Pre-op Binge eating

[Casey235 83]

Well I have been debating on posting this or not because of a lot of the harsh comments I've read. I am scheduled for vsg April 8th, my pre-op starts April 1st. I have been living it up these past couple of weeks eating all kinds of things because I fear that I won't be able to have them again. I've seen posts about people cheating on their pre-op diet and looking for encouragement, instead (certain posters) end up telling them if you don't do it pre op what makes you think you will do it post op... And so on.... And so on.... I mean I don't know who some of you people were before surgery, but did you not love to eat? Is that not how we all got fat? I really want to be healthy but I really want to be skinny too. So am I alone in what I'm doing before I start my diet? Another poster added that if we all could have done what we were supposed to have done before surgery, we wouldn't have had the need for surgery at all. Amen!!! We all have a problem right? Sometimes I think these "fitness junkies" shouldn't be commenting on posts that don't necessarily pertain to them. Just because it's easy for one person doesn't mean it's going to be easy for another! Maybe I just want to see if this was anybody else pre op, and if so, was the surgery enough to change your mindset post op?

[Elode 8,093]

I had some pre-op bingeing (food funeral) What have you. I may have been a different type of case in the fact that on my insurance mandated 3 month "diet" I couldn't lose weight or else I would be disqualified. (Weird I know) so I didn't feel too bad about it. In fact my "last food splurge" before my two week liquid diet was a McDonald's Big Mac large fry and large coke (I don't even like soda) I think it's a common fear for some to think they won't be able to eat or enjoy food ever again. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Of course A lot of us love food, that's why we are where we are now. It's not easy, it takes a ton of willpower and a complete mind change. Just because you have surgery that doesn't mean you forgot what food taste like. They operate on your stomach not your brain. It's not always a easy process, you have to make adjustments and change your life style. I'm thankful for my surgery and I'm glad I did the amount of research that I did prior to having it. I don't have hunger still so it helps but I still make a conscious decision everyday on what I will allow to pass these lips. Surgery won't take the urges away.

Edited March 28, 2015 by Elode

[Casey235 83]

Thank you @@Elode !!!

[Elode 8,093]

You are most welcome!

Edited March 28, 2015 by Elode

[Anumarie 17]

Great response Elode!

[Elode 8,093]

I try lol!

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

@@Casey235 ...

I'd like to explain gently to you and plenty of others here who think that all fat people are big over-eaters that everyone who needs WLS does not have the same issues with food. There's a lot of variety among us. We're not all like you. And everybody here isn't like me. Or anyone else.

Yes, I gained up to 235 pounds pre-op because of the complex, long-term disease of obesity's effects on me (I am now 69 years old). I experienced decades of yo-yo dieting that really fucked up my metabolism (gradually lowering it), some awful injuries to my knees and resulting arthritis that made it very hard to move, much less exercise.

But for the last 30 years I haven't had serious problems with binging or eating massive amounts of food.

I was a chubby kid and fought overweight all my life. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost. For a long, long time I could lose weight magnificently. And I could always gain it back, too, but not by binging or lots of "food funerals" -- just by eating a little bit more and exercising a little bit less than would have maintained my weight loss. Turns out, that wasn't hard at all because every time I lost weight my metabolic rate went down a little bit, too. And a few years later, while eating "normally" (as most everyone I knew was eating) I'd regained 40 pounds. Then I'd diet again, and again my metabolic rate went down a little bit more, so I'd regain again--this time 50 pounds. Over and over.

When I finally heard about the sleeve two years ago and decided to have WLS, I was deliriously happy for the opportunity. I understood the combined benefits that I would receive from food restriction, ghrelin reduction, a metabolic reset, and the ability to move and exercise more than I had in decades.

But I couldn't get my surgery scheduled soon. In fact, I finally had my surgery 14 months after the introductory lecture I attended. By the time I was finally in the surgery queue I was so done with waiting.

So, desperate to get this show on the road, I put myself on a self-imposed diet for two months (and lost 11 pounds). I didn't do any food funerals at all. I stopped drinking wine and sodas, reduced my coffee, recorded all my food in www.myfitnesspal.com, bought a Fitbit, stood up and started walking, started chewing more, waiting longer between bites, not drinking with meals, and other things that you're learning now to do after you have surgery.

Everything you want to eat now you can eat later -- just not as much as you could put away today. I would urge you not to add on extra weight that you'll just have to lose post-op. Or have food funerals and know that any weight you gain that's extra will come off only at the end of your weight loss phase when the weight may not be coming off very fast.

