pre-surgery advice

I am new to group.  I am currently on target to have my surgery in Dec 2016. All of my required appointments are schedule and will happen in Oct. I am anxiously awaiting Dec to get here.

What is the best advice you can give someone to best prepare for surgery?

I am looking forward to giving and getting support here!

Eliminate all white carbs, flour, sugar, bread, potatoes, noodles, pasta, rice, cookies, candy, cake, and pastries.  Cut out soda and caffeine. 

Get a food scale and weigh all portions and then record everything in My Fitness Pal. 

Exercise daily. 

Go window shopping and imagine yourself buying smaller sizes.  Drink as much water as you can, but at least 64 ounces a day.

Get a fitness tracker and a smart scale and use them daily. 

Be mentally prepared that the liquid diet is the worst part of this process by far.  Psych yourself up to get through it..

Weight loss surgery is not magic. You must understand that and engrave it in your brain. You CAN and WILL gain back all of your weight if you are not careful. I am amazed at the number of people who have trouble with that concept.

Yes! completely agree with this. 

Practice taking small bites and eating your meals slowly. Practice separating food from drink. Eliminate alcohol and everything White Dove said. Take some pictures and measurements now. I forgot and now I wish I had. 

If you live alone, purge your cupboards and freezer of things that won't serve you well post-op. 

As your surgery date gets closer, you're going to want to stock up on things like protein drinks, broth, and all that good stuff. Be very modest with the amounts of stuff you buy. I used maybe 1/8 of my protein drinks, broth, sugar free Popsicles, jello, SF pudding, cream soups, etc. I was in the mindset of "I'm going to be on clear liquids for 9 days and full liquids for a week so I need a million of everything!" You really don't, and when you pass clears and fulls and purees, you are going to want to eat as much real food as you can. At least that's my experience. I'm hoping there will be someone I can pass my gobs of unopened protein packets to in the future.

If you have any questions, the search function of this board covers so much territory. People here are always willing to help as well.

Good luck to you!

thank you so much for posting. Practicing taking small bites and eating slow is great advice.  

I have also been looking at protein drinks and I am sure I was going to order way too much. :-)

Thanks again!

McLassie wrote: "If you live alone, purge your cupboards and freezer of things that won't serve you well post-op."

I would go even further than that and say rid your home of anything you shouldn't eat even if you have a family. If there's junk food in the house, it will call to you, and you will answer. I speak from experience. Your family must get on board with this and help you even if it means they must drive out in a rainstorm to get a scoop of their favorite ice cream. Don't let them bring junk food into the house. They love you and should be more than willing to help. (A side benefit: their health will improve too. Win-win.)

psychoticparrot

Thank you..I fear this is going to be one of my biggest obstacles.  My family loves their junk and I am not sure how on board they will be with getting rid of it.

Start now, not after surgery. Are there any junk foods that they like and you don't? Those would be okay to stay in the house. Ask them now for help in your endeavor to improve your health and be a better mom/dad?, wife/husband? than you ever could be at your current weight. If you have young kids, then yes, you'll have your work cut out for you. Teenagers can at least understand your dilemma and try to help, but little kids like their junk and won't give it up easily. My 8yo grandson wouldn't eat a green bean if his life depended on it.

Simply do the best you can, just like the rest of us.

psychoticparrot