NickelChip

Feb 2nd for me. I’m excited!

I highly recommend looking at the videos on the Pound of Cure channel on You Tube, which go into detail about how to eat to lower your body's metabolic setpoint. Foods that are ultra-processed and high carb push your body's setpoint, the weight it wants to maintain, higher, where nutrient dense foods like leafy green vegetables, Beans, nuts, and seeds, make your body want to maintain a lower weight.

As I have been preparing for surgery, I found the Pound of Cure book on Amazon and implemented many of the basic changes it recommends, such as cutting out processed foods, breads, sugar, and artificial sweeteners, and eating more vegetables, fruits, and beans. I lost 15 pounds in around 3 months without counting calories or ever feeling hungry. And I can also say that in the past several weeks, as the holiday treats have infiltrated my house, I have not been as good about eating that way, and to no one's surprise, my weight has shifted upward. I will be returning to better nutrition as soon as the last of the ham, sweet potatoes, and pie from Christmas dinner is out of the house!
I recommend starting with these videos that I've linked below (and then, if you're like me, binge watching the rest of Dr. Weiner's channel). I find his advice to be a common sense approach to nutrition that you should be able to implement long-term without a lot of pain. Hope this helps!
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After having my surgery cancelled last month due to the abrupt closure of my hospital's bariatric practice, I have a new date at another hospital in the area and can hardly wait for the time to fly by. I'm scheduled for gastric bypass on February 21. Any other February peeps out there?

So I got my psych eval back on Thursday. I also found out that I can do 2 of my dietitian appointments in the same month. I've already did 1 and I only have to do 4 total. I did the clearance with my pcp and have pulmonary and cardiology scheduled for this month. I also called my insurance and they said that approval comes one week after the file is submitted. So it looks like I might be able to get my surgery done in March. I'm actually hoping for the end of February but I digress lol

Glad you're back home and recovering!

February 26th for me!

I had bypass on wednesday, home today. The pain has lessened significantly , I'm able to drink liquids the way I need to, and able to eat. Lots of walking, and slowly waking up from the anesthesia. Del75 I felt the same way, I had lost 25 pounds in the few months prior and thought maybe I just keep doing that but I'm glad I did it. No regrets.

February 26th for me!

Mmmm cheese. Good. I ate low fat Jarlsberg from solid foods but I did revert back to full fat after a few weeks cause it tasted nicer. And would sprinkle Parmesan on my bolognese & in my omelettes. Close to goal I would eat Brie, Camembert, a soft blue if out socialising where there were Snacks but not a meal, A couple of pieces were ample. Full fat is so much yummier but it’s all about how much you eat each time & what else you’re eating.
Saw something recently about there being something in cheese that makes it addictive. I can’t recall what because I don’t care - it’s an addiction I’m willing to indulge.

As long as the higher fat in the cheese doesn't make you feel sick, I would personally rather have a small piece of real cheese than a bigger piece of low-fat or fat-free "cheese". I can handle low-fat or fat-free milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. But cheese is sacred.
There's a traditional cheese factory in Vermont, about 2 hours from where I live, with the most amazing cheese I have ever tasted. Right now, I can probably eat a pound of it all on my own over the course of a weekend. I shouldn't. I know this. But I could, so I don't buy it. But after surgery, I think I will. Who cares if it costs $35 a pound if I can only eat maybe an ounce?
Go to a local cheesemaker if you have one and buy a really small amount of the most insanely expensive, insanely delicious cheese you can find. That's my advice. If it comes wrapped in plastic, don't bother. You can do better.

As long as the higher fat in the cheese doesn't make you feel sick, I would personally rather have a small piece of real cheese than a bigger piece of low-fat or fat-free "cheese". I can handle low-fat or fat-free milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. But cheese is sacred.
There's a traditional cheese factory in Vermont, about 2 hours from where I live, with the most amazing cheese I have ever tasted. Right now, I can probably eat a pound of it all on my own over the course of a weekend. I shouldn't. I know this. But I could, so I don't buy it. But after surgery, I think I will. Who cares if it costs $35 a pound if I can only eat maybe an ounce?
Go to a local cheesemaker if you have one and buy a really small amount of the most insanely expensive, insanely delicious cheese you can find. That's my advice. If it comes wrapped in plastic, don't bother. You can do better.

