WanderingHeart

Terrible headaches doing pre-op diet. I noticed before pre-op that I’d get headaches from hunger (or at least that eating would make it go away). For the people on this thread, did they go away after surgery?

I think it’s important to listen to your body. So the doubt you are experiencing, does it feel like it’s coming from your head? Good techniques to check. Close your eyes and make a statement like “surgery is the best choice for me.” When you say it, notice how your body feels. Does the statement settle down your body ? Ie imagine it moving from your head down to your chest, to your belly, to your hips. If it moves easily and your body stays calm and sure, then your body’s wisdom can help push those doubts away. If you can’t get the statement to settle, if you imagine it up by your head/shoulders, it might be a sign you need more time. If this practice is too wuwu for you, try muscle testing! It’s an awesome, easy approach to get some clarity. Google it or I can type out a technique for you. i noticed I was thinking a lot about side effects and I needed to reset so I did these practices last night. It helped remind me that my body knows this is right for me and I was getting too caught up in my head and quite honestly, in what everyone on here was saying.

Sounds similar to Garth Davis, who my primary care provider mentioned. She’s not convinced that we need as much protein as most bariatric surgeons push. I’ve been trying to find a post op plan that is more whole-food plant-based. Do you have a copy of your post op plan still?

Hey I am also struggling with pre-op. Today was my first day. I’m allowed liquids, protein shakes, 2 lean solid proteins like eggs, chicken, Greek yogurt, and vegetables. No fat/carbs. I feel like I’m starving, my head hurts, and I have a short fuse with my twins. Considering that all these docs have different pre-op diets, it feels somewhat arbitrary and I hate doing things that don’t feel meaningful. So I just re-frame it in my mind “this is a challenge I can overcome and I’ll feel good knowing I did if.” Other diets felt pointless after awhile bc I knew I couldn’t sustain it forever. I’m like - 10 days - I can do this! I’m just hoping it gets easier!!

Not at all crazy. Listening to your body is the most natural thing to do. It’s this crazy world that cuts us off from our body by teaching us not to trust it from infancy on! As a parent, it’s a struggle to watch other kids people interact with my kids and say things that contribute to this - “don’t cry, it’s not a big deal.” “Take 3 more bites” etc

Check out Rachel Goodman. I’m doing her program while waiting for surgery. She’s awesome, so much better than the nutritionists I was required to see. She teaches you how to have a better relationship with food.

My sleeve surgery is on 4/6, I have not talked to the surgeon about this specifically. I typically don’t have digestive probs - only laying down shortly after eating certain foods. I don’t know if I have a hiatal hernia, is this something we can discuss and plan for on the day of?

My surgeon said to use surgery weight

What are you eating?

Woohoo! How’s it going ? I’m wrapping up my little food funerals.

I tried orgain, iconic, and pirq. Orgain offers plant based and grass fed; iconic are grass fed dairy shakes and pirq is all plant based (pea protein + almond). The pirq also has maca and turmeric so I ordered it for the nutritional boost. Honestly they mostly taste the same! There are some varieties in flavor but they all have the same protein aftertaste. But I got them because I try to eat clean/organic when I can.

@rklingsmithjr I bought iconic protein shakes and pirq protein shakes from their siteS (20% off each when you join their mailing lists). I also got some collagen powder & Miralax from Amazon even though it pains me to support them. I’m cooking some homemade broth now! Picking up fresh veggies and eggs tomorrow, starting pre-op diet on Saturday

It seems like you know what you can do but you’re not doing it, which tells me that you’re experiencing a mental block. This could be caused by a lot of things- maybe you really needed a break from what you were doing. Maybe you feel resistance or anger and you’re fighting your own plan. Maybe you need an outlet for emotions and you picked up food as a coping mechanism. It seems like you’re hard on yourself and you cannot change anything from a place of disapproval. Find something in your behavior to approve of - whether it’s like “wow I did a really good job testing my boundaries with food here!” Or “my resistance is adorable/sexy/fun” or whatever applies to you. I like to do a question practice where I write questions in my journal to discover what I want. Do not write questions that are down on yourself like “why did I mess up?” because there’s no way to authentically answer that. Questions like “how does my body feel? What does it crave? How can I support my body in this process? What foods feel nourishing and satisfying?” Just focus on questions, do not answer them. The act of writing questions and letting them go allows them to be answered at the right time, sometimes just by noticing cues from your body or from the universe/god. Whatever you believe in. if all else fails, therapy is awesome for unlocking resistance!

