I finally got my surgery date for July 23rd so I have a little over a month before surgery. When did you start to cut things out? Like soda, sweets, ect... I probably drink one soda a day maybe two tops. I use to be a Venti frappuccino everyday person, but I've already cut those to like once a week. I do still eat sweets after dinner like an ice cream cone. I don't snack anymore and I'm trying to eat breakfast. Before I would skip it and only eat one or two meals a day then snack. So I'm wondering what I could be doing better to get ready for not eating the things I normally do.

Cut out soda right away when I was in the 6 months MSWL. Started trying different protein drinks during that time too. That's about it though, ate a variety of foods during that time - just in moderation to lose the weight I needed to to qualify.

You can do it!! We are here for you! I'll cheer on your withdrawal from sugar and you can bring me back to earth when I'm tripping out about my caffeine withdrawals....LOL

Deal! [emoji16]

22 hours ago, KarenLR75 said:

Several of us replying on this post are scheduled for JULY! I'm scheduled for July 1st!!

[....]

I'm going to have to go look at the JULY 2019 Sleevers thread - hope to keep in touch with all of you. I'm nervous, and hopeful...scared.anxious...and SO ready to get this done.

I'm going in on July 1st too!! One week from today!! I'm 3 days into my required 10 day liquid diet; feeling a little bit in a "fog", but not as hungry or cranky as I expected to be. I had a couple "food funerals", but didn't go overboard with quantities when I did. I gave up caffeine, alcohol, and carbonation just a couple weeks ago, and have been cutting back on sugar but didn't fully cut it until I started the pre-surgery diet.

Good luck to you! I'm feeling very nervous and hopeful too.

3 hours ago, DianaP said:

I'm going in on July 1st too!! One week from today!! I'm 3 days into my required 10 day liquid diet; feeling a little bit in a "fog", but not as hungry or cranky as I expected to be. I had a couple "food funerals", but didn't go overboard with quantities when I did. I gave up caffeine, alcohol, and carbonation just a couple weeks ago, and have been cutting back on sugar but didn't fully cut it until I started the pre-surgery diet.

Good luck to you! I'm feeling very nervous and hopeful too.

Oh wow, great to hear from you! Ironically...we are at the same point but I noticed today I was foggier than I expected (although yesterday I was LESS foggy than expected..LOL). I have had a bad headache all day today. I did not give up caffeine until..well, I guess since I had 1/2 cup this morning I haven't given it up yet. I'm used to 4 to 5 cups a day though...so that probably has something to do with the headache.

I noticed my dr's list is different than the nutritionist he sent me too. They both had soft foods @ first start of the 7-10 days, but since I didn't start until 'Day 8.5', I went ahead and started full liquid diet today (regarding Day 8.5 - on the way out of my doc's office last week, I teased him about being grumpy about 10 days and he said "7"...um...ok, maybe he was kidding? When I realized I should clarify, it was already the weekend so I'm taking a day of soft foods out.

I've noticed some interesting variations - there are a few ppl I've seen on here doing a full FOUR WEEKS PRE-OP....I just shudder..LOL. Guess it was good that I already had given up sugar/carbs/etc as I was doing keto.

I did something similar last week - one night I went out for Mexican and one lunch at a Chinese place. But it was just 1 meal each day...not the entire days. I did have a drink '11 days' prior but I have not had any alcohol since the 10 days started even though I didn't do the pre-op diet until day 8.5 (that sounds so weird!).

I feel the same..nervous..anxious..and right now...a bit hungry..lol. Best of luck to you as well! Stay in touch. I know we have lots of other early July peeps out there!

I cheated today and drank a redbull. My brother is living with us for a few months and he knows I like redbull and brought one back for me. Ugh! I was doing good at no sugary drinks since a few days ago. But this is it... I told him no more so he knows. lol!

11 hours ago, MeowAMR said:

I cheated today and drank a redbull. My brother is living with us for a few months and he knows I like redbull and brought one back for me. Ugh! I was doing good at no sugary drinks since a few days ago. But this is it... I told him no more so he knows. lol!

