NWH 0-6 Month group 10/16 and Advice

I just wanted to thank the members that attended the 0-6 month group last Thursday night at NWH. In case you're wondering, I was the 20 something girl in the green sweater making a basket case out of herself.  :o(

You all made me feel so good about this decision I have made for myself. I have full confidence in the doctors at NWH and myself. However...I need some advice. I need to slow down my eating before surgery. I want to try and lose 10 - 15lbs before December but if I could do that to begin with, I wouldn't be obese. I would appreciate any suggestions you all might have on a good pre-op plan of eating (I hate the word diet).

Thanks,

Katie

Hi!
I wasn't at that meeting, but will be at the one on Tuesday evening.  I'm sure you aren't the first or last "basket case".

In the last several months I started limiting and removing things from my menu.  No white bread at home, no pasta, no potato or rice...at home.  then i moved on to limiting them when eating out.  practice chewing - you'd be amazed at how good things taste!!

i'm in the midst of limiting my caffeine intake.  last thing i put in my mouth before surgery will be a diet coke!

Anyway - for me, i don't like feeling deprived, so it was important to not feel like things were being taken away from me.  i made sure that all the protein i was eating was stuff i REALLY liked.  Also, i kept track of what i ate on thedailyplate.com which helped me understand what i was eating, and i lost at least a pound a week following the guidelines on there.

You will do great!
Sue

Hi Katie:

I wasn't at that meeting, but I will also be at the meeting next Tuesday.  Since my last office visit on Sept. 23rd, I've managed to lose 14 lbs.  Like Sue, I found it very helpful to keep track of everything I ate (I used fitday.com). 

I limit my fat intake to 40g or less a day, try to keep my protein around 60-90g, and my total calorie intake is around 1500.  If I do eat eat bread, rice, or pasa, I make sure it is whole or multi-grain and not refined (white rice, white read, etc.) and limit my portions to 1/2 cup.  Of course, anything creamy, greasy, fried, buttery, etc. is off limits!  Drinking a lot of water helps me feel full, so I try to drink 32 to 64 oz. a day.

Losing weight is one thing.  If any of us were able to maintain a healthy weight we wouldn't be here, so please don't be so hard on yourself.

Good luck & hang in there!

Hey Katie- I was there! And you were definitely not a basket case!! In case you're wondering... I'm the one who never shuts up at those meetings.

Any time I needed to take off weight pre-op I really just limited my carb intake, no refined sugars or flours & upped the exercise.
My favorite of anything I ever tried was South Beach, I found it very easy & satisfying & the weight pretty much fell off.
It's also great in that it gets the sugars out of your system and the first 2 weeks post op much easier.

Good luck!! I wanted to come talk to you after but my daughter was dragging me out the door (I couldn't argue, the poor thing just sat still for an hour and a half.)

"They" say (Prevention magazine) that we ought to be eating 10 servings of veggies a day.  I've tried it, and for a short-term approach it not only works, it's healthy.  Ten servings of squash, beets, chard, green beans, succotash, etc. doesn't leave much room for the baddies.

Katie - I wasn't there either, but I remember how I was like before the surgery, and there are so many questions and concerns.    Unfortunately, I wasn't able to lose weight before the surgery, however, I did kick the caffeine habit, which was very important.    It's important to get your head in the right place, and plan for the after -  because that's when your life starts again.   I'm 2 months out, have lost 40 pounds, and feeling good.     It's a life change, but for the better.  That's what's important.