brwneyedwoman

I am too & I'm thinking crawfish boils will be tough!

Yes, I am from Louisiana.

Thank you:) I'm a huge coffee gal so I've started slowly replacing coffee with hot tea. I'm planning my surgery right at Mardi Gras, King cakes and crawfish season... I do not need caffeine withdrawals as well.

Good for you! Me and my hubby just had our psych visit this week, and it went well too.

I madethis today, wanting some deviled eggs, and decided to switch up the mayo with hummus! I used spicy hummus and they were DELICIOUS!
4 eggs hardboiled
3-4 TBSP hummus (I used supremely spicy hummus by Sabra mixed up)
I TSP mustard
A teeny bit of mayo will help make it more creamy for those who like a more creamy filling
Slice eggs in half and combine yolks with hummus, mustard, and maybe mayo for filling. Fill egg whites. Consume!
I made it with 3 TBSP hummus and a tbsp miracle whip and 4 halves (or two eggs) was almost 14g of protein!!!!

Hi guys. I see a lot of you are struggling and worried pre-op about the pre-op diet. It is a HUGE challenge, but for me, it was an important one.
Exactly 1 year ago, I was in the middle of a 2 week liquid pre-op diet because my BMI was 55+ and I was self-pay in Mexico. Traveling from Canada meant that a reschedule would be A LOT of extra expense if my surgeon had to stop due to an enlarged liver mid-surgery. I had NO CHOICE but to follow the diet.
It also meant that cheating would increase the chance of complications and a longer recovery (or worse), all because I could not follow a 2 WEEK diet. Really? Here I was, about to take a seriously radical, life-changing step and get 85% of my stomach cut out permanently. But I can't follow a 2 week diet? That's crazy.
Post-op was going to be difficult for MONTHS, not days. So if I couldn't get my head in the game for the pre-op diet, then maybe I wasn't ready for what was going to follow post-op. I was terrified!
So I started the liquid diet. And I was STARVING. I was dreaming of all the foods I thought were leaving my life forever. Suddenly I didn't care that I had spent my life morbidly obese, I wanted my comfort back. I wanted to fill myself to bursting at every meal, like it was my last meal forever.
But I didn't break my diet.
Because for once, I wasn't going to cheat myself. It was time to grow up (I'm 43....) and take responsibility for my health, my future and my choices. A lifetime of justification, gluttony and excuses brought me to that operating room. Now it was time to face the music and get on with owning my future.
The first 3 days were HELL. That is when your body is detoxing from the carbs. You are using up the glycogen in your liver (to help "shrink" it) and it's screaming for replacement carbs to fill it back up. You can get through it. After 3 days it gets MUCH better. After a week you start to feel normal and more healthy than you have felt in years. You may be hungry, but you don't have the carb cravings anymore.
Most importantly, you feel IN CONTROL; and mentally and emotionally strong for battling your demons and winning. This is the first tangible proof in an unsure future that you CAN get through the post-op recovery and that you CAN succeed in losing the weight this time, FOR LIFE.
Whatever weight you lose during your pre-op diet is really inconsequential. What is important is what you gain:
- Confidence
- Emotional and physical self-control
- The desire to succeed and overcome "impossible" obstacles
- The knowledge that you are a WINNER as long as you do your best
Please don't look at the pre-op diet as a "condition" that your surgeon imposes on you (and some surgeons don't require it!). It is an OPPORTUNITY for you to test yourself, to help build your will, character and emotional toughness BEFORE you have the surgery.
It's like training for a marathon.....you put the blood sweat and tears in before the race to help you finish the race on game day. Without training and preparation, you will likely fail and you can get hurt really badly along the way!
Use your pre-op diet to work through your demons, build up your confidence and prove to yourself you can do it. If you "fall off the wagon" one day, the next day is a fresh start.
Aim for excellence. You owe it to yourself.

This. My psychologist and I discussed this exact issue during my appointment - his best advice was to not tell anyone, but if they ask what "diet" I am on (once the weight loss becomes obvious) to encourage them to see their own doctor and nutritionist for a personalized plan. No mention of surgery, just keep on truckin' towards my own better health.
Good luck to you!

So I went to the Vitamin Shoppe looking for this glorious Syntrax Nectar mix I've been reading about. Walked in and two clerks (neither looking particularly healthy themselves) asked what I was looking for. Asked, " do you have Syntrax nectar? "
Silence.
"Oh no, we don't have that."
Silence.
Now, I'm sure I read someone saying they had it so I decided to look around. There, in the Protein Powder section a huge ceiling to floor section of guess what? Syntrax Nectar. In every flavor you can imagine.
I grab lemon tea flavor (great by the way), walk up to the counter and say " uh, yeah you do."
Silence.
Come people, this isn't a big store. Know your stock. And don't counsel me at the checkout that Isopure is "better for me" either when you are missing several teeth.
Uggh. Idiots, I tell you!

Hi everyone. My surgery was 2/25/13. HW 340, DOS 301, CW 230. I'm 5 months out and 110 lbs down. From 26/28 to 14/16. Most people don't recognize me. My own father walked past me and didn't know who I was. I'm doing things I could never do before. I love my sleeve.

Fyre_storm please don't stalk me..... Ok stalk me a little.

Premier is very good and I hate Protein Drinks. I picked up vanilla at Costco.... I think vanilla gives you more mixing options.

Hi Brwneyedwoman!!
I haven't met Dr. Klein but everyone at that office seems to be amazing. I have my pre-op appointment this next monday and I'm so excited. My regular Dr. told me today that I have already been approved and now it's just a formality... so I should have my date very soon.
Good luck with everything and it will go by fast!!

It's not even about being tough--I am a pretty tough cookie. It's more about the fact that it is my personal business and not open for commentary. My body doesn't belong to anyone except me and frankly, I find the fact that people will openly comment on someone's weight loss or gain distasteful, kind of in the same way you wouldn't go up to someone and say "gee, your tits look big, did you get implants" or "wow, your skin is really tight, how much was your facelift?"
Kind of the same level of tacky to me.