I looked for a "smacks sibling" emoticon but alas, there was none. I've made it clear to my family what foods I consider to be 'trigger' foods - ones that either tempt me...or for now, ones that are just hard to see someone else eating. I seriously have tried to assure my family they don't need to be sneaking their food into other rooms...LOL. We all have to have some version of a 'new normal' life together. If I AM the one having a bad day or whatever is going on in my head, then I will excuse myself prior to the meal and they are not to take it personally. THEY still need to eat.

What I do draw the line on in my own house (kids are technically out of the house) is any foods that were not part of the keto way of life my husband & I were followed up until my pre-op. As he has stated he will continue on keto, that is fine. My family knows the things that do NOT tempt me like ice cream or pie. If any of the miscreants bring in cake or cookies, there will be a brawl but it's not because of this surgery, I'd have had an issue with it when I was doing keto. Most of the time even that stuff no longer bothers me but like someone new in recovery from let's say 'alcohol addiction', people who are near and dear should not be drinking around them, especially not when someone is new in recovery (the exception here is that my family needs to eat to live so I do not expect them to abstain, just to be thoughtful).

I see the surgery and the first few months after that as being new to a different type of recovery. Recovering from food addiction but NEVER cured just like AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and NA (Narcotics Anonymous) treat addiction. Everyone is hopefully on some path of recovery but you are never considered 'cured' which keeps you on guard against relapsing although it can happen and you just get back on the proverbial horse.

LOL, maybe next time you are presented with a temptation, imagine drinking or eating it in front of your doctor...I was going to say 'in front of a mirror' which is something I've used before when I was...eating WAY too much and that mirror thing has stopped me quite a few times. Whichever would deter you the most...LOL

On 06/24/2019 at 22:30, MeowAMR said:

I cheated today and drank a redbull. My brother is living with us for a few months and he knows I like redbull and brought one back for me. Ugh! I was doing good at no sugary drinks since a few days ago. But this is it... I told him no more so he knows. lol!

Okay, so this is a healthy attitude.

I promise that after surgery, you’re going to have those same type of incidents.

None of us— no matter how dedicated we are and how much willpower we think we have— is immune to occasional slips.

The important thing is to recognize what our triggers are and avoid those situations as much as possible.

Getting right back up on your feet after a “mess up” is critical and sounds like you’ve done just that.

You’ve got this!!!!

On 06/25/2019 at 10:17, KarenLR75 said:

I looked for a "smacks sibling" emoticon but alas, there was none. I've made it clear to my family what foods I consider to be 'trigger' foods - ones that either tempt me...or for now, ones that are just hard to see someone else eating. I seriously have tried to assure my family they don't need to be sneaking their food into other rooms...LOL. We all have to have some version of a 'new normal' life together. If I AM the one having a bad day or whatever is going on in my head, then I will excuse myself prior to the meal and they are not to take it personally. THEY still need to eat.

What I do draw the line on in my own house (kids are technically out of the house) is any foods that were not part of the keto way of life my husband & I were followed up until my pre-op. As he has stated he will continue on keto, that is fine. My family knows the things that do NOT tempt me like ice cream or pie. If any of the miscreants bring in cake or Cookies, there will be a brawl but it's not because of this surgery, I'd have had an issue with it when I was doing keto. Most of the time even that stuff no longer bothers me but like someone new in recovery from let's say 'alcohol addiction', people who are near and dear should not be drinking around them, especially not when someone is new in recovery (the exception here is that my family needs to eat to live so I do not expect them to abstain, just to be thoughtful).

I see the surgery and the first few months after that as being new to a different type of recovery. Recovering from food addiction but NEVER cured just like AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and NA (Narcotics Anonymous) treat addiction. Everyone is hopefully on some path of recovery but you are never considered 'cured' which keeps you on guard against relapsing although it can happen and you just get back on the proverbial horse.

LOL, maybe next time you are presented with a temptation, imagine drinking or eating it in front of your doctor...I was going to say 'in front of a mirror' which is something I've used before when I was...eating WAY too much and that mirror thing has stopped me quite a few times. Whichever would deter you the most...LOL

Oh I LOVE this thought.

From now on, I’m going to imagine my surgeon sitting right across the table from me watching and judging what I would eat.

Brilliant!

Also, my biggest food tigger is Mexican food.
I’ve been in a few restaurants, but no Mexican ones and my ex-fave is literally in the same strip mall as my Pilates studio. Mexican food is my kryptonite.

