Is anyone else having a hard time staying in control of their diet with the pending surgery? I feel like I'm having the world's longest "last supper" ever! I think the mentality is that I'm going to finally get in control when I get banded, and I can just enjoy myself now, but there's WAY too much time between now and May and I know I can be awfully destructive in that time. Is anyone else going through this? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Is anyone else having a hard time staying in control of their diet with the pending surgery? I feel like I'm having the world's longest "last supper" ever! I think the mentality is that I'm going to finally get in control when I get banded, and I can just enjoy myself now, but there's WAY too much time between now and May and I know I can be awfully destructive in that time. Is anyone else going through this? Does anyone have any suggestions?

totally hear what you're saying. i did the exact same thing before surgery. i think i ordered from all the menus in, yes, my entire menu drawer. (hey, i live in nyc where everyone has a takeout drawer in their kitchen!) ultimately tho, i knew the less i weighed, the less dangerous my surgery would be. remembering that really prevented me from getting as crazy as i could have gone.

good luck with your pre-op prep. see you on the other side.

Absolutely!

I too have been having trouble letting go of my fav foods and enjoying the last supper thing!

I have to go on a 30 day liver shrinkage diet which is going to be sooooo hard for me! He requires a diet that has NO salt, NO fat, NO sugar for 30 days to shrink the liver for surgery. It will require cooking in ways I never have and carrying food with me all the time that meet these requirements. The no fat, I can live with. The no sugar I can deal with! But the NO sodium is insane. Anything in a can or prepared is loaded with sodium. I travel for work quite a bit and just don't know how I am going to do this.........

The PA told me (and she said if I said she said this she would deny it) not to worry about being that strict. Because my BMI is lower (36) if I would lose 5 pounds she would be happy. But, that PA no longer works at my Dr's office.

I'm dreading this more than any other part of the process.

Is anyone else having a hard time staying in control of their diet with the pending surgery? I feel like I'm having the world's longest "last supper" ever! I think the mentality is that I'm going to finally get in control when I get banded, and I can just enjoy myself now, but there's WAY too much time between now and May and I know I can be awfully destructive in that time. Is anyone else going through this? Does anyone have any suggestions?

I think that I was hugely fortunate in the fact that the time between my decision to have the surgery and my consult was less than 1 month and the time between my consult and my surgery was less than 24 HOURS! (Yes that does say hours!) My doc doesn't do a pre-op diet unless your liver was too large. Well considering the lack of time between my consult and surgery I was afraid it would get postponed so this is how I handled the last supper syndrome. Each day I would have A VERY SMALL AMOUNT of what I wanted while the rest of the time I would eat the foods that I was going to be eating on the solid stage after surgery. It was a great transitioning period for me. I felt like I was getting the best of both worlds. Now I won't tell you what I ate in the 12 hours between my consult and the time I had to stop eating for surgery. That wasn't pretty. :biggrin: However if you are not required to do a pre-op diet I really felt like this worked for me...but it does take discipline. But then again you are going to need that discipline after surgery anyways so it doesn't hurt to start now.

Good luck and May will be here before you know it!

I went to my first consult in August 07 and had my surgery in Jan 08 due to the fact that I had to appeal my insurance company. I started out with a BMI of 35.1 and by the time I started my preop diet, I had gained up to 36.7.

I had more last suppers than you can shake a stick at and I can honestly say I don't regret it. Yeah, it sucked actually going up a size while waiting, but I was so out of control by that point, I just rode the wave.

Having said that, I was 100% good on my 2 week pre-op diet and I was so ready to jump in and get into the lapband zone by surgery time.

I wouldn't sweat it too much one way or the other. The band will do it's job as long as you do yours and you'll be ready.

Thanks everyone! It's good to know I'm not alone!

I absolutely intend to stick to the pre-op diet for the two weeks as my Dr. instructed. I just need to get a little bit of control between now and then!

I had the opportunity to schedule my surgery much sooner, (2 weeks after my initial consult, which would have had me getting banded this week) but I had to postpone until May because I'm going on a business trip to Mexico City at the end of April and I didn't want to be that far away from my doctor and eating funny in a situation where I won't have control over where and when we eat.

I keep trying to remind myself that waiting was for the best in the long run, and it has given me a ton of time to research and learn, but I just want to get started!

I think I'm actually going to try to wean myself onto my pre-op diet of Protein shakes, and high protein/low fat foods. When I'm given strict instructions for a plan, I can follow it perfect, but left to my own devices I struggle to make the right choices. The last supper is one thing, and I don't regret enjoying the foods I'm going to have to avoid in the future, but stretching it out for 2 months can definitely do some damage!

Cat - I completely know where you are coming from. I have finally reigned myself in a bit. I went back on my no flour no sugar diet during the week and at this point take weekends and holidays off. I thought it would be hard getting back on track on Mondays with taking the weekends off, but so far not the case. I have lost 7 pounds in the last few weeks. Of course this is mostly water, as I always lose a lot of water when I start a new eating plan. Not sure what the next month will bring. I hope to continue to stay in control.

Hello all, I posted this tread in the pre-op forum but didn't get a lot of response, i.e. as far as from those who had to follow the 6-month supervised diet and if they gained and IF they still approved them. Just wondered if any of you had any experience with this... if you don't mind taking a look!! :smile:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/weight-gain-6-morbid-obesity-supervised-diet-56652/

I appreciate your input!

FYI....Just in case anyone wondered...I spoke with the doctor's office this morning and she said she has never known insurance not to approve because someone gained weight on the diet. She said a lot of people do...thus, the reason they are trying to have the surgery.

Cat- My preop was a disaster. I was banded on May 2nd and the two weeks before I honestly tried to eat what the doctor ordered. But something in my mind said you will NEVER be able to eat like this again. It's a mind thing. I had all varieties of italian and mexican food. I ate dessert and a hamburger. I say all of this not to discourage you, but to remind you that you are so human and it happens. I hope your surgery is well.

Ugh as the days get closer to my pre-op diet, I know I will do okay while I'm at home, but I almost know that when I go on vacation I will cheat... I am going to try really hard but with my whole extended family there, most of whom do not know about the surgery, I know they will all be trying to tempt me with food and I'm so nervous!