gastrognome89 Member

@Aztec4Life I completely agree with you, sugar is poison. When I let myself have a small amount of sugar that's when the cravings come back. Need to stay totally clean and not let those things sneak in and snowball.

I'm 2.5 years out and similar to the others, I can eat 120gm/4.5oz of meat. Junk food and 'wet' food is easier to eat more of. I usually eat 1000-1200 cals a day but can reduce to 700 and not get hungry. I get frustrated with myself at eating so much, and then remember how much more I used to eat and feel much better. At…

Pilates is your best bet for toning and strengthening, especially your tummy area which needs help to get strong again after surgery. Lots of youtube videos and guides online for Pilates. Budget permitting the best way to get started is have a couple of private lessons. It's costly but you only need a couple and you get so…

I've started making my own muesli which is full of fiber (I find it hard to get enough) and vitamins. Similar to Janet I use oats, coconut, mixed nuts (whatever on special at supermarket), pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flaxseeds etc. Basically whatever I can get my hands on I put in my supermuesli. Goes in the oven at 150C…

I bought a pair of jeans online before surgery as my 'goal' jeans. They are exactly the same type of jeans that I used to wear when I was 19. Yesterday I held them up and thought they looked so tiny they would never ever fit me. Then I tried them on as a joke and turns out THEY FIT!!! I wore them to work today and got lots…

This was super helpful Rob, makes perfect sense thank you!

I can usually only get in 40g of protein/day. On a really good day I'll have 60g. I told my nut and she said at this stage (7 weeks out) that's quite normal. But if you can stomach protein powder, it's definitely worth adding it to your meals/drinks to get a boost.

For me it's little things like being able to curl up on the sofa, or sit cross legged. I could never do those comfortably before surgery. I also find the spring heat (I'm in Aus) so much easier. I pulled out a box of old clothes to try on, and some of them are already too big to wear. Losing kilos on the scale is very…

It DOES get better! I was on a similar restrictive pre-op diet to you but just 3 shakes/day. The first week was hard, but by the second week the cravings were gone and I stopped getting so hungry. The more weight you lose in the pre-op stage, the more you maximise your results after the op and the more safe the surgery is,…

WOW! Thank you so much for sharing, what a phenomenal result from all your hard work. Truly inspirational!

Congratulations!!!! Not long to go now, it will have been worth the wait!

Glad to hear you're feeling better, I was the same for the first few days. After a couple of weeks you'll feel normal, other than your new diet of course! Gnomie.

I finish my 2 weeks post op diet today. Tomorrow I move on to purees. I had optifast protein shakes for breakfast, at first I had to have them very thin and eat them with a teaspoon over a few hours and I still have to drink them slowly now or I feel a little queasy. For lunch, usually a coffee or tea with a scoop of…

Great idea to set rewards for goals, I think I might get a haircut too - I'm trying not to buy clothes cos I know they won't fit me for long!! 32 is so close to moving you out of obese zone and what an amazing effort so far.

Great news, running gives you such a good boost of energy. I haven't run in ages, been too self-conscious about my weight and lethargic from all the crap I was eating. Question from me - how long post surgery should I wait before I start jogging again? I think Doc said to wait 6 weeks does that sound right? Also are there…

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! I am 1 week post op and just hit 10kgs/20lbs down so we can celebrate our wins together :) Gnomie.

Hey Becskimo, I had my surgery on Monday in Sydney, so I'm now 3 days post op. Now it's over I can't believe it! The first evening after the surgery was pretty horrible to be honest, I had really bad nausea and gas but after a couple of hours I fell to sleep, and the next couple of days got progressively easier. I used to…

Hi there, I'm 24 and having the surgery on Monday. My mother had a lap band a few years ago which changed her life and that was my inspiration to act early, sounds like that may be the same for your son. Many of the people on this forum have only one regret about their surgery... that they didn't do it earlier and went…

I'm also pre-op... I only had to do 2 weeks on meal replacements but I can only have 3 per day, so I completely understand what you're going through! My op is on Monday so getting very close and looking forward to not being hungry! I found when I get super hungry, going for a walk really helps take the edge off and…

Me too... And feeling less self conscious when exercising. I can't wait to go for a jog without feeling like the world it's starting at my tummy

I'm on day 3 of Optifast, I have three shakes a day and yesterday/today consumed approx 464 calories including some black coffee. Some of the sachets are slightly larger and have a slightly higher calorie count, but they are still very very low calorie. If you buy in the larger packs of single flavours like I do they are…

I'm not sure if they are available in the States, but I use Band Buddies chewable multi vitamin. They have EVERYTHING in them and they taste like a vitamin C tablet so are easy to eat. I imagine there must be a similar thing in the USA, and there is a huge variety available online. Gnomie

This is a great idea, my mum used to do this with soup but never thought of doing it for anything else. I cook a lot of chilli and stews too. I'm going to stock up on ice trays when I see some going for cheap.

Thank you all for taking the time to give me your thoughtful responses. Trinity you make a good point - most of the time I'm with close friends who know I'm having the surgery anyway. Then long term it will all become normal I guess. Right now it's hard to imagine the new lifestyle ever being normal, but I know it will…