Need to Lose For a Surgery

lucypstacy

I need to have surgery for hernias (sadly plural) caused by peritoneal dialysis. The doctor won't do the surgery until I lose weight, which I really need to do anyway. I don't want to rush because I know I need to make a lifestyle change, but it's still hard to be patient. So far, I've been tweaking my diet. I'm focusing on adding more healthy foods and making to sure to move more. I bought a scale to measure foods so I know exactly what I'm eating. I think I have a decent start. Any other tips?

4legsRbetterthan2

Usually my first tip is get a food scale, but you beat me to it!

Something that helped me early on was playing with meal timing. It was so ingrained in me that you have to eat breakfast! But, I have found that if I wait longer in the morning to eat I don't feel the need to snack throughout the morning and saved alot of calories that way. That does not work for everyone though so do what works best for you.

~Best wishes

ladyreva78

First of all, good luck on your journey.

I think the most important piece of advice I've received was to be consistent and to be patient. Sadly changes don't happen over night, but it's good that you're taking it slow and not trying to change everything in one go.

lucypstacy

Thank you. Breakfast is an issue for me since I'm used to skipping it, and then I get tired and too hungry. Thank you. I'll try eating a bit later to avoid snacking.

ladyreva78

It's a matter of finding what works for you.

It helps me hugely to track what and when I eat and how I feel afterwards (tiered, gassy, bloated, have acid re-flux...). I was already able to eliminate some of my worst triggers for acid re-flux that way and learned to listen to my body on when to eat (some days I need breakfast, others I don't).

lucypstacy

Acid reflux and me have a long history. My triggers are oranges and cucumbers - and I love cucumbers. I'll eat them sometimes even if I do have to burp like the devil afterwards.

I'm slowly learning. My big issue before was snacking. After time I got in the car, I'd grab a snack or a pop. Now, I take a water with me. That helps a lot.

ladyreva78

My SIL also has trouble with cucumbers. She says that if she slices them thinly, salts them, wraps them in a cloth and presses the water out of them, she has less trouble. Sadly, they don't crunch like they should anymore either... My personal nemesis number 1 are raw tomatoes. That's instant acid... In general, avoiding my worst triggers and losing weight nearly completely cleared up that problem (as long as I remember to stop eating 2 hours before bed).

Often it's a matter of changing habits. I'm slowly replacing my desk snacking habit with tea. Every time I feel I want a snack, I go make myself a tea (thankfully I drink my tea plain, no cream, no sugar...). On bad days, that adds up to several liters of tea (and a warning at work about going to the restrooms too often.. ). For evenings in front of the TV, I've started with knitting again. It keeps my hands busy and my friends happy (there's only so many sweaters, scarfs and hats a girl can wear after all ).