Edit: Sorry, forgot to mention, I'm 19 months post RNY.

Honestly, I didn't change anything pre-op. Some people will tell you to work on chewing food more thoroughly, or following the 30/30 rule, or even find the protein that you like, but I really don't think it's needed. Again, this is what worked for me.

You basically have an entire system reboot while you are on your initial liquid phase post-op. You have a few weeks where you wont feel like eating, where you might actually have a food aversion. During that same two weeks you just have trouble drinking your protein shakes. This is assuming you are having the RNY or VSG.

I found that surgery forced me to make the changes and drastically altered my mindset by itself. As for the protein, I wouldn't bother. Your tastes will dramatically change post-op, and what you liked before surgery, may make you gag post-op.

What I do suggest you do pre-op is education yourself. Education is probably the most important part of the whole thing. Find out exactly what the surgery will do to you. Read up on research, think about the long term effects. If you are having anything but the band, then it cannot be reversed. Find out the little things, such as, with an RNY you can't take ibuprofen post-op. Find websites for support and recipes, that kind of thing.

I agree with everyone....use the time to educate yourself on what a healthy diet looks like long term. Get used to logging your meals. I really feel like MFP keeps me honest and is a huge help, on good and bad days. Also Id say if you're not a water drinker now, you could start doing that as part of pre-op (or non-carb, sugar free flavored drinks like Crystal Light) because you will definitely be drinking a lot of liquids forever after surgery. Begin to wean yourself off caffeine as well. I just stopped during my two week clear liquid diet immediately before surgery, but depending on how much caffeine you currently drink you may want to reduce it more gradually. I don't know if I could have really "practiced" the actual post-surgery diet, because the surgery itself will dictate what you can eat for the first several months. As someone said, it is kind of a "reset". But eventually you will be able to eat many of the same foods you did pre-surgery, so you have to use the time leading up to surgery to educate yourself on what that healthy maintenance eating will look like once the honeymoon phase of the surgery is over.

Hearing some of these things is not surprising to me, however this surgery is vastly different for each person. I changed nothing pre-surgery. I had my "last meal" the night before I started the pre-op liquids. I didn't wean off caffeine at all. I didn't practice the 30/30 rule, nor chewing my food more adequately. So, take all of our posts with a grain of salt, as really the only person that can truly answer your question is you. But, yes, most of these are good suggestions depending on your situation.

Hearing some of these things is not surprising to me, however this surgery is vastly different for each person. I changed nothing pre-surgery. I had my "last meal" the night before I started the pre-op liquids. I didn't wean off caffeine at all. I didn't practice the 30/30 rule, nor chewing my food more adequately. So, take all of our posts with a grain of salt, as really the only person that can truly answer your question is you. But, yes, most of these are good suggestions depending on your situation.

What is the 30/30 rule?

I gave up caffeine and soda and started moving more. Honestly that was about it. You really do have a complete system reboot during this process. It took me longer than I anticipated to get off the caffeine, but you don't need withdrawl headaches on top of all the changes your body is going through after surgery. That one is a worthy goal IMHO.

I honestly didn't do very much pre-op. I already ate healthy food (I like it), but also ate fast food, and overall ate too much.

Here is what I did:

- Started using a salad plate instead of a dinner plate just to slightly lower my portion size.
- Stopped eating fast food as often as I did, but didn't give it up until the start of my two week pre-op liquid diet.
- Started eating slightly slower. I used to eat pretty fast.

Most of the changes came right after surgery. You really have no choice to do all you are supposed to do once you have surgery unless you want to be in a world of hurt, which I did not.

Congrats on starting the process, by the way. I am so incredibly happy I had surgery. My health has already improved greatly and will only get better as I continue to lose. It is a fantastic tool.

One thing I will recommend is attending support meetings that your clinic offers, if available and you can. Getting your head in the right place/in the game is the most valuable things you can do, in my opinion.