ADVICE NEEDED... PLEASE SHARE..

Hey all,,,

 

Saturday was a BIG DAY… I had my pre-surgical dietary consult today. I met with a nutritionist who prepared me for life pre and post op.. So I guess that’s a good sign that I’m getting closer to the prize.

The nutritionist made a few suggestions about how I could prepare for what is to come.

She suggested that I start to stock up on Broths, Protein powders etc. She also suggested in the coming weeks I try a practice run with the Liquid and Soft Diet to get myself organized and ready for the time when I HAVE TO DO IT.

So next week I am going to give it a shot. ANY SUGGESTIONS??? On products and how one will survive that faze of the process? ANY and all advice is WELCOME.. I want the week to be successful.

 

Also,, I was wondering.. I don’t have to use that OptiSource that they recommend do I???

WHAT IS Impact Advanced Recovery?? Why do they want me on it 8 days prior to surgery?? What does it do??? They will let me use homemade broths and stocks right??? I was thinking of just making a few and freezing them…..

Hey there Bull,

First of all, anything you can do now to prepare for your new life post-WLS will make the transition easier and increase your odds of success. This means working now on changing your eating habits. You know the routine.....chew, chew, chew, smaller portions, healthy foods, protein first, etc.

This also means starting up a regular exercise program by beginning to walk. Baby steps my man. Finally, this means educating yourself on nutritional eating by reading labels, tracking fat, protein, and carb grams, calories and what not. You can also learn about what you can eat in the phases following your WLS. Become a student of nutritional eating.

That said, easier said than done I realize but any progress you can make prior to WLS will, once again, make the post-WLS transition much easier. I lost 52 pounds prior to WLS which was mandated by my surgeon before he would do the WLS. He put me on Optifast for the 2 months prior to WLS which helped immensely. All the other stuff I did on my own since I knew that WLS was "a tool" but .........

Bottom line, you need to eat healthy and exercise if you are to maintain your weight loss after WLS. You'll lose a lot of weight initially because of the WLS alone but without the change in habits, you'll not lose as much weight and the weight you do lose will eventually come back on. No fear tactic, just reality my friend. 

The sooner you can begin developing these healthy habits, the better. 

Boner 

Okay thats good because thats like all I have been doing since the start of this thing. I READY frankly if they wanted to cut tomorrow.. ID BE READY.

Bull,

Only thing I'm going to mention is that what may taste okay pre-op may taste like absolute crap post-op so be forewarned about that.  I'm being optimistic saying it "may" taste like crap when in all likelihood it will taste like crap! 

Never did the protein powders.  Opened up a jar of whey protein, smelled it and never used a scoop of the stuff.  Unjury has some unflavored powder you can mix in to food and will not affect the taste.  If you go with the protein shots mix 1/2 and 1/2 with water and either nurse it all day or 1/2 in the morning 1/2 in afternoon.  Was my experience if I did the whole shot at once it was subsuquently and explosively "shot" out of my ass.  If you make your own broths leave out any and all salt and seasonings.  Post-op things tend to taste toward the extra salty, or sweet, tasting side. 

Might I also recommend laying in a stash of sugar-free Popsicles while you are scrounging around for supplies.  They give you someting to crunch on beside ice chips and taste tolerable post-op.  That's my .02.

WOW thats very close to what the nutritionist told me THANK YOU!

I wouldn't stock up now for post op eating.  My taste buds changed after surgery.  What I would do before surgery is start walking and make friends with the local gnc or vitamin shop clerk.  Mine would let me bring stuff back that I couldn't handle.  Also don't buy stuff from the hospital, that will be very expensive.  Try DPS Nutrion on line, after you find stuff you like and they have the best prices.  Good Luck, Ken

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually started stocking up today. THANK GOODNESS for THANKS GIVING SEASON... I went to the GROCERY STORE just to scope out all the SUPPLIES available. Theres Chicken and Turkey Broth EVERYWHERE and its ALL on sale. I did check out the VITAMIN SHOP surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The lady at the counter had WLS 3 years ago. Very helpful............. She told me about DPS toooooooooooooooooooo. So I will check it out.
I kind of think the Nutritionist had a good idea about a test run. I wouldnt want to be caught with my pants down when the time comes. Next week Im going to give it a try.. I'll see my PCP on Friday and talk to him about it just so I have medical support. But, if I fallow all the instructions the Nutritionist gave and use the advice from the group I think I'll be okay.  I wont tell Weigh****chers about my fast.. Because they'd just have a fit.. "What do you mean your not counting points?" Anyway watch for my posts  I have a feeling next week Im going to be rather CRANKY..

I got a few things before surgery.  One was Isopure fruit drinks.  They had 20G protien per bottle and I thought they went down easy.  Some people didn't like the taste.  It was an easy protein to take in.

I also just remembered one thing that I did about 3 days after I got home.  I was feeling very hungry and it wasn't head hunger.  It was an actual hunger that I wasn't able to satisfy.  Finally, I got some cream of mushroom soup and strained it.  The cream part warmed up was the best thing I ever ate in my life.  It satisfied my hunger.

Oh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Good idea.. The nutritionist mentioned the cream soup thing in the her work book. I like that idea. I actually make a very good cream of mushroom soup from scratch its Very good and LOW CAL but very high in protein. Thanks for the tip I can imagine that would HELP A LOT for the days when Plain Broth just wont do it.

By the way walmart has pop flavored po sciles that are root beer, dr pepper and orange crush.  All sugar free all good.