Scheduled Surgery looking for advice

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jlynn0422
jlynn0422 Posts: 8 Member
I have surgery scheduled for April 24th and my anxiety is thru the roof! I know and have my mind set that this is not a cure but simply a tool to help me achieve my weight loss goals. Looking for any and all advice to help me with this process! I start the Bariatric Healthy Eating Diet tomorrow and start the liquid diet on April 10th. Thanks! :smile:

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  • candacet36
    candacet36 Posts: 353 Member
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    I was sleeved on September 12, 2013....I am 6 months and 1 day post op and much like you I was very nervous. I was scared it wouldn't work for me .... all of the things that you can worry about I did. I went through with in and I am here to tell you 6 months later that it is THE BEST thing I have EVER done for MYSELF!!! I am down 72 pounds. It has not been easy there are days where head hungry will torment you and you CAN slip back into bad habits but if you do what you are supposed to do and follow the diet it will work.

    Feel free to add me as a friend. I will support you and help you all the way!
  • mbyers1966
    mbyers1966 Posts: 4 Member
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    I was sleeved on June 21, 2013. I will be honest with you it was the best thing I have ever done for myself! I am down around 71 pounds. I got a little off track for a couple months around the holidays and didn't follow the program. I am back on track though and losing again. Part of the problem with me was I loved myself at 200 pounds..LOL I hadn't been that small in who knows when. I thought if I never lost any thing else I would be happy. Which I probably would have. It is rough going at first and I didn't want to go through all of the bad part and not give it my best shot! So I recommitted to the program and have lost 6 pounds in just a couple of weeks. I can appreciate your anxiety I was the same way. I told someone it is like child birth sucks when you are in the middle of it but after a few months you can't remember the bad. Good luck!
  • SumoH
    SumoH Posts: 23 Member
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    I'm one year post-op. Down roughly 100 lbs, about 60 of those as a result of the procedure and 40 through excercise. The procedure was uneventful for me, and each day post op was an improvement. At about 2 weeks I felt good enough to do daily tasks. You do need to watch your fluids and food intake as you run out of energry fairly quick. My advice to you is to follow your post op diet and focus on your new eating mindset for the first month post op, then when you get cleared for excercise start/resume your activity slowly, the eventual goal being about 300-500 excercise calories a day. That way when you do get to the end of your "honeymoon" period, you will be able to cope with hunger by earning some excercise calories.

    Take it day by day and press on until it is a routine. That is how you make it a lifestyle change.
  • Mangopickle
    Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
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    My food diary is open so feel free to look at what I eat. i am 3 1/2 months out and down 68lbs. My best advice is to give up your addiction foods. 50% of wt loss surgery pts regain all their former wt within 5 yrs. These are typically the people who think they can continue to eat the foods that made them obese in the first place but just in smaller amounts. They rapidly realize that they can graze on rich, carby processed food throughout the day thereby completely eating around their surgery. Wt loss surgery does not cure food addiction, it will be right there when you wake up from surgery. Wt loss surgery does not cure medicating with food instead of dealing with your problems. Now, when death and destruction come into my life, I deal with it. I do not medicate it with food. My addiction foods were wheat, rice and potato. I no longer eat wheat, rice and potato. Turns out I can completely control my calories and food intake now with great ease. If the thought of never eating items like pasta, pizza, chips, fries, cake, pie, bread, fried rice, sushi and candy again make you panic you will need to work on this. Your new lifestyle will be 70%protein,25%veg-no potato5%whole grain carb. White carbs like potato, wheat and rice are empty calories. It is hard enough getting your protein in without blowing over the 750 to 850 cals per day to encourage steady wt loss. Not to mention they are also the typical foods of choice for most obese people. Nobody gets fat off steak and broccoli. People often ask "When will I be able to eat like "normal" again?" Ummmm, Never. If you were eating like a normal healthy person you would not be obese. That said this has been the greatest tool ever for me. I have been obese since 2nd grade and never knew what full felt like. At 184 lbs now I am the size I was in 7th grade.
  • scjcj
    scjcj Posts: 4 Member
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    I completely understand your anxiety. I am being sleeved in 3 days so I'm definitely in freak out mode. I'm reading lots of stories by other sleevers which helps, So I'm trying to be realistic about my surgery and my recovery. I can't even imagine what life is like post-OP but it has to be better than the past 21 years as I have dieted my entire adult life except during 3 pregnancies and I have yet to reach my true healthy goal weight. I'm a chronic yo-yo dieter. I would love to leave the past in the past and begin new and in three days I get the opportunity to do this but it still scares me. I would love to make friends here so please add me if you are looking for the same.
  • DJRonnieLINY
    DJRonnieLINY Posts: 475 Member
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    Breath, relax and keeping reminding yourself how this will be the first step to a wonderful tomorrow. Then make sure you stay connected with the groups who will help you navigate the days and weeks after surgery. This really was the best thing I did for myself in a very long time and I am so much happier than before. Not just because I am thinner but because I feel so much better physically and mentally. WLS is not a cure but it is a very powerful tool that can finally help you feel like the battle is winable. Once really believe you can win the sky's the limit.
  • Kezonator
    Kezonator Posts: 17
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    Just wanted to say how helpful I found this thread :) I hope your sleeve went well and you are getting the benefits from it! I'm looking forward to mine soon too.
  • stratusphr
    stratusphr Posts: 87 Member
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    You should be post op by now!!! I hope you're doing great!!! Now is your honeymoon period, take full advantage of it and hold on, it's a wild ride, but oh so fun!!! Enjoy every single pound and change. You won't believe your life a year from now. This is truly life altering. Now is the time to make permanent changes. I am four years out in a few days......I still weigh every day, I weigh and/or measure my food when we're at home, I log it all on MFP and yes, I'm diligent about this. I cannot become complacent, this is my new life, as natural to me as breathing!! Establish good NEW habits now and your life will be much easier when you are maintaining!