Noor1969

Thank you SO MUCH for posting this!!!! I love Atkins bars! I'm starting my 2 week preop liquid diet tomorrow and then won't be able to have solids for a while, but this will be a nice treat once I'm allowed solids again! Much appreciated!

Well, my 2 week preop diet starts tomorrow. It's pretty strict, with 5 shakes a day, sugar free beverages, sugar free Jello and sugar free ice pops only. And no caffeine (although I'm allowed to drink 1 cup of decaf coffee or tea per day.) My surgeon wants me to lose at least 10 pounds. I'm terrified. I'm terrified because I don't deal with hunger very well. If I did, I wouldn't have ballooned up to 270 pounds. I'm also terrified because for the first time in my life I will have to get a divorce from binging and compulsive overeating. The head hunger is going to be overwhelming. My surgeon told me that in her experience patients who comply with the preop diet have a higher degree of success post-surgery. And I have no intention of cheating. I don't want to wake up from the OR without a sleeve because my liver was too big for the surgery. I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude--knowing that I'll feel so much better as the weight comes off. And I'm seeing this as my chance to FINALLY leave the self-destructive behaviors behind. I know that some of you may suggest that I start therapy to deal with these feelings and compulsions. I haven't made that decision yet. I have attempted therapy several times in the past and I've never been able to find someone who was a good fit. My experience over the next 2 weeks will go a long way in my determining whether therapy is an option for me or not. A part of me is so damn tired of it all--the eating has gotten so out of control. And I have put on 10 pounds in the last month thanks to all of my last meals and food funerals. This madness has to stop. But I am going to miss food so much. Like I said, I have no intention of cheating. But I'm still terrified.

I am 270 pounds and with so much of my weight in my belly, yes, it is hard to reach and insert a tampon. I struggle along as best as I can because I really don't like to use pads. When I was 60 pounds lighter I noticed that tampons were easier to insert and they didn't seem to fall out as often when I used the bathroom. As far as leaks go, I haven't been lucky enough to find a tampon that doesn't leak even a little bit. I wear a panitliner as a backup on the heaviest days of my period. Hope tho helps.

I take a stool softener every day and plan to continue the practice post-surgery. If the OTC remedies don't work for you, I would suggest getting a prescription for Lactulose from your doctor. It's very gentle and can be taken long-term. It was given to me in the hospital after I had gallbladder surgery and haven't moved my bowels in a few days. It worked like a charm--a little TOO well, actually!

My heart goes out to you, dear. I am 270 pounds and could have written this post myself. I did the HCG diet last year, went to a famous diet doctor who was on Dr. Oz and spent thousands of dollars. I have gained back almost all of the 60 pounds I lost. Exercise is tough for me too as I have arthritis in my knees and lower back pain. This is going to be lifesaving surgery for me and is truly my last resort. My surgeon's office has yet to obtain an authorization for my surgery and I'm terrified that I'll be denied, although with my BMI and comorbidities I can't imagine why. I am truly at the end of my rope and am desperate to get this procedure done. January 22 can't come fast enough for me. My trainer at the YMCA (who's lost 75 pounds on her own; "hooray" for her) told me yesterday that she thought that I considered the surgery to be a "the-all, end-all." She really was down on me for my decision. Needless to say, I will not be working with her again. I'm not an idiot. I know that life won't be perfect after I have the surgery. I know that it will be the hardest thing I will ever have to do in my life. I will have to obtain a painful divorce from compulsive eating, a behavior that has crippled me ever since I was a kid. But just like you, I too need something drastic. I see this procedure as a second chance at life for me. Yes, I have tried to lose weight "on my own" but the odds are stacked against me. Did you know that 95% (that's the figure I've heard, anyway) of people who lose weight by conventional dieting gain all the weight back? This surgery is going to save my life, and yours too. Yes, I DO relate to you, more than you could ever know. Please don't hesitate to PM me if you need support. Thank you for your courage in posting this. You are not alone!