As goooooood as the smells are coming out of that place, I always feel so empowered because I’m going there to that building to work out now instead of eat Mexican food.

Another trigger of mine is alcohol.
Hubs and I used to glory in selecting the perfect bottle of vino to complement whatever meals we were making.
Our first 3 anniversaries we got hooked on wine country in Napa and I desperately miss the whole experience.

Maybe some day I can go back to experimenting with the perfect wine pairing for my meals, but at this point in time I just don’t feel able to handle it.

About 2.5 months post-surgery, I “allowed” myself a half glass of saki with my sashimi we were having out and I was battling carb/bad food cravings for the next 24 hours.

It was awful and it scared me

4 hours ago, Sheribear68 said:

Mexican food is my kryptonite.

As goooooood as the smells are coming out of that place, I always feel so empowered because I’m going there to that building to work out now instead of eat Mexican food.

Another trigger of mine is alcohol.

I so get this! Yes, Mexican food is the same for me...and alcohol..not like I drink a lot, but it has been a part of the 'kids are out of the house'..let's go to a winery, etc. type thing.. Basically what you said.

Um, after hearing about your experience with trying Saki, while i hadn't planned on trying anything alcoholic under 6 months (I'd love to tell all of you that I'll wait until I have a year under my belt but I don't feel the internal conviction on that point yet)....I definitely will keep your story in mind if I start thinking about it. I DO NOT want to crave anything if i can help it, but especially NOT CARBS

I just counted my calories 3 months prior and lost 25 lbs but I didn’t deprive myself at all still had weekend cheat days. And I had Mexican food 3 days before surgery my doc just had me do a 2 day liquid only diet. Wasn’t bad at all and everything went great!

Some very good points ladies! I will need to tell the household my trigger foods... thats a good idea. And imagining myself eating in front of my surgeon. He chastised me for not working out yet [emoji37] lol so I'm kinda like YES SIR! ILL WALK EVERY DAY SIR! lol (I'm getting my surgery done through the military hospital). So I could definitely imagine his chastisement if I eat or drink badly.

I need to cut out coffee! This one is going to be hard and I am slowly stop drinking soda.

As soon as I started the program which was 7 months ago I’m still waiting on insurance approval which I should get any time now. I’m interested in finding out how your able to get approval without going thru the 6 month process. It can’t be healthy for you to go thru this process so quickly without being monitored and instructed on what you should and shouldn’t be consuming. There is a lot to it and sounds to me they are just throwing it at you. I hope your successful but they should have prepared you better!!!

The 6 months of dr supervised diet is usually an insurance requirement and not all insurances require that. I personally am thankful that I had a longer process because i'm so much better prepared than I would have been just after making the decision to pursue this surgery.

I researched a lot before I even went the bariatric route. I knew what I was getting into before I even talked to the doctor. But my acceptance was different because I went through the bariatric clinic on the military base and you don't have to go through all the hoops most insurance companies have you go through.

I still had to go to seminars, I did four 2hr long nutrition classes, I had to go to support groups, and the psych evaluation. I still have two more classes I need to do for pre op one is an hr and the other is 2hrs. They expect you to start eating better and exercising, but we didn't have to go on a diet. They said if we went on a binge and gained weight then that would show them you're not ready for the surgery and they wouldn't do it.

But for me my weight gain wasn't because I am an over eater, binge eater, ect. I gained weight from PCOS it caused me to have a metabolic disorder. So my body was just making me gain weight because it wasn't processing my insulin correctly. Basically my body is slow to let go of fat, but also holds creates more fat then usual. I would have to work out 3x's harder then the average person to lose pcos weight which is ridiculous and why I havent been able to lose it. It sucks because most of my life I was thin everyone in my family is thin... but lucky me I was the only one to have PCOS. I just keep gaining and gaining and its not from eating poorly and massive amounts of food its from PCOS that's why I always said its the Devil! lol

But back to my original question. They never said stop eating everything we wont be able to eat after surgery at a certain time before surgery. I know for sure they expect you to stop on your pre-op diet, but before that all they said is don't gain more. So like you can see some stopped well before and some rode it out until the 2wk pre op diet and still cheated. I just wanted to see what the majority was.