Gotta lose 30 lbs!

 At first when the Doc told me I needed to lose 30 lbs for surgery to be successful, I thought sure no problem.  That was 3 days ago and the reality is setting in that I have to lose 30 lbs before my surgery date on May 19th.  I figured it up and that is almost 4 lbs a week!  I am now worried about whether I will be able to lose it in time, what i need to do to lose it, etc.   Granted I start the liquid diet (optifast) on April 19th, but I don't want to wait til then.  Can any of you give me some advice on losing?  My goal is to lose half of that weight by April 19th.  Is aerobic better than weights for losing??  Help me out someone. 

I know for me aerobics is better than weights in the short term. Walking is aerobic.

You might try replacing one or two meals a day with a protein drink.

Reduce the carbs. Eat more steamed veggies (no sauce/butter).

Seriously, if you can rid yourself of bad carbs for a few days it gets easier to deal with the cravings.

Watch out for last supper syndrome.

Best of luck!

Patti's given you great suggestions.  I would add, cut out diet sodas (not that they're horrible for you - they can just induce sugar and other food cravings) and cut back on high sodium/processed foods (IE most fast food).

I lost 36 lbs before surgery and I'm SO glad that I did.  Changing my habits BEFORE surgery I think immensely helpd me in the emotional/mental transition post-op.  

Best wishes!

 Thanks for the advice!  I went shopping today and got only healthy meats, frozen veggies, and went on a walk.  I was starving when I got home and had some trail mix.  Trail mix is alright I hope.  I cut out real soda's about a year ago, cut out diet soda's about 2 months ago.  Now it's either jus****er, crystal light, every once in a great while some sort of fruit juice.  Trying to cut out all white breads, rices, pastas now....

Hi,

I had to lose at least 10 in 3 weeks, I ended up losing 15 following without even really increasing my exercise and I cheated some. (mostly going out with friends for 'last suppers together.)

This is my surgeons weight loss plan.
3 meals a day and 1 snack

each meal 4 to 6 of lean meat cooked without any added fats ( grilled or baked) no added sauces, spices, herbs and salt and pepper are ok. ( cheated and marinated some meati n reed wine once just so it tasted different.)

2 cups of veggies per meal . allowed veggies -  lettuce, carrots, cucumber, green peppers, celery, onions, mushrooms, green or yellow beans brocoli, califlower, - no tomotos, no squash, no turnip,

No bread potatos, rice pasta etc.

One glass of milk a day

No fruits except berries, melons or green grapes

no dressing on your veggies except lemon juice vinegers, spices, herbs, and those ones that you can spray out of a bottle (5 sprays for 2 calorie I think)

Nothing to drink excep****er, plain tea. no soft drinks, no coffee(if you couldn't do no coffee then you could have one small cup a day but it had to be black), no cyrstal light, no flavoured waters etc.

As for exercise there are two things to remember. Do something you like? Make sure your heart rate goes going. It is about burning calories.

Can i make one more suggestion?

Work really hard at it now because the closer to surgery the harder it is going to get.

Good luck

Catnip

I lost close to 20 in 3 weeks when I started the pre-op diet. I was supposed to do three protein shakes per day and one somewhat light meal. You might be surprised at how quickly it comes off at least at first.

My surgeon suggested that anything that gets the heartrate up, even in short spurts, helps with weight loss (while it won't really help with lung/heart issues, for that you want aerobic levels for 30 minutes).

I am not super mobile since I have lung issues and a bum knee, but I got a Magnetrainer bike pedal thing that can go under a desk or on top of it, and I use it both ways. I can do more with my arms, but I am up to a half hour with my legs too.

Good luck to you -- losing weight does make the surgery safer, whether you get 30 off before your date, or a little less.

Oh, one other thing . . . I have found that if I search bypass or bariatric on sparkpeople's recipe site, I find some nice low-calorie, low-carb, high protein choices. A lot of things I can make and have some to eat all week, so it isn't necessary to cook every day.

 Thanks for the advice!  :)  

Tomorrow I am going to weigh in, after a week of being good.  I start liquid diet and the healthy choice meal deal on April 19th, but I am hoping I got at least 4 lbs off this week, but we shall see.  I did the math and to lose 30 lbs by the time surgery roles around on May 19th, I will need to lose 4.5 lbs every wee****il then.   

Dude, I made up my own pre-surgery diet - no sugar for 5 days, no carbs for 5 days, no carbs + protien drinks for 5 days, then only protein drinks for 5 days. I'm not even halfway through it and I've already lost 8 lbs. You have twice as much time as me. It may be tough, but I have every confidence that you can do it! Just think, after surgery, one day...you'll think...holy crap I don't diet anymore! (Just try to eat healthfully. )

I have been walking and staying away from white carbs and I dropped 6.5 lbs this week!  Already denting my goal.  I hoping it doesn't slow when I start the liquid diet.  :)