Weight lose before having major surgery

tinytotnot

I have been 'playing' with my fitness pal for sometime now, had some good results, but then was sidelined due to pregnancy, although only gained 14 lbs with my 'twin' pregnancy.

I am now after some serious help and guidance. I am due to have a partial thyroidectomy in about 4 - 6 weeks (seeing my consultant on Thursday to be put on the list). Apart from being terrified of someone cutting my neck, the thought of the general anasethetic has me in a complete state of panic.

I need to lose a considerable amount of weight, which I know is not going to happen, but can anyone suggest the best ways to lose as much as possible in the healthiest of ways as I would rather lose less weight but my body be in a better state to repair afterwards, i.e. the right foods giving me the right nutrious values, if that makes any sense.

Help terrified in Liverpool :sad:

lighteningjeanne855

My best suggestion:
Do the Atkikins "induction" diet @atkins.com.
You'll cut out the bad carbs.
If you SERIOUSLY want to cut carbs, go Paleo,
at marksdailyapple.com.
I've lost 47 pounds in 130 days with Paleo:
my bloat is gone, and I never feel hungry.

Best wishes, my dear.

LoraF83

Rather than trying to run your body into the ground before major surgery, I would suggest you just set your goal to 1lb per week and maintain a moderate calorie deficit.

Or, you could talk to your doctor about this.

LoraF83

My best suggestion:
Do the Atkikins "induction" diet @atkins.com.
You'll cut out the bad carbs.
If you SERIOUSLY want to cut carbs, go Paleo,
at marksdailyapple.com.
I've lost 47 pounds in 130 days with Paleo:
my bloat is gone, and I never feel hungry.

Best wishes, my dear.

Could you explain "bad carbs" please?

lisadlocks

I got this off MFP. It has been very helpful to me.

QUOTE
This is the best I can do!

I'll hand you the tools for a successful and sustainable diet that you can use and manipulate to achieve your goals.
If you are looking to lose weight, you just eat the calories given by doing the simple math and following the directions on the page.
If you are looking to maintain weight, you add 20% to the number given and youll know approximately what your TDEE is.
The link is at the bottom of this grand post!

I've said it several times here on this forum and i'll say it again and again:

True dieting needs the knowledge of 3 very important numbers.

1) TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
This is the amount of calories you burn all day.
From before you wake up in the morning and pee to the time you lay your head down at night to sleep and into the night.
One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a post on the forum or on someones Diary "Ugh! I feel sooo guilty because I went over calories today!" when the person went over a few cals over a 40% cut from TDEE.

Knowing TDEE allows you to understand that anything above TDEE is a surplus and you will "eventually" gain weight.
Anything at TDEE you maintain weight.
Anything below TDEE you lose weight to an extent. (see BMR)

2) BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate or RMR Resting Metabolic Rate.
If you were in a coma and in the hospital, the doctors would feed you your BMR in calories.
This ensures you have enough nutrients for vital organs to function.
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/science-homework-help/107443-ten-essential-organs-in-the-human-body/
This is just a small list of vital organs in the human body.
Eating at BMR and staying in bed should maintain things as long as you do nothing at all.
Most people who start using MFP dont really understand the importance of this BMR number.
They jump in with both feet thinking "I'm going to lose soooooo much weight and be fantastic!"
What they dont understand is by not eating back calories from working out, they are netting below BMR.
The only people who should be eating below BMR are folks who have had Gastric Bypass, 500-700 cals/day, or people who are morbidly obese and only for an extremely short time and only prescribed by their "Nutritionist".

Most people who eat at or below BMR will lose weight for a short time.
20-50% of most weight lost on a Very Low Calorie Diet is from Lean Mass.
This is the opposite of true dieting.
Most people who diet want to have better looking bodies and live a healthy life.
They want to reduce fat mass and raise lean mass.
Eating at BMR or lower actually maintains fat mass while dropping lean mass.

If the body does not get enough energy from calories in, it will seek ways to slow itself down.
Leptin levels drop, cortisol levels rise.
Anabolism stops and catabolism begins.
The body switches gears hormonally and tries to maintain fat, a non active tissue that stores energy, by burning lean mass, an active tissue that uses calories.
So in essence fat mass starts to stay the same while lean mass drops.
You can see how this can extend your dietary lifestyle right?

Eating at or below BMR with intentions to eat back calories from working out is a convoluted way of thinking.
We should be eating the proper amount of nutrients first, then creating a deficit with our workouts!
That way if you miss a workout, you still have the proper nutrients in your system.
Youll actually have more energy eating right and sleeping right than if you jumped into a VLCD.
This has been proven!

3) Body Fat%
So many people dont really know what their body fat% is.
I'm shocked every time I ask a member and they dont have a clue!
Some people dont even know what a safe BF% should be!

