I am on my first day of the pre op diet ...I have to use slim-fast instead of opti-fast because even though it has been ordered and paid for , i have not had the pleaser of seeing it yet!! I hear that the opti fast tastes worse than slim fast so I can hardly wait!! I will phone again tomorrow if it does not arrive , I wonder why the opti fast is prefered, anyone know??? .. Anyway I am booked for surgery on the 5th of Dec and have every thing ready to go...since I am from Calgary I am taking the oppotunity to do a little Christmas shopping in Toronto/Mississauga area. Anyone know where there are any good places to by designer stuff such as "Coach" and "Juicy" there is most likely a better selection of stuff there than is Calgary, so any shopping tips are appriciated.

Is there anyone having Surgery on the 5th of Dec as well??? Mine is at 8 am. I am arriving in Mississauga on the 2nd and am staying until the sunday night.

I am not very nervous but am quite looking forward to getting it over with, and of course the recovery will be good to have behind me as well. I did not weight myself today as we woke to a lot of snow and then my daughter had a flat tire so I had to drive her to school and by the time i remembered it was late in the day so I guess I will get the truley bad news tomorrow. however after that I will never see the scale as my enemy ....I hope!!!

Any ideas on the pre op diet are appriciated although I have read a lot of posts and want to do as well as I can so the surgery goes well.

I hope that I am stong enough to stick to it ....I work 12 hour day and night shifts and it is always a food fest on the nights!!! So my plan is to pick a spot furthest away from the kitchen ( so I cant smell the cooking ) and furthest away from the door so I dont see the street guys bringing us treats!! I work for the police on the 911 emergency lines,and often the street guys bring us in stuff.

Anyway wish me luck !! I just hope that I can do as well as all of you here seem to have and contunue to do........

susan ( thinner ....soon I hope)

Good luck on the pre-op diet. I'm sure you will do just fine. I found it relatively easy as I was still super motivated at that point! My advice to make sure the surgery goes well is to make sure not to cheat on the pre-op diet so that you lose all the weight the surgeon wants you to.

I also work 12hr days and nights and I completely understand the food fest... I work in a hospital and there are ALWAYS treats from patients or staff that bring in sweet and salty snaks... both days and nights. Unfortunately I have no advice on this as I still have a very hard time not nibbling on what is out. I just try not to start because I know I will not be able to stop! I think you have the right idea... just stay as afr away as possible... I wish I could do that...! I do find that if there are treats around then I will only go into the staff lounge when there are other people around so that there is someone to watch me eat. People watching me eat is always my largest deterrant!

I wish you all the luck on your pre and post-op adventures. Sorry, I have no clue about the shopping in Toronto... but have fun!!!

Here are some tips that I used during my pre-op.

- Dill pickles are a life saver. They are low in calories & carbs but taste like real food. Use them as part of you veggie allowance or when you need a snack.

- When eating your salads, those new salad spritzers dressing thingies (Am I technical or what) are supposed to be really good. Try them to liven up those veggies

- If and when you get your Optifast, get some calorie free Davinci Syrups. I got mine at the Diabetic Depot in Calgary and they made the Optfast better.

- When using the OPtifast, blend it with ice, they taste more like a milk shake that way.

- Remeber that what you are doing is a means to an end and that it is only temporary. It is for your health and you are better off for it.

As for shopping, I can shop my wife under the table, but I did not find the shopping in Missasauga to be great. Also remember that in Ontario they have PST so you will pay that as well. We stayed at the Novatel which was within walking distance of the Square One shopping mall. It was okay, but really nothing better than Market Mall in Calgary. They had some stores there that we dont yet have in Calgary though.

I cant say for certain, but I think that the reason why Dr.C uses Optifast is that Slim Fast can have a little too much sugar in some cases sepending on which ones you get so I suspect it is too avoid that, but dont quote me on that.

Andrew

Hi Thinner.

I had my surgery in Mississauga yesterday morning and am doing great! I did not mind the taste of the Optifast as I mixed mine with ice, like Gaffer mentioned, and it does make it goes down easier. I cheated a bit but did my best with pre-op and lost 12 pounds prior to surgery. Now I am on the way!

