Big Time Help Needed

[faithmd 14]

re: 'no soda, no sugary foods, no breads, etc. all at once."

really....this is no big deal.....when you have no desire for it, you have no demon to dance with....and for the first time, there I was.....all ready to not dance.....

It is easy to NOT eat that stuff....

You are so very right Jack, I'm not banded yet and I've given these things up and it really has been no big deal at all! :clap2: It was relatively easy. And I know you and others have said that our tastes change a bit after banding and I may not even like some of the things I do now. I just know that I have also read a lot of posts about how emotional many people are in the immediate to recent post-operative phase. I figured with my luck, that's going to be me, I guessed the emotions after banding plus the potential deprived feeling might spell disaster for me. That's why I gave it up now rather than waiting to see if it would be easy or hard after the band was placed.

Jack you have given such fantastic advice and are so down-to-earth. I look for your posts all the time.

[faithmd 14]

I am trying not to look at it like a diet. I have always failed at those and this time it is not an option...

Exactly! I have never called what I am doing now a "Die..." I can't finish the word because I don't even want to start my head thinking about it at all. I have made positive lifestyle changes. There is a group of folks at work who are doing Weight Watchers and are asking me what "Die_" I am on. I immediately tell them I am not doing anything like that, I am merely making better choices in what I eat, cutting out the things I know will make me hungrier and I am logging every single morsel of food I ingest. They are all amazed at how I can do it without "die_ing." I will fail if I think of it that way. You never are successful in the long term on a "die_" it really honestly is about making a choice to eat better and less and move more. Whether that means formal exercise, or parking farther out from stores, and taking the stairs. It took me 37 years for that light bulb to go on and stay on. I know it's only been about 3 1/2 months, but I'm really hoping that this bulb will continue to burn bright for me. Once I'm banded, I will have another tool to help me control my eating.

[conniecash 0]

I have started my pre-op diet today. It is a high Protein diet with lean meat, fruit, green veggies and a Protein Shake 2 times a day. It doesn't seem too bad yet. My Dr. told me that I needed to loose some fat around my liver for surgery. I think they need to shrink the liver in order to get around it to the stomach with the band. If you think about it medically, you need to loose the weight for surgery, somehow it gives you more motivation. Maybe you need to ask your Dr. more questions about how much weight and why you need to loose it before surgery. Sometimes I feel like a kid asking WHY on everything. I am a diet coke freak and they told me no diet coke after surgery at all. I asked why and was told that the bubbles will stretch my pouch. bummer!!

[dawnc27wa 0]

My consultation was on April 12th and my doctor told me I needed to lose between 20 and 30 lbs before surgery. It's been pretty rough the past two weeks, but I think I'm losing. The problem is that my scale at home doesn't go up high enough for me to know or not. They told me at the office to keep my calories under 800 and I also bought some MediFast liquid shakes from them and have been having 2-3 of those a day and 1 Healthy Choice Meal a day and a butt load of Water.

I have another week before pre-op to see if I lost enough to go ahead with surgery on the 9th of May. Hang in there and you will be able to lose it. Believe me, if I can last almost 4 weeks on this "diet", anyone can.