Hi!

I'm Stacy and I am currently pre-surgery... I have to lose 30lbs before they will do the surgery and they put me on a mostly liquid diet and I'm struggling. My Friends and Family all support the idea of surgery but none of them are very helpful in the understanding and encouraging department. I think I am going through withdrawals from food if that is even possible. On top of that I had to quit smoking too, whew I knew this would be hard but I didn't imagine all this at once. Sigh... anyone out there that has any advice or coping mechanisms that might help.

thanks

Stacy

I can offer my friendship and an ear. I am one month post op and this whole process has taught me just how much I depended on food for stability, emotional comfort, etc. I had a difficult time with the liquid diet for the first 4 or 5 days. They say that there is such thing as a 'carb flu' - where your body just goes wacko from detoxing from carbs. I loved carbs- Pasta, bread! I had headaches a lot for the first few days in addition to the moodiness of not being able to eat. The social thing hurts too- so much social interaction is based around food. I totally understand where you are coming from. What I can tell you is, it will get better. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

PS- I am in the soft food stage now and my family just had Pasta for dinner. I had a hard time with it. So I finished my meal (refried Beans for the 100th time) and went for a walk. That was a good coping mechanism that I am learning!

Thanks I can definitely use a friend that has been there! I'm going to try walking my cravings away. My Mother and my sister wanted to know where I was at in the process and all about my liquid diet so they invited me out to dinner. Ugg I totally get what you must be feeling with the Pasta right in front of you.

I remember the Saturday before my surgery my family took our son for the night so we could have a date. We struggled really hard to find something to do in the winter in a tiny mountain town that wasn't related to food. LOL. You can do this!

Hi Stacy,

My name is Carol and I had my RNY on June 25, 2013, which puts me just over 8 months out. I lost 40 pounds prior to surgery (I have lost a total of 170 pounds as of this weekend!). If you have not found and started using MyFitnessPal.com I suggest you check this out. This app has been my salvation and was how I lost the 40 pounds pre surgery. Still it is hard when you have food around you that you love, but can't or shouldn't eat. I have allowed myself one or two bites of these foods. Having a taste allows me to not feel deprived of a food that is a favorite and want it all the more. I have to stress that I really do keep it to one or two small bites.

Losing the 40 pounds prior to surgery was a very good thing for me. It made me start to put in place new habits and strategies that have been mandatory following surgery. This is a great time to begin working on skills like counting Protein grams, separating drinking and eating, and increasing your Water intake. Make an effort to increase your activity. It's very hard at the beginning, but it really helps on so many levels.

I can tell you from the other side that this is a journey worth taking! I have my life back!! IT IS NOT EASY!! So many think that surgery is the easy way, it is not. But if you stay focused and do the work, you will have success. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

My name is Debbie. Im so inspired by your conversation. All good advise by separating eating from drinking and portion control. Exercise and get sleep to add to all the comments. It truly is a mental game. My family celebrated a birthday party while I maintained my diet. It was great because everyone complained how miserable they were and I felt great, plus waking up the next morning and watching the scales pay off!!!! That is surely the best!!!