coconut milk, curry, fish sauce, splenda brown sugar. Peanut butter chicken veggie soup is a staple at my house now. All my sandwiches are on pumpernickel. All my cheese is reduced fat swiss or part skim mozzarella...or cabot's 40% cheddar. Avacado toast with a poached egg, and chai seed pudding are staples in my diet. When I need my chicken nuggets, I make them with shake and bake. One think I think dieters do...that hurts them long term....is eating foods they hate. I refuse to do that anymore. It's harder to find stuff that's legal that you love....but I think that's a big key. You need to be happy. Exercise, which has always hated me....has become a lot of fun with my fitbit. Just upping your steps a hundred here and there feels like an accomplishment. You can start really slow, and you can walk absolutely anywhere. I've worn out the carpet in a loop around my house. LOL. Be patient with yourself. You can do this. Sometimes it takes a little longer to "get there". And sometimes even after we've gotten there...we spectacularly screw up and have to get up and try again. Just keep getting up. Wishing you the very best.

I'm gonna hang out with my fantastic hubby and daughter who is home from college:) Daughter is doing some homework (premed major, always working) and hubby had to run into work on an emergency....but we're expecting to be able to be together at noon and do something fun:) Daughter's highschool boyfriend is coming over later and we're gonna have a Twilight Zone marathon and maybe play a board game. Yep, we play board games. Cause we're goofy that way. And I love it. We are a culture of nerd people. Kiddo and I hit the sales yesterday and got a gift for hubby, and some awesome Columbia waterproof 30 below warm boots to wear walking through campus all winter. She walks to campus and all over the place....Ann Arbor is a pedestrian town. Got a great deal on the boots, and took Grandma with us. My mom is a crazypants. The nut doesn't fall far from the nut tree. Was a good time:) Day five of the liquid diet from hell.....I will be good. Drink my repulsive shakes, eat my repulsive jello and broth....and keep my eye on the prize.

An article worth reading: https://www.livestrong.com/article/261023-cold-symptoms-and-anesthesia/

This is why they say "Call the office with questions or concerns" I absolutely understand being hesitant to do this and risk having your surgery delayed...but you have to put your safety first. You want the best outcome possible....so you need to come clean with your team. Give them a call first thing Monday morning. What you're describing might not be a problem. A cold without a fever usually won't disqualify you from surgery, and getting your period typically won't, either. BUT! Your team needs to weigh in on these things, and they might want to run a little last minute complete blood count to make sure your cold isn't something more serious, and gauge the severity of your anemia. They cannot do their job properly without complete information. Please call them. And good luck with your surgery...so sorry you've got these complications. Bad luck! Wishing you the best.

My hubby has one every couple of years, because on his first one, they found a really nasty huge precancerous polyp (and some other large ones...but one in particular was not nice). They remove the polyps super easy, and you're up and about within an hour. Piece of cake. Speaking of cake....my hubby had no dietary restrictions. None. And this was after removing like seven freaking polyps...with one being a huge nasty one. He asked if he could eat Thai food on the way home....mostly as a joke....and the staff said yes. No dietary restriction. So lunatic that he is....he did. He insisted we have Thai food about two hours after his procedure. No ill effects. He was fine. Also...his follow up visits every couple of years have also been fine:) No more mega polyps. I 100% believe in routine Colonoscopy....you can head off really dangerous stuff...it's easy and it works. Good for you for having it done.

I cooked the whole dinner, I entertained, I got it all put away and the dishes are done. Whew! I'll confess outright...I nibbled a very very small amount of turkey. (probably less than half an ounce...just one little chunk) But other than that, I was a good doobie and stayed on my liquid diet. It was hell...but the day is winding down and it looks like I made it. Good grief! The smell of baking rolls and the pies....nearly did me in. But I resisted. 11 more days of this till surgery. One day at a time. That's about all I can handle. I know people do this...and they all seem to kinda act like it was no big deal. I am REALLY not enjoying this. I know after the surgery, it's going to be more of the same for a while.....but at least there will be a light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully less hunger. Right now...the diet I've been on for six months...seems decadent and indulgent. I don't mind veggies and lean proteins and low glycemic carbs.....I just want to eat something that casts a shadow again someday:( Kinda crying in my broth tonight. Feel overwhelmed....but I made it through. Proud of that. Here's my question: I'm on day 3. Does this get easier?

