Second at of preop diet...having big second thoughts about the whole thing!

[Rosie77 1]

Help!

So it's my second day on the preop- Optifast diet

A little hungry and the shakes and Soups are awful, but it's not that bad

I am just really starting to have second thoughts about the surgery

It's so permenent

Am I always going to feel like I am on a diet?? I think I would rather be fat then never eat normally again

Please tell me this is just presurg gitters

I know I need to do this for myself and my family, I just feel like such a loser for doing this to myself and worry that I won't find anything I enjoy as much as food and wine in the evenings

Maybe I am just feeling sorry for myself....I am also lower BMI 32 so keep second guessing my decision ( I have pre diabetes)

[allyray 108]

I haven't had my surgery yet but I was at my surgeons office yestersay and in the waiting room there were 2'patients there who were post op and they both agreed that the 2 week preop was the hardest part of their whole journey.

I also discussed the fact that the sleeve is so permanent and he said I have two options. Either have the surgery or stay as I am. For me, I don't want to, and CAN'T stay living this way, so that kind of solidified my decision to go ahead with my surgery. Kind of made it a black and white decision for me.

Hope you have peace with whatever decision you make!!

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

Yes you will eat normally again. You just own't overeat which is what so many of us did pre-op.

I do not feel like I am on a diet. I eat pretty much everything I ate before surgery, just in smaller portions.

[lslblues 45]

I'm on day 12 of Optifast. It gets better. The chicken Soup is actually pretty good if put some celery in it and spice it up with salt/pepper and lots of hot sauce. The first 5'sh days were bad. Then it started getting much better. No more headaches. Not nearly as much hunger. By day 7-8 I actually felt very good and energy levels were back up.

[CountryGirl5584 115]

I'm on day 2 of pre-op diet. I can't wait for the surgery. Everyone handles things differently, but you're Prob just having pre-surgery jitters

[JamieLogical 8,708]

I wasn't very worried pre-op, but those first couple of weeks post-op, I was VERY worried and depressed, thinking I would never feel "normal" again. I can assure you that, five months out, I feel normal 99% of the time now. It's a new normal in that the amount of food I'm eating now is so small and what I'm eating (Protein first! very little carbs) is quite different. But I have fully adjusted to it and it seems completely normal to me now. I do NOT feel like I am on a diet.

For better or worse, I do not track all of my food like many people on these forums. I tracked in the beginning just to make sure I got a good sense of how much Protein I was getting. Once I had a good feel for how much protein was in the foods I commonly eat, I saw no sense in tracking every bite of food anymore, since calories are pretty meaningless.

Also, unlike on a diet, I rarely feel hungry. I eat high protein meals and Snacks throughout the day, so I am never hungry unless I get thrown off my schedule and miss a snack. I do occasionally crave my old comfort foods and sometimes I even eat them! But I can't eat much of them and find they don't really satisfy me anyway, so that is happening less and less.

[gal friday 176]

I didn't have to do a pre-op diet (other than Weight Watchers), but I am 8 weeks post op, and once I got past the pureed food stage, it didn't feel like a diet anymore. I do sometimes eat decidedly non-diet food. I have snagged some of my pre-schooler's french fries on occasion, and I had a small slice of birthday cake at my niece's birthday party. So I eat real food, I'm just eating a whole lot less of it. The only time I feel frustrated is at restaurants sometimes. The portions are so huge, but my brain is used to eating the whole portion, and it takes restraint not to try (I'm sure this will get better).

I had a rough recovery (not due to the surgery, they uncovered a kidney disease I didn't know I had which which dididn't mesh well with the recovery), and despite all of the hospital time and just general insanity, I'm glad I had the surgery done. Once you see the weight start flying off, it's so rewarding.

[Rosie77 1]

Thank you all so much for your kinds words! Today has been a bit easier

My dietician is a cow which does not help....I'm still very scared but knowing things will be better than this stupid diet post op makes me feel better

[gal friday 176]

Your pre-op diet is going to make your post-op diet super easy! I didn't have a pre-op diet, but post-op I got stuck in the hospital an extra week, and then had to go back in the following weekend because they discovered I had a serious (but unrelated) kidney disorder. But even though my surgery went great, they kept me on a diet of Clear liquids the whole time, even though if I were at home I'd be on standard liquids. When I got I home for good I switched to purees, which before the surgery I thought was going to be really hard. But it wasn't! After nearly two weeks of broth and Jello, purees were a slam dunk! I think the same will be true for you.

My NP told me something that I had a hard time believing pre-op. She said that all of the dietary changes would seem less insurmountable because I would be getting rewarded every time I got on the scale on saw weight loss. I had a failed lap band for 8 years, so I really had a hard time believing that I could lose weight and not miss my old lifestyle. She was right!! I'm losing the weight, so I don't miss being able to eat a ton! I went into this surgery terrified that it was going to fail just like my lap-band did, but it's working, and I'm so happy! Even my husband, who supported me 100% but was unconvinced that the surgery would work, well even he is amazed, and happy to be proven wrong.

I had a horrible recovery (because of the kidney problem, you won't go through what I did, it is an unbelievably rare disorder), and looking back on it (I'm only 8 weeks out, I remember it pretty clearly), it was worth every crappy second. The extra week in the hospital, the weekend in ICU with a kidney infection, eating Jello and broth for every single meal - I'd do it all over in a heartbeat!

I'm telling you, this is going to change your life and you are going to be so happy!

[peki31 37]

I'm only about 6 weeks post-op. I was scared for surgery as well, but knew that I have given this decision a ton of thought and it was just last minute jitters.

I was very lucky after surgery, in that I had no issues with anything. I could drink immediately, no pain, two tiny incisions that healed very quick and are pretty much non-existent now. Never had any issues with any foods (except a McDonalds chicken nugget of which I took off the breading and only had a tiny bite).

To answer your question about eating normally. I will never eat normally again. My normal was not really normal. I look at portions that others eat now and can't believe that I ate like that too. To eat that way is really not normal. I can pretty much eat anything now, but I don't do carbs, except if veggies. I eat minimal fruits. I sometimes miss being able to eat a big cheesy slice of pizza or a cake. But that goes away.

One of the best things for me about getting the surgery is the impact that it had on my family. We do not go out to each much anymore, we cook at home. My kids and DH are eating much healthier. And we have plans to be much more active as a family. I love that.