I'm not doing well. I've cheated on my pre-op diet everyday. I feel guilty about it, but after struggling with food all my life, I find it really ironic that I'm expected to go solid free for 10 days. Oh well, hasn't happened yet, and I'm scheduled for Tuesday the 10th. Nutritionist told me that they would still go through with surgery but that I would find it more difficult after surgery. Nothing about this has been easy, and I'm still considering backing out.

not to sound like a therapist or anything but sounds to me like it could be emotional eating as to why you have cheated. I had several "food funerals" before I made a decision to stick to losing the weight, however these last few pounds don't want to leave so my program is basically holding my paperwork hostage and won't submit to insurance for approval. You are approved and you can always reschedule until you are ready emotionally. Hang in there.

I'm self pay in Mexico, so I don't need to worry about insurance. And of course it's emotional eating...I have BED.

You are absolutely right that it's ridiculous 'they' expect us to do this weeks long starvation diet when we're having surgery because we have issues with food in the first place (generally speaking; most of us)!

I understand why they want us to do it, from a surgeon's standpoint, which is to shrink our liver since it rests directly over the area they need to work on when inside ur belly. However, its damn near impossible for us to do it for longer than 1-2 days..and even then... I'm postop and fortunately only had to do 2 days of it, but that was damn hard too!

So, I say all that to say...don't beat urself up. We've all been there. Quite frankly, they're expecting us to cheat at some point, especially the longer the diet/preop diet timeframe. If u just cut out the fried crap, sugary stuff, breads, pasta, potatoes, and DON'T GAIN lbs on the scale, u will be fine. Ur going to be ok!! Good luck!!

1 minute ago, Amburmist said:

You are absolutely right that it's ridiculous 'they' expect us to do this weeks long starvation diet when we're having surgery because we have issues with food in the first place (generally speaking; most of us)!

I understand why they want us to do it, from a surgeon's standpoint, which is to shrink our liver since it rests directly over the area they need to work on when inside ur belly. However, its damn near impossible for us to do it for longer than 1-2 days..and even then... I'm postop and fortunately only had to do 2 days of it, but that was damn hard too!

So, I say all that to say...don't beat urself up. We've all been there. Quite frankly, they're expecting us to cheat at some point, especially the longer the diet/preop diet timeframe. If u just cut out the fried crap, sugary stuff, breads, Pasta, potatoes, and DON'T GAIN lbs on the scale, u will be fine. Ur going to be ok!! Good luck!!

Thanks!

The liquid parts of the journey are among the worst. That is absolutely true. But, things don't magically get easier post-op. In fact, it is often more difficult because your body is trying to recover at the same time. Everything about this journey is difficult -- physically and mentally, and you HAVE to make good decisions EVERYDAY if you want to be successful long term.

I would think about the fact that you (by your own admission) haven't kept to your responsibility a single day so far. You can't do that post-op. In some cases, it might be a life and death thing.

I wish you the best, but you have to be the one to do what you need to do. No one else can do it for you, and you are worth it.

Good luck!

What are your plans to turn your mind away from emotional eating after the surgery?

@blisair09 - I totally get what ur saying; however, I've found it has been a bit easier post surgery, for me anyway, because the hunger hormone (grehlin) has been significantly reduced in my stomach. Without it constantly nipping at my brain (or my back!), it's been easier to distract myself when I get that "mind hunger". Plus, since I decided to go thru this big surgery, I find I want to make sure and give it my all and do it right. I believe for the most part, lots of things change for people after surgery that allows them to be stronger and not cheat as readily as they would have prior to surgery. That's the whole reason for getting surgical intervention...lots of times, ur new anatomy won't LET u cheat, which is a good thing!

Now, that said, I also agree with@stardust that she should have a plan on what to do, post surg, when she gets that mind hunger because it will be there. What has really helped me is I created a schedule of what time to eat, what time to stop drinking water, on when to take my vits, etc - for every hour of the day. (I'm only 20 days post op so I'm still new to this life). And I just go with the schedule, period. For me, that has helped guide me and not give me room (or time) for cheating.

But bottom line, I don't agree that just because u can't make it on the preop 'starvation diet' that u shouldn't have the surgery. Just my opinion based on my experience.

On 10/5/2017 at 11:12 PM, FabNFit@40 said:

not to sound like a therapist or anything but sounds to me like it could be emotional eating as to why you have cheated. I had several "food funerals" before I made a decision to stick to losing the weight, however these last few pounds don't want to leave so my program is basically holding my paperwork hostage and won't submit to insurance for approval. You are approved and you can always reschedule until you are ready emotionally. Hang in there.

This is great advice push the date back until you are ready.