Beginning my journey!

[zdew 1]

Hello everyone. I am just in the very very beginning of my journey! I attended the seminar tonight and I was happy to learn more about the surgery. My next step is to meet with the surgeon for a consultation. I will be starting my new lifestyle and I would love some tips on working out and dieting. I am not good at dieting. I never know what or how much to eat. I know I will learn more as I go but I would love to hear what some of you did when you first started all the way up to where you are now. Thank you in advanced!

[jane13 2,256]

@@zdew - first of all congrats on making the seminar and considering WLS. Welcome to the family

IMO I would stop using the word diet. This is a new beginning of how to eat right and this is a lifelong journey, not just something you do for a year and lose weight and then go back to old eating habits. Not trying to be negative but it is the way of life post-op, if you want to remain successful. It doesn't mean you will never have a piece of cake, a small glass of wine, etc. It just means you will need to monitor how much, how often etc. Get a small scale and start measuring out your food. Are you doing nutrition classes too? I did. You will want to stay within the guidelines the doctors/nutritionists office gives you pre-op. You can start that as soon as possible as long as you insurance doesn't have specific weight requirements.

For now I would work on: drinking more Water, less caffeine, watch your sugars (less is best), practice chewing to "mush" and the popular no drinking for about 20 min (or 30) after you eat.

Ask you doctors office about guidelines to follow and then get back on BP and let us know what they said -

jane

[Miss Mac 6,262]

It seems like our instructions vary somewhat from doctor to doctor, but there are four concepts that are common among us.

1) Drink Water until your eyeballs float.

2) Don't eat anything made in a factory.

3) You cannot control that which you do not measure.

4) Move your body. Don't become part of the sofa.

Welcome aboard. It's a wild ride.

[JamieLogical 8,710]

I think the best thing to do right now would to try to become more active. Even if it's just short walks in the beginning. Anything you do to make your body stronger will only help in your recovery post-op. Plus you will need to be walking and moving a lot post-op and for the rest of your life in order to lose weight and maintain, so it's a good habit to start forming now.

Another good idea might be to start using a food tracking app like SparkPeople or MyFitnessPal. That will give you a sense of what you are eating now and you can familiarize yourself with the apps, so you can use them to track post-op. A lot of people find food tracking apps useful early on post-op to make sure they are getting in enough Protein and not too many carbs. Some people even use them for years post-op!

[zdew 1]

Thanks for your feedback. Means so much! I will use your advice. ????

[kyboo1972 90]

I had my first visit on the 13 as well. I have to follow up with 6 months of nutrition visits and WL supervision for my insurance to fully approve it...will put my surgery around end of July or august I guess. So nervous and so excited at the same time!

[zdew 1]

So many people are trying to talk me out of getting it. Telling me to lose weight on my own. It's so hard tho. I'm trying!

[JamieLogical 8,710]

So many people are trying to talk me out of getting it. Telling me to lose weight on my own. It's so hard tho. I'm trying!

The social stigma against WLS is very strong. For whatever reason, people think of it as the "easy way out", even though there is nothing EASY about it. I think it all just stems from the stereotype that fat=lazy.

The statistics don't lie. Even if you do manage to lose the weight on your own (which many can't do), your chances of keeping it off long term are slim to none.

Even my own husband, who has seen me struggle with my weight for the entire 15+ years he's known me and seen me lose hundreds of pounds over the years only to gain them back was opposed to my surgery. He STILL thought I could do it "on my own". But once I had the surgery and he saw how it changed my life and how I have managed to actually keep the weight off once I was at goal, he finally got it. He now agrees that it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

You have received some great advice.

A few things I focused on pre-op were to:

Wean myself off of carbonation and caffeine gradually.

Increase my Water consumption.

Eat more healthy, whole foods and fewer processed foods.

Exercise more.

Pre-op I was pretty immobile. In the summer I was able to swim some in our pool at home but was not able to do so in the winter. I got an exercise peddler and peddled with my hands in front of the tv. I worked up to peddling at least 60 minutes a day. I also got some resistance bands and Dumbbells.

Post-op, once I was cleared to get back in the pool, my exercise of choice is swimming. Now I swim as often as I can and was able to join our local wellness center that has an indoor pool. I swim laps, do ab work and Water weights, and take an occasional water aerobics class.

Walking is a great way for many people to get started exercising, but if you have access to a pool, I highly recommend you consider water exercise. It's great on the joints.