Need to lose weight before I can have surgery

[cbreeden28 23]

Most weeks I do try for 4 days a week at the gym, but working full-time and having an 18 month old son to care for, some day's it is difficult to get in longer than 30 minutes of exercise. My trainer at the gym said that 30-40 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weights were plenty for me. I will go by her recommendations. I'm not spending every spare minute of my day at the gym and not getting to spend anytime with me son. Sorry. I get off at 4pm. By the time I get to the gym, it's 4:20. After chaning clothes, I get started about 4:30. If I were to work out for 90 minutes, that would have me leaving at 6pm and my son goes to bed at 7pm. I just can't do that. I have to make time for my son too. So, I do the gym 3 days a week for an hour and then we take a walk at home on the weekends. There is a healthy balance to working out and a home life. You can't get obsessed with spending all your free time at the gym. Maybe if I didn't have a family and home responsibilities, it would work, but I do. I will just continue what I'm doing in the exercise department and focus more on my diet and tweeking small things here and there.

Again thanks for all the advice.

[stateofzen 46]

I'm going to be a dissenter here. I think your exercise is great, and I would concentrate more on WHAT you are eating than the exercise at this point.

The most recent weight loss studies that compare diet to exercise (or combination) find that for weight LOSS, diet is more important (i.e. cutting calories and/or altering the types of food you eat). For weight loss maintenance and OTHER health benefits non-weight related, exercise becomes very important. Exercise just doesn't yield as many benefits for the average person during the loss phase as changes in diet, and you'll lose weight much more quickly by reducing your calories than by exercising.

I'm sure there are people who will argue, because we are told over and over and over again that you have to exercise to lose weight. But that "common sense" wisdom is just not being supported in controlled research trials. Of course exercise is beneficial and important for health, but that doesn't mean it necessarily causes us to lose much weight.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/phys-ed-why-doesnt-exercise-lead-to-weight-loss/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/19/exercise-dieting-public-health

I'm going to add one final nudge. It might be time to train your husband and son to be more flexible in what they want to eat, to cook for themselves, or for you to learn how to cook something that you have absolutely no intentions of eating. Because that will most likely be a reality of life post-surgery. Why not start that change now? You have a clear cut and achievable goal to work toward. I think if you are willing to go high-Protein, low-carb, you will not only be successful, but you will get there very quickly. If time isn't a concern, then of course you can continue with what you're doing (nothing wrong with it!), but just realize that your body is telling you that it's not going to result in super fast loss. That's ok, but it's a trade off and only you can decide if it's worth it.

[stellabell 1]

Hmm. Maybe avocado can help you

The among top health benefits of avocados is to speed up the weight loss.

A research devided participants into two groups. The first consumed a meal with avocados while in the meal of the other group, there was no avocado.

Researchers started to pose questions about satiety and hunger to both groups.

The first group who consumed avocados was less eager for foods by 28 percent in the 5-hour period.

Moreover, the high content of Fiber and low amount of carbs in avocados contribute to weight loss as well.

Source: https://wikihomenutrition.com/avocados-health-benefits/#7_Weight_Loss

[betty2111 0]

You can consider brazil nut to vary your meals. The ability of brazil nuts to support weight loss comes from their richness of Fiber. Furthermore, brazil nuts are rich in carb and Proteins, which make them a more filling food. This means that brazil nuts can extend the time you feel full. As a result, you will consume fewer foods, which reduces the intake of calories. Actually, this is the conclusion of many scientific studies about nut's benefits on weight loss. You can read the articles https://wikihomenutrition.com/brazil-nuts-health-benefits/#1_Weight_Loss for details.

Hope it could be helful!

