Pre-Surgery Bucket List

[Arabesque 6,565]

I didn’t do a food funeral or have a final treat. It all happened pretty quickly. From GP appointment for a referral, to seeing the surgeon, then the dietician & then surgery wasn’t quite 6 weeks. And I think because from the morning I woke up & said enough & made my GP appointment, I was committed. I was ready to make the change for a different life. Maybe if I had a longer time frame until the surgery it may have been different. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Never thought I’ll never have this food again, or won’t be able to eat at a specific restaurant ever again. I do. Just make more careful choices, watch portions, frequency, etc. Had takeaway fish & chips with my brother’s family last week. Ordered grillled fish & salad & snuck a chip from my nephew’s plate. Actually first fish & chips (well chip) since before surgery. But we’re all different in how we approach things. Doesn’t mean what you choose to do is right or wrong. Enjoy.

[Bypass2Freedom 162]

Oh my god @newbegining2024 all of that looks so good! I am sooo jealous just looking at all of that. I feel that the UK really doesn't have this amount of good food!!

[newbegining2024 40]

2 minutes ago, Bypass2Freedom said:

Oh my god @newbegining2024 all of that looks so good! I am sooo jealous just looking at all of that. I feel that the UK really doesn't have this amount of good food!!

Oh maybe that’s a blessing in some way! But UK have the best fish and chips tho. In NYC there are too much temptation around me.

[Bypass2Freedom 162]

Just now, newbegining2024 said:

Oh maybe that’s a blessing in some way! But UK have the best fish and chips tho. In NYC there are too much temptation around me.

There are so many Fish & Chip shops here but that sometimes makes it hard to find somewhere that is decent! Nothing worse than a soggy chip 🤣

I bet that there is omggg

[newbegining2024 40]

4 hours ago, Bypass2Freedom said:

There are so many Fish & Chip shops here but that sometimes makes it hard to find somewhere that is decent! Nothing worse than a soggy chip 🤣

I bet that there is omggg

Believe it or not, I haven’t found any good fish and chips that can compare to what I had in UK. I feel like any fish and chips in UK is better than what I had in the U.S. and Canada. I just gave up trying to find one.

[NickelChip 806]

55 minutes ago, newbegining2024 said:

Believe it or not, I haven’t found any good fish and chips that can compare to what I had in UK. I feel like any fish and chips in UK is better than what I had in the U.S. and Canada. I just gave up trying to find one.

This is 100% true. I have never had better fish and chips anywhere than in the UK. We have nothing even close in the States. In fact, despite its dodgy culinary reputation, I have had nothing but delightful food in the UK. Even your prepackaged sandwiches are amazing, and as much as I love American diner Breakfast, nothing beats a full English.

[ms.sss 14,782]

first off, @newbegining2024, you will have zero complaints from me, food porn is my favourite kind of porn, ha!

re: food funerals, like @Arabesque, i didn't really have time (or thought) to have one. i had postponed my surgery twice in the year and a half prior deciding to finally (again) go through with it. I called my surgeon to say, lets do it in early to mid september 2018, and he booked me in for surgery in a little over a month later for October 2018.

I got into tunnel-vision like mode of like, "Lets GOOOO!" while i didn't do any specific diet prior to the 2 week liquid diet before surgery, i DID make conscious efforts NOT to stuff myself or eat mindlessly. i did this for about 2-3 weeks, and didn't lose any weight, interestingly enough.

then it was time for my 2 week liquid pre-diet of 3 Protein Shakes a day. and since i'm a self-proclaimed over-achiever😂, by the end of week 1 i was doing 2 shakes a day, and by mid week 2 i was down to 1 shake a day. yes, i know i was NOT supposed to do this, but i just wanted to prove to myself that i could for some reason (i blame the tunnel vision). again, interestingly enough, i lost 11 lbs.

fast forward 5 and half years and life is good, i'm skinny, healthy, happy, and full of energy. i also eat whatever i want...in fractions of amounts i used to, of course. and we aren't just talking salads (though i do LOVE salads!), and boiled fish. i will order items displayed in that awesome spread that @newbegining2024 shared. i eat bread and Pasta and fatty steaks, deep fried whatever, chips, bacon, pizza, cheese, alcohol and yes, even Desserts. JUST IN VERY SMALL PORTIONS (and yes, i also eat steamed vegetables, grilled lean meats, greek yogurt, and a ton of water).

i guess what i'm trying to say is that you don't have to say good bye to your fave foods forever.

good luck! ❤️

[Bypass2Freedom 162]

On 3/9/2024 at 7:57 PM, newbegining2024 said:

Believe it or not, I haven’t found any good fish and chips that can compare to what I had in UK. I feel like any fish and chips in UK is better than what I had in the U.S. and Canada. I just gave up trying to find one.

Oh really! That is so interesting to see the differences!

