At least for me, pre-op was the worst part. High anxiety and hunger, but it gets better! Keep your eye on your goal to be healthier and you'll be on the other side before you know it!

I didn't have to do a pre-op liquid diet, but I was pretty anxious before surgery, to the point of not being hungry. Go figure :-) You will do great, just one more week, and then life will change for the better! Good luck to you!

Congratulations on the weight you've already lost! I know this pre-op part isn't easy, but it will get better and you really won't be hungry for awhile after. This is just a small step for your new life! You can do it!!

I will say the first 21 days after surg were the hardest in terms of "breaking up" with certain foods- like soda, rice, pasta, bread- I haven't gone back to eating them but missed them like an addict.
Also - turning off the TV helps. You don't realize how EVERY 20 seconds there's an add on TV for food until you're on such a severe diet.

The 21 day thing is so true. Up until yesterday, my three week anniversary, I wanted anything and everything that I was able to eat before surgery. Then last night when I got home from work, I realized I was just over it. I looked in the fridge for something to eat for dinner and realized that I just didn't want anything. I ate a couple of bites of refried beans with cheese on them but that was so I didn't start snacking before I went to bed.

The thing with the ads too, they used to kill me! I don't notice now, but for a couple of weeks afterwards, it felt like every single commercial was fast food or a candy bar. I swear they were tag-teaming me to make my life difficult. Hang in there! It does get easier. You'll wake up one day and it'll all be over. :flowerforyou:

Like everyone said it will get easier, just hang in there. Besides no one said you couldn't have a burger EVER. It will just be down the road after you heal and it will be smaller because that is all you will require. Don't think that you will be depriving yourself of certain foods because that can mess with your mind. Just keeping thinking that you can have it just smaller portions. That helped me. Good Luck with the surgery and your new lifestyle.

Hi
For me the pre op phase was hard. But I was travelling through airports for a week of it. So packets of shakes were the go. I wanted to chew my arm off some days for sure. It is easy to say in hindsight but you will feel better after the surgery in regards to hunger. There will be some adjusting of course but you wont be able to eat that burger anyway which is the reward for all of your hard work before surgery. My liquid stage was 15 days and I only lost about 11 lb before surgery but it was enough. You can do it,,you really can. There are such great rewards to come. :-)

I agree with everyone else, but we all don't have the same requirements pre-surgery. I only had 7 days to lose 10 lbs. If I would have had to go 3 weeks, I may have been climbing the walls. What I did do and still do is freeze my shakes, yogurts, smoothies into an ice-cream type texture and eat them with a spoon. It gives me the feeling of eating - not drinking - and are very refreshing.

In my case I had no problems post surgery - any pain (minimal) was gone within a couple days, my taste buds changed but came back and I break my meals into 5 - 6 small meals a day, always with protein first. I really didn't have any nausea which may be due to me being on prescription Prilosec 40g for decades. My hardest hurdle was to not drink with meals or within 30 minutes either way after a lifetime of doing this. My surgeon has stages of food that last for 2 full weeks or more that end up with the real/normal foods that you will be eating the rest of your life. The only analogy I can come up with is that you don't start a baby out on steak, they have to work their way up to the various types and textures. In essence, that's what we're doing. The only time I got sick was twice when I knew I was eating too much, too fast.

You have done a tremendous job of losing weight pre-surgery and I am now 4 months out and can have just about anything I care to try. I do try one food at a time to see if my stomach can tolerate it. I still haven't tried any type of red meat and will probably wait for a few more months.

I'll be wishing you the best on your new adventure and on your surgery next Friday. Keep talking to people in the group and re-read all the information you have so far and keep in mind how far you have already come.

Karen