I finally got my surgery scheduled

So, I got my first referral to the gastric bypass program back in October of last year, and last week I got a call to schedule my surgery, it will be January 6th, by Dr. Suh. The last time I saw Dr. Suh, he told me to stop eating just about all carbs/starch. This was about a month and a half ago. So my question is, do I really have to stop eating the carbs and starch for 3 months to shrink my liver? 

Not sure but I know you should try to lose weight before your surgery. I was told by my hospital I would want to lose as much as I could if that ment stopping the carb/starches then do it.

For me it was to stop soda ( which I have done. I am still pre op) and cut back greatly on carbs and starches.

But again I dont have your dr and its always best to follow your dr orders to the tee...

Best of luck.

Congrats on the Surgery Date!!!! 

Yes, you really do want to start losting weight now. It makes it easier to move your liver out of the way to get to your stomach.  Getting rid of the carbs / starch is tough for the first week or so, but once you do get going, it's a lot easier.  White carbs such as breads and pasta and like that are so addicting.   Once you get off them and get them out of your system, it is easier.  I am 14 months post op and have not had a slice of bread or pasta since then.  I used to LOVE my bread and pastas.  Now I stick to proteins and veggies and I'm happy as a clam.  I may have a bite or two of potato once in a while, but carbs are not a major portion of my diet these days.  Neither is sugar. 

You're having this surgery to help you affect a major lifestyle change.  Let me repeat myself:  You are having this surgery in order to live a healthier lifestyle, to be around longer for your family and to be able to move better and actually live your life.

Lose the pasta.  Lose the breads.  Ditch the carbs.  Give yourself a mental smack in the back of the head and buck up - get on the band wagon and start losing the weight.  Dr. Suh's office should give you a pre-op liver shrink diet and if he doesn't I will give you what my doctor said to do.  But....... Do what the doctor says and shrink your liver!

Good luck.  We're here for you if you need help, encouragement or an on-line kick in the butt!

MoMo

Thank you for the encouragment. Sometimes I do need a swift kick in the butt.
The problem I am having is breakfast...what can I eat for breakfast that doesn't have carbs or starch in it? I get tired of eggs quickly. I don't think I can have oatmeal.

Egg Mock Muffins

Any kind of meat you like, I prefer Chorizo, but turkey, beef, sausage, whatever
Any kind of grated cheese.  I like to use a mix of chedder and monteray jack
Eggs
Cream or Milk
You can also add some veggies into this as well, if you like...onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes etc.  Basically use your imagination.

Cook the meat and drain all the fat. I will wrap the meat in cheese cloth and let it drip and then squeeze the excess fat out.

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.  Place approximately 2 tsps of meat in each cup.  Now add another 2 tsps cheese.  Scramble eggs and add just a small bit of cream or mild.  Pour about 1/4 cup egg mixture into each cup.  Top with a small amount of additional cheese.  Bake in a 350 over for 20 - 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let "set" for about 5 minutes.  Remove from tins.  These can be eaten right away or kept in refridgerator or even freezer.  To warm in the morning, pop one in a plastic sandwich bag.  Leave the bag open and microwave on high for about 30 seconds.  If frozen 1 to 1 1/2 minutes should do.

5 Eggs makes 6 muffins.

There you go.  No bread, not carbs (unless you put in some veggies) and they will fill you up.  Hope it works for you.

Stephanie

You know we all need encouragement and even a swift kick in the butt sometimes.  You could probably eat oatmeal if you don't add surgar to it.  Maybe even Fiber One ceral.  I know they are carbs but they are healthy carbs.  Good luck with losing weight and with your surgery. 

Hello Daniel,

Congrats on getting your surgery date. That's great!!

I know carbs are a hard thing to give up, but the more you practice giving most of the bad carbs up before the surgery, the easier it's going to be post surgery.  I didn't completely give up all carbs before surgery because I exercised before surgery and my doctor felt I still needed a few carbs like bananas and small portions of other fruit. 

I've also found noodles made completely from tofu. They are at Whole Foods and I've seen them at Safeway before.  I put low fat sauces with some protein on top of these "noodles" and it feels like I am eating pasta. There are also soy crisps at Whole Foods when you just feel the need to have something crunchy or cracker like.  I do eat crackers too, but whole grain and they have fiber.

You can do this!!!!

MsBlues

Hi Daniel

CONGRATS on your upcoming surgery. You are in AWESOME hands with Dr Suh....He is the best around in my opinion as he always has is patients best interest at heart.

The carbs and starch thing is the toughest thing I had to do. He put me on a pure protein diet (An Atkins diet basically) prior to my surgery. I just stopped eating breads and all the pasta junk cold turkey. Yeah my body objected at first but it calmed down. I know your pain with the eggs and stuff. What I did was started replacing meals with protein drinks. You are going to have to do this after surgery so why not get in the habit before hand. They allow us to eat Cream of Wheat after surgery so I am going to assume (we all know what happens when we do that) that it is OK now. Just mix it up a bit. Its real important to get the fat away from your liver to allow him to get around in there.

Let us know if there is anything we can do for you. We are all here to support each other so we all can succeed in our journies.

Have a great day........Rick