Newbie - Starting Day 4 of Pre-Op Diet

Hi everyone!!   My name is Kim and I'm new to groups/forums/boards ... so any tips you can offer or point me in the right direction with the basics would be great.

A little about me .... I work full-time, married and have 5 boys.  My oldest is in the Army and recently got married.  The other 4 are still at home and are ages 15, 11, almost 10 and 4.  To say that I am a busy lady is an understatement!  LOL

I have been battling my weight most of my life.  I was an early bloomer and while not really very overweight as a child, I was always bigger than everyone else in my classes until high school.   I started my period when I was 8 and had DD cups and was 5'10" by the time I was 10 years old.  My self-image was pretty shot!  I had my first child at 21 and with every child birth more and more weight was packed on.  There is morbid obesity on both sides of my family, so it's in the genes too, but after really trying everything, over 20 years of yo-yo dieting, I was really at my wits end.  My father had his first heart attack at 35 and passed away at the young age of 58 after having heart disease and pancreatic cancer.  My mother has had a few heart attacks as well but is thankfully still with us.  A few months ago, my younger brother had a heart attack and I was done fooling around with conventional methods -- I knew I needed to get the weight off before I found myself in the same boat.  Both my internist and my GYN had been recommending weight loss surgery after they saw my repeated failures with other efforts to lose substantial weight.  So here I am!

After jumping through all the insurance hoops, I finally got approved in August and things have been moving fast since.  Now, I'm on day 4 of my pre-op diet which is a 1200-cal. plan consisting of protein shakes and 1 serving of 5 oz. of lean protein and 2 cups non-starchy veg/day.  So far, so good! 

My job is sedentary and with all the kids I struggle to find time to work out, but I have been walking for 30 minutes during a break at the office with a co-worker.  I find that I'm more successful sticking to any type of exercise if I have a buddy.

So, I look forward to reading more about each of you and hope that I can lend support as well as receive it.  Thanks in advance!!

Hey Kim! Glad you took the time to pop in on the board and makje this introduction post. Welcomes may be slow coming as this is a holiday weekend.. (I forgot all about this fact until this morning..lol)

You do have a full house! And what an age range! Just think how great it is going be when you can take a more active role in their lives as a healthier happier you! How much are you hoping to lose with the wls?

I am 43. Will be 44 soon here. I have 2 grown kids a boy son 22 and a daughter 24 (to be 25 in about a month). I have 3 grandbabies, a lovely girl 4 and a handome guy almost 2 from my son...then a 9 week old handsome lil man by my daughter (my daughter also had wls) Now and then you will see a post here by my daughter 'candy'.

I too struggled with my weight for many years. Before having my children, I was 135 lbs, and solid muscle. With each child the weight went up, and following that it went up and up each year slowly. When my husband had an accident at work, he was in the hospital for 3 months. 3 weeks of it he was in a coma. I lost about 15 lbs during this time at the hospital..where I stayed at his side. Then he came home, and while i was busy giving him much medical care, that 15 came back plus another 15 or 20. All that over a period of only 5 or 6 months! Thats when I decided its time to stop thinking about wls and just do it! The rest is history.

I started at 270 the day of surgery. Today I am around 150 (float around by 3 or 4 lbs up then back down to 150. I was in a tight 24 pant and 3 X shirt. now in a size 8 pant and a medium shirt. No more high blood pressure! Very little pitting edema (usually only when I travel long hours or sit long hours and do not drink enough water). No more being winded just trying to carry on a conversation. No more trying to become a huiman pretzel, just to wipe my own behind..lol. I can literally RUN and PLAY for hours with my grandbabies! I power walk and can bend over to tie my shoes and breathe at the same time, I can cross my legs effortlessly (used to have to pick up a leg to cross it!). I could go on and on. And I am so much better able to care for my husband, although there is no actual medial care needed now. But he is totally blind from the accident and in debilitating pain, so needs lots of asistance with things.

Keep up the walks. Incorperate play time with the boys.. maybe even go for walks with them, or some of them. Get ready to LIVE your life again!

