Pre-surgery lifestyle changes

I started working with a personal trainer to develop a routine I could do at 170+ pounds and continue doing during the three months prior to my surgery and after. This way, I had someone in my corner who knew what was going on and was helping me get more fit. That looks different for everyone.

I got my head on straight and got comfortable with protein, protein and more protein. And Water, water and water. I worked with eating my protein first and then my lean green vegetables. I cut processed foods out of my diet as much as I could and stopped eating white flour, which for me is a trigger.

I'll be 2 years next month - looking back the only thing I wish I had done differentlly was that I wish I had done this sooner.

It's good to hear that you are positive about the surgery a couple years out. I like your suggestion of working with a trainer - I've been consistently doing classes at the gym for the last year and a half or so - but it would be good to have a better plan of what to do.

The time spent understanding my ?triggers? before surgery has been incredibly impactful post surgery. I do find myself, when I?m in a challenging moment, thinking through all the types of hunger and what I?m really feeling now. I?m convinced it?s been instrumental in not making bad choices, so far (only 5 months out). Also, if there are things you know you need to give up (alcohol, carbonation) do them as soon as you can ? there will be a lot of change coming at you post surgery, anything that is part of your new normal now helps with the change fatigue!

Keeping that change fatigue at bay is definitely part of my goal with doing what I can pre-surgery. Making sure post-surgery, I can avoid as much unnecessary stress as possible - even if it means doing some work ahead of time.

Lots of great advice here.

Before surgery, I did a lot of mindfulness work in therapy. I think I would have gone bananas in the hospital without the ability to focus, breath, and meditate.

An excellent book is "Mindful Eating" by Jan Chozen Bays. It explains different types of hunger (ie head hunger, mouth hunger, heart hunger), how to recognize them, and how to address them. It's also about how to slow down when we eat, how to pay attention to our food and to our bodies.

I'm only a week post-op, but I've found these skills to be invaluable.

Best wishes to you throughout the process!

Thanks for the book recommendation! Something to add to the audiobook queue :) that sounds like it would be super beneficial.

That's the same book (and cd) that they had us do. I was not into the spiritual aspect of it, but the psychologist said to just take what worked and ignore the rest and I have found tremendous value in the types of hunger and understanding them!

The biggest change I made pre-op was therapy. Really helped me prepare (mentally) for my new lifestyle changes (and continued with therapy for a couple of years post-op). I honestly didn't do much preparing for the surgery itself, other than researching, reading, and attending support meetings. When I had my surgery, there weren't any requirements like there are now (no 6-month pre-op diet). I only had to get a bunch of tests done.

With that said, from day 1 post-op I embraced my surgery 100% and was all in. Never strayed from the commitment. Gave up coffee (that lasted about 6 months) and about 6 months after surgery I quit smoking (that was the only time I hit a plateau that was quickly broken). Followed the program and lost consistently until I reached my goal weight about 14 months laater. Started working out as soon as the surgeon cleared me (about 4 months post-op). I'm still as committed to my post-op lifestyle as I was 15 years ago.

Congrats on your long-term success. It's great to hear what has worked well for you (and to be appreciative of the prep work to be successful that's part of the program now)