I'm on a super restrictive liquid diet and my surgery is 11 days away. Yesterday, I cooked the whole traditional Thanksgiving meal for my family. When I wasn't eating any of it, my surgery came up as dinner conversation.... Joy! And of course....there were naysayers. Gentle naysayers...but naysayers. And I expect this. People are gonna have different opinions, and of course people worry....I wasn't offended. But here's the cool part.... My daughter, who was home from college, jumped right into that conversation. But instead of addressing the naysayers, she says to me: "Mom, have I told you how proud I am of you for addressing your health issues? When you called last week and told me your new a1c numbers were in the normal range and that you've already corrected your pre-diabetes, I was so happy. I want you to be around a long, long time, and I think you're doing so well. Last time we went for a walk together and I had to tell you to slow down cause you were killing me, I knew you were on the right track. I know your surgery is going to go really well because I know you research the hell out of everything you do. I am really excited for you, and really proud of you. Good job." My naysayers...were quiet after that. God, my kid is awesome. What a cool person she's grown into. Sorry for the proud Mommy gush... just meant a lot to me.

Thanks folks:) Today was better. One cool perk about all that Thanksgiving food...is that I'm not concerned about my family having stuff to eat with me being on liquid. They can snack on leftovers and I don't have to be involved...which is wonderful. I get a little sniff of potatoes and gravy from the microwave here and there....but it beats having the house smell like someone's cooking. I get a couple days reprieve:) I think my liver must be getting a clue about this glucogenesis thing....I felt less light headed today, less nutty, brain is working a little better. Don't get me wrong...I'm still taking my 100 calories worth of cream of wheat into a dark corner daily and hissing "My Precious!"....but I feel a little stronger, and like I'm gonna survive this war. LOL. Sense of humor returning....still tough...but getting very excited for surgery. Bring it on!

My insurance required 6 months of medically supervised weight loss. I've been dieting since June. Lost 33 pounds following a diet high in protein and non-starchy veggies, with just a few low glycemic index carbs. My surgical group requires you to lose 10% of your body weight to be eligible for surgery. My surgery is December 5th...so I started my liquid diet 4 days ago. The liquid diet is hell. (to me, anyway) I would a LOT rather eat a very low calorie diet of real food. (again, that might just be me) My liquid diet is 5 shakes a day, plus one serving of cream of wheat or yogurt per day (about 100 calories worth)....plus sugar free jello and sugar free drinks. It's not pleasant...but you do lose weight rapidly. In 4 days of being on it, I've lost 3 pounds. If you think you're hungry now....just wait till you try liquid. Ugh.

