PLEASE HELP......

Ty for the helpful ideas! :-)

Does your surgeon's office have a nutritionist or a recommended pre-op diet? Either or both of those might help with your goal.

Six months before surgery, I gave up caffeine, sugar, potatoes, rice, bread, cereal, flour, pasta, noodles, pastries, cake, cookies and candy.

I was not tracking then, but wish I had done that.

After surgery, I did not have to go through caffeine or carb withdrawal.

I used to call that the " white diet" ..i gave up everything white- whi*****lude bread, potatoes, rice.

Now, I use my "3 W" program-( especially when I am at a stall) avoid white, walk and water!

I did the same - gave up all those things months before GB surgery and had no sugar or caffeine withdrawal post WLS. These lifestyle changes early has made for an easier transition after surgery.

I eat a lot of carbs compared to most bariatric patients, but they're all the complex variety. I avoid sugar and white carbs (flour, bread, rice, pasta, etc) - but I do eat fruit, veggies, legumes, some whole grains. Also, I don't care about the carbs in things like dairy, whereas most people on here do count those.

While in the losing phase, I was almost always under 80, and *always* under 100. Now in maintenance, I'm usually in the 100-150 range (which again, is high compared to bariatric standards, but low compared to "normal people" standards). However, I'm also not very carb sensitive, which makes a difference. A lot of people *are*, so my levels may not work for everyone. A lot of people on here have to keep them really low.

I never cared one iota about fat. The only two things I monitor now are protein (I need 100+ grams a day because I malabsorb it), and calories ****ep mine in the 1500-1700 range for maintenance, and that works for me). I really don't have to consciously think about my carbs that much because between my calorie limitations and my protein requirement, I'm always in my 100-150 range. There have probably only been a handful of times when I've gone over, and not by much.

I am having a hard time with fruit right now. I used to eat a banana or apple everyday until i noticed that ONE apple put me over the top of my carb intake.

yea - fruit is loaded with carbs, so if you're doing low-carb, I'd avoid it. Or just eat it very occasionally. Berries are one of the lower carb fruits, so you could look into those...but still, yes - they have carbs, too!

You really have to figure out your personal carb level. I did this by eating 0-10 carbs per day. At that level, some fat is good, but also don't go overboard. After losing, I would increase carbs slightly--you do need to count EVERY carb, even those in dairy (especially, as they are from lactose, which is a sugar). When I stopped losing or got stuck, I knew I was eating too many carbs, so would scale back, and then begin losing again. For me, between 20-35 grams a day is a good base; some days I may have up to 35, other days less. I found that 50 grams per day is about maintenance level for me--I won't lose on that.

I just received my DNA analysis, and one of the finds is that I am as likely to lose weight on a low-fat diet as I am on a low-carb diet. Basically, I can sub fat for carbs, and lose, or I can sub carbs for fat and lose, but I can NOT have both and lose. Fat and carbs together is a real issue for most of us who find ourselves at this juncture in life. I far prefer fat over carbs; my brain works better (brain loves fat) and my body feels better. Once you get the glucose from carbs out of your bloodstream, you should be able to burn off 10 pounds before surgery.
You may also lose it by doing the pre-surgery liquid diet. I think most of us lost at least ten pounds doing that the week before surgery.

The suggestion from my team in my pre-op phase was don't eat anything with more than 10 grams of sugar in a serving if it's a processed food (e.g. yogurt, salad dressing, etc.). Otherwise I was to consume 70-90 grams of protein daily and stay under 1200 calories and eat the proteins first. If you have a 4-5 ounce piece of meat and a big salad, you'd be amazed at how quick you will fill up. (My salads were lots of greens, tomatoes, carrots, etc - no starchy things, no croutons and less than 2 tablespoons of homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing). Do that for lunch and dinner and make a protein shake for breakfast.

Also, diet alone won't do it, so start moving - even if it's just a walk around the block or around the mall.

Good Luck.