Hey, cool! My date is also Jan. 22. Unfortunately I do have to do 2 weeks of liquids which starts on Monday. Not looking forward to it, but I want all to go well with the surgery!

Wow...if being cold is the case for most of you, I suppose I'll turn into a human icicle! I have hypothyroid and am chilled all the time...suffer all the time with cold hands and feet. I'm going to talk about it again with my PCP in a couple of weeks as my Synthroid hasn't helped at all. Maybe somehow my hypothyroid will resolve itself after I get sleeved, but I'm not feeling too optimistic about that. Guess I'll just have to be prepared to be cold all the time!

I am hungry just about all of the time (although I'm sure most of it is head hunger), and have to eat enough for 3 people to get full. I think my stomach is stretched out from years of overeating. This is why I'm having the surgery--for the restriction of the smaller stomach and lessening of the gherlin production that causes us to get hungry in the first place. My surgeon swears to me that my hunger won't be an issue anymore after I'm sleeved. I'm really counting on this surgery to get my appetite back under control. You're not alone!

I love your posts. You are always so motivational and inspirational. It scares me to even attempt it, but I am going to try my level best to give up binging and compulsive overeating for 2013. It's what got me to 270 pounds (324 at my highest weight), and has made my life miserable ever since I was a child. My dad died suddenly when I was 6 years old, and I quickly learned to turn to food for comfort. I was terribly bullied in school for being fat and weighed over 200 pounds in the sixth grade. The weight just kept piling on year after year. Even though I knew what I was doing was incredibly self-destructive, food was always my lover, my best friend, my confidant, my solace when I was bored, hurting, sad, depressed, angry--fill in the blank. I never learned a way to sit with those uncomfortable emotions. I married my soulmate in 2006 and even that wasn't enough to put me off of the food. I have eaten until I was physically ill and have eaten food out of the garbage can. This punishing behavior is going to kill me. I hurt all the time, emotionally and physically. Food is not my friend but it's taken me nearly 45 years to learn that lesson. Next week I start my 2 week preop diet and I'm scared. If there's anything I can't deal with, it's hunger. I don't know how I'm going to get through all of those negative feelings without medicating myself with food. But I don't want my surgeon to open me up in the OR and find that I didn't obey her instructions. I want the surgery to be uneventful. It's not going to be a cakewalk after the surgery, either. I know that I'm going to want to eat and I physically won't be able to. Again, I'm going to faced with having to sit with my feelings without medicating myself with food. Did I mention that I'm scared? Yet, I have wasted so much of my life in this self-abusive habit. It's time for it to stop. I'm only 44 and I, God willing, still have many years ahead of me. I won't have many years left if I keep doing what I'm doing. This is probably going to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But I have to do it. Sorry to go off on a tangent...but if there's anything I want more to leave behind in 2013, it's this.

I'm 1 month out and was starting to get pretty sick of protein shakes too. Have you tried Ready to drink shakes like Premier. I found a target brand that has 20g of protein and is kind of tasty. Also, I have mixed a half scoop of chocolate protein powder with a sugar free pudding cup and a touch of milk and topped it with fat free whipped cream. That was pretty yummy. I have also mixed a half scoop of unflavored protein powder in 32oz of sugar free Hawaiian punch. Protein and Water for the price of one. Lastly, I have made protein shakes with other ingredients besides the whey protein powder such as cottage cheese, egg whites and puréed pumpkin and other stuff. It tasted like a pumpkin spice smoothie. Just go online and look for protein shake recipes. If you have an ice cream maker, you can even make protein ice cream (check out theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com). The possibilities are endless. Just make sure you get that protein in and check with your Nut. I like the pudding cup idea! BTW, Cool Whip also has a sugar-free version.

I was wondering if any of you vets eat Pasta and/or rice and how far along in the healing process it took you to begin eating it again. I completely understand that I won't be successful without consuming Protein first, then greens, and carbs last. However, I'm hoping to be able to enjoy pasta/rice again on a very limited basis. I also understand that I perhaps won't be able to tolerate pasta/rice at all after surgery. Just wanted to get some opinions.