My doc likes two weeks of liquid diet pre-surg. Like... 5 Premier Protien shakes, sugar free jello, reduced sodium broth, sugar free Popsicles....and one small serving of cream or wheat or yogurt per day. That's it. I feel like one of those sun eater people....who think they don't any other nutrients than the sun, and stand around naked in the desert. Last night, I was scheming in my diabolic mode....maybe I can sneak just a little turkey and salad on Thanksgiving...just TASTE the mashed potatoes and gravy....one little pecan off the pie. I won't let myself do this....but I enjoyed the fantasy. Enjoyed is the wrong word. I despaired and let myself have the fantasy. Then, I ate another jello and tried desperately not to be bitter. Then, I made the mistake of weighing myself before bed. No, no, no, no....do NOT do this! I'd gained like 4 freaking pounds in one day due to all the salt in the broth, I was retaining water like the little girl who swiped the blueberry gum in Willy Wanka. I needed to be juiced. Woke up twice overnight to pee. Had coffee this morning and peed buckets....and was down 5 pounds when I weighed in after my shower. (and yes, I know obsessively weighing yourself is psycho and discouraging...but it was nice to see the water leave...and an extra pound to boot!) I'm more encouraged today, feeling a little stronger....feel less like murdering my husband (who has done nothing wrong at all, and has been wonderful through out) At this writing, I have no fantasies about cheating with turkey. Which is a great relief. (But I'd be lying if I didn't say I didn't have some lingering concern.) Going through perimenopause is not helping this situation. I'm not craving food that bad today, which is helpful. I'm going to cut back on the broth bigtime. Got some reduced sodium broth this morning. Liquid diet issues: Anxiety is up some. My memory sucks. Like...horribly. I keep forgetting everything I'm trying to get done. Water retention. Intermittent crazy cravings. My brain just feels weird and sluggish. 1 day down. 13 days to go. Good grief that's getting close! I'm torn between wanting it to come faster and running away in horror (I don't really want to run away, just anxiety...bleh) On the plus side....at least my body is getting used to eating much less and tolerating the liquid diet it's going to have to adapt to after surgery. The idea that I won't eat anything solid again for over a month...is a little freaky to me. Still kinda wrapping my head around that. I'm up for it...but man, this is gonna be challenging!

Ginas...I feel your pain. Yesterday was hell for me. But we made it through! So good job, and keep strong. I'm rooting for both of us:)

That is pretty darned awesome. Great job!

Awesome advice, Berry. I think they talked about repeating the test a couple of months after surgery? I can't remember. I can't remember much of anything since starting this liquid diet. Yeesh. But I bet it's in my folder of info. I know everything changes as you go along and you need to eat fewer calories as your body mass goes down.

Wondered if anyone else had this test and what you thought of the results? It's standard with my bariatric medical group. I learned that my body fat percent was much less than it is on a standard height/weight chart due to my muscle mass. Pretty cool! I also learned that some of my previous diet efforts probably failed because I would tend to eat too few calories and get too hungry. MedGem analysis put my daily burned calorie load (with minimal exercise) at 2480 calories because I carry a lot of muscle. So I was told to target eating 1500 to 1900 calories per day. It seems like a ton of calories...but if I eat them, and pick quality foods with low glycemic index carbs, lots of protein and healthy fats...I'll lose weight. (and veggies, of course!) Particularly, if I exercise regularly. I also learned that I would be at zero percent body fat....at 138 pounds! My goal of 170 pounds is based on carrying 25% body fat...which is pretty healthy. Not all bodies are built the same. Not all of us are an accurate fit on the height/weight charts. MedGem was a really cool look into my specific metabolic process. It was just a lot of really interesting information that has helped put me on a better track. Anyone else familiar with this test?

It depends on my activity level. If i'm really active....cleaning, working physically, yard work, lifting, doing laundry, gardening, cleaning the pool, bathing the dog.....stuff that's demanding enough to up my heart rate just a little, and I get in a couple hours of this....I might hit 3000 at 11,000 steps. If i'm doing more laid back stuff...shopping, easier chores, desk work.....I might need to walk 15,000 steps to hit 3000 (depending on how sedentary the rest of my day is). I should also mention...I'm a pretty muscular person. When I'm in shape I could body build, I'm kinda predisposed to a lot of muscle (in addition to a lot of fat...lol). My bestie can't get 3000 calories without killing herself, but she's a smaller, finer boned person with much lighter muscle mass. She's walking 15,000 just to get 2,500.

Frankette...wishing you a good outcome, no matter if your surgery is on schedule or delayed. It's important to walk after surgery to prevent blood clots, so perhaps that's part of his hesitation? Wishing you good health and a safe surgery:) So sorry for the setback!

cdealdec.... What your presurgical diet is like, and how long it lasts varies greatly by doctor. Some doctors will even have different diets for different patients. So a lot will depend on what your doc or nutritionist instructs. Nope, no pudding on my plan. That doesn't mean it won't be allowable on yours...but i'd expect it to be a limited quantity, even if it's diet. Good luck and best wishes for a good outcome.