Oh yeah, Labor Day Weekend, probably many folks out playing.  :)  Today is my birthday -- I should be too, but I'm not feeling that great so I'm reading boards and intermittently playing with my 4-year old.  I've also got to get some Fall cleaning done.  Wooppeee! LOL

We're about the same age!  Sounds like you have a very full life too.  I'm so sorry to hear about your husband and his current status, but thank goodness he's alive!  

My highest weight was 339 when I gave birth to my youngest son.  I've been essentially trying to lose weight almost constantly since, so I've been up and down as low as 304 but haven't been able to break the 300 mark.  When I last went to see the surgeon on August 25th, I was 324.  Today I'm 313, but I'm doing what I always do ... lose 10-15 pounds fast and then stall out.  I'll be doing surgery before my stall has time to discourage me this time though!  ;) 

I'm also trying to do my Wii Fit for exercise and my kiddos like to play that with me.  My rule is that mom plays for 30 minutes and then we can all take turns.  Otherwise, I don't get in enough exercise to make it really worth it.

Hearing all the things that have changed for you physically is really encouraging -- I can relate to everything you wrote!  LOL   I'm really looking forward to my life changing for the better ... FINALLY!  :)

I have a WII fit too, which I am preparing to gear up for the oncoming cooler weather. It is a lot of fun, yet a good challenge as well.

One thing I want to make sure you are aware of here, is that even with wls you WILL inevitably hit plateaus still. The nice thing is , your tool helps keep you on track. I had my first plateau at 11 days out and it lasted almost 2 weeks. No one ever mentioned to me that this happened, so I freaked! Here I am today at a normal BMI! So PLEASE remember I warned you, and do not let it scare you or think you are failing when it happens. Our bodies have to have time to adjust as we go along. Some don't stall for months, others stall like I did.. I hit a weight loss stall once a month for the entire "honeymoon" period. I learned to look at it as my bodies time to care for itsself and adjust. Often during this time tho, if you keep measurements, you will see changes there believe it or not. Sometimes too we just have to shake things up a bit to get the loss going again. When  you hit this point, we'll help you along!

Yep.. my life is busy..  gets crazy actually.. and someday it will all flow smoother for me..lol.
You are going to feel great after you begin to really lose weight. You are going to be soooo empowered and encouraged. Enjoy the journey.. it is yours to embrace.

Thanks for telling me -- I really wasn't expecting that, but I suppose it does make sense.   My body is used to me restricting food, so I suppose it should see surgery is just another one of my attempts and will hold on to everything as it has in the past.  At least I won't be ABLE to give up as easily when I get frustrated and down on myself because what I'm supposed to do isn't working.  My tool will make sure I cannot eat too much and I'm really good about following doctor's orders.  I have to be on just liquids for 3 weeks post-op.  Hopefully when I get to add foods my body doesn't think I'm finally giving it what it's been missing and store everything like it always has. 

Do you happen to know what I need to do to post my "signature?"  I created a ticker, but I don't see it on my posts even though I click on the box to post my signature. 

You have to go into acct settings, go to the ticker code and copy it. then paste it into your signature under your message board settings. You will see the little window you have to paste it into. Good luck..Let me know if i just confused you more..lol.

When you start giving your body food, it will not be solids right away most likely. It will be soft foods and puree. You will actually likely lose more once you start eating, if you eat often enough, as your body will feel more sure it will get nutrition after all..

How does your surgeon have you eat? (how many times a day)

HA!  I've done it!  Thanks for the help!

Yes, soft foods/puree for 3 more weeks after the 3 of liquids only, and then beginning more solids after 6 weeks. 

I "drink" 3-4 times a day plus my 1 "reasonable meal" which has my 5 oz. of lean protein and 2 cups of non-starchy veggies.  No more than 1200 cals though.

Sorry Kim.. I meant how many meals after the surgery? 3 meals a 2 protein shakes? 3 meals period? 5 small meals? Every surgeon does it different, so I was just wondering what yours does..

Yeayyyy yep you did do it! lol. You are welcome.

Oh I'm sorry:

First 3 weeks - liquids only up to 5 times per day

Next 3 weeks - soft foods/puree up to 5 times per day

6 weeks and after - regular food small up to 5 times per day 

Its ok!
Good plan. I lost best when eating 5 very small meals a day.