I need ideas for this last month of my six-month pre-op diet

I meet with my PCP on Friday, and then I begin my final month of my six-month diet. I have lost a few pounds over the course of my time on this diet, but I put some of it back on, so I'm at a stand-still. I really want to get some of this weight off in the last month. I know if I put my mind to it, I can lose some weight during this month. The problem is that I seem to be losing motivation during this last leg of the journey.

Any ideas for this last month? I just don't want to gain weight this month and have the insurance deny me. It's so stressful! 

Track your food, if you can actually see what you are eating.  I know that when I track and I see some of the not so great choices I made, I get more motivated to stay on track and end up losing weight.    This is something you will want to do post op as well, to ensure long term success, so it can be a way to help you adapt to that post op lifestyle, now.   

Also, change up your food choices, that could be causing you some lack of motivation if you are feeling like you don't have a lot.   Go to the magnifying glass at the top of the site and search for recipes and see what you can find, that might help!

Good luck!  

~Nik

Some people suggest trying to eat the post op/lifetime diet only with slightly large servings to start getting used to it. I started my liquid diet early but had a salad and small meal at dinner. Used the time to try different protein powders and find things I liked. Six months pre-op is a long time so I can understand why are looking for new ideas this last month. I hope you get some great suggestions to get you to the finish line which in turn is also the new start line.

During months 5 and 6 in my pre-op supervised diet period, I got stupid hungry. It was like the foods/portions/exact-same-thing I'd been eating for months just would no longer satisfy. I was hungry all the time.

So, I would suggest getting as much fiber into your diet as you can. Cooked broccoli... raw broccoli. Big salads. Veggies that don't have a lot of calories/carbs, but do have a lot of bulk. And water. All the water and sf gelatin you can stand...

You have my total sympathy. Month six SUCKED OUT LOUD for me. The only month that sucked MORE for me was the first month. The first month of the 6-month supervised diet sucked THE MOST. I was bewildered all the time, couldn't figure out what I was allowed to eat that I would actually like, had to learn to journal everything I put into my mouth, had to start tracking water, had to figure out how to conform my daily life to a schedule where I had to eat six times a day... and still never feel full! In the first month, I remembered what it was like to feel full, and mentally I WANTED it. I ended up eating lots of protein bars and drinking shakes because three meals per day that weren't those? That's all I could come up with,and even then it was a stretch. I had no routine, and built-up tasty menu, and no space in my head to get a complete one together, so I stuck with the saw-dust bars. The first month SUCKED MORE than the sixth.

If you're looking for dip ideas for raw veggies: Hidden Valley Ranch packets mixed with cottage cheese or greek yogurt give good flavor and good protein.

As for motivation, you want the carrot or the stick?

Carrot: You only have to hold on for another month to get your approval, right?  Then after surgery, it gets much easier to eat less :)  You deserve this effort, and you deserve whatever time and attention it takes away from other life pursuits for a month. It's one month. Make yourself the top priority for this last month. Your willpower has held out this long, and it doesn't matter if you're white-knuckling it as you cross the 30 day mark, just so long as you cross it.

Stick: Imagine how badly it would suck to have wasted all these months of willpower and determination. Imagine how much it would suck to start over with six more months stretching out in front of you like some kind of Mad-Max wasteland where you're always hungry, can still never give in, and the scale hardly budges. It's bleak. The idea actually makes me feel sick for anyone facing it. Never give up!

Bottom line: This task is not bigger than you. You can do it, and you want to do it. You-From-Five-Months-Ago wants Present-Day-You to do it. You-From-Five-Months-Ago would probably step through time and kick your butt if you gave up in the 11th hour of this marathon. You've gotten through the blistering learning curve months ago and all that friction has become callouses... If you stop now, they'll come right off and you'll get stuck back in the blistering beginning all over again.

Put you first. Or put You-From-Five-Months-Ago First :)

Great post Darcy!

I second the post op diet in a larger portions. Keep your calories low.  If you find you need filler snack on celery or cucumbers with very low calories.  

Keep your calories to about 1200 to 1500. You can still pack on a lot of food with that calorie count if you do lean dense protein and filler veggies. 

Check with your insurance company in regards to what they require of the diet. Some plans just want to see that you've tried, others require a certain percentage of weight loss (but not below a particular BMI). This would be a good thing to find out if you're worried about being denied.