Creekimp13

Wow...a hundred year relapse? That's impressive.

Everything you've said about relapse and addiction is correct. But in order to have a safe surgery, you need to get the addiction under control before moving to the surgery. The surgery is NOT a cure for addiction. You need to work with a therapist to get control of your eating before surgery. Relapsing just after surgery can be life threatening. If a person is unable to stop themselves from overeating soon after surgery, they can die or cause terrible harm to themselves. (and to their surgeon's reputation...which is why your surgeon is being hard on you) If people are overeating...they are not ready to keep themselves safe. Listen to your doctor and get control of your eating habits first. You will thank him/her in the long run. You just posted about having "more food funerals than you could count". I'm guessing that's a significant source of your recent gain. I agree that addicts should be treated with respect and not shamed. Addiction is tough. That said, one should not enable an addict either. The best thing to do for an addict...is to have compassion, but to also hold them accountable and not let them make excuses.

Raise the head of your bed a few inches, and don't consume anything other than plain water 3 hours before bed.

Poop...you should re-figure that using your weight at the time of surgery...not your starting weight.

You weigh 366 and your goal weight is 190....so your excess weight is 176 pounds. Most people will, overall, in the course of 18 months...lose about 60-70% of their excess weight. So, you can expect to lose about 105-123 pounds in 18 months if you have average results. A loss of 18% of your excess weight is possible in the first month after surgery....or, for you, about 31 pounds. Your monthly loss will decrease from there. My guess is that your 90 day loss will be about 65-75 pounds if you have average weight loss. But again...everyone is individual. Some people will lose more, others will lose less. Some will get stuck in stalls. It just depends on your body's reaction to change and your commitment to changing your eating habits and exercise.

Here's a reality. You have to prove that you have the self control to not hurt yourself and create a medical emergency. Surgeons fear non-compliant patients....because they have complications and it makes the surgeon look dangerous. My surgeon was brutal. We had to lose 10% of our total weight...to get approved for surgery. Took me six months, but I faithfully lost the 27 pounds he required to prove I could stick to a diet. Surgery isn't a magic cure. If you don't get control of your eating habits and learn to eat the right things, you're dead in the water. Surgery will not work for you. Losing 30 pounds before my presurgical liquid diet....was child's play compared to the hell of the starvation diet both before and after surgery. Don't for a second think that losing weight before surgery is "the hard part"....it's tough, but it's the tip of the ice berg compared to what's next...and if you're not up to it, you might want to reconsider. Just being honest, folks. Wishing everyone success and good outcomes.

Day 8...you're gonna have to wait. Really sorry. It goes fast, just have to grit your teeth and bear it. When I got angsty....I'd walk...and walk...and walk. Wore myself out, and it was good for me to boot. I remember celebrating soft foods. it's coming. Hang in there!

If you need food....and you're hell bent to cheat....pick something from the next stage of your approved diet, Like...oatmeal, cream of wheat, strained canned cream soup, or sugar free pudding. I would shoot for bland at first. And of course, the best thing to do is stick with your program as written. Have been there, and felt your pain.

I love My 600 Pound Life. I put reruns on when I need inspiration to keep walking and get my steps in.

I had a dream my dead mother in law was in surgery when I was being anesthetized.. I asked her..."Are you doing my surgery?" And she goes..."No, I am not. I'm dead, and I am a veterinarian." Which was certainly true. Was nice to see her, even if it was a whacko dream. LOL:)

It's ok. If you'd gotten Premier Protein, you'd get 30g of protien for 160 calories.....with Atkins you're getting half the protein for the same number of calories. (and have to drink twice as much to hit your protein target)

You can pay a lot for bariatric vitamins for either procedure...or you can be cheap like me, buy store brands (buy one get one free) and your nutritionist will still clear them for use:) I don't get fancy chewable calcium. I get the rock hard june bug sized Calcium citrate monsters....and just hold them in my mouth with a swig of hot coffee until they start to errode. Then, I just munch them up into paste and swallow them. The taste isn't that bad, and the cost is exponentially less. I used to put them through a pill crusher and eat the dust with sugar free Cool Whip. My multi vitamins are Store Brand (equivilant to Flinstone's Complete) kid's chewable vitamins in animal shapes...lol. I take two a day. I don't mind them. I also take extra B Complex, B12 and D (because I'm deficient living in the north). I buy whatever's cheapest or pick up a sale on Amazon. B12 and D...you can chew, they're bland and not offensive. But B Complex? Yikes...you don't ever want to chew that. Bleh!

