General advice?

[briae13 46]

Hi there! So I've only just started my vsg journey and I was just curious if any one has some general little nuggets of advice? What do you wish you realized before (post or pre op)? Any tips or tricks you've found to be invaluable (post or pre op)? I've been scouting the forums so far and have picked up some awesome info so far, so super excited to see what everyone has to say.

Little bit about me:

25 yrs old, gal, out of RI

HW/current: 356 lbs

So far I've had my surgical consultation & psych eval, my first appointment with the nutritionist is 9/25, sleep study appointment on 10/10. I have BCSC for insurance, so far so good in that department! I've also started a diet to help get my mind set for this new lifestyle and, hopefully, lose weight for surgery. Figured a jump start never hurts, even if it might change up after I see the nutritionist.

So yeah, look forward to hearing from everyone/anyone...

[PatsyKinOH 16]

Educate yourself, either by self study or in a weight-loss group through either a medical center or your local YMCA if the have a group.

Another excellent resource is the American Diabetes Association; they have educational info about everything from prevention to treatment of diabetes.

The nutritionist can only do so much in the short amount of time in the span of an appointment. So, educating yourself is key.

I highly recommend you walk the walk now, put the education into practice before surgery so it won't be such a shocker post op. I've heard too many stories of people eating as they normally did preop and then after surgery have family purchase fast food to put through the blender and DRINK their McDonald's fix! Yuck!

Logging. Logging your food is instrumental in keeping it true! If it goes through the lips it goes on the list! Measure/weigh your every morsel.

And, last but not least, make changes over time! It is impossible to implement everything all at once. That sets people up for failure. I had 10 months to adjust before surgery and in that time I was able to lose 118 lbs. My surgery was this past March and overall I have lost 222 lbs. Considering I started this journey at just shy of 470 lbs, that's a lot of work! Now, I do some type of cardio everyday, work with weights three days a week for upper, mid, and lower body, plus I have energy to do things I haven't done in YEARS!

[pixystix0116 71]

My biggest and probably most basic tip is to arm yourself with a crap load of post surgery recipes, for each stage, whether it be Clear Liquids, full liquids, soft foods, whole foods. You will get sick of the same thing every day, so make sure you plan prep food for a couple days out to a week at a time. It will be a time saver and a life saver preventing you from eating things you really shouldn't...especially in the very beginning. Cheesey maybe, but I highly recommend creating a pinterest board just for yourself with different variations on high Protein smoothies shakes, Soups and foods. There are tons of things out there that I have found very helpful. Lots of luck to you!

[Sosewsue61 3,185]

Do these things over a few weeks.

I quit soda the day after my seminar. So wean yourself from soda and fast food now.

Learn to cook Protein and vegetable dishes. Get a free app like Baritastic to log your food and Water and start using it now.

If you can - WALK. Park the farthest out from the shopping center and walk. Get books on Audible, put on earbuds and walk.

Examine your relationship with food. Eat at a table without the tv, phone, or computer. Food is necessary and tastes good, so pay attention to it. Eat slower. Acknowledge how you feel before and after you eat.

Good luck. I found the waiting time between the seminar and my upcoming surgery an invaluable education on how I treated food (and the result of that!).

[briae13 46]

Thank you 3 for responding! I've actually been doing a lot of what you all suggest and so hearing all that was so comforting, I'm confident now I'm on the right track with this journey! I'm learning something new every day about wls, vsg, & the lifestyle and hopefully hitting up my first seminar/meeting the end of this month/next month, so very excited!
@patsykinoh people actually try to blend McDonald's?! That's CRAZY! Also your journey is inspiring! 118 lbs pre op is just amazing, it gives me hope that my goal of being down 50 before surgery is totally achievable, thank you!

@pixystix0116 Pinterest isn't cheesey at all! I've found some awesome recipes on there already and can't wait to try them all!

@Sosewsue I Love Baritastic! It's actually really helped me realize my relationship with food and I'm so glad you suggested it as I wasn't sure if it was a reliable tool to use. And I love the idea of audio books! Never even thought of that, I'm such a bibliophile that audio would work awesome for walking!

[GassyGurl 428]

My advice is there are so many surgeons and so many plans, make sure you go with one whose plan you feel comfortable following. For example, I talked to 5 offices. All different preop and post op diets. One was so strict that I could have never done it without feeling like a failure. It's not all about diet, but you shouldn't settle for a surgeon whose kool-aid you don't want to drink.

Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

[ZinNH 173]

My advice is to get yourself in good shape as much as possible before surgery. My recovery has been fairly easy, and although that has a LOT to do with luck, I also think it helps that I was doing a brisk 45 minute walk ever day leading up to surgery.

And be kind to yourself through this whole process. You are human, and humans make mistakes. It's ok. Just dust yourself off and start again!

[briae13 46]

@GassyGurl honestly that was one of my biggest concerns going into this. Finding the right surgeon, hospital, and program were my first priorities and I'm happy to say I really lucked out! After a little bit of research I was able to find a hospital, program, & surgeon I like first shot. There are some things I don't like about the hospital/office staff, but those I'd deal with regularly, so far, have all seemed to meeting just what I wanted. Thank you so much so your response though, one of my hopes for this thread is to help some other newbies out as well and that is some excellent advice! I don't think people really understand sometimes that they don't have to settle.
@ZinNH see with this I'm stuck. I want to exercise, get a routine in place, before surgery but I tend to have bone pain from exercising and recently my knee has been giving me some grief. My plan is to ask my nutritionist about some lower impact exercises they might suggest when I have my first meeting with them next week. Though if you have any suggestions besides walking I'm all eyes!

Being kind to myself is one of the best bits of advice. I keep trying to remind myself of this, slowly trying to correct my thinking!

[BettyGone 11]

I found that Water aerobics/swimming is wonderful exercise. I bought swim leggings with skirt to cover up my fatness. Ha! The water feels great! Good luck to you.