[Bypass2Freedom 162]

On 3/10/2024 at 2:41 PM, ms.sss said:

first off, @newbegining2024, you will have zero complaints from me, food porn is my favourite kind of porn, ha!

re: food funerals, like @Arabesque, i didn't really have time (or thought) to have one. i had postponed my surgery twice in the year and a half prior deciding to finally (again) go through with it. I called my surgeon to say, lets do it in early to mid september 2018, and he booked me in for surgery in a little over a month later for October 2018.

I got into tunnel-vision like mode of like, "Lets GOOOO!" while i didn't do any specific diet prior to the 2 week liquid diet before surgery, i DID make conscious efforts NOT to stuff myself or eat mindlessly. i did this for about 2-3 weeks, and didn't lose any weight, interestingly enough.

then it was time for my 2 week liquid pre-diet of 3 Protein Shakes a day. and since i'm a self-proclaimed over-achiever😂, by the end of week 1 i was doing 2 shakes a day, and by mid week 2 i was down to 1 shake a day. yes, i know i was NOT supposed to do this, but i just wanted to prove to myself that i could for some reason (i blame the tunnel vision). again, interestingly enough, i lost 11 lbs.

fast forward 5 and half years and life is good, i'm skinny, healthy, happy, and full of energy. i also eat whatever i want...in fractions of amounts i used to, of course. and we aren't just talking salads (though i do LOVE salads!), and boiled fish. i will order items displayed in that awesome spread that @newbegining2024 shared. i eat bread and Pasta and fatty steaks, deep fried whatever, chips, bacon, pizza, cheese, alcohol and yes, even Desserts. JUST IN VERY SMALL PORTIONS (and yes, i also eat steamed vegetables, grilled lean meats, greek yogurt, and a ton of water).

i guess what i'm trying to say is that you don't have to say good bye to your fave foods forever.

good luck! ❤️

I think I will definitely have some tunnel vision when I have paid for my surgery (I plan to do that next week) as then it will feel extra real and I will need to get into my game face haha.

It is interesting to see your perspective of it all, I completely get the whole wanting to prove it to yourself bit - I feel that the challenge is always there when it comes to wanting to prove it to ourselves that we are capable!

I think I am just saying goodbye to my fave foods for now, temporarily, and definitely in the quantity I have been eating them! Then when I get to eat them again, I will hopefully have more control!

Thank you for sharing your experience! ❤️

[AmberFL 249]

I love Mexican food and deli sandwiches lol! So the week before my husband told me to choose foods that I wanted and the whole family would eat it. Then I ate chocolate, cake or sees candy. All the things!

[AMJ2598 20]

I'm 3 days into my 2 week LRD, and to be honest I didn't do anything similar to this, as much as I wish I did! But I was so worried about putting weight back on and not getting to the number I needed to be at, as I have my surgery through the NHS, so I started my liquid diet about 3 days early, and before that for the 2 weeks I knew of my surgery, I was super strict with what I ate.

There are definitely a couple of things I really really crave, but I've waited way too long for this to be ruined by myself. I really love Halo Top ice cream as it's lower in calorie than the usual pint of Ben & Jerrys, so I'll be excited to eat this when I finally can.

Also, just a very nice sunday roast. Yorkshire puddings. Can't wait.

[BlondePatriotInCDA 247]

"Food porn" I feel so dirty after seeing those pictures! 😋

[PandaMom1977 6]

There were a couple of things I wanted to make sure I enjoyed because I knew that I wouldn't have them again soon but I quickly realized that when I ate them I didn't find the "joy" I thought I would. I think I was so much more excited to start the surgery and my new normal.

[ChunkCat 707]

On 3/8/2024 at 4:52 AM, Bypass2Freedom said:

Its good to hear your experiences with it all post-surgery, and that Keto banana cookie sounds yummy! Would you mind sharing the recipe?

Sorry it took me so long to reply! This month has been full on... These are the ones I made, they kept really well in the fridge and tasted just as good as freshly baked after a 20 second zap in the microwave. https://www.wholesomeyum.com/keto-banana-muffins-recipe/

They don't have banana in them, they have a banana baking emulsion instead since bananas aren't keto. I doubled the amount of the baking emulsion and added some vanilla extract. Honestly they were pretty convincing and soothed the craving and I usually hate banana flavoring. This was NOT artificial tasting. I think it really depends on the quality of. the emulsion. If your macros have space for bananas, I'd make this version instead: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/healthy-banana-muffins/

[Bypass2Freedom 162]

On 3/20/2024 at 12:00 AM, ChunkCat said:

Sorry it took me so long to reply! This month has been full on... These are the ones I made, they kept really well in the fridge and tasted just as good as freshly baked after a 20 second zap in the microwave. https://www.wholesomeyum.com/keto-banana-muffins-recipe/

They don't have banana in them, they have a banana baking emulsion instead since bananas aren't Keto. I doubled the amount of the baking emulsion and added some vanilla extract. Honestly they were pretty convincing and soothed the craving and I usually hate banana flavoring. This was NOT artificial tasting. I think it really depends on the quality of. the emulsion. If your macros have space for bananas, I'd make this version instead: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/healthy-banana-muffins/

Thank you for sending this over! It actually looks really good!