pre op recipes or suggestions

 i am new to OH and new to this forum. I tried to get roux en y last year through my insurance, bcbs preferred/ what a joke! denied,denied, denied! Now my husband has started a new job with Dell and has United Healthcare so I believe I will finally be covered(if you know otherwise please let me know gently). Dr. Dyer will be my surgeon at Centennial and I know that I have to lose like 10% or 28.9 lbs before they will do surgery. Any suggestions on great meal plans for this?

Thanks!

When I was doing my six month diet, I used the South Beach Diet as a basis.  This is what my PCP recommended during this time.

Good luck an WELCOME to the TN Boards.  If you have any questions, jump right in!  If you know the answers to a question, of course, jump right in!

Once again...WELCOME!

I am working on losing weight for weight loss surgery as well.  So far I've lost 38.5 pounds.  Another 5 pounds and I will be good for surgery, but am going to keep working on it.  A friend told me about a website, www.dailyplate.com.  I keep track of my food/drinks/activities every day.  It has a huge database and has been great to help me keep my calories in check.  I talked with the dietician from the surgeon's office the other day and she mentioned that I should stick to whole grains (I had cut bread/pasta out completely), fruits/veggies and make sure to get enough protein.  I have been trying to get in the habit of watching for foods high in protein and low in sugars and fat. 

Here's a recipe that I really like....
Baked Chimichangas:
whole wheat tortillas
either boiled or grilled chicken chopped into cubes
thick n chunky salsa
lowfat shredded cheese

On a tortilla, spread a little salsa, cover with some of the chicken and cheese.  Eyeball it to your taste, but you don't want to put in so much salsa that the tortilla gets soggy.  Fold the four sides inward and place folded side down in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.  Do as many tortillas as you wish.  Bake at 325 for about 12 minutes.  Sprinkle a little cheese on top and put them back in the oven to melt the cheese.

You can also make a sauce to use with them.  Equal parts fat free plain yogurt and thick n chunky salsa.  Sprinkle in a little cumin, if you have it.  Mix well.  Put in the fridge for at least 2 hours before using.  It's fantastic with the chimichangas and hard to believe that it's fat free!

Nice recipe!  I'll have to try it and take some food porn.  Then we'll add it to my food blog!

This has nothing to do with recipes but what doesn't make sense to me is why you have to lose weight to have weight loss surgery.  I thought that was the whole reason for the surgery is because you can't lose the weight to begin with.  Just a thought!

In my case, I have to lose weight because the surgery is way too risky at my size.  The hospital equipment is not made for someone with a BMI as large as mine (mine was around 76 to start with and is now 70.5).  He wants it below 70 for that reason.  Also, losing weight within a week or two of surgery makes your liver smaller and decreases risks of surgery as well.  So, I can see it, but it is tough.  It didn't make much sense to me at first either.

First of all good luck.

I also work for Dell and they are a Bariatric friendly Company (Well at Dell, etc).  Also Dell in TN offers Aetna not United Healthcare.

I went through the process and it was the 3 month plan with the surgens office, once this is complete, then they will submit for approval.

Have your husband go online at work and all the information will be available.

Again, good luck!!

Michael.

I have been fixing another favorite lately.  I have never cooked much fish, wasn't sure what to do with it.  However, lately I have found that tilapia is very easy to fix and very good.  This is what I did with it last night for dinner.

Seasoned both sides of the tilapia with a garlic powder/ pepper/ and creole mix.  I also sprinkled a little cajun seasoning on it.  If you don't like hot things, use lemon pepper or seasonings that you do like. 

I sprayed a glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Placed the filets in the dish.  I also added to the dish sliced red peppers, green peppers and onions (seasoned with a little of the same spices). 

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  (you can check it sooner, bake until the fish turns white and flakey.  It was really good.

I had fixed tilapia with peppers and onions a couple of weeks ago, by spraying a frying pan with cooking spray and frying it.  Then, adding peppers and onions and mixing it all up.  I took the leftovers for work the next day and the seasonings had mixed in really well.  The frying was very quick, but the baked version last night tasted alot better!