So this has probably been posted a million times by different people. But, here goes. Reading through here I see so much success! Never in my life have I felt that success could really be mine. Its exciting to think, WOW, that COULD be me! It IS possible!

All that said, darn I am scared. Its such MAJOR surgery! Its not so much the surgery, but the recovery. I hear about a month off regular food.... I just don't know how I will do it? I suppose once it's done I will find a way. But still..... hard to picture.

I love cooking! I love entertaining! I love engaging with my friends this way. Many of my friends could be considered "foodies". My neighbors teenage son started cooking with me at 13 cause he want to learn to cook. Its something we look forward to doing at least a couple times a month. Cooking dinner for his family.

I worry about loosing those connections. I am not an "emotional" eater. I truly don't feel I have an emotional connection to the amount of food I eat (I just HATE feeling hungry). So I don't care if my portion sizes are much smaller so long I am not hungry, but I still want to engage with my friends through food and entertaining. Does that makes sense to anyone else? Anyone else feel like this?

I am sold on the surgery, I just need to work through the "worries". I am 33 and 310 lbs. My 65 yo father out performs me in almost all tasks! I don't want to continue down the road I am on. I have at least 5 medical issues either tied to or exasperated by my weight. If I do nothing, I am not excited to see what I will look like (and FEEL like) at 43 and I doubt I will be here at 53. So, like I said, sold on this.

Just curious to hear someone else's experiences if you had the same (or close to the same) pre-op worries I do.

My first appointment is June 28th, already gone to a couple meetings and have a friend who did the band. My goal surgery date is Aug 2nd.

You will still be able to enjoy food post op once you're back on solids.

You'll find a way to stay off regular food for a month. It's not even all that hard post-op to do it. It's a tiny little blip on the timeline for HUGE results!

Good luck!!

So this has probably been posted a million times by different people. But, here goes. Reading through here I see so much success! Never in my life have I felt that success could really be mine. Its exciting to think, WOW, that COULD be me! It IS possible!

All that said, darn I am scared. Its such MAJOR surgery! Its not so much the surgery, but the recovery. I hear about a month off regular food.... I just don't know how I will do it? I suppose once it's done I will find a way. But still..... hard to picture.

I love cooking! I love entertaining! I love engaging with my friends this way. Many of my friends could be considered "foodies". My neighbors teenage son started cooking with me at 13 cause he want to learn to cook. Its something we look forward to doing at least a couple times a month. Cooking dinner for his family.

I worry about loosing those connections. I am not an "emotional" eater. I truly don't feel I have an emotional connection to the amount of food I eat (I just HATE feeling hungry). So I don't care if my portion sizes are much smaller so long I am not hungry, but I still want to engage with my friends through food and entertaining. Does that makes sense to anyone else? Anyone else feel like this?

I am sold on the surgery, I just need to work through the "worries". I am 33 and 310 lbs. My 65 yo father out performs me in almost all tasks! I don't want to continue down the road I am on. I have at least 5 medical issues either tied to or exasperated by my weight. If I do nothing, I am not excited to see what I will look like (and FEEL like) at 43 and I doubt I will be here at 53. So, like I said, sold on this.

Just curious to hear someone else's experiences if you had the same (or close to the same) pre-op worries I do.

My first appointment is June 28th, already gone to a couple meetings and have a friend who did the band. My goal surgery date is Aug 2nd.

If you're like a lot of the rest of us, at 43 you'll end up at 350, or even 400. That's 10 years from now. Not to be negative or a downer, but that's been the reality for me. My losses were rewarded with triple gain. I wish I'd had this done 10 years ago. The "not being able to eat" (for me it was 5 weeks) is so very temporary, and TOTALLY worth it!! It goes by like a blip on a radar screen and you'll barely remember what it was like as you start trying on smaller and smaller clothing! Just sayin'...... you could do it....easy.

All that said, darn I am scared. Its such MAJOR surgery! Its not so much the surgery, but the recovery. I hear about a month off regular food.... I just don't know how I will do it? I suppose once it's done I will find a way. But still..... hard to picture.

Yes it is a major surgery but it's also in theory, not that uncommon for a surgery to be done to remove part of your stomach - there are several other medically necessary reasons it's performed.

Yes, you will have about a month off regular food. At first it feels weird - you're not chewing anything, but you get used to it. For me, I started with a 14 day pre-op diet (which ends today for me, since today is surgery day - woohoo!!) I was permitted to have the Protein shakes, SF pudding, SF Jello, Gatorade, SF applesauce, broth - things like that. Once you have the surgery, you'll go onto full liquids (same thing as before, but you get to add cream Soup, instant mashed potatoes, things like that), and then it's on to puree/soft foods and back to normal eventually. My doctor says 5 weeks post op I will be back on regular solid food.

So yes, you will have a time where your meal habits will change - but they're also going to change drastically after the surgery too as you won't be eating as much or as as much junk.

I just want to chime in on food and entertaining. In the beginning this would be tough. But somewhere around six months out this is no big deal. I bake, I cook, I entertain large and small groups on a weekly basis and I would NEVER give it up. It's fun and fulfilling for me. I've adapted a lot to suit my surgery but not as much as you might think. I eat less than my guests but so what? It is definitely something you will be able to do once you're healed.

The time without food is hard but the more inventive you are in the kitchen the easier it can be for you. I didn't want to eat at all but having something nice and spicy instead of bland old chicken broth was really nice. I didn't want to eat but by the end of my liquids phase I was ready to chew anything, so yes, it's a tough spell while you heal. But once it's done, it's done. You never go back to that kind of dietary restriction again.

I've learned to make my food count. I choose better ingredients and lots of flavor over quantity now and I enjoy food more than I ever did before. I might only eat a bite or two of each thing I prepare, but this is my new normal and I feel no deprivation whatsoever.

This CAN be you. I never thought my life would change as much as it has, but once you start losing the weight and shedding the emotional baggage your life will improve tremendously.

~Cheri

Thanks everyone for the response. Good input from every one. My "take away" from this is:

1: don't make a decision for the rest of my life based on 1 month of recovery

2: Other cook, bake and entertain, I can too!

I think to some extent, at least for me, the "worries" aren't going to go away till I go for it and work my way through the process.