Feeling weepy, discouraged and miserable

I am on my 9th day of a three week pre-op Optifast diet.  I am finding the diet difficult and this is scaring the heck out of me.  The caloric intake for each day is 900.  I often feel hungry. It doesn't help that I really don't like the taste of Optifast and dread each shake despite being hungry.  I was told by many people that I shouldn't feel hungry on the diet.  I DO!!!!  That worries me.  I know many of you post-op are eating 600-800 calories a day and saying you are not hungry.  I am scared if I am struggling with 900 calories I will not be able to do less. All that self-hate talk is in my head.  I have been crying pretty much since last night and before that I was just plain angry and miserable.  Maybe it is just getting used to the the low carbs that are making me feel so discouraged and hopeless. 

What you are going through is pretty normal.  The pre-op diets are one of the hardest parts of all of this.  Post-op, the feelings and sensations we have physically are much different.  The head stuff is still there, so I highly recommend counseling for that.

Take the pre-op diet one day at a time.  Detoxing from carbs sucks.  Keep yourself occupied and try not to think about it too much.

Hang in there.

If you are experiencing "head hunger" then that will be an issue even after you have the surgery.  If you are physically hungry, that will disappear after the surgery.

I can only eat a fraction of what I ate pre-surgery; I am totally satisfied and do not experience any hunger.  Fortunately, I did not have to go on a pre-surgery diet--if I did, I would likely be as miserable as you.

No doubt the presurgery diet was the hardest part - you haven't had the surgery to help you stick to the diet you just have to do it with willpower...something that never worked for us before.

The good news is that it's only a few weeks. It is hard, but you can do it!

Hugs

Don't worry so much! Pre-op and post-op are 2 different things. I'm not saying that everything will be all sunshine and roses post-op, but you can bet that you'll probably never will be hungry in the same way again.
Amalia

One thing I've seen on here, but haven't experienced yet, is that as you lose body fat the hormones that are stored in the fat are released and cause somewhat of an inbalance. That could cause the mood changes and weeping too. I'm not sure of all of this as I haven't had my sleeve yet but it's just something to keep in mind as a possible cause. You may want to do a little research on it - please don't take my word for it, it's just what I've read in other people's posts.

 I don't know what the Optifast diet is, but on my pre-op, I drank CytoSport 100% Whey Protein Shake (1 scoop=27 grams protein) with 8 oz. Soymilk (don't do milk) in the morning  Around 10:30, I drank 4 or 8 oz. of soymilk (vanilla).  Lunch was another protein drink, Pure Protein Shake (30 grams of protein), 3 pm or so, 4 oz. of soymilk.  My doctor said I could have 1 cup of reg. coffee.  At night,  I had another shake and for snack, was a cup of soothing peppermint tea.  

I had a headache the first day from no carbs, but then it got better.  

I had surgery Jan 16 and the after part (besides the surgery) was easier than the pre-op.  

YOu have to stay motiivated---reexamine your committment on why you started this journey - your health reasons, etc.  

Remember, this too shall pass.

Thanks so much for all your replies.  I decided to take today off and just have a mental health day.  I am going to have some herbal tea and wrap myself in a heating blanket (I am from Canada... brr).  I am going to try and not over think too much.  Feb 9th is not too far away.  I think maybe I have tried so many times in the past to lose weight and failed that I have not allowed myself to fully trust that this time it will in fact work. I know I have to stop thinking this way but I am scared to allow myself to be too hopeful.

The reason we don't feel so hungry after surgery on such a low calorie diet is because the surgery removes much of the Grehlin (hunger hormone). I think it was much easier post-op than pre-op.

Hi: I will be starting my pre-op diet in a few weeks too. Why not switch to a different protein shake, there are so many to choose from. I also don't like Optifast, I use a whey product with water or rice milk. I have fasted many times before, so I know how you feel, the hunger, headaches, angry feelings and just miserable. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. After surgery your hunger will be less or stop all together.
If WLS is what you want, then you have to put in the time and effect it takes to complete your mission. Think about how much better your life is going to be after your surgery, a healthier and happier you. For us, the obese nothing is easy, but now we have a new tool to get us onto a path of victory, it's called WLS.
PS: Hang in there, we have your back. 
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