Hi Everyone -

This is my first post! I started the process back in January - originally expected to have surgery in July, and due to COVID-19 will probably have surgery in late Sept or early Oct. My insurance requires 3 months (4 sessions) of Supervised Medical Weight Loss. I am able to do it with my surgeon’s office, which is awesome, but it seems tedious. I was supposed to start in March, though my first appt was pushed back to a week and a half ago. I just started the “diet” last week. The plan reminds me of how old people eat (LOL) - very little room to be creative with food. Is anyone else going through this right now? I’d love to have someone to bounce the experience off of, or a buddy.

I DID do supervised medical weight loss though mine was a six month program. But since they were all booked out in December my surgery got pushed to January so it was actually an eight month process. And I used https://www.bariatriceating.com/blogs/recipes for recipe ideas when I was dieting. I found several recipes that I really liked. My favorite is a no noodle lasagna. It's delicious!

But, you CAN substitute. For example, say you want stir fry. But you can't have rice. So... you use cauliflower rice instead. And for the teriyaki sauce you just use a sugar free one (I use G. Hughes. They also make sugar free bbq sauce. They sell it at Walmart). Also, they have low carb tortilla bread that you can use for sandwiches. They're with the tortillas, usually. Also, cheese crisps are a great replacement for chips, crackers, and/or croutons.

Hope this is at least a little helpful...

Hi! I so appreciate the response! I haven’t seen many people talk about SMWL, even on the nutrition forum.

My “diet” is to build a meal around protein (60-80 gm per day), have 3 veggies, and 1-2 fruits per day. I cannot snack in between meals. I can have carbs, but not white carbs, and if I have a sweet tooth I can have sugar free Jello or popsicles. I don’t have limits on calories, although I usually end up at about 1200. They said they are not trying to get me to lose the most amount of weight, or have me crash diet (like end up in ketosis), they are trying to teach me how to meal plan, focus on protein, and eat in a healthier manner. I should lose a pound a week.

Everything I read is so different. They want to cut out snacking and stick to eating 3 times, because they said that grazing is what gets people into trouble in the first place. I am not allowed to have shakes to boost protein, I have to get it from food only. I am a little confused by this, because to get in all of my protein, veggies, and fruit, with a small serving of carbs, I am eating pretty large sized meals, volume-wise. There is no way my body will handle what I’m eating now after surgery. I am having trouble not eating too much protein. When I build a meal around the protein, it is hard not to have too much. I have only met with them once, so maybe she will explain more at the next visit.

Thank you so much for the link!

My nutritionist was different because after surgery you have to have 3 meals and 3 snacks if you want to reach your protein goals because your stomach doesn't hold as much so my nutritionist had me get into the habit of 3 meals, 3 snacks. I'll usually have a cheese stick or two as a snack or a fruit cup (in water) or 1/4 cup of nuts or indulge in my chocolate craving and have sugar free pudding, sometimes I'll have a yogurt, or a slice of deli meat, etc. After my surgery I have to get a minimum of 80g of protein a day so I work to get at least 50 on my own and then have 1 30g protein shake to make up the difference.

Just start now making changes to your diet I did and lost weight prior to surgery and the surgeon was happy