Keep trying and good luck to you!

Susan,

Everyone else has said it best already, so all I want to say is good luck! You'll do great... and just remember, the pre-op diet is for your own good.

Mandi

HI!!! You will do fine on Opti the first few days are the hardest. My fav was the chocolate blended with lots of ice and instead of water use cold black coffee and a bit of vanilla, tastes like an ice cap!

I live in mississauga and there is some great shopping. The closest mall for designer goods is Sherway Garden Mall. It is not far from the clinic, the girls there can give you directions or take a cab. It is a high end mall with great stores. There is a Holt Renfrew for Louis Vuitton, Channel, Prada etc. and The Sporting Life for Lacoste, Ralph Lauren etc. It is close by and perfect. Another highend mall is Yorkdale, it is further away but a good one too. Google both for store listing etc. Then there is the Yorkville area of downtown Toronto, that is where the movie stars etc. go. and Bloor st. Where the designer shops are (prada, hermes etc.

Hope that helps! Sherway is you best closest bet!! Good Luck!

Thanks for all the good wishes ...it is now day 3 and im doing fine ....i have to pick up my Optifast tonight on the way home ....who knows wy it took so long , maybe it was on the slow train ....Great ideas for making the optifast taste better... Im going to go and get the syrups that you mentioned Andrew any recomendations on what flavor??? Ive used the salad spritzers and must say they are a godsend. I am also a pickle lover and saw Andrew mention them as a good part of your veggies or when you just need something crunchie...so they are on my list !!! I also liked the idea of blending it with coffee for an ice cap ...maybe ill try that tonight. I weighed myself yesterday and was just about where I thought so I am pretty motivated ...It would be nice to loose 10lbs or so just to get a boost on the journey. every one here is so helpfull ..it is great to see how everyone is doing, its a real motivator. I am feeling good ...not too hungry...and am determined to do my best on this pre op adventure...

thanks, and all the best to everyone on their weight loss, you guys are an amazing group its realy nice to know that every one is supporting each other ......susan

For the syrups I used the Raspberry the most mixed with vanilla. I also had some Chai flavour that was nice for a change. If you go to the Diabetic Depot they have so many flavours it will make your head spin.

Definately worth a visit.

Glad to hear that you are doing well on your pre-op. I really viewed it as one of the most impartant aspects of the whole journey, only second to the post -op healing phase.

I really belive that the pre-op helped break my dependancy on food and put me in the right mind set for recovery.

Andrew

Thanks for that info Andrew...Rasberry sounds great so Ill get that and see how it goes.... Susan

The Davinci amerreto flavored syrup is also very good (tastes like almonds - not like the liqueur). The diabetic depot also sells (by Walden Farms) a "calorie free" chocolate dip. Add some to your chocolate flavored Optifast and it tastes very fudgy. They also have a caramel flavor that is pretty ok (not on its own - it has to be mixed in something).

It scares me that they sell products that have no sugar, no fat, no calories that actually taste good (I guess I don't actually really want to know what they are made of), but anything to help the pre-op diet along!! :heh:

Good luck!

It scares me that they sell products that have no sugar, no fat, no calories that actually taste good (I guess I don't actually really want to know what they are made of), but anything to help the pre-op diet along!! :heh:Good luck!

It is scary, but go with it.

Andrew

Hi, just to let you know... the Diabetic Depot closed at the store location just off Glenmore and 37 St SW. They moved to their bakery location on 17 Ave and 37 St SW. Everything is now crammed into a much smaller space. Hopefully they will still carry or be able to order most products but the size of the operation is reduced.

Hi, just to let you know... the Diabetic Depot closed at the store location just off Glenmore and 37 St SW. They moved to their bakery location on 17 Ave and 37 St SW. Everything is now crammed into a much smaller space. Hopefully they will still carry or be able to order most products but the size of the operation is reduced.

Good to know Janice, how are you doing?

Andrew

I'm doing very well Andrew, thank you for asking! It's end of semester time - final exams and searching for a practicum are keeping me pretty stressed out!! I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel and the trains a comin' pretty fast.