Wow, you really did a great job of planning everything! I will have to do something like this

OK, for some reason I'm really freaking out that I'm going to have a drain installed. I'm convinced that it's going to hurt to have it removed. The procedure will be done in my surgeon's office. She told me that it "feels weird" to come out but it shouldn't hurt. Is she telling the truth??!?

Just think about how happier and healthier you'll be in 2014. Wishing you success and keep us posted!

Who, you may ask? I'm talking about the special bunch of you who are gritting their teeth and forging on with their preop diet during Christmas. I can only imagine how challenging it must be for all of you. Not only are you hungry, you have all of that tempting food calling your name. I'm Muslim so I don't Celebrate Christmas, but if I had to do my preop diet (mine is supposed to start Jan. 6) during holiday festivities I think I would have been climbing the walls with frustration and hunger. I just wanted to give a shout out to all of you--stay strong! We will all see each other on the loser's bench soon and begin 2014 happy, healthy, and most of all NO LONGER HUNGRY!

Thank you so much for your updates! Please keep posting!

LL, you express yourself so well. I always enjoy reading your posts. While I don't know if I'll ever become physically conditioned enough to actually TEACH kickboxing it's nice to know that there are other sleevers out that who have reached that level of success. Thank you for inspiring me. You have done more than the lion's share of working "on your own" and deserve the very best that life has to offer you.

I'm still on the preop side and don't know much about this issue, but I WAS wondering what happened to you! Glad to see that you made it to the loser's bench! And hey...you made it through that horrible preop diet, which is such an inspiration for me! Everything is going to work out just fine. I agree with the vets here...you don't want to get dehydrated, so maybe focusing on fluids first is the best way to go for now. Please stay in touch and let us know how you're doing!

Do any of you guys use liquid Vitamins instead of chewables? I just had my final NUT appointment and I was given a whole bunch of samples of the chewable ones, but they're quite expensive. I buy my vitamins from a website called swansonvitamins.com and the prices are a lot more reasonable. Swanson has the chewables, but they also have liquid Multivitamins that I thought I might try instead. They also have liquid Vitamin D drops. Any opinions on the liquid ones, good or bad? Also they sell a sublingual form of Biotin that I'm going to start taking post-op to hopefully protect myself against the hair loss I keep hearing about. You let them dissolve under your tongue so you don't have to chew them. Swanson is a great company with very fast and cheap shipping. They will also accept returns no questions asked, even if you've used the product already. I highly recommend them. oh, just remembered...they carry Twinlab's line of bariatric vitamins as well, at a more reasonable price than Celebrate or Bariatric Advantage.

Are you talking about the 2 week liquid preop diet? I wish I had an answer for you. I'm probably going to have my surgery in February so my 2 week liquid diet will be coming up soon. I'm absolutely terrified. My hunger is out of control already and I just can't see how I'm going to handle 2 weeks of nothing but Protein shakes. I begged my NUT to be able to at least eat raw veggies, but the answer was no. I'm trying to have a Protein shake for lunch as a kind of "practice" but I find that they don't satisfy me. I'm also not allowed to have caffeine on the preop diet which really stinks. Like I said I wish I had a more positive answer for you but I don't. I'm interested in what the more experienced folks have to say, as I need all the help I can get!

Thanks so much for posting this. You are doing great so far and I wish you continued success.

Have any of you tried the

I'm really struggling with the last meals and food funerals right now. I've gained several pounds in the last few weeks and this needs to stop b/c it's only going to be more weight that I have to lose after the surgery. I keep telling myself that it won't be the last time I can ever have these foods again but still have the desire to binge. Hopefully I will get this all out of my system before my preop diet starts as I have no intention of cheating and want to make things as easy for my surgeon as possible. So glad to hear that I'm not alone in this

My NUT told me 60 grams...I will try for more if I can.

Mmmmm...cheese sticks! One of my favorite comfort foods! I will have to try this one!