It truly is your decision. But please don't put down those of us who were so enthusiastic about this opportunity to change / save our lives that we didn't choose to pig out prior to surgery.

(Thanks for listening.)

Edited March 28, 2015 by VSGAnn2014

[cornhusker 115]

I ate like an animal during my pre op diet. Probably had one good day. Was actually waiting for them to tell me in put op recovery that he had to open me up because of my liver being to big. Anyway, that didn't happen and I've been, what I would consider, very successful since. I have not cheated one single solitary time since surgery. Not a one. I started exercising 5 days a week at the 4 week point. I'm off my CPAP, my blood work is optimal and I've lost 114 pounds since my surgery on October 8. Not too bad I'd say. I'm not encouraging anyone to not so their level best to follow pre op instructions but I'm here to tell you the if you are serious about this surgery, like I was, then you can absolutely be successful. Best of luck to you.

[The Candidate 3,215]

Whatever different roads we traveled to get here is irrelevant in my opinion, as we all eventually ended up at the same destination in the end. We are identical in the fact that we're all fat enough to require surgical intervention.

Falling off your pre op diet is indicative of only one thing in my opinion - you're human. It doesn't mean you're any less committed or enthusiastic than the rest of us. And it certainly doesn't mean that by doing so you are not prepared enough to have surgery. The most often named insurance qualification requirement for WLS is proving that you've tried and failed diet attempts in the past. You've simply fulfilled that requirement one more time. Nothing to be ashamed of in my book. Simply pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.

[kimpossible67 608]

I was a seriously horrible binge eater. I ate in my sleep!

[Big_Mama 511]

I had a month long binge before surgery. Gained 15 lbs! I, too, thought I'd never be able to enjoy food again, especially the first 4-6 weeks...I was miserable... but I was wrong. I can't enjoy the large portions I once had, but I'll enjoy every last bit of my 3-4 oz of food!! Lol the best part is, I don't feel guilty anymore after my meal because there's no way I can eat enough to feel guilty about it!

[Casey235 83]

@@VSGAnn2014 ....

I'm sorry your life journey was the way it was.... But I was in no way Putting anybody down!!!

I was talking about other posts where people put others down!!!

Kind of like what your reply to MY post was!

If it doesn't apply to you why respond?

[Casey235 83]

Thanks everyone for your help! My pre-op diet starts Wednesday, and I'm really mentally preparing myself for the lifestyle change! Still eating a lot until Wednesday... Don't know why, but it's like I can't stop!! ????

[MsAlaineus 63]

I am right there with ya. I'm terrified that they will DQ me because of my love affair with thin mints and chicken strips. I have to loose 20# post op or they won't operate.

Thanks for being honest.

XO,

Ms. A

Edited March 30, 2015 by MsAlaineus

[livingstone 137]

I was lucky in that I didn't have to do a pre-op diet. My surgeon was also a liver specialist so he felt comfortable operating regardless of liver size.

So right up until I had to go nil by mouth for surgery, I was eating lots and lots.

I had the same mentality, which is that I wanted to enjoy it now because I didn't know if I could in the future.

And that is understandable to me - part of what we enjoyed wasn't just the taste of the food, but the comfort of having a big pile of filling yummy food. Even though you will be able to eat what you like in the future, you won't be able to sit down and pig out. And that's a good thing - but it's also legitimate to regret that occassionally as well.

Remember that 'normal' people do have that luxury. It is natural to want to sometimes just eat lots and lots of yummy food and then fall into a nice food coma. My problem was that that wasn't a once a month or once every two months thing - that was a weekly or daily thing. And the price of fixing that was making it a thing I can never do. I can eat yummy food, but i have to accept that I won't necessarily be able to 'splurge' like others occassionally do.

Ultimately whether you binge eat is a choice for you. Every pound you put on now will be another one to lose in the future. I decided that I was ok with that and that I wanted one last month with lots of yummy and unhealthy food. But it is a decision for each person.

I have no regrets - I'm four weeks out and I am fine with my decision to allow myself to binge. However, there might be an argument that if I had tried to live life as a port-surgery life before I had the surgery, maybe I would have been more prepared for the head hunger after surgery? Maybe I wouldn't even have gone ahead with the surgery (because I do miss food lots, and that is hard). Again, you need to figure out in your head whether you are content to go into surgery with a sort of cold-turkey approach and just give up binge eating overnight, or whether you would prefer to ease yourself into it by pre-surgery dieting. Again, that is a personal decision for each person.