41 Days to Surgery

[Allie5750]

Hi everyone, I am having my surgery in 41days and I am both excited and scared. My insurance will not cover it so I am going to Mexico to get it done. I have a 30 pre-op diet to do and I have started already and failing horribly. I have the protein shakes for breakfast and lunch and by dinner I am so hungry I make terrible choices. Any suggestions? Also the protein stuff is nasty and I find I have to hold my nose just to get it down...Help!

[Healthmyself]

Your doctor told you to do a 30 day preop diet? That's quite extreme. Most say 3,5,7 days or perhaps 2 weeks? I had mine in Mexico they told me three days. My nutritionist recommended 2 weeks but not as severe as that 3 days.

Main point....set yourself up for success not failure. Most protein shakes are about 200 calories . So just how realistic is 400 calories for breakfast and lunch and then expecting to make good choices for dinner? Who could do that for a month? Not many. Plus you are just clobbering your metabolism even more.

I would find a protein shake you like, first off. Then find a good plan that is reasonable to sustain for the half of the 30 days. Like maybe 1500- 1800 calories high protein low carb. Focus on getting yourself off of addictive things. Like stop smoking completely and quit alcohol and severely limit caffeine. Nix the " carb-age" ie sugar, flour high starch empty calories and processed foods. Avoid artificial sweeteners. Start being a fresh and healthy food snob. I think if you take these steps you will find you won't have to manage a pile of withdrawals when you have the surgery. Save the severe food plan for the last week or days. And figure on allowing yourself some "food funerals".....put them on the calendar even and enjoy them.

Also if you are a carb addict, it is proven in studies to hit hardest in the evening or at night . It's not uncommon to binge then. So be mindful of that you are doing ..( mindful = awareness with no judgement) if you find you binged and ate 1000 calories of carbs, maybe potato chips? Just look at it, accept it with kindness....then ....challenge yourself to substitute a healthier choice that still satisfies the need....maybe 200 calories of baked sweet potato or 1.5 cups of wild rice cooked in chicken broth and eat them very slowly and mindfully.
Another good suggestion I've heard is to do a practice run...ie 3,5 days on the low carb high protein liquid diet you'll be doing prior to surgery...for me that ended up being about 500 calories for 3 days. By doing it once now and then resuming something more reasonable until the week prior to surgery you'll have more confidence in your ability to do it. Also remind yourself you are willing to do "whatever it takes" . This is that important for your health and happiness. You got this!

[klecko]

I had my surgery in NY. I had to start pre-op diet minimum of 3 weeks prior. I started about a month prior. I lost almost 30lbs before surgery, I wish I had the will power to stick with it before I had surgery. But I know me, loose 50 gain 75 back. That's why I chose surgery. The point I was told is to shrink the fat around stomach and liver. That way during surgery less chance of damaging liver. It also gets you started on your new life choice. If you cant do it now, its going to be tuff when you don't have a choice.

I personally like the Premier Chocolate Protein Shake 30G Protein. I also like GNC Vanilla Protein Shake 20G Protein, I use it in my coffee instead of milk and sugar. Everything else I tried, I almost threw-up. It took a little getting used to it, but now I don't like anything else. Drink the shakes slow. At dinner I ate fish, chicken or shrimp, with vegetables. Made a stir fry almost every day. Just used different spices and seasonings. I am NO cook, so it was all experimenting. My wife and kids actually liked it. I was only aloud 6-8 grams of protein for dinner. I weighed it after cooking. In the beginning I did it before and always felt hungry, nutritionist said after it has less water in it. Don't use salt, and or things with a lot of sodium. Google recipes and ideas for meals prior and after weight loss surgery.

Good Luck and experiment with protein now, buy 1 to see if you like it.

Also start walking, you will need to do a lot of it after surgery. If you can exercise. When I started that weight just fell off, and my skin stayed tight. Dr said exercising helped keep skin firm, and sped up metabolism. May not work on everyone but it only can help.

[Pam G]

make sure you're drinking 64 ounces of fluids every day. Can you have soup? I just made a pot of broccoli, onions and chicken stock, then blended it into a liquid. quite satisfying. I'm on a 2 wk 'liquid diet', which does include shakes, and I'm drinking a Starbucks soy decaf Frappuccino right now.

