Appreciation
Hi everyone in Michigan. Just wanted to let you all know that I have been mostly viewing this site for the past three months. I don't have much to say usually, but appreciate all of the comments you folks make to each other. I'm getting to know you. I'll probably be having my surgery in May because I'm not scheduled to meet with the surgeon until 4-22. I'm looking forward to it, but find myself just eating everything in sight right now, because, hey, I'm going to have WLS and won't be able to eat everything for a while. Did any of you experience this? I know I should be trying to diet and exercise right now, but I just don't have any incentive. The surgeon will probably want me to lose some weight just before surgery, so then I'll get down to business. I have my popcorn every day. Yum.
Heck yeah I did that! I cringe when I think of my "last supper" at Olive Garden. I don't know what your surgeon is going to have you do pre-op, but don't be surprised if you're put on a pretty strict diet that you'll have to stick to.
I am the kind of person that has to have some kind of "or else" in place for me to get motivated.
That's why I had RNY in the first place. I need restriction. So the pre-op diet was enough to get me on track.
It's great that you can come here and discuss what's going on. That's a good sign!
I have a couple of suggestions for you during this time-
Start keeping notes or a journal about how you're feeling when you over indulge. Find out what your "trigger" foods are, and what kind of situations make you eat too much or the wrong things.
Think about what you're going to do when you can't eat. I have told this many times before....2 weeks after surgery I was crying like a fool and my DH looked at me and said "I don't know how to fix you anymore! I used to just run to Taco Bell for you when you were upset, but now I don't know WHAT to do!!" It's good to get all that out of the way now or at least know what to expect post-op.
You don't need to go crazy with exercise right now, but figure out what you like to do. Go for a 5 minute walk each day, and bump up your time a little bit every day.
Last bit of advice-there may just come a time when you can eat whatever you want. You might find that you can eat sugar and not dump or you can eat big portions. If you don't "fix" the reasons for being overweight now, they may come back to haunt you!
Don't be too hard on yourself for feeling this way now. A lot of people go through the same thing before surgery. It's a major life change! Your brain isn't going to switch gears overnight. It's a process that will take time and work, but you can do it!
I am the kind of person that has to have some kind of "or else" in place for me to get motivated.
That's why I had RNY in the first place. I need restriction. So the pre-op diet was enough to get me on track.
It's great that you can come here and discuss what's going on. That's a good sign!
I have a couple of suggestions for you during this time-
Start keeping notes or a journal about how you're feeling when you over indulge. Find out what your "trigger" foods are, and what kind of situations make you eat too much or the wrong things.
Think about what you're going to do when you can't eat. I have told this many times before....2 weeks after surgery I was crying like a fool and my DH looked at me and said "I don't know how to fix you anymore! I used to just run to Taco Bell for you when you were upset, but now I don't know WHAT to do!!" It's good to get all that out of the way now or at least know what to expect post-op.
You don't need to go crazy with exercise right now, but figure out what you like to do. Go for a 5 minute walk each day, and bump up your time a little bit every day.
Last bit of advice-there may just come a time when you can eat whatever you want. You might find that you can eat sugar and not dump or you can eat big portions. If you don't "fix" the reasons for being overweight now, they may come back to haunt you!
Don't be too hard on yourself for feeling this way now. A lot of people go through the same thing before surgery. It's a major life change! Your brain isn't going to switch gears overnight. It's a process that will take time and work, but you can do it!
Thanks so much Brenda. I think I sort of knew that other people go through this sort of eating thing, but I needed verification. I'm also looking forward to the 'restriction'. Most of my eating occurs when I'm bored. I do a lot of reading and it's very easy just to stuff my mouth as I read. I love your Taco Bell story. What does he do now? A lot of the questions people ask are things I hadn't thought about so it's good to be prepared. I take my 3 dogs for a walk, but it's not really exercising.
My cousin had RNY and has gained back part of her weight. I really don't want that to happen to me, so I'm going to seriously try to change my habits. That's what I think a lot of my problem is, habit. I'll keep you informed on my journey. Thanks. Jan
My cousin had RNY and has gained back part of her weight. I really don't want that to happen to me, so I'm going to seriously try to change my habits. That's what I think a lot of my problem is, habit. I'll keep you informed on my journey. Thanks. Jan
Jani,
My hubby and I did the same thing. I think it's totally normal. I can't even tell you how many "last celebrations" I had.
You will want to curb it and get serious a couple weeks before surgery to shrink your liver though.
Good luck,
Edie
You don't have to have a lump to have breast cancer!
Inflammatory Breast Cancer
www.ibcresearch.org
Hi Jani~
Heck yes, I did that for months. In fact, I was seeing my PCP and dietician to meet my insurance requirements and each time I weighed in, I would gain weight. I was an eating machine. I would be so full at times, but still putting food in my mouth. Can't believe I admitted all that :-) But yes, you are normal ! I just kept buying and eating things that I thought I would never be able to eat again. Even though now I know that's not true.
With that said, my surgeon has us do a 2 week liquid diet. I started my liquid diet and NEVER ever cheated or took even a nibble of food. It was my time to get serious about it and get in the right frame of mind for surgery and post-op. . I did very well on the liquid diet and lost about 21 lbs before having surgery last Monday.
I can't wait to hear when your surgery date is. The time does go by very fast. Even though it might seem like forever til it gets here, before you know it, your day will be here!
