Hello,

I have my final meeting with my nutritionist on January 19 and then meet with my surgeon again on January 20. Unfortunately I have recently gained about ten pounds. It happened very quickly, during the last month. Part of this was due to overeating at the Holidays and part of it is because I have been on prednisone for a pinched nerve. If I don't lose the weight, they will not go forward with the surgery. Starting today, I will do Protein shakes. Can I please have advice on how many a day, whether I should eat anything else at all, etc. Is my goal even feasible?

I am on day 7 of a fluid fest to reign myself back in having done exactly what you did. Gained over the holidays. I am on 3-4, most days 3 glucerna shakes/day, nestea green tea zero, water, milk, and tea because I have a wicked cold right now. The good news is it works. The weight comes off pretty quickly because it hasn't been on for very long. In the past week I have dropped almost 6 of the 9 pounds I put on. Because you are pressed with a very short time line I would seriously consider trying the all liquids thing, and if it is not feesible than just make sure to avoid carbs, minimal dairy and focus on lean protein and fruits and veggies. Of course exercise will help. Good luck

It is certainly possible though not fun! The Protein shakes are a good start- Make sure you get 60+ grams of protein per day. For my pre-op diet I did Protein Shakes and greek yogurt with 64 oz of Water daily. It wasn't bad and the results were impressive. I don't know if you will lose the full amount but you will make a dent at least. I would advise you to let the surgeon and nutritionist know about the prednisone as weight gain is a known side effect. Not to mention they should know what medications you are taking anyway. Good Luck.

I am 5'4 and started at 287 so our numbers are similiar

Edited January 8, 201511 yr by dropdeadweightdiva

High protein; low carb; avoid salt; only drink water; workout every single day; go for an extremely long walk (6 miles or so) and then take a hot bath with epsom salts; take a strong laxative; wear very light clothing (no jeans) to your final weigh-in; avoid drinking or eating the morning of the weigh-in; wear flip flops. Bring a bottle of water in your purse to start rehydrating after you are weighed.

I think if you show progress toward losing those 10 lbs, that it will be fine. You will lose another 10+lbs on the pre-surgery liquid diet.

I was concerned about the same thing as I spent a few weeks eating "I'd better eat this now because it might be the last time I ever get to eat it" diet prior to my surgeon meeting. Nobody even mentioned it and I had worried myself silly.

It is easy to cut 10-15 pounds in just a few hours if you use techniques that wrestlers and other weight-specific sports use. Since you have two weeks, you can certainly accomplish this, it just won't be any fun. I would google weight cutting techniques. As a disclaimer, this isn't a healthy way to lose weight, but if you want surgery bad enough, this is a viable option.

Good luck!

You don't have to do liquid only. Limit calories to 600-800 per day. Eat only lean Protein and low carb vegetables (no carrots, corn, Beans, beets). Drink half your body weight in oz of Water every day. Walk for at least 30 mins but shoot for 60 every day. It won't be easy but you can do it!

I did what Bittersweet did and had no shame and wore no bra, panties and wore pantyhose tights and the lightest t-shirt I could find under my clothes then stripped down to the bare essentials. I was under by 1 pound for a total of 13 pounds in 12 days.

You can do all liquids/protein shakes for 2 weeks and lose those pounds, my question is are you really ready for surgery? This is not about crash dieting. This is about a lifestyle change. You admittedly over indulged over the holidays knowing your insurance requirements. 10 lbs isn't from the occasional cookie. So say you drop the weight and have surgery. Are you going to be able to handle the post op diet or will you be one of those who eat the wrong thing and get sick?

You can do all liquids/protein shakes for 2 weeks and lose those pounds, my question is are you really ready for surgery? This is not about crash dieting. This is about a lifestyle change. You admittedly over indulged over the holidays knowing your insurance requirements. 10 lbs isn't from the occasional cookie. So say you drop the weight and have surgery. Are you going to be able to handle the post op diet or will you be one of those who eat the wrong thing and get sick?

