Hello

56 isn't so old unless your twenty something and I do remember the show. I just didn't pay enough attention I guess.   Too funny.

When my son turned 30 he complained that he felt "so old".  I told him thanks, that made me feel like I should start picking out my nursing home.

I can remember the most useless cr@p, but ask me where I put something important the previous day and I haven't a clue.  That's why I often say I have a little pea brain. 

Karen

Heya Neighbor. I've had much the same issues as you have with pre-surgery attitudes toward food and eating. My husband and I jokingly refer to it as a "bucket list" of things I want to eat before I can't eat them anymore! I've always been a food lover, and have become a semi-gourmet cook over the years, but the only focus I've had has been toward how enjoyable the end product was to eat and not to how healthy it was for me.

Anyway, I've come to terms with my decision to not "buckle down" more before surgery. Everyone is going to come at this thing with a different mindset, since we're all different in personality. For me, it's a question of how committed I am to making changes once the surgery takes place, and the answer to that is TOTALLY. I'm not doing anything different at this stage, but on one set day, everything will change and be totally different. And I'm ok with that. I'm the kind of person who does well with hard deadlines, however, and with making changes from a certain point. I just never have been able to apply that to my eating habits, to be honest. The surgery is the one factor that will be different, and necessary, this time around. At that point I will have my memories of yummy foods I've eaten in the past, and a new life to create that will revolve around being as healthy as possible. A whole new way to cook and prepare food, and a different emphasis on exercise and other healthy living choices, will flow pretty naturally from the big red stop sign that surgery will provide IMO.

Long story short, if you feel similarly about your post-surgery life, then I wouldn't worry too much about what you're doing now (as long as you do follow any recommendations or requirements of your surgeon, of course). What works for someone else may not work for you, and vice versa. Maybe using this time before your surgery to research and plan the changes you're going to make would help you feel better about things? I know that's been very helpful for me.

Good luck!