Athletes (6-13% for men, 16-20% for women)
Fitness (14-17% for men, 21-24% for women)
Acceptable (18-25% for men, 25-31% for women)
Obese (25%+ for men, 32%+ for women)

A good way to diet correctly is to set a body fat% goal as opposed to a weight goal.
The human body fluctuates up to 5lbs on average daily!
That would drive any person crazy who likes jumping on the scale every 30 mins!
Measuring body fat is a more sane approach to the diet.
Expecting a 2-5% change in a month is certainly acceptable in the lower ranges.
In the higher ranges it really depends on your BF%, macronutrients and workout routine.
An interesting paper written by Martin Berkhan, creator of www.LeanGains.com talks about the amount of fat the human body can burn in a day. After reading it I started working out 3 times a week and had better results than working out 5 days a week.
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=160054937436250

Understanding body fat and how you lose it will certainly keep you from hopping on the scale every day and probably have you running up to GNC for a handy set of calipers $20.

So now that I have given you the 3 most important numbers to always know while dieting, i'll give you a good source to figure all this information out on your own.
This was the first source I used to help myself and countless others to lose weight.
Once you have this link you can keep using it as you drop weight and body fat to recalculate your numbers.
Remember that as lean mass rises and fat mass drops, youll have different nutritional needs!

To truly benefit from a FAT BURNING program you will need to have some type of resistance training.
If you are not lifting weights or doing body weight workouts, you will have a very hard time maintaining lean mass while in a caloric deficit.
I always suggest for gym goers, the Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting Strength programs.
Both teach basic compound moves and can help catapult your strength.
I'm sure you can find many other lifting programs but do keep in mind, if you lift Minnie Mouse dumbbells youll have Minnie Mouse muscles. =D

Cardio is great for accelerated fat loss but if you are overweight or obese I would only recommend a brisk walk.
Every pound of fat on your stomach is 8 on the knees and 10 on the upper back.
Once you get down to an acceptable BF level then run to your hearts content.

So here is the link.
Use it in good health!

visit http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/
Do the Military Body Fat Calc first, then the BMR tool.
The Military BF calc is accurate up to about 2%.
The BMR tool will give EXACT calories to eat on a daily basis.
This number is static and I only recommend eating back so your NET is at least 200 above BMR.
Add 20% to suggested calories to know your TDEE.
Use the Katch McGardle BMR number to know your BMR.
Never eat at or below BMR.
For Fat loss plans set up macros at 30% Protein/Fat.
This % is only because MFP wont allow single %.

For more fine tuned macronutrients.....
1g Protein per lean body mass or total goal weight.
.35-.60g Fat per LBM or total goal weight.

Most of the time these numbers are close to 30% of total daily cals.

EvgeniZyntx

Rather than trying to run your body into the ground before major surgery, I would suggest you just set your goal to 1lb per week and maintain a moderate calorie deficit.

Or, you could talk to your doctor about this.

Yep.

But for the long term...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Katbaran

Rather than trying to run your body into the ground before major surgery, I would suggest you just set your goal to 1lb per week and maintain a moderate calorie deficit.

Or, you could talk to your doctor about this.

I agree completely with this! You will need to be eating a healthy diet for a good recovery. I made the mistake of going very low calorie before having my knee replaced and it was not a good outcome. I didn't heal like a normal person would and got a superficial infection because the inner stitches didn't dissolve like they should have if I'd been eating well. The wound also took longer to heal which made it ripe for any germs that came along.

Talk to your doc about this! S/he will be able to tell you what you how to proceed. Good luck!

fittocycle

First of all, I'm sorry to hear you have to have surgery. I know it's scary. I don't like anesthesia either so I understand what you mean!

I would concentrate on eating a diet as healthy as possible. By that, I mean eating clean. Cut out the processed foods completely, ditch the sugar, skip any trans fats and add in lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc.

I've had knee surgery twice and eating clean really did help me feel faster. And all that healthy food couldn't hurt either!:flowerforyou:

fittocycle

Oh, I don't mean to say you should go low on your calories. But I do think your body needs all the healthy nutrients it can get! And it might sound silly but you might try doing some yoga in the weeks before the surgery. It will help calm your body and your mind as well.
Take care and let us know how it goes!

elyelyse

I have to agree that this is not a good time to eat at too much of a deficit, or to cut out carbs, or anything your body isn't used to. You need strength for your surgery and recovery, and that means proper nutrition and enough energy to fuel your body. I can see a benefit in trying to eat healthier (more lean proteins, fruits and veggies, whole grains, healthy fats like olive oil, avocado, nuts) but at this time, don't worry about the scale, worry about feeding your body the best you can.

tinytotnot

Thanks everyone for your replies, I agree with the healthy / clean eating, I know it is the best thing, and I think I read somewhere about eating more fibre than normal as this is supposed to help with the healing process.

I will just eat healthy and hope for the best results possible. The big concern will be after surgery and any side effects from the loss of half my thyroid! So that's when I will be pumping you all for help and advice :-)

MB_Positif

If you are already having health issues I wouldn't even worry at all about losing weight before your surgery. I was sick this time last year and switched to just maintain as I wasn't able to exercise during that time at all. Then earlier this year I had brain surgery. Just sticking to my calorie goals helped me maintain and I also believe that not eating at a deficit was great for the healing process I had to go through.

You will have time after your recovery.