Take care,
Nan
Heck yes, I did that for months. In fact, I was seeing my PCP and dietician to meet my insurance requirements and each time I weighed in, I would gain weight. I was an eating machine. I would be so full at times, but still putting food in my mouth. Can't believe I admitted all that :-) But yes, you are normal ! I just kept buying and eating things that I thought I would never be able to eat again. Even though now I know that's not true.
With that said, my surgeon has us do a 2 week liquid diet. I started my liquid diet and NEVER ever cheated or took even a nibble of food. It was my time to get serious about it and get in the right frame of mind for surgery and post-op. . I did very well on the liquid diet and lost about 21 lbs before having surgery last Monday.
I can't wait to hear when your surgery date is. The time does go by very fast. Even though it might seem like forever til it gets here, before you know it, your day will be here!
Take care,
Nan
Nan
HW 300 / SW 280 / CW 138 / GW 140
Hit Goal 4/2/2010
I had to go out and buy a new pair of jeans because mine were getting tight. 
I went to K-Mart and found a pair marked down to $4.99. Couldn't beat that and now I'm not as uncomfortable. I've already gotten my insurance approval, all I have to do now is the blood work, chest x-ray, and EKG. Then I carry the results of those to my surgeon and get my date. I've heard he'll want me to lose weight, but now sure how, or how much.
I saw your post that you were home from surgery and glad that everything went well for you. I'll be following you.
Jan
I went to K-Mart and found a pair marked down to $4.99. Couldn't beat that and now I'm not as uncomfortable. I've already gotten my insurance approval, all I have to do now is the blood work, chest x-ray, and EKG. Then I carry the results of those to my surgeon and get my date. I've heard he'll want me to lose weight, but now sure how, or how much.I saw your post that you were home from surgery and glad that everything went well for you. I'll be following you.
Jan
My surgeon didn't require a two week diet or anything like that prior to surgery. He did require 48 hours of eating light and then liquids only the final 24 hours. So, yes, I indulged. At the time I had surgery, everyone was always talking about their LAST MEALS! I didn't like calling it that heading into such a serious surgery. But my "last" meal was dinner out at Red Lobster. Of course, I did the whole "I'll never get to eat this or that again!" Now, being almost 4 years out, I know that's not ENTIRELY true.
I do agree with Brenda in that starting some type of exercise now would be beneficial.
I do agree with Brenda in that starting some type of exercise now would be beneficial.
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e. cummings |
Here's my $.02 worth:
Once I made the decision to have surgery it took probably a month or 2 before I got into the doctors office for my consult/seminar. Until then I didn't necessarily change much of my eating habits or anything else like that. When I sat at the seminar I thought to myself, wow this is it. Last chance to get healthy is it what I really want? After the seminar I went out to dinner with my brother who had attended the seminar with me. My surgeon suggested that we'd all have a 'last supper' and to not have too many of them. My brother asked if this was mine and I said, nope I had my last fast food yesterday (or probably that day) and ordered fajitas and ice tea. I don't believe I've had non-diet soda since then. I actually think it was almost 18 months before I even had any diet soda and even then it's been very, very minimal.
I believe most surgeons want you to try to lose 5-10% of your total weight before they do surgery and I was on a tight time-line. That may have been part of it or just the fact that I'm doing major surgery, either way it was time to change my life and the surgery wasn't going to magically cure everything.
If you are going to be successful and you truly desire to be successful start making changes now. Start cutting back/eliminating the bad choices you've been making: Pop,Chips, sugary food and start doing some extra walking. Park farther away from the store, take a stroll down the block, etc. Do all/many of us do this before surgery, unfortunately no. Surgery will help you so much, in addition it'll give you that extra motivation to get moving. I got better on the eating but it wasn't until post-op until I got moving. The more you do pre-op the better your habits will be post-op.
It's a great tool but it doesn't fix everything, the root causes of our obesity will still be there.
--Sax
Once I made the decision to have surgery it took probably a month or 2 before I got into the doctors office for my consult/seminar. Until then I didn't necessarily change much of my eating habits or anything else like that. When I sat at the seminar I thought to myself, wow this is it. Last chance to get healthy is it what I really want? After the seminar I went out to dinner with my brother who had attended the seminar with me. My surgeon suggested that we'd all have a 'last supper' and to not have too many of them. My brother asked if this was mine and I said, nope I had my last fast food yesterday (or probably that day) and ordered fajitas and ice tea. I don't believe I've had non-diet soda since then. I actually think it was almost 18 months before I even had any diet soda and even then it's been very, very minimal.
I believe most surgeons want you to try to lose 5-10% of your total weight before they do surgery and I was on a tight time-line. That may have been part of it or just the fact that I'm doing major surgery, either way it was time to change my life and the surgery wasn't going to magically cure everything.
If you are going to be successful and you truly desire to be successful start making changes now. Start cutting back/eliminating the bad choices you've been making: Pop,Chips, sugary food and start doing some extra walking. Park farther away from the store, take a stroll down the block, etc. Do all/many of us do this before surgery, unfortunately no. Surgery will help you so much, in addition it'll give you that extra motivation to get moving. I got better on the eating but it wasn't until post-op until I got moving. The more you do pre-op the better your habits will be post-op.
It's a great tool but it doesn't fix everything, the root causes of our obesity will still be there.
--Sax
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