Hi everyone,

I have my long appointment (psych, testing, meeting with surgeon, etc.) tomorrow at UC Davis and I'm hoping to be sleeved in October, but I started 8 days ago doing a pre-op program to get a jump start on living the sleeved lifestyle.

Here's what I've been doing for food:

- 1 Protein shake in the morning, sometimes a bar. I'm trying out different types of protein to find ones that I like, but obviously my tastes may change after surgery. I'm using reduced sugar Almond Breeze as the base for my powders, and I also have Premier Protein RTD shakes from Sam's Club.

- Around lunchtime I'll eat a fat-free greek yogurt and a low-fat string cheese.

- For dinner I'll do eggs with turkey bacon, or 4oz of salmon or tilapia with some veggies if I'm extra hungry. I haven't been doing any sauces or starches, but I use salsa when I need a flavor boost. I also have some blended Soups that I'm going to try to mix with unflavored Protein powder, and sometimes I'll do grilled chicken (but I very much prefer eating fish).

- I'm pushing fluids, both plain Water and Crystal Light.

- I'm avoiding white flour, white sugar, and potatoes, and tracking everything in My Fitness Pal. I am comfortably full all day.

- I have a food scale and I use measuring cups to make sure I'm not grossly over- or under-estimating my food.

I also walk my dogs at least once per day around the neighborhood, and I've signed up with a pilates studio. I figure if I increase my core strength pre-op, it will make it easier for me to recover from surgery. Also, I just really, really love pilates...it's fat-girl friendly!

So far I've lost about 7 lbs just from the dietary changes, and I feel like I am doing really well. I plan to continue following these general principles until I'm sleeved. My surgeon's office has a policy that you should lose 10% of your total body weight before surgery, so I'm looking to lose 31 lbs pre-op.

Am I doing the right things? Is there anything I should really change? I'm going to ask the surgeon and nutritionist tomorrow for feedback, but I'd like to hear from the patient's perspective too.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

That's excellent!!! Keep up the good work. 6 months will fly by fast.