Most stores carry Premier Protein. Walmart does, here. If you can't find it by the diet shakes, try by the body building protein. The Caramel flavor can be a little harder to find, but I've found it at Walmart and chain pharmacies here. Mostly, I buy it at Meijer.

Hibiclens soap...like they give you to take a shower with before surgery. Give it a good scrub with a washcloth and let it sit there for five minutes. Then rinse well. Very important to rinse it all off. Dry thoroughly. (Ok to combine this with powders, ointments, etc.....but when you wash it use Hibiclens) Chlorhexadine in Hibiclens is used as a presurgical scrub..it's wonderful for bacteria and yeast, in particular. Most pharmacies and bigger chain stores with pharmacies will have Hibiclens.

They both have more sugar and calories than you need. Try to keep calories under 200 per shake. I was told to try to get whey based shakes. Premiere Protein gives you 30g of protein for 160 calories. It's my favorite now. The caramel flavor is extremely good in coffee...tastes like a latte:)

My group uses a metabolic test to determine our true body fat percentage....then they figure out what our weight would be at 25-30% body fat (because this is what is considered healthy for women). My goal weight turned out to be 170. If I went by BMI charts, it would be closer to 155...but BMI is really not accurate if you're a someone who is larger or smaller framed who carries more or less muscle than usual. I'm a broad shouldered, bigger person with a lot of muscle....so I was more interested shooting for appropriate body fat percentage. 170 seems like a very reasonable goal. I was 170 in highschool and extremely athletic:)

My nutritionist has our protein goal set at 60-80g per day.

If you like to drink a cup of coffee or decaf in the morning, pick up some caramel flavor Premiere Protien shakes. I use half a shake in my coffee ever morning and it tastes like a caramel latte. Really good. 80 calories for 15 grams of protien...ya can't beat it!

I recently learned from my bestie that my husband...who was the most supportive person possible (and still is)....was a wreck during my surgery and didn't sleep the night before. So often I think unsupportive people, particularly those who love us....are just incredibly scared. Especially people who are fearful of medical procedures themselves. It might come out as nay-saying and nastiness....but I think the root is fear.

MNgirl...you'll likely need some presurgical labs, an EKG, either a barium swallow x-ray study of your upper GI, or an endoscopy, and a chest x-ray. (again, this could differ by group and individual) We also had to attend a support group, nutrition classes, and see a trainer.

I went to my last nutrition appointment at 11am on a Thursday. The office called me at 2pm the same day with a surgery date and a million instructions. I was grocery shopping at the time and trying to scribble everything down on my grocery list. I was shocked. My official approval letter from my insurance came about a week later, and surgery was almost three weeks from that visit.

Nesh, this won't help you, but it might help someone else. If you have the choice to get the Emend nausea-prevention pill that you take before surgery...GET IT. It's expensive as all Hades....like two hundred bucks for one pill! But I took it and had absolutely zero nausea. My insurance covered it....but very seriously...it would have been worth paying for out of pocket. I also got the behind the ear patch, and anti nausea pills to go home on. Nausea and vomiting were my worst fear. I hate vomiting more than I can say. Never had any nausea, never threw up.

(I am now imagining Fluffy digging cheetos out of her trash, rinsing them manically in a collinder, and putting them on a baking sheet to dry in the oven....and re-dusting them with cheese powder from a box of Mac and Cheese)

Well...if your doc refers you to a bariatric surgeon...you'll probably go to a group meeting or seminar where you hear all about what's involved. Then, if you don't run, you'll likely have a consultation where they take your insurance information and see what's required. After that, you'll know where you stand...what prerequisites your office and insurance need you to meet, etc. And of course, this could be different for everyone. Best wishes!

Those are some impressive improvements! I've got a list somewhere....couple inches here and there for the most part....but my biggie is that I've lost 9 inches off my waist. I have a waist and a shape again....and it's still early days....but it's starting to look pretty damned good:)