I have my surgery 4/6. It is important in my life to make decisions driven by inner knowing. I do not feel fear when I check in with my body and that’s how I know it’s right. Sometimes I get in my head and read a bunch of negative stories, but my body does not feel fear. It feels a sense of calm and resolve. It was essential that my body could validate my decision so I do a lot of practices to check in. I’ve honed these skills over time. The easiest thing is called muscle testing. It is the act of asking your body a question and seeing how your muscles respond. You can google this, but I’ll briefly describe one technique. Stand with your knees slightly bent (not locked) and close your eyes. Ask yourself a fairly easy yes/no question that you know the answer to, like- “do I love my dog?” Most likely, you’ll lean forward. Most people lean forward for their yes, backward for their no. Some people might lean to the right side for yes, left side for no. Once you’ve tested your yes/no muscle responses, ask yourself questions about the surgery - “is the surgery right for me? Will I become healthier? Is the surgery safe for me?” Etc. Focus on the question, not the answer. Your body will naturally answer. Another practice is to sit still in a quiet place. I’ll say a statement in my head, and visualize the statement sort of moving down my body. If it easily settles in my waist/hips, then it’s true for me. If it gets stuck at chest/shoulders, then it’s not true for me. The last thing is a bit wild but very effective. It’s a practice from mama Gena (look her up!) where I literally ask my p***y a question. If I feel a sense of turn on as a response, it’s a yes. This is not to convince you in any way that because you’re scared, it’s not right. I just wanted to share tools that might help look past the fear, that might give you reassurance. good luck! ?

Does anyone have a copy of post op plan from dr Davis? I’m curious to compare. Tried internet search and could not find a plan or sample menu

@Lizp5 same surgery date!

Yeah everything does revolve around food - my mom definitely uses food/cooking to show love. Fortunately, my partner is a pretty fit guy who does not have the same relationship with food - he would rather do less food-centric activities. He’s looking forward to doing other things with me! I tend to focus all our date nights on food

My naturopath recommended Garth Davis as a resource, but I’m struggling with the idea of being 100% plant-based. We buy organic/grass fed meat from small farms and I’m okay with it - we are not huge meat eaters anyways. Anyone strive for a balance? I’m starting my pre-op diet in a week and I ordered Pirq and Iconic, one is plant based protein drink and the other is grass fed.

Nice! My mom makes my fave meal for Easter (ham and scalloped potatoes) but I’ll be on my pre-op diet so we moved Easter to this weekend. We are not particularly religious, it’s more of a spring family day. So my parents were fine moving it. I plan on giving up coke forever so I’ve started to phase it out (down to 2 a week) but trying to enjoy that while I can. Also will get Mexican are you planning on giving up certain things forever or phasing things back in moderation?

Oh you said 3/23. What (food)funerals have you been attending ?

Sleeve. Starting diet on 3/27. I am definitely making the rounds and getting in my fave foods in this last week! What about you?

I’m on 4/6 too!

Wow! How rude of this person. It can be hard to respond in the moment, you probably felt kind of frozen, unsure of what to say! if you want to keep your relationship with your friend, I would set some boundaries! She doesn’t have to agree with your decision, but she should respect you as a person, which means listening and honoring your decisions without judgment or shame!

Mine is 4/6. Starting pre-op diet on March 27. Not on fb or insta so looking to connect here!