New at this n FRUSTRATED

I have 1 more month left b4 my doc submits to ins. Im trying to replace 1 meal with a (already made) premier shake or I also have boost shakes. I do good in the morning and have a shake and then as a snack later I have a nutrigrain bar but later in the day all I want to do is eat n eat... Idk if its me just about to start my cycle or what. I get so frustrated and mad at myself.. I have healthy snacks but still. I keep thinking if I cant do it now then what am I going to do when I have the surgery. I really have been trying. Just scared I guess. Any tips that I can try. I already drink alot of water all day and have kicked sodas to the curb 5 months ago thankfully :D

Have you tried eating in the morning and doing the shakes at night ? I had a hard time with shakes doing anything for me in the morning and its still the same way now. I do better eating breakfast and doing a shake for lunch or dinner, I don't do shakes very often anymore, I like eating my food ! It is actually easier after surgery unless you are hung up on certain foods, but by your post I am not seeing that you are so you should be just fine. Congrats on the upcoming surgery.

TY so much, I will try that n maybe do shakes for dinner. Im so excited but yet so nervous lol.

If dieting without WLS was easy, so many of us wouldn't need WLS.

If I were you - I would check for carbs and artificial sweeteners in the food - drinks I was having. I know that it can stimulate my hunger and appetite. Simple one diet drink in a middle of the day or early in afternoon - may make me ravenously hungry a couple of hours later.

Some carbs can be worse for stimulating the insulin release or hunger hormones. There is food - snacks I can have late in a day because there is not much time for hunger.

Also - when I try to limit calories - volume if food even post op RNY - I may do better adding a little bit of fat and reducing carbs. I.e. instead of banana "I want -crave", I may have 1/4 or even 1/2 of avocado. Or add avocado or some fat to my shake.

I never drank protein shakes when I was preparing for surgery. They would leave me too hungry. Protein shakes are for the period after surgery when you are not able to eat real food. Some people did very well and never drank a protein shake.

I would think about replacing that protein shake with a meal of meat, fish, or chicken, and some leafy green vegetables. For convenience, try Healthy Choice Power Bowls. Or just have some meat and vegetables. Sometimes I buy small pieces of filet mignon, cook it to medium, slice it, and then put it on top of a large bowl of greens.

A salad with hard boiled eggs is another fairly easy meal.

What my doctor told me to do to prepare for surgery was to quit the Diet Coke and anything white. So no bread, rice, cereal, potatoes, or ice cream. Nothing starchy like corn, and nothing made with flour or sugar.

After I had the surgery, it was so much easier. I was never hungry and I could only eat a tiny amount when I was. One protein shake would last me all day. By six months, I was able to eat quite a bit more, but the hunger has never returned.

You may want to try skipping breakfast. I know we've all heard that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day", but my understanding is that medical research shows that skipping breakfast is fine. Even before surgery, I found that breakfast "woke up" my stomach early and made it more difficult to stick to a diet.

I read somewhere Terry Crews does intermittent fasting and doesn't eat in the AM, and it works really well for him!

Do you have to lose a certain amount before surgery? I had to do the six month supervised diet, but I was not required to lose anything. I think my surgeon had a rule that you could not gain more than 10 or he would not operate. I made healthier choices, but did not lose any weight. I knew I needed surgery to help me lose the weight.

That's a very good point. I wasn't required to lose anything before surgery, so instead I used the time to identify my food triggers (e.g. stress, being too tired to cook) and develop a plan for coping with them without resorting to food. Those plans really helped me after surgery!

Thankfully no I dont have to lose before surgery. As long as I dont gain he is happy. I have been trying to make healthier choices so I dont gain. I have already dropped sodas which is good and hard cause Dr Pepper was my weakness lol.