After having my surgery cancelled last month due to the abrupt closure of my hospital's bariatric practice, I have a new date at another hospital in the area and can hardly wait for the time to fly by. I'm scheduled for gastric bypass on February 21. Any other February peeps out there?

I'm in the same boat! I've been yo-yoing between the same 3 pounds for a week now. Juuuuuuust enough to not feel its necessary to call the dietician. Ugh. I've lost 33.4 since surgery, 41 total if you include the 8 pounds I lost before surgery. QUESTION: When people ask, do you tell them how much you've lost since surgery or how much you've lost overall? I don't want to give anyone a false impression that I've lost 41 pounds since surgery, but do they really care that I lost 8 pounds before surgery?
I need to add more movement to my daily routine. I'm averaging about 2000 steps per day thanks to my need-replacing knees and I tried a chair aerobic workout this week. Clearly it was NOT a beginner video. I was sucking wind at 2 minutes into it - and it was only 10 minutes long! I had to stop at 4 minutes in. It was disheartening, but I won't be deterred.
@ChunkCat & @NickelChip - Y'all are my people! Sarcasm is my love language.

This could be my personal life motto.

Mine is scheduled for February 21! (It was supposed to be December 27, but that was a whole big mess detailed in another post). I met my new surgeon on Tuesday and had my blood work, EKG, and barium swallow yesterday. 7 weeks to go!

I love how supportive you have been of your wife (and am sorry to hear her diabetes remains an issue). I honestly think the relationships that most often fail post-surgery are the ones that are not healthy to begin with. The effects of the weight loss just shine a light on the problems that were already there and being ignored.
Society sends the message that being overweight equals being unattractive, that you'll never find a partner unless you're slim, or that you're darn lucky if you do have someone, even if that person treats you poorly, and you'd better put up with it because you won't get anything better. None of that is actually true, of course, but sometimes losing weight is the thing that makes a person realize it and start believing they deserve a happy life.
But if a spouse is one of the "good ones," they'll take your advice to heart and end up with an even better relationship. I'm so glad that's what has happened to you and your wife!

It's clear we are kindred spirits. 😂

Have you dreamed you've eaten something you know you shouldn't?
Last night I dreamed I was in a convenience store eating a Twix candy bar. I woke up in a panic. Not only because I was worried about the ramifications of eating all of that sugar, but also because I'm allergic to wheat. I seriously woke up ready to grab my epi-pen in preparation of anaphylactic shock. 😅

So glad you're here!
There is so much idiocy in the medical community regarding weight and weight loss. Doctors literally know 95% of people cannot physically lose more than a small amount of their weight and keep it off, but they act like everyone can except you and they can't figure out why you're not doing it. Imagine if they told diabetics they couldn't have insulin until they used their willpower to lower their blood sugar on their own, just to prove they take it seriously.
As for your ex partner, I hope on your behalf that certain parts of his anatomy shrivel up and fall off. You deserve better, no matter what weight you are at. It's hard not to internalize that kind of abuse, but remind yourself as often as you need to that he's garbage and did you a favor by taking himself out.

So glad you're here!
There is so much idiocy in the medical community regarding weight and weight loss. Doctors literally know 95% of people cannot physically lose more than a small amount of their weight and keep it off, but they act like everyone can except you and they can't figure out why you're not doing it. Imagine if they told diabetics they couldn't have insulin until they used their willpower to lower their blood sugar on their own, just to prove they take it seriously.
As for your ex partner, I hope on your behalf that certain parts of his anatomy shrivel up and fall off. You deserve better, no matter what weight you are at. It's hard not to internalize that kind of abuse, but remind yourself as often as you need to that he's garbage and did you a favor by taking himself out.

One thing about mental hunger or cravings is that they're almost never strong enough for me to actually get into a car and drive to a store to buy something. The first few weeks, I would end up digging until I found something else to eat, but the fewer options you make available, the more you have to admit to yourself that you're just bored or (as is often my case since I work from home) procrastinating. There have been times I would find myself staring into my pantry and I'd have to ask myself what exactly I thought I would find there. It's all canned Beans and Pasta Sauce now. Generally I just ask myself if I want a snack badly enough to drive to the store for it, and the answer is always no. Oh, and I do all my grocery shopping online for pickup now to minimize the chances of throwing impulse buys into my cart.