After six months of appointments and jumping through hoops...I had exactly one thing left to do... My upper GI, the Xray with the barium swallow. Since I don't have any symptoms of GERD, etc...I figured it would be pretty easy. The test is pretty nasty. You drink plaster of Paris, essentially, and roll around back and forth like a trained circus dog while they take x-rays...but it's tolerable. What was less tolerable was being ready to leave on a mini vacation...and having the office call and tell me my results were abnormal. "You need to see a gastroenterologist for an upper endoscopy to see what's going on." Great. So, I'm thinking all sort of bizarre stuff... Do I have cancer? Cause ya know they're not going to tell you anything about what's going on. Then, it occurred to me that I signed up for the service at my hospital where I can access my health history including being able to view test results....so I was able to pull up the X-ray report. It said there were abnormalities consistent with benign polyps. Whew! Ok, i'm not dying...but where does this leave my surgery? I was so discouraged....the upper GI was the last hoop I had to jump through. I was done! LOL. Guess not... By absolute luck, the gastroenterologist had a cancellation and was able to get me in within a week. The sedation was interesting....sort of that twilight stuff...not exactly anesthetic, but you don't remember much. I do have a vague memory of gagging on the endoscope and the nurses patting me and telling me I was doing great. Afterward, I learned that my polyps were not big enough to remove, but I had chronic gastritis, and they took a biopsy of the inflamed tissue. I'm thinking...great, cancer again? LOL (yep, my mind always goes there at the word biopsy) Nope...they were mostly looking for the bacteria that causes ulcers and infections. Anyway....I got put on Famotadine for the gastritis...and felt pretty crestfallen, wondering how long this would complicate things and if I'd ever get my surgery..and how long I'd have to treat it, etc. I felt kinda robbed...like all my hard work was going to be undone by this complication and I'd be in limbo forever. So discouraging. Turns out I was free of the bad bacteria, and gastritis is very common, and would not be a complication to the surgery. Whew! What felt like a major disappointment and major obstacle....turned out to be much ado about nothing. Wanted to leave this story in case someone had a similar test result and felt as freaked out as I did.

When applying for life insurance, i've never been asked about WLS. Just what my current weight was, current BMI. I see no reason to divulge historical information unless it's specifically asked for.

I'm dreaming of the day I can get into a regular woman's large, and size 14 pants. That sounds perfect to me.

I'm on a liquid pre-surg diet. No temptation...cause nothing is allowed. Cravings and holiday food-grief will be on the menu...but no Turkey. I'm gonna sit at the table and cry in my protein drink and broth a little...and then be really thankful that I have good insurance and a good medical team that I trust. I know a lot of people don't....so I'm gonna try to buck up and count my blessings.

Just keep breathing. You've done your homework, you've jumped through the hoops, you've got this! Best wishes for an awesome outcome:)

Awesome! Congrats!

It was a mini vacation with my best friend....this crazy girl I've known for 40 years. (we met the first day of first grade..we talk damned near every day and see each other once a week) We took a few days to go see some haunted houses and House on the Rock in Wisconsin. House on the Rock is impossible to describe. It's sort of like witnessing a museum, obsessive freak show collector, hoarder, steam punk enthusiast, tree house, the worlds biggest carousel and doll collection....and Japanese garden....all at the same time. It's an amazing place, but to really enjoy it, you have to be kinda artsy and half nuts.....which is why my friend and I were thrilled out of our socks. Takes all day to see everything and you still feel like you haven't scratched the surface. Don't go if you're afraid of heights. The haunted house in Chicago was excellent....the Chicago traffic wasn't. This is an annual trip for us, and we had a blast. My bestie got me a Fitbit for my birthday this year, and we've been doing step competitions and cooking each other healthy meals....has been really nice to have someone so actively in my corner. Love that girl.

Dianmi, I'm on my second day, too. My surg is on Dec. 5th as well. I just wrote a post about struggling a little with the liquid diet