Weight loss surgery

Hi Everyone!!!

I'm Marian I live in Baton Rouge,La. I finally found a Dr. hats off to the group.. I contacted the Dr. Nurse and she said he was accepting new patients. I'm just starting so.... I need 3 more dietitian visits and a psych eval. My bmi is over 70. I'm 5'4" and 45yrs old. He doesn't accept bmi over 60 and a chronic smoker. Don't quote me on the chronic...after she said no bmi over 60... My ear just went deaf. Y'all I need help. I really wanna have surgery. What can I do to get my bmi down some.

With the numbers you gave, it sounds like you need to lose around 80 pounds. I would focus on 10 at a time so it does not seem overwhelming. You may want to start tracking how many calories you eat on a typical day now (I like myfitnesspal). Start with making better choices. For example, if you eat fried food, perhaps try baking it. Think of ways to make things healthier. No fast food, no sodas or juice, only water. When you have cut out all the unnecessary things, then cut back on your portion sizes and eat fewer calories. I would not do anything drastic to begin with. That never worked for me.

Does your surgeon have a support group? If he does, go to those meetings. You can learn a lot that can help you get ready for surgery. I met so many wonderful people at support groups who are still close friends today (9 years later).

Weight loss surgery saved my life. Good luck and keep us posted!!

how have you done in past attempts to lose weight? Just trying to understand your experience level- some are pro's at losing, then some (like me) had mimimal tries/ success.

I'm always amazed at how much people are able to lose leading up to surgery. High BMI's especially can lose quickly with relatively small changes.

Eating less calories then you use is key. Whether you choose to track calories, or join weigh****chers and count points. There are various methods, find one your comfortable with.

I've lost a few pounds nothing over 40 on adipex. 20Lbs on my own in the past.This is what I'm doing now eating less calories. I've lost 10lbs so far.Sometimes it's really hard.

Absolutely it's hard! If it wasn't hard, I'm pretty confident none of us would have had surgery! But it's worth it. You've got this, 10 pounds down is a great start -just focus on doing what you've been doing to take off another 10 pounds and go from there! I was a BMI of 50 and was able to lose 48 pounds in the 6 weeks leading up to surgery so I know you drop this weight quickly if you put your mind to it.

So true ... the pre-op diet plan really drops the weight . Here is an online guide if you are interested in fast tracking yourself. But I will say this ... its not easy in any way shape or form.

https://www.obesitycoverage.com/the-big-gastric-bypass-diet- guide/

In my humble opinion the pre-op diet was the hardest part of the journey and I only had to do it for 2 weeks. But one thing you could do to make it easier is to be on the strict pre-op diet for 6 days and then allow yourself one day off of more normal eating.

Well, I started the process BEFORE I went to the doctor. First by journaling my food intake and that includes measuring everything. What meals did I typically have that were already lower in calories and which ones were higher. Then you look at ways you can reduce the calories even more ... cutting out carbs and increasing protein and fiber. Don't do it all at once though ... major changes all at once are hard to maintain. Switching from high calories drinks are a great place to start while you journal everything else. If you really must have a flavored drink try sugar free powered drink mixes.

The smoking is also going to be an issue. I know my surgeon wouldn't put a smoker on the table and from what I've heard most of them are the same. My Dr. tests all his patients for nicotine right before the surgery so there isn't anyway around it ... that's probably a common practice. I was lucky enough to have quit smoking 5 years before I even considered WLS. So I know that quitting is every bit as hard as changing your diet. Doing both at the same time is challenging .. but if you are committed it can be done. Take it day by day .. hour by hour. Just don't give up even when you back slide ... keep pushing back against your addiction. Success is there for you.

What doctor did you find if you don't mind me asking?

I know it's not for everyone, but I always had good quick weight loss success with protein shakes. My RnY doc only required a 2-week pre-op diet, and suggested I use the shakes. So I had 4 shakes a day, made with water, plus I drank lots of extra water. Each shake was 150 calories and 27 grams of protein, so I was taking in 600 calories a day and getting over 100 grams of protein. Though the first few days were a *****allenging, soon a tail wind kicked in and it became relatively easy. In the past I had done the HMR (Health Management Resources) program, which involved 5 or more 100-calorie shakes a day, vitamins, water, and some exercise. I always tried to stick to 5-6 shakes a day, and every time I went on that diet (starting at 275 pounds, then years later at 330 pounds). I would always lose right around 50 pounds in 12 weeks. At a higher BMI you might very well lose more than that in the same time. Though that program is expensive if you have to pay out-of-pocket, it could help you get down to a BMI of under 60 relatively quickly. If a program like that is not doable, you absolutely can do it on your own, using some of the high-quality protein shakes people here like to use. I know it is daunting, but you have a very attainable and very worthwhile goal which wouldn't take very long to reach. Just keep your goal in mind, as it can help motivate you. I promise that the shake diet really gets much easier after the first few days.

I wish I had some magical technique to offer you to help you to quit smoking. There are medications now that some people use which may help. I smoked 35 years ago and quit pretty much cold turkey. It was challenging mostly because cigarettes have a weird interaction with your nervous system, and quitting made me experience more nervousness in life in general for several months, before it all calmed down. There were activities I had to stop doing for a while while my body adjusted, because I had smoked while doing them, and it was too difficult to do those things without smoking. Eventually it all evened out and I could enjoy those activities again as a non-smoker. Vitamin supplements like calcium and magnesium, vitamin C and the B vitamins helped. I would also hold a stick of cinnamon, kind of pretending it was a cigarette. It had a nice flavor and though I'm sure I looked silly, it seemed to help.

The other possibility is to keep searching for a different doctor. My doc is one of the few who does take on patients with extremely high BMIs. He's a very fine physician, but he's here in California.

The smoking is another matter: I suspect it would be hard to find a doc who will agree to do this surgery on a smoker. This is because the rate of surgical complications is significantly higher for smokers, and healing in general is comparatively compromised.

But people do overcome these obstacles - why not you, too? Are there people in your life who would support your efforts to regain your health, mobility, and freedom? I really do understand that the necessary changes may seem overwhelming, but I do feel that you could quite quickly get to where that doc requires you to be, if you could grit it out for a little while.

Wishing you very good luck.