I just got home from my appointment and am happy to say that I'm now scheduled for surgery on February 21. I was able to meet with the dietician right after my appointment with the surgeon and she went over the differences between my old program and their protocols, which are similar with the exception that I will need to do the 2-week liquid diet (my old place only did 2 days). I head to the hospital tomorrow for pretests and then just have to wait the 7 weeks until surgery. Time to get back to my good eating habits after the holidays!
I thought everyone was very nice and I got a lot of sympathy for what I'd gone through with the center closing. I was told one patient who is now at the new practice actually arrived at the hospital the day of her surgery and only then found out it had been cancelled. No one even called her. I don't even know what I would have done had that happened.

I'm so happy to report that I have an appointment January 2 with the director of the new practice. When I spoke with the administrative person to make the appointment, she did make it sound likely that I would not have a lot of extra stuff to do since I was right at the end of the process before it got cancelled, just needing the routine pre-surgery tests and my insurance approval.
I'm so sorry your insurance is being a pain about your in-network coverage. The whole in or out of network coverage is total BS. If they're a licensed doctor, they should be covered. Period.
I have to say, the relief I felt when the HR person sent over the insurance benefit packet and I saw the logo of a very widely accepted insurance that is known to have good coverage is almost impossible to describe. This is sort of a long-term consulting gig for my husband, and I had nightmares that the consulting firm would be using crappy companies I'd never heard of to save some cash.
Financially, I may end up coming out of this a little bit ahead, maybe $1500 less out of pocket. But I swear I'll spend that on hair dye to cover all the gray hair this ordeal is giving me! And I'm self-employed, so I can't just request a few weeks of vacation when the time comes. I'll need to do some major reworking of my schedule to accommodate the new date. As you said, is the head of the old hospital losing sleep over this? No, he is not.
But it will work out, and this time next year I will be looking back on it and laughing. In that awkward way you laugh over things that are so not funny.

The hospital administration continues to prove they have handled this in the worst possible way.
I went to see my endocrinologist at the weight management center on Monday. She was fighting back tears as she explained the way news of the closure was handed down, along with a timeline to wrap up the practice by early February that frankly puts profits before patient well-being at every turn.
I have left 2 messages and filled out a contact form with the new center but have yet to hear back from anyone. There has been no official letter from the hospital to explain their decision to disrupt my treatment only 3 weeks before surgery, no apology for having to learn of this through an automated cancelation notice, no indication they care at all about what this is doing to any of us who have been caught in this mess.
Still not sleeping well, experiencing high anxiety, and very worried about how I will have to rearrange my work schedule to accommodate a new surgery date, but of course having no clue when that will happen makes planning impossible.
On the bright side, I have confirmed my new insurance coverage that starts Jan 2, 2024 does cover bariatric surgery and the out of pocket for me will be comparable to my current plan, so I'm no longer worrying about that, at least.
For now, all I can do is focus on healthy eating and exercise. My doctor offered to restart me on weight loss medication in the meantime, but I just think it's one more thing to have to juggle and I'd rather not complicate my life more than needed.

Just an update on my situation:
On Wednesday evening, I emailed my primary care physician and asked her if she could look into things because I still had heard nothing. Yesterday, I heard back from her, confirming she had reached out on my behalf and the center was indeed closing. She was shocked I had received no information. This morning, I got a call first from the office of the doctor I had seen at the weight management center up until July, when I moved from the medical to surgical side. She wants me to come in Monday so she can walk me through things, and I think just to see how I am doing with all this because she's really nice and had been my doctor for 6+ years.
A few hours later, I finally heard from the manager who was supposed to be contacting me. He told me the center is officially closing in February, so all remaining surgeries were cancelled, and he told me of three options for centers within the same hospital group (Beth Israel Lahey) that had agreed to help absorb the affected patients. He is supposed to be sending my information to the one I chose, Winchester Hospital, and I also left them a message this afternoon (their office closes early on Fridays so I just missed them).
Praying that I'll have a better idea on Monday how big a delay this will cause and how many new flaming hoops I will have to jump through. Bottom line, reaching out to my primary care doctor seemed to get the wheels turning, so never be afraid to be the squeaky wheel!
Also, I managed to keep my temper in check with the manager because I'm positive this is not his doing, but I would welcome the chance to express my displeasure to the hospital administration. A troop of poorly trained chimpanzees could have handled this with more compassion and competency, and I think that reflects directly on the upper management (upon whom I have been wishing many unpleasant afflictions this week).