So i am about 4 weeks away from surgery, i have not gotten the actual day but surgeon said toward end of august. (i find out monday) so i am clearly super thrilled with getting my useless band out and having a second chance at losing weight but i am finding it really hard right now toget motivated to start an exercise program. I had it in my mind that i would really try and lose before surgery but i cant bring myself to get out of the house. I am so incredibly hot as it is over 100 degrees in virginia rigt now and the thought of walking outside....yes even in the evening...is unbearable. So i am inside trying to stay cool. I havent really changed my diet like i had hoped except i have committed to not eating after 8pm. I have to do the protein shake diet in about 2 weeks and am hoping that it will help me drop a few pounds. I guess my concern is that if i dont give my metabolism a boost with some exercise than i might not lose much. Its just sooo hot right now.

You still have two weeks to start breaking some of the habits that you need to change. If it's too hot to walk outside, try walking inside the house. Try putting on some music and walk in place.

Perhaps if you start a Protein shake for Breakfast, try something light for lunch and lower your carbs. The Protein Shake pre-op is rough, especially for those that haven't weaned at all from carbs. The more carbs you eat, the more carbs you will want.

If you haven't started charting your food, calories, protein, carbs, fat, sodium and potassium, try something like myfitnesspal.com It's very helpful. I did it for the entire six month pre-approval phase and still chart daily.

If you do that, you will have to change the goals because it starts at 1200 calories and a very high amount of carbohydrates like 157. If you can lower your carbs to something like 75 a day (i did 45-75) it will help.

Start charting your Water intake (try to get in 64 ounces and practice chewing your food carefully and not drinking with your dinner (wait 1/2 hour after eating to drink your water).

It will help you get used to what you will have to do after surgery.

My biggest suggestion is do not go out for your "last supper" the day before you start your pre-op shakes. Those that seem to carb overload the day before seem to have the hardest time with the pre-op shake.

Do your best to work on things now and it will make things so much easier, is my best advice.

*edited to say, if you are a carbonation (pop) drinker or a caffeine drinker, break it before the pre-op shake too. If you wait until that day....imagine going through caffeine withdrawals, pop withdrawals while being on a protein shake....and not having food. It's rough, you will end up with a serious headache for a few days.

Also, remember when on the pre-op shake diet, liquid in - liquid out. Don't stray too far from a bathroom. About day 3, is where I learned you should never trust a fart. It's a lesson I learned the hard way.

Don't feel too bad, I think I did worse pre-op and have so far been very successful post op.

I had my band removed in Sept 2011; was sleeved Dec 12, 2011. The 2.5 months between, I was so dang hungry I was just driven to eat. I was feeling stress about the sleeve surgery too - so that didn't help. the surgeon sent me to a bariatric doc who is not a surgeon and she came up with a diet for me that i survived. It was high protein/low carb, but there were certain foods that were quantity unrestricted so I could stick with it. I only lost a few pounds, but the important thing was I stopped gaining, even through the Halloween/Thanksgiving timeframe.

I started my preop diet 2 weeks before surgery and only lost 8# in 2 weeks. It was a liver shrinking/low carb diet, I didn't have to do the shakes.

Anyway, i have lost just over 100# now, including those 8 preop pounds. I was and am very dedicated to making this work. That time before the surgery I was just driven to eat, i don't know why, but i had just a heck of a time. I don't mean "last suppers" because even then I just didn't care about special meals or anything. I was just hungry and wanting to eat way too frequently. I am sharing all of this so you hopefully don't get too stressed. Try to find a way to not gain, and keep things in check, but don't feel bad that you have not been able to make all the changes yet. It really is easier once the hunger isn't so overwhelming.

Hi,

I live in the Caribbean...where it is always hot. I work outside on a dive boat every day, I love being on the water...even if it is hot and I sweat constantly.

But, I really dislike exercising or taking a walk outside after or before I have been working outside all day. So, I have discovered Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home DVDs. They are great and very easy to follow. You are just walking in place with a few moves added in... and each DVD is set for a particular distance... so, you know how far you have walked.... one mile, three miles, etc. Plus, you are in the comfort of your own home with the AC blasting and whatever else you need close at hand.

It definitely helps me get some exercise in.

www.walkathome.com/

cheers, Dottie

It's been pretty warm here too. Not quite as warm as there, but I've been doing laps around my house when I don't feel like sweating it out around the block. Do you have any exercise videos? I used to love those and am looking forward to getting back to them eventually. It's hard to lose pre-op, but you can do it! Any pound you lose pre-op you don't have to worry about losing post-op =p