I'd call and see if you can add broths, jello, sf pudding, etc into your day.

are you drinking the Premier protein shakes? and there's one called "Oh Yeah". they're both really good. Klecko likes the chocolate, I love the vanilla...tastes like what I remember a 'real' vanilla shake tasted like.

you can get some samples of different protein flavors from the various places that sell protein....I like Unjury products. They have a chicken broth flavor that's good.

But, really, I'd call your contact person and let them know what's going on, because I'm sure they'd rather see you be successful than not.

[Pam G]

[QUOTE=Healthmyself;546648]Also if you are a carb addict, it is proven in studies to hit hardest in the evening or at night . It's not uncommon to binge then. So be mindful of that you are doing ..( mindful = awareness with no judgement) if you find you binged and ate 1000 calories of carbs, maybe potato chips? Just look at it, accept it with kindness....then ....challenge yourself to substitute a healthier choice that still satisfies the need....maybe 200 calories of baked sweet potato or 1.5 cups of wild rice cooked in chicken broth and eat them very slowly and mindfully.QUOTE]

excellent advice. I can vouch first hand about the damn CARB ATTACKS being worse in the evening! ugh.

[Aydensmomma]

A lot of people like premier protein shakes, like said above. I couldn't do the tub of protein powder mixes. I tried but it was gross. What worked for me was 24oz of milk (skim if you don't want the calories) 2 packets of carnation instant breakfast (they have sugar free, it's 1 packet per 8oz but I found 2 was good for me)
One packet of UNJURY unflavored protein powder (one packet is for 8oz but the only way I didn't taste it is mixed this way)
I think it ended up being 56g of protein. I drank it though out the day post sleeve.
Don't beat yourself up. 30 days is a long time but it's going to be that way after your sleeved so best to get the routine down, carbs make us want more carbs, so work on cutting them down and then out. Caffiene.....
If you are a Caffiene drinker start cutting that down and out too
No one said you had to do it overnier
Your 30 day pre op doesnt technically start for another 10 days. Be easy on yourself and don't set your expectations so high that your kicking yourself if you don't reach them. This is a new lifestyle. It gets easier as time goes on, take it one day at a time

[WANAGL]

Welcome!
I also had a 30 day pre-op diet. I had mine done in FL.
I was limited to 1000 calories per day. I was allowed leafy green salad at lunch (no dressing) with lemon juice, and any "diet" frozen dinner under 200 calories as long as the protein amount was equal to or more than the first 2 numbers of cal count. (200 cals had to be 20 or more in protein). No carbs except from veggies!
I immediately downloaded FitnessPal and kept track of everything including water intake and exercise. FP helped me stay on track!
I found Isopure clear flavored high protein drink to be my favorite. You can find it at GNC to try. Now I order from Amazon by the case!
Best of luck as you embark on your journey!

[Allie5750]

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful advise! I have taken notes and will try everything! I really appreciate all the well wishes and encouragement this is a scary thing to do and take on and knowing that there are others out there that have gone through it and can help is strengthening my resolve a great deal. I have a long way to go but I am determined to be not only skinny (bonus) but healthy which is the entire point of this after all.

I thought the 30 days was excessive myself, so I called the doctor's office yesterday and was told that it is because my BMI is just so dang high. I really let myself go and now I will have to really buckle down to fix it. I went to culinary school and should be able to come up with some high protein very low calorie items for myself for what am I paying in student loans I should anyways. I do like the Premier Protein shakes but now that I already spent so much on the gross powdered stuff I am gonna force myself to find a way to make the stuff work at least until it's gone and then go back to the good stuff. I have thought of maybe having a shake for breakfast, then a small salad with a high protein product included (chicken, shrimp, crab etc.) and then shake for dinner and maybe another if I get shaky. I have already stopped sugar, no sweet tea, sugar in coffee etc. As for the water thing, I'm doing my best, I make sure to get at least a 1/2 gallon in at the very least daily, any more than that at this point I may as well just sit in the bathroom and work because I'm in there every 15 mins. as it is. :-) I don't like water so I put in Crystal Light (Dr. approved) and get it all in that way.

[Pam G]

I'm drinking a 20 oz bottle of 'vitamin water zero'...while it does have 4 gms of carbs, it's also got some vit c and b vitamins in it. it's tastes better than a powerade or Gatorade (those are too salty for my taste) and makes it eazy peazy to get the water in.

remember that everything you drink, including your protein shakes, tea, coffee, etc count towards your liquid total.