Can I get a break .. please help

Man .. just when I got the insurance thing taken care of. I went to the hospital to check on my great grandma and decided to stop by the bariatric place to wiegh myself. See I had gained 4 extra pounds since this whole thing started in feb. Anywho I got weighed at Dr stones office in April @252. The week before I saw him I had step and didnt eat anything. Well I got weighed last month and weighed 266. I asked the the ladies that were incharge of the program .. what should I be down to .. usually they want you to lose 10 pounds. One lady said go down to 256 and then the other lady said go down two 252.. So i have been working at it and droped 5 pounds . well now I called to double check and they said because Dr stone has me on there as 252 i have to be 242. Help.. How am I supposed to lose 18 pounds in two weeks. I mwan they could have told me that a month ago.. I would have done atkins a month ago .. but it kills me. But thats what it looks like I have to do. 3 yrs ago I lost 20 pounds in a month on atkins. So I will be working out 30 mins in mor and 30 mins in eveings. they told me to have 2 slimfast low carb shakes a day and a small meal or lean cuisen. They said to document it and try to get down to 250. They dont even think I can get down to 242. My surgery is aug 29th and I see the doc for my pre op visit aug 23rd. but my dad said eat small small meals through out the day. But I was told that you dont want to do that because you want your liver to shrink.. and when you feel hungery then your liver is shrinking ... my dad and hubby said eat, dont starve yourslef... but man how I am supposed to do this. I really need some help melissa

Hey Melissa, Is it Dr. Stone in Redding,CA? I just had surgery on the 1st with Dr. Nichols. I started July 5th changing my diet to only 3 meals a day, NO snacking, and NO high fat food. Even went on vacation and lost weight by choosing healthy food choices. I managed to get from 261 - 245ish by the 27th. I would think following the 2 diet drinks, lots and lots of water, and a frozen diet dinner should do it. Especially if you're going to exercise as well. Remember Dianne's saying about sabetours. Your dad and husband aren't helping if they want you to eat instead of supporting your losing the weight. And you're right, eating lots of little meals won't allow the liver to lose the fat, which is the whole purpose of losing the 10 lbs. You have to let yourself get hungry. Just think of it as one last diet before you get your new, unforgetable tool, plus, week two post-op consists of 2 protein drinks and one soft protein (scrambled eggs with cottage cheese).Think of as you're just prepping for post-op. Dianne will be back next Monday and I have found her to be a lot more helpful than Penny (who's nice). Start the new eating plan and then give her a call. Good luck and if you need to yak, I'm in the phone book. Dawn Burhans

Yeah its Dr Stone in redding.. Its not the they are sabetours.. they said that it speeds up your motabalism... (however you spell that ) They mean well. How often did you exercise and could you maybe give a an example of your meals? thank you , you made me feel a little better. Melissa

Hi Melissa, I have to admit, I didn't exercise. I went to Indiana the 15-20 and then camping 21-23 and did a lot of walking, but that's it. I also have to admit that I generally lose weight fast (all total since I saw Dr. Nichols on June 28th I've lost 39 lbs), but I can gain it just as fast unfortunately, hence the surgery. You know, I wasn't real careful about what I ate from the 5th - 14th, just cut out all snacking, didn't drink with my meal and waited an hour afterwards so I would stay full longer. While on vacation I chose simple eggs and toast for breakfast, grilled chicken, veggies, fruit, salads, etc. Just all around healthy food choices. One day for breakfast I wasn't hungry so instead had two glasses of tomato juice. Basic stuff like that. I really paid attention to when I felt comfortably full and stopped, whether the plate was empty or not. All good practice for post-op life. Since you're under the gun and only have 1/2 the time to lose the weight I really suggest Barbara's menu of 2 drinks and a Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, or Weigh****chers. You could probably exchange a drink for similiar calorie food - say 1 egg and toast with little butter, a package of instant oatmeal, a salad with low cal dressing, etc. and be okay. Also, don't eat because it's "Time" to eat, but when you're hungry. I'm a teacher and on summer vacation and the biggest help I had was that I drank a liter of water before I ate breakfast. That put off eating until 10-11 and often meant I only ate 2 meals a day. Again, good luck. You can do it. Just be sure to keep your energy up because about 5 days post-op you're going to be zonked so you want an energy reserve. Dawn

Hi - I dont think you should drastically reudce your calories if you are exercising- you need fuel to workout and you need protein- high quality protein- not the crap in slim fast. If you are going to follow a diet- why not do the south beach diet? its really waht WLS is modeled after - no bread- pasta etc. Plus I would buy quality protein- like designer whey or isopure protein- the same you will be using after surgery- and you need about 50gs a day of it0 which kay be 2- shakes- in addition to your diet. the protein helps you build muscle- work on reducting your bmi- and your weight will also reduce, especiallyif you are exercising. good luck- Donna