JayCat

@NobodyYouKnow I've avoided posting for a while because I was thoroughly disappointed and upset with my appointment -- I left in tears. Half way through telling my dietary story the dietitian stopped me and, from my perspective, seemed to act like they'd heard the whole thing. Truth be told I had much more to say and felt like if they'd taken the time to really consider these things they'd then have gotten a much better picture of who I am and my particular struggles with food and how to progress from there. But they didn't do that. The dietitian proceeded to tell me exactly what I couldn't eat, followed by counter-productive information specifying that I could eat the foods they'd just told me not to eat. They then proceeded to show my the size of plate I'd be eating off of after the surgery like it was a big revelation (smaller plate size is the FIRST thing you read about on the google result that comes first for googling bariatric surgery for me). This was followed by the dietitian stating incorrect information about muscle/fat metabolism in regards to long term fasting, and present to me a leaflet with the information detailed information on what they want me to eat. However, the information presented to me was a 1000 kal diet big on the protein. If I was able to stick to this diet long term I would not be getting surgery?? I have no problems with the types of food they want me to eat but am concerned with my ability to hold up the quantities long term WITHOUT surgery. I also note that while reading the leaflet to me, they kept on pointing out vegetarian options even though I'd previously mentioned I eat meat. Not a big deal, but it felt like twisting the knife a little because I knew already the dietician wasn't listening to me. All in all, I don't have a /huge/ issue with what they have asked me to eat. But, I think if the result of an hour long consultation was going to be 'eat 1000kal of a 3:3:1 protien:carb:fat diet' irregardless of what I said, it could've been a 15 minute appointment instead. Instead I went in expecting to be listened to and considered instead of brushed over, ignored, and quite frankly, patronized (I already knew a lot about diet and what the post surgery diet would be like. None of the information was new to me.) I would appreciate it if people were sensitive in replying to me I am still quite hurt by the consultation. EDIT: to clarify though, I am doing exactly what they told me to do and have every intention of following it to the best of my abilities. I've come too far to get stopped in the road by a bad dietitian.

That's the kind of experience I want. I have no illusions about the type of diet I need for the rest of my life -- I just need her to realise that my body hasn't got that 'leg up' or 'tool' yet that it will have when I have the surgery.

I think sympathy might mean something different to what I understand it as? I expect sympathy, as I would if any person had heard my story, but I don't expect that to change what advice she gives me? I work with birthing mothers and I have sympathy for them, it doesn't mean I would offer each one a GA and a c-sec because that would be detrimental in the long-term, if not satisfactory in the short term. I am not expecting her to tell me that "an occasional slice of cake won't be a problem". Frankly, it already is that's why I'm in this mess. I just want her to be flexible (within the limits) of the pre-op diet and work /with/ me rather than order me about like I'm coming to her with normal weight issues.

Thank you very much for your encouragement -- When talking to the surgeon he said that the dietitian was very different to the NHS weight loss dietitians I was previously interacting with. I just know that if I feel like she doesn't care about my story enough to understand why I'm not still on my 800 cal a day 'so hungry I can't remember a name' blood sugar diet -- because I relapsed into junk. My average (on a good day) daily diet looks like this currently Morning -- yhogurt with teaspoon of honey or maple, cinnamon or allspice, toast and fruit Lunch -- Ham salad, big on the mayo. Dinner -- chicken and some veg. I'll snack on nuts and things. How far do you think I'll need to deviate from that to get to where I need to be? I'm hoping she doesn't give me a weightloss goal of 10% -- that's almost a kilo a week for me, given that the surgery is meant to be about 10 weeks away.

I've just seen a surgeon for an initial consultation about getting a bypass and he was positive and set me on the track for it. My first appointment with the dietitian is tomorrow and I'm scared to death. I've had very negative experiences with dietitians for a very long time now. I've been overweight since I was very young, so I have been interfacing with dietary consultants from the age of 10 or so. It always seemed to go the same -- the dietitian was rigid. When I tried to explain about my inability to swallow certain foods or how stress and tiredness from my life circumstances meant that food prep was too hard, I got the same 'tough s***' response. One was also a personal trainer and pushed me so hard I ended throwing up after one gym session, and feeling faint on the treadmill at another (I was fourteen at the time, and didn't realise that this was bad for me). I'm worried that this dietitian will be the same -- that there will be no flexibility and no understanding or sympathy for my issues. From my initial reading and discussion with the surgeon, there is a low-carb/high protein diet recommended on the bypass. This is the diet I feel good eating at the moment, but sometimes my circumstances mean that things slip up. For example, when I wake up in the morning I'm too groggy to brace myself to eat 300g of yhogurt and fruit/nuts (what I need to feel full currently) -- so I need to add in a couple of slices of toast so I don't feel like I'm forcing food down my throat. And if I'm just off a stint of nightshifts and seriously sleep deprived, the best I can do is a microwave curry from Marks and Spencers. I have a hope that some of that would go away after the surgery -- because it would be possible to actually feel full after 100g of yhogurt and a bit of fruit and nuts (or less? more?), and not need to eat again for another four hours. But I don't feel guilty for having slices of toast and things like that, after all my diet has been a /lot/ worse over the years and I've finally found a balance between whats healthy and what's do-able that it's taken me so long to find. Terrified the dietitian is only going to hear that I still have some carb in a day, and not hear that I've improved that massively from eating pancakes and syrup when I wake up, McD's for lunch and a Chinese for dinner, and tell me I can't get surgery. Are my fears warranted? Has anyone else had a 'not listening' experience with dietitians associated with WLS? I'm really really scared she'll be like the others.