Edited November 11, 2016 by betty2111

[sleeveisa 333]

Hi there! I have a high BMI and am getting banded tomorrow morning. I didn't have a liquid diet, I had a goal. I was told to lose 20 lbs. They would THEN schedule surgery. I did this with a high Protein, low carb diet. It's very possible to do and I am a picky eater and did NOT want to live on salad. I ended up losing 23 lbs and was able to get my date. Guess what, I did VERY little exercise so adding that will speed up the process. Here's some foods I ate and some ideas:

Cheese sliced from a chunk (This is usually lower in fat than the string cheese but the string cheese was an alternative to convenience)

* String Cheese

* Cottage cheese (I would add garlic salt and some pepper, you can add fruit but keep in mind that fruit can have a high sugar content, especially if it's not fresh and has been sitting in Syrup or juice

* Cream Cheese (I would smear some on a piece of lunch meat and wrap it up. Make lettuce wraps with lunch meat and cheese!) You can even have sour cream!

*Eggs, I usually made an omelet with ham and cheese or had them scrambled.

Meat- for dinner if I wasn't into a salad I would do the following:

* Bake or BBQ chicken breast. My favorite was adding just a little virgin oil or spraying some Pam in a skillet and adding the breast with some Mrs. Dash. If your feeling crazy, I would mix a little mayo with some hot sauce and lightly spread that on, it was AWESOME! Stay away from BBQ sauce! Even ketchup was something I avoided all together.

* Bacon, Not the leanest but it was a treat and I enjoyed it with my eggs on occasion!

* Beef, I would make a roast in my crock pot and add carrots, onion, garlic and celery. It's great by itself.

* Ground beef, I would throw some in a skillet with garlic and drain the grease. You can also make a meatloaf and add veggies to it.

* Ground Turkey, Bariatriceating.com has an amazing recipe for turkey strognoff meatballs. I made them on Easter and they were a hit! You can also just throw this in a skillet and get creative as well. Make a lettuce taco, add Tomato, sour cream, onion!

drinks

*Crystal light became my best friend! You can even freeze some and make Popsicles. Refrain from using juice because of the carbs and sugar content. These come out more like ice cubes and are hard to bite BUT it keep the hand to mouth going and lasted longer so I felt like I had more going into my body.

*Protein drinks were a big help and my Breakfast on the go! I use Hydro whey from GNC in chocolate. It's 30 grams of protein, 2 carbs and no sugar. It tastes REALLY good in milk. I would even add some instant coffee crystals and it would taste just like a cold mocha! Let it sit in the fridge for a couple minutes to let the coffee crystals dissolve. You can buy some through GNC and if you don't like it, take it back for a FULL refund. Can't beat that!

Work

I work in an office with no break room or kitchen so the fridge and microwave was my friend. I also cut up summer sausage and would eat that with my cheese slices or my lunch meat wraps. An extra Protein Drink is essential for when you get a hunger kick. I always keep a variety of Crystal Light flavors in my desk. Raw Almonds or nuts would help with a crunch as well as Pork rinds. Yep, pork rinds! I didn't want to kill everything I had been doing because I wanted chips, I wanted the crunch! They sell plain, BBQ, spicy and a variety of other flavors! No carbs in pork rinds and they have protein. Not something that will fill you up but will satisfy your need for a crunch!

I DID NOT eat any of the fiber bars, Protein Bars or anything like that. I was VERY strict with my carb intake and kept it a minimum! A lot of those still have a nice chunk of carbs. My Mom thought she was doing well with watching her intake until I pointed out the 20 something carbs per bar she was eating. I was having less than 20 carbs a day, let alone in one bar!

Everyone is different and it's all a matter of getting creative! If you throw in some exercise, you will be in GREAT shape. Don't get frustrated with the scale. I would hit a plateau and get so upset, only to drop a couple pounds more the next week. You can do it!

P.S. I was NEVER hungry and always allowed myself something to eat if I was. You do not have to starve. I am in fact glad things were done this way and I didn't have to deal with the liquid diet before. I will be on enough liquids after and since I'm working, even today, day before banding, I was afraid of being weak. Not the case and am glad things worked out the way they did!

Thank you for sharing, it will help me. My journey starts Dec 7.

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