I had my initial consultation yesterday. My insurance doesn't require any special preop diet or anything, so I was given a surgery date of 9/21 (yaayyy!) Now for the not so great part... I had wanted RNY over the sleeve, but my dr told me he may not be able to do it due to my weight (I was 435 by their scale). He did say he could do the sleeve instead, but my chances would be better for RNY if I could loose 30-50lbs. He put me on a diet of egg and toast for breakfast, a healthy choice,smart ones etc for lunch and the same for dinner along with 80oz of water a day. He swears that this diet will get me down about 50lbs by surgery if I follow it to a T. I have a few reservations about this, one being all the sodium in those boxed type meals and the other being that I have hypothyroidism. Has anyone else had any luck following a similar diet plan let alone following it with hypothyroidism? I do take my synthroid so my levels are technically managed well, but I have never been able to lose more than 20lbs on any diet. Any insight would be appreciated.

That's an awful lot of processed crap. Why don't you just eat the same "menu plan". But make the meals yourself? Egg for breakfast (I'd personally leave out the toast....bread is a big no no postop anyways). A lean Protein and veggie for lunch and same for dinner. Even substitute a Protein shake or bar for one of your meals (read the label because some "protein" shakes/bars have more carbs than protein).

Basically just go high protein/low carb and tons of Water. This willbe your normal diet plan postoperative for the rest if your life anyways. And if you really want to get crazy, you can do several mini preop diets between now and September to really shed the lbs. I lost 22 pounds in 16 days doing 3 Protein shakes and unlimited leafy green veggies right before my surgery.

Good luck!

Skip the pre packaged process crap and bread and just eat lean protien and veggies with every meal. 64 oz of water should suffice. Stay away from sugar except an occasional peice of fruit (berries preferrably). Nuts, jerky, or cheese for sancks. You do those things and try to move a little extra each day, I guarantee you will have lost the weight you need to lose for the surgery. May as well get used to eating like that now, since that's how you will be eating after the surgery.

I agree with @@Kindle and @@Babbs . Run from the bread and processed food. My doctor's plan doesn't allow fruit except for berries occasionally with Protein. My body doesn't process the carbs and sugar from the fruit. He told me an apple is equivalent to a small ice cream Sunday. Now I understand why I was gaining weight when I was having a fruit smoothie for breakfast everyday.

Take one day out of the week to meal plan so that you aren't tempted to make an unhealthy choices. Good luck!!! You can do this.

I agree with the other about prepackaged crap.

Sounds like you have some real issues. I wonder if t your doctor is allowing toast just to make you feel good, or if there is a medical reason for it. Ask the doctor.

I eat what I call "CLEAN" Proteins that ar EFFICIENT, By that I mean

Greek yogurt.--- read the label. The one I am eating now is 18 grams Protein for 130 calories (1 cup)

I never buy a yogurt that is more than 10 calories per gram of protein.

Refried Beans are a protein, I consider them IN EFFICIENT . TOO many calories and too many carbs for too few protein grams.

eggs

Yogurt

Cottage cheese

Ground turkey

Pork chops

Fish

Even steak

I eat a lot of meatballs in tomato sauce

Listen to your Dr.

I don't agree with your doctor's diet and think everyone has given sound diet advice.... BUT I also don't agree with you abandoning YOUR DOCTOR's Advice. You need to trust your doctor and their judgement. My suggestion is to either question your doctor about the refined carbs/processed foods and perhaps ask for a referral to a nutritionist/dietician who could work in conjunction with your doctor or find a new doctor. If you abandon your doctor's advice now it could be a slippery slope when the advice is necessary and important.

I have to agree I've never heard of a bariatric dr saying to eat processed foods or bread or sugar ever!!! no dietician I've ever met would say that's ok either my surgeon said to follow south beach which I did I lost 60 lbs in 5 months prior to sleeve surgery and I'm down another 100 at nearly five months out also I want to know the reason you can't have bypass cuz of your weight I was 400 at surgery and my surgeon wanted me to have bypass I said no I strongly agree with those who advise u to stay away from the processed frozen foods and bread and about those shakes too u have to really look at them most have have more sugar and carbs then we are allowed on pre op diets in order to loose weight I liked the ready to drink ones at GNC the Atkins ones are good too as far as taste and texture..... Ps I also take thyroid meds have for years I had no problem

Edited July 19, 201511 yr by shellyd88

I feel that if you are going to trust your doctor enough to cut you open and remove a portion of your stomach, you should also trust that he knows what you should eat.

I think if my doctor told me to do something I would do it.

I would definitely request a referral to a nutritionist - not only will it be good preparation for post-surgery, it will help you lose weight in a clean manner. Packaged foods have immense amounts of sodium, aka salt. The high volume of Water is to try and offset the sodium.

If you eat any carbs, they should be good carbs, and should be either Breakfast or lunch. You should eat 3 meals and 2 Snacks... key is to eat every 2-3 hours and small portions. A good app to help you track all of this is "My Fitness Pal." It has most of the common foods, even packaged, and you enter it and it calculates and tracks calories, Protein, carbs, fat, etc...

You should take into consideration your activity level, then base your calorie intake on that. I lost 45 pounds eating about 1200 calories a day and drinking 66 oz of water a day. No sugar, no fried foods, no bread, no butter.

Nutritionist is your best avenue to reach your goal.

Also, as an aside - for really heavy people, gastric sleeve and then later the RNY is a normal protocol. The sleeve preps you for the diet changes / restrictions... also has less mal-absorption issues (nutrients, Vitamins, minerals.

My surgeon had me drinking protein shakes for breakfast and lunch, then lean cuisine for dinner to get my weight down quick. It wasn't fun, and prob wouldn't be good for a long period, but you are in this for your long term health... I went along with him, lost almost 50 and had my rny done. I also have hypothyroidism and weighed similar to you to start

If you wanna chat let me know... anything I can be helpful with I'm here in the end, trust yourself and trust the process. .

I'd go back to him and tell him you aren't comfortable eating so much processed food. Honestly that meal "plan" sounds like a recipe for constipation to me. Ask for a referral to a nutritionist who can help you come up with a plan that does not include prepackaged processed food. I'm sure you could lose on that plan, but it's teaches you absolutely nothing about eating a well balanced diet. I also question anyone's ability to follow and maintain this diet for 2½ months.

I see no harm at making the meals yourself... just make sure it fits within the calories and nutritional value you get from the frozen meals - which isn't much! Lol

I really appreciate everyone's advice bc it's what makes the forum so great. I think the Dr. probably chose the box meals bc it is controlled amounts and still feels like eating rich foods. I do agree that asking him more about it is good but I know pre-surgery years when I would try to "cook healthy" I would eliminate "bad" but then add something that I thought was "healthier " in my ignorance and then eat too much volume as well. Best wishes....we all are in this together!

My surgeon had me drinking protein shakes for breakfast and lunch, then lean cuisine for dinner to get my weight down quick. It wasn't fun, and prob wouldn't be good for a long period, but you are in this for your long term health... I went along with him, lost almost 50 and had my rny done. I also have hypothyroidism and weighed similar to you to start

If you wanna chat let me know... anything I can be helpful with I'm here in the end, trust yourself and trust the process. .

When I had lap band done my surgeon had me do the same diet 1.5 weeks pre-op. I lost around 10 lbs.