Hope4NewMe

Congrats!! Sorry that you are still having headaches but 11 pounds in just a week is awesome. How have you dealt with having to cook food you want to eat? Lots of positive vibes for a safe and successful surgery and a fast recovery!

So I just started my liquid diet today and at 1st I was freaking out because I'm allowed 1 small meal a day plus the 2 protein shakes and a list of other approved things. But I thought I had to stay under 800 calories and I didn't realize how many calories are in everything including the protein shakes themselves (160). So I went through everything that is allowed on my list and was trying to figure out what I could even eat for dinner and leave me enough calories for lunch and it was not going well. Luckily I re read my diet sheet and the calorie restriction doesn't hit until my second week, yay! So for this 1st week I still only have liquids except for dinner so I'm sure my calories will be less that usual but I'll have time to adjust before I hit that 800 calorie limit next week. The exact wording for the dinner is one small, normal meal and we are having pork chops with asparagus so I think I will be ok. As a side question fueled by my stressful morning, how do I calculate the calories in the broth from a strained soup? Say I take a can of chicken noodle soup but strain it and only drink the broth, how do I figure out the calories in that broth?

Good luck tomorrow! I looked at that pill organizer but I needed one that had 4 spaces and I wanted a month. That one looked awesome though. Update us when you can. I wish you an easy surgery and recovery!

I start tomorrow, not looking forward to it lol. Going to fill out my journal and take my before pictures and measurements today. You feeling any better yet?

I'm sorry you have to deal with that on top of surgery as well! My periods have become irregular as I have gotten older, so you are now living my fear. With caffeine I had a headache for 3 days when I gave it up, with my keto diets in the past I never got headaches but I heard the keto flu is common and ranges in duration. Whatever it is though, I hope it passes soon. The diet is bad enough without adding pain to the mix. Oh no!! I'm so sorry! That really is horrible to get that close and have to start over. Hugs!

Welcome! I'm so glad to hear everything went so well! Hope things continue to go that way and that the next 14 days go fast and easy for you too. Welcome! Good luck on the diet, I start mine on monday and I'm also having the bypass.

You got this! Just one day of stress and then a lifetime of rewards. I agree that they can probably give you something to help with the anxiety though.

Hope things went well today! Can't wait to hear how things went.

I'm sorry that it has been a rough ride for you so far but I'm glad that you are feeling better now. Hopefully you got the worst out of the way right away and it will be smooth sailing from here on out. Can't wait to hear how you are doing once the swelling goes down. Thank you for the update!

I feel this way too but not as strongly I guess. Its true that I've failed all of my diets, including times of extreme to no calories and I do worry that since those didn't work, then this won't either. But at the same time I've never had this tool that my stomach will be and I've never had as much support with a dietitian and exercise coach. I've also told everyone about the surgery and that will hopefully help with accountability. So I'm going into this with more hope than usual. That this time is the winner and I can't wait to see what the next year will hold. I can actually picture myself succeeding and that is not usual for me on any diet. So hopefully it'll be a great year for all of us

Yay sept is finally here! Good luck to the people with surgeries today. I can't wait to hear how it went and to cheer you on for the recovery period and to learn from you too. Good luck to you for tomorrow! Glad your pre op diet wasn't long and hopefully you won't be hungry soon. Congrats on a successful start!

Yay! That should help a little with flavor variety at least. Did you try any of your flavors in your shake yet? Was wondering if anything tasted extra good or anything to avoid. I know everyone's tastes are different, but can't hurt to hear opinions. Those sound amazing! I know I can do the cream soups after surgery as long as I strain them but before surgery I have to watch the carbs and stay under 800 calories. Fresh from the garden is the best though!

I don't know exactly what I had but at my exercise appointment she did a body fat analysis with electric current. So it wasn't just a scale but she said it was an older model but she liked it better. I didn't write down my results though but she wrote it down to compare with new results 8 weeks after surgery. Sounds like you are doing great! Its nice to have other ways to see the improvement besides the scale, especially when its hard to tell.

