Hello! Just curious what people who are in this longggggg waiting period are doing to prepare. I have successfully started eating smaller, more frequent meals, am going to the gym about 4 days/week, not drinking calories, reducing sugar intake, and not eating out at restaurants. I am also starting to take Vitamins daily.

However, I really need to work on getting in my 8 glasses of Water per day and weight training (I am only doing cardio right now).

My surgeon's office doesn't put people on a specific diet but just focus on making small changes every couple weeks.

I haven't lost any weight but I feel like eventually these changes are bound to pay off and it is a nice change to not be on a "diet" for once in my life because it gives me a chance to work on some less than healthy behaviors I have developed over the years.

What is everyone else doing?

I began attending Bariatric Support Group Meeting. They are generally held once per month and are free.

I began walking 30 minutes each day. Walking really helped to make the recovery process go smoothly and quickly.

I gave up all caffeine and carbonated beverages. I had a 6 Diet Coke a day habit and making this one change caused me to drop 20 pounds. I had to suffer through a week of withdrawal syndrome because of the caffeine. But it was far better to go through this early then combine it with the recovery process after surgery.

Yeah I need to add caffeine to my list of habits I break

Practice chewing, no drinking with meals are mine right now.

Practice chewing your food a lot, removing distractions while eating so you listen to your body when you are full. Trying to slow down taking 20 to 30 minutes to eat. I might also suggest measuring out a real portion, now post surgery those portions are much smaller but the behavior of actually sticking to a real portion will hep you.down the road.

The other thing I would do is start tracking your food intake (good or bad) into a tool like my fitness pal. This becomes really important post surgery but I really wish I had started it beforehand so that I could understand my nutrition better. I think I would have seen my Protein and carbs so upside down that it would have shocked the hell out of me.

I believe much of my success so far is because I track literally everything, good or bad. I do it throughout the day so that I always know exactly where I am with my protein, carbs and calories. It really helps me to make much better snacking decisions for sure. If my protein is low, my snack is some jersey or a Protein Bar. If my protein is on track I might have some crackers and cheese or even something a little naughty if I am out with hubby for dinner. That tracking tool allows me to hold myself accountable. It also helps me understand when a stall has gone on for a while, what might be causing it.

I also use an Apple Watch to track my activity and exercise. Before I had the Apple Watch I used a Fitbit.

Good luck to you!

pre op I was practicing taking small bites and chewing chewing chewing chewing chewing. Two weeks pre op I was on a low calorie high protein diet and lost about 50 lbs before surgery

Oh yeah....chewing....need to work on that one

Way to go -- this is the key to success, getting your head in the game. I am some one who benefited from therapy. I had about a five-month wait and during that time I sorted through my issues around food. It's not like I hadn't done that before -- I was 52 and had done a lot of work on myself already -- but this time it was different because in choosing to have weight loss surgery I was really admitting that I could not do this on my own, that I needed help. And I was also choosing myself and my healthy future first and foremost -- putting myself at the top of the list. This was very powerful for me and I am grateful for it every day. So happy! Also prior to surgery I started walking a bit more each time and that gave me something to literally step right into after surgery. I didn't want to do it but I did and I'm glad. Now I actually like exercise. It's a miracle. Good luck with all and don't forget to pat yourself on the back for what you're doing.