Nutritionist

I am very nervous about my nutritionist's decision on my approval.  She wants to see me on an ongoing basis and i'm afraid that she will not approve me because 1. I can't lose weight while i'm under her pre-op care or 2. I will lose a substantial amount of weight and she will feel that I don't need the band!   This has me in limbo as to how I should eat.  Does anyone know what the nutritionist is looking for in a patient in order to approve them for surgery?

Hi, welcome to the board!  I want to reassure you that your nutritionist only supervises your diet and behavior modification leading up to your approval.  What she is looking for is if you are compliant with the behavioral changes, no skipping of meals, eating a balanced, nutritious diet and following her instructions for your particular situation,  such as diabetes management, portion control etc.  She is not the final say in whether you are approved.  As far as her expectations, you should ask her.  I lost only 6 lbs on my 3 month supervised program, but I did bring my A1c down and haven't skipped breakfast since Dec '09.  I also tracked all my food intake on www.sparkpeople.com and printed out my reports and brought them to her for review each month.  She gave me feedback and I did what she asked.
The things I changed in my behavior in my 3 month supervised diet and behavior modification were:

Kept a food log and reviewed it daily for opportunities for improvement.

Logged morning blood glucose with goal of getting it under 125.

Ate a healthy breakfast every day per nutritionist's instructions.

Used a small plate for meals and ate only the portions she recommended.

Cut my food into 1/4 in pieces and chewed each bite 15-25 times before swallowing.

No beverages with meals.

Cut out white carbs.

Reduced carbs to 125 per day due to type 2 diabetes. 

Avoided empty calories (especially juice, alcohol and soft drinks).

Cut out all carbonated beverages from my diet.

Exercise (water aerobics) 30 min 3x per week.

Hope this helps you out.

Steph

great site steph, thank you!!

Glad you like it...try the recipe calculator for when you are cooking up something new...you put in all the ingredients, then the # of servings....then you can add it to your food plan and favorites and it is available when you need it...wonderful tool!

My NUT really did not have any bearing on my approval .She just went over good eating habits and gave support before and after surgery . They , if anything just want to be sure you can commit to following band rules during your pre-op diets and after. Just be compliant and follow her suggestions and you will be fine.:) Heck I not only did not lose any weight on my 3 mos pre-approval diet I gained a very small amt. It is not how much you can lose really it is more changing your eating habits.

Thank you guys this was very easing.  I have frequented this site more than facebook in the last couple of day.  That's a good thing since i'm an avid facebooker.