I did have to have the EGD, EKG, and psych clearance before they would approve me and then after approval I had dietitian classes and exercise classes to tell me about what they want me to eat and how much exercise to do but I only met with the surgeon for less than 15 min and all he basically did was ask which surgery I wanted and that was it. All of that took from jan to june to get done because everyone was so over booked. After early june though, I won't see anyone again until the day of the surgery. I'm sure it will all work out but I would have preferred to have a longer visit with my Dr just to feel less like a number and more like a person but honestly I didn't have any questions and since I passed all my tests then I'm healthy enough and that's all that really matters.

Yay!! I hope the pre-op diet goes well. Hopefully the time will pass quickly and the 12th will be here before you know it. I keep hearing you guys having pre op appointments and testing. I don't have any of that. They will just call me the day before the surgery to tell me what time it will be at. They gave me special sponges to wash with the night before and again the morning of but that is it. No blood tests, no covid tests, nothing. They don't even check up on me and remind me to do the 2 week liquid diet even though my last appointment at the surgeons office was in early june. Even more differences in protocols I guess lol.

So close!! 530 is super early but at least the waiting will be over. Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes! Thank you for the update! I'm glad to know the diet can get easier, at least as far as the hunger pangs go.

Welcome to all the new people Can't believe its almost sept, yay! How are the people going soon feeling? I still have awhile to go but I see more people for the 19th which is my day too. I don't think I have enough protein shakes so I'm getting some more. Trying to break up my orders so that I can spread out the cost. I'm worried because most people seem to like the premier shakes before surgery but then it seems they are too sweet to people after the surgery. So I don't want to have too many and have it be a waste of money. I've heard fairlife is a good option for after because its less sweet but I haven't tried them yet. Maybe I should get some just in case. I don't like milk, so I'm hoping it isn't too plain. Other than planning, I'm just trying to make time go faster lol.

I'm sorry you didn't get it free. With as restrictive as your pre-op diet is, they should have been nicer to you. It sounds like you made a great choice though. I'll have to look into powdered peanut butter, I didn't even know that existed. I don't know why I didn't even consider mixing the shakes with a drink mix. My head was just stuck on finding a premade flavor that I like.

I haven't tried mine yet but I'm glad to hear that they are good. I have bought a little bit of everything to get ready lol. I start my liquid diet a week from monday, so getting close.

That will certainly help - yay! Any good flavors you think will be yummy? My office only gave me 4 shakes total, so for cost effectiveness I'm jealous but for options I'm glad I got to chose my own. So when is your surgery date? Must be really soon, exciting! Good luck with the FMLA. Hopefully its just being extra slow. I start my 2 week diet a week from monday, so I'm still just in waiting mode and a cheerleader for those of you going first. Sept is almost here finally! Welcome! It's exciting that sept is finally almost here. I'm excited too but I will probably be more nervous the closer it gets. I'm ready though!

Wow, that was a long journey to get to this point. I'm glad you finally found your answers and now you get to lead the way for our sept group and start feeling better soon. Thanks for sharing!

The salty food is a great suggestion but also maybe eat whatever foods are your favorite right now. Stress can lead to weight loss so try to relax by changing your mind set from weight worry to celebrating getting to this point. Eat the food you might not get to eat for awhile. Also have you weighed yourself? You said maybe they looked at your numbers wrong, so maybe you haven't lost too much weight and you are ok. If things get too close for comfort they probably can push the surgery date back to allow you to gain some weight to be sure that insurance coverage isn't something you have to worry about.

I was thinking about the ab binder but I'm hoping to get it free through the hospital. Fingers crossed they will just give me one or I can ask for one.

Yay, its finally real enough and close enough to fill out, congrats! I'm with you and I have no idea what a good goal for things like neck size is lol. I guess you can google average sizes and then I would be generous and aim on the high side. I've never taken any of those measurements of myself before but I do think it's an important part of this weight loss journey since sometimes the scale might not move but then a measurement will change and that can keep the positive thoughts going. I'm even having trouble thinking of goals for the next page. Just saying weight loss and exercise more don't seem specific enough. If you have goals you are willing to share for that next page, I would love to hear them so that I can come up with some better ones. I haven't started my journal yet but its coming up fast.

There are a few of us on the 19th so it'll be a great day. Welcome!