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Did you diet before banding?



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I was just wondering who dieted in the time between starting the whole banding process, ie consults, pre-op tests, classes, etc, and having the surgery. I know most did a pre-op diet for 2 weeks or so, but I'm talking about before that. Did you just decide to eat whatever you wanted for the last time and not worry about losing weight or were you still trying to lose before having the surgery?

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I didnt have a pre-op diet. I also didnt diet. I think in the 2 months before banding I gained 3 lbs.

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i started this process a long time ago. maybe 7 or 8 months ago. I really only started dieting since I started posting on this site which was around january. I have lost 34 pounds, but have been up and down and all around with the weight. ITS HARD TO DIET ON YOUR OWN!!! LOL But I am determined to lose as much as possible before the band is put in. I really want to be below 300 when I am banded. Then I will never see 300 again. ;) I do plan on going on a pretty serious liquid diet right before the band is put in, so that my liver is as small as i can get it to ease the surgery, even though it is not a requirement.

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My surgeon didn't require a pre-op diet and I didn't really try. I gained 5 pounds in the two months prior to my surgery.

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I went all out and had "last supper syndrome" :hungry: in which I put on 10 more lbs in the last month before I started my 1 week preop diet. I knew that I shouldn't have gorged but I was so scared to give up food. It is coming off now though so I am happy!

~Liz~

banded 03/10/06

Dr.Ortiz

241/200/150

5'7''

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oh i am afraid to do that. people keep telling me "oh have this! you won't be able to after you are banded" and I just freeze up!! I am afraid that if I just go hog wild, murphy's law is that something will happen and i won't have the surgery. Then I have gained all the weight and have to try and get rid of it on my own. LOL Paranoid much, Amy?

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hi bug,

yes, i did diet before my surgery which was on 2/7/06. i started dieting

dec 28th,2005-feb 6th, 2006. i lost 14 lbs pre-op in that time. the last 2 wks were all liquids. my surgeon wanted my liver as small as possible in order to have a better visual field during surgery. because if this is not the case, there is a remote chance that the surgery could not be done. fyi. however, this has only happened 2-3x at the hospital that i work at. we have been performimg lapbands for almost a year.

god bless & good luck to you, p.j.

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After I found out I was approved, I went into what I called "training mode". I didn't call it a diet, but I guess that's what it was. I did my best to eat as I believed I would have to eat post-banding. I tried to make healthier choices, eat smaller portions and eat slower. I even trained myself to not drink with my meals. I lost 19 lbs from consult to surgery.

I had my fair share of "lasts", but I didn't overindulge and reminded myself that there was a fair chance that I'd still be able to eat it after I was back on regular foods.

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I didnt diet, but once I made the decision to see the surgeon, I considered my life changed from that point on and I tried to eat well. I obviously wasnt terribly successful as I didnt lose more than a kilo or two in the few months, but I was resolute I wasnt going to eat my way to surgery day. I dont know, I never felt I wouldnt be able to eat anything again after banding, it just wasnt presented to me in that way. From the people I heard talking at the info evenings, I got the strong impression that life went on, just without food as the major focus.

I started exercising in earnest though, got back to the gym etc. and that helped a lot. I did as best as I could around my sore ankle.

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My surgeon likes to do at least six weeks on the pre-op diet. My consult was 4 weks before surgury so I had one last splurge of carbs, LOL ( I had a burger and fries) and then was on the glycemic index diet for the next four weeks....So I guess that really was officially my last burger and fries. (they don't work now with the band)

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Yes !!! I dieted before banding... I feel like my whole life was a big fat diet that only worked temporarily!!! I love my band and only hope to keep it for along time to come!!

As far as right before being banded I did stay on a diet and did lose a few pounds...my dr wasn't one to demand you lose X amount of weight before but it did feel good to get a little jump start and get siked up for my band surgery!!!

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Once I decided to go ahead with banding I did "diet" with the help of ephedra. I lost about 30 lbs in the year that I was fighting with my insurer. Once I got approved it was another two months before surgery, and in that time I put on 7 lbs. Last supper syndrome is insidious!!

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I ate everything I could get into my mouth like they were taking food off the planet!

I had so many "last meals" that by the time I went to surgery I was SOOO done with food!

I don't recommend what I did, but this was my experience.

Good Luck.

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I got my aproval the last week of May. I didn't go on a binge, because I wasn't going to have surgery till first week of July. Lo and behold, I get a call from the Dr.'s office last Monday, telling me, my surgery is going to be on the 16th of june. I had restraunt tours all planned out for the last 2 weeks before my diet started, just to find out that those two weeks have forever been taken from me. To make matters worse, I got the call 10 minutes befor I was to go to lunch, and I had only eaten a bagel that morning. But, I figured I have fought so long to have the band, I would just make the sacrifice. So goodbye all my old friends, sorry I couldn't stop by for a visit before my life change. Maybe it's better this way.

THAT WHICH DOES NOT KILL ME, MAKES ME STRONGER

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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