I need help and suggestions to get weight off before surgery

[GettingKimback 12]

I'm a type 2 diabetic and I'm on insulin and have fibromyalgia Have had it for 10 years. I am having a really hard time getting the 30 pounds off before surgery. I've cut back on eating and am doing Protein Shakes for Breakfast and lunch. I've only lost 6 pounds in 2 months. I have a January surgery date

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[James Marusek 5,244]

Since you are at the beginning of this process, I would recommend three things.

1. Take a good before photograph of yourself, so that you have something to compare to after surgery. Many times we are blind to our obesity. We do not see ourselves. Therefore when the weight begins to drop off rather dramatically, we question if this is really happening. Photographs are a good visualization of our success. Many people carry a before and after photo with them, just to remind themselves of their success.

2. Walk 30 minutes each day, every day until surgery (or equivalent exercise). Walking helps the recovery process go smoothly and minimized the pain levels from surgery.

3. Wean yourself from caffeine and carbonated beverages now. After I gave up my 6 diet coke a day habit, I suffered from a week of severe withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. I was miserable. You don't want to combine the effects of caffeine withdrawal with the effects of surgery. On this change alone, I lost 20 pounds pre-op.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I'm a type 2 diabetic and I'm on insulin and have fibromyalgia Have had it for 10 years. I am having a really hard time getting the 30 pounds off before surgery. I've cut back on eating and am doing Protein shakes for Breakfast and lunch. I've only lost 6 pounds in 2 months. I have a January surgery date

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It is hard to lose weight pre-op. For me, it was a challenge just to maintain my metabolism was so shot.

Have you weaned yourself off of carbonation and caffeine? Drinking a lot of Water is helpful, too. Just giving up diet soda will be very helpful.

Are you avoiding starches? Try filling up on Protein and non-starchy vegetables. One strategy my NUT suggested was to add a bag of steamed vegetables to my meal.

Have you talked to a NUT about your goals and challenges?

[GettingKimback 12]

Thanks James I do have to get some pictures. I haven't really taken pictures in a long time of just me. Since I really don't like looking at my body

I gave up soda and caffeine 8 months ago.

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[ladyslim2015 74]

Stop soda, juice. Go to

myfitness pal.com put ur info you will get the calories u should eat for weight, height now eat 500 cal. less than that amount. 3,500 calories burned equal 1 lb loss.

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[ladyslim2015 74]

And walk of course start with food with sugar with less than 10 gram of sugar. Bc I could go right sugar free out the door.

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[sandyoutrage 23]

Drink protien, eat protien, stay hydrated " Water, crystal light,ect" I use Unjury protien, it is good quality protien and you can add equal to it if you want it sweet. I monitored my blood sugar levels and decreased inulin as needed to avoid sugar lows. Talk to you primary physician about this. Good luck and remember to keep your goals at the top of your priorities. YOU CAN DO THIS!

[joephine 5]

I'm a type 2 diabetic and I'm on insulin and have fibromyalgia Have had it for 10 years. I am having a really hard time getting the 30 pounds off before surgery. I've cut back on eating and am doing Protein shakes for Breakfast and lunch. I've only lost 6 pounds in 2 months. I have a January surgery date

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Hi Kim. I'm type 2 diabetic and have a underactive thyroid too. I got myself a fitbit and paired up the fitbit app with my fitness pal.

In short it told me what my daily calories should be to lose weight. I could see calories going in vs calories burned too.

I love myfitnesspal as it not only shows the calories but also tells you the nutrients you've put into your body.

I started doing this in Feb 2015 and have lost 8 stone. I'm booked for a gastric bypass on Tuesday and will continue to use both apps to monitor my activity, nutritional consumption and calories in vs calories out. X

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[RickM 1,753]

Go to

myfitness pal.com put ur info you will get the calories u should eat for weight, height now eat 500 cal. less than that amount. 3,500 calories burned equal 1 lb loss.

And take the results with a few grains (or kilos...) of salt. The problem with these metabolic calculators is that the formulas they use are typically set up for normal weight people, and don't handle unusual body compositions (like extreme obesity) well. They do OK for someone needing to lose a few pounds of holiday bulge but not for someone needing to lose hundreds. Resting metabolism is most closely associated with lean body mass; fat mass does virtually nothing to resting metabolism (though does have some influence on our active metabolism as it does take calories to move all that excess weight around.) When I first started this WL venture years ago using a precursor to MFP, their calculator said that I should be eating around 4500 calories per day. Fat chance (so to speak) - maybe if I were a Marine doing 20 mile hikes with an 80lb pack...My actual stability point with moderate activity was around 26-2700 calories, based upon weight stability. An average height woman will usually have a resting metabolic rate somewhere in the 12-1500 calorie range.

Add to that the problem of metabolic damage from which we all suffer to varying degrees from our journey through obesity - this is the problem where we tend not to burn calories as readily as our normal weight counterparts, even when we attain normal weight ourselves. and is one of the factors that tend to keep us fat even when we do all of the "right" things. It may be a minor issue or a major one depending upon number of factors that the experts are still trying to figure out, but I have seen a few cases where 6-800 calories is their stability or maintenance point - anything more and they gain. Makes it real tough to lose weight in those cases. These are certainly outliers, but they are out there.

Short answer here is not to take these calculators too seriously, they are a rough guideline at best, and don't be surprised if you don't lose weight, or even gain, by following them.

Final point - absolutely track what you are doing on MFP or similar tracking program/app. They can really help in guiding choices ("oooo, that's way too many calories for what it provides, I'll choose something better...") and in documenting your efforts. If you are really struggling getting some weight off even at fairly low calorie levels (say, 800-1000) that could be an indicator that you have some significant metabolic problems, and influence your choice of procedure - a VSG or RNY may not be strong enough for that need and something like a DS might be a better choice. Having good documentation of your efforts to discuss with the surgeon can help convince him that you aren't just blowing off the effort needed, and may have a more serious problem.

[Djmohr 6,965]

I had a very difficult time and followed a 1200 calorie high Protein, low/no carb diet before and literally lost 5lbs over 6 months.

My doctor told me he was not surprised give how bad my metabolism was.

I will say that when i went on the liquid Protein liver reduction diet for 2 weeks prior to surgery i literally lost 14lbs in that time.

Its a touch diet but if you are really stuck and following the plan, you might consider doing that with your surgeons approval of course.

[ladyslim2015 74]

It was intended to be a guide to lose a few lb B4 surgery.

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[GettingKimback 12]

Thank you Djmohr. I will try anything.

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[GettingKimback 12]

Inner Surfer Girl, my nut isn't very good. She knows nothing about how to lose extra weight being a diabetic. I haven't had soda or caffeine in 8 months. I count my carbs for my insulin pump. I will try the veggies

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[GettingKimback 12]

Joephine, I have a Fitbit I just haven't used it in a couple months I guess I need to start using it again

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[GettingKimback 12]

Thanks Rick, I will start counting my calories better and hopefully I can get this 30 pounds off

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