You make a good point. Between the time I was approved for surgery and when I was to start my pre-op diet I went hog wild and gained something like 15 lbs. Before my surgery and immediately after I would have argued with you - that what I did pre-surgery would have no effect on what happens after - but I would have been wrong. WLS is not about losing a bunch of weight really fast and then going back to eating bad food. With the Sleeve especially you're most likely going to be able to eat bad food much more quickly than you think. Also, you may not feel restriction from garbage food like chips and ice cream. You can also graze all day long without feeling a restriction. Beyond losing this extra weight to be able to go forward, I'd advise you to get your mind in the right place. You've got to commit to truly changing. You've got to understand that WLS is only a tool. You've got to be ready to challenge yourself to make the right choices every day.

@@BLERDgirl, good point.

I only had to do a 5 day preop diet and I lost 10 pounds in those 5 days. It actually wasn't too hard. Clear liquid diet with 3 protien shakes a day. Could be any kind of protien shake as long as each shake was under 200 calories. I'll admit, I cheated a bit because I drank the Oh Yeah! shakes and they were 220 calories each. Other than that, all Clear liquids. You can have as much broth (add a bullion cube for flavor), sugar free Jello, black coffee, and unsweetened tea as you want. Try to get at least 60 oz of Water each day. Most of what you're going to lose is water weight anyway. All the sodium from holiday foods will do a number on you. That's why so many people dropped so much in just a few days. When you start a diet the first thing to go is the water weight. Good luck to you. I know it sucks to be sick right before surgery. I had a sinus infection and I was scared to death to go to the doctor about it because I was afraid they would postpone my surgery so I took cold pills (non asprin kind) every four hours and used a netti pot twice daily to get rid of it without antibiotics.

This is so funny! I'm glad you made it. I had my diet doc 5 today and I was so terrified that id gained from Christmas and just the lack of movement because it's winter and I don't wanna be out and running around or exercising in the snow lol. I didn't gain anything (thank the gods) but I also hadn't lost any really. It was terrifying because I'm so close to the end. I did low carb and I upped my Water and exercised twice instead if once a day and I got through it and I lost 5 pounds.

And here I thought I was the only one who got bamboozled because of the holidays! Good luck!! You can do it. And sooner than you think it'll be surgery day.

Just try not to sabotage. That's one of my new resolutions. "Don't sabotage good things, damn it" is posted on my fridge lol

I agree that you need to get your head in the game before surgery and I don't agree with crash dieting, but I also don't consider an all liquid diet a crash diet. A lot of us post ops go back to fluids for a short time everyone once in a while as a restart or cleanse or whatever you want to call it. You said you meet with the surgeon in 2 weeks, but if you are like most of us your surgery could still be months away. I remember myself months before surgery and I fell the wagon as well for a period of time. None of us had this surgery because we're perfect. If we could stay on track all the time before surgery we never would have needed the surgery. I am not condoning breaking the pre-op diet etc.. but a ton of bariatric patients go through a 'food' funeral before having surgery. I don't think it's fair to assume and judge that one can't be successful because they let their head drop out of the game for a while. Early out from surgery you do all the right things, but later on when you are a year or two years out you may not be quite so on task all of the time. Do the best you can, most importantly make the commitment to a better life, the reality is if you do self sabotage you may not qualify for surgery. Only you know if you are ready for surgery, if gaining weight over the holiday makes you yourself question if you are ready then and only then is that a reason to re-evaluate your decision. Do not let the consequences of poor eating habits or another's opinion dictate your decision.

Edited January 8, 201511 yr by dropdeadweightdiva

I need to lose 15 pounds too. I am doing high protein, low carb. I figure it will be good practice for my preop diet. I have lost 3 pounds in a day. Lots of water, lots of deli meat with cheese, hard boiled eggs. Cauliflower mash saved my life. i am considerinf a day or 2 of just liquids.