Pre-Op Weight Loss........Having a big issue

Greetings all,

I am having a serious issue with the weight loss the doctor has requested prior to being scheduled for the surgery. All he has asked from was to lose 10 pounds and I would be scheduled.

I started this back in mid November and went on a diet eliminating all big meals, replacing breakfast and lunch with SF Carnation Instant Breakfast for breakfast and a Protein Drink (Nectar Protein) for lunch and a very sensible dinner. I bought an excercise bike and a treadmill and worked out on them everyday. Went in after a month and I had gained 5 pounds. I didnt have Thanksgiving dinner even LOL..

I went back 2 weeks later and I havent changed a thing and I lost 4 pounds. So I go back today and I still havent changed anything and I gained 3.5 pounds. I am so frustrated and at my wits end with this.

Has anyone else had a similar issue with trying to lose some weight before surgery? I sure could use some advice here...................Thanks

Rick

You may have made too drastic of a change all at once and threw your body into starvation mode. Was consulting a nutritionist a requirment for the program your part of.  Thats what I did trying to lose my pre-op weight. After consulting and sticking to the diet a nutritionist set up, I dropped the weight fast.

Good Luck to you....

Have you tried adding some activity? Even a little walking 3 times a week will help. My surgeon requires 10-15% of your body weight before he will touch you so 10 pounds seems like it should be easy (sorry, don't mean to sound harsh).

You could also be retaining water. I know my doc put me on a water pill for a little while and within the first week I dropped 14 pounds (all water of course but still a lot of weight).

What do you mean by sensible? Another reason could be the exercise makes muscles. Muscles are denser than fat.  Have you lost inches? I would definitely check out the water thing also.  Make a journal of everything you eat and see if there are hidden calories.

I started working to lose weight the day after my consult.  I started off by just drinking EAS protein/carb shakes for a week and a half for breakfast and lunch and having a healthy supper.  (Healthy as in good for me not healthy as in big) Now its been almost 3 weeks that I have had nothing but the EAS protein/carb shakes and I'm down 25lbs so far.  My goal is to drop another 25 before my surgery.  I just got approved today and have to wait till later this week to find out when I can schedule my surgery.  I also work out for about an hour every night on my Total Gym.  I strongly suggest the shakes and working out...even if its just walking on a treadmill for 20 min a day, it will help big time.

Thanks guys for all the input. I do roughly 15 - 20 minutes in the morning on my recumbent bike and at least 20 mins at night on my treadmill. This is the most active I have been in a long time even with a bum knee I still push myself to get this exercise in.

I have noticed that my clothes are fitting better as someone asked. I agree that 10 pounds is nothing. The doctor just wanted to get the fat off the liver and that was it. This is why I dont understand why I cant drop these 10 pounds. They told me to stop doing the protein drinks today as it may cause weight gain (I dont understand that one). I go see the doctor tomorrow and will see what the heck is going on.

I do drink a ton of water everyday and have eliminated the diet pepsi. I have been retaining a lot of water as of late and hopefully he will do something with that tomorrow. I cant get in to see my PCP until next week so I am kinda stuck.

Actually your 30+ minutes daily of cardio is sufficient. I would try reducing fat and carbs dramatically. Carnation Instant Breakfast has liquid calories with little benefit. Try the sugar free yogurt cups with some higher fiber cereal for breakfast. Broil or grill chicken breasts, seafood or lean pork loin for lunch or dinner (4 oz portion). Steam your veggies and use the low fat margarine like Smart Balance. Up the quantity of veggies you eat. Finally drink at least 8 8oz glasses of water. This type of diet that is low sugar, low fat and low carb generally does it for me. And... rememberthat losing weight takes time.

My own experience was that I could always lose 10 pounds rapidly, without any problem whatsoever.  My problem was that I needed to lose many many times that much weight and keep it off for years.  Now, almost 14 months after my surgery, I guess I'm just about 25 pounds away from solving the first half of this problem; I'll see whether I will keep most of the weight off for the rest of my life.  But I already know it's going to be a continual struggle.

But back to you: someone with a BMI of 60+ should be able to lose 10 pounds simply by breathing hard.  If you spend a month dieting, replacing breakfast and lunch with SF CIB and a Nectar protein drink, eat 1 very modest dinner, and add a couple of pre-planned snacks, you are going to lose weight.  At least over the period of a month or two; the hard part is turning a month into 6 months and turning that into the rest of your life.  Also, everyone understands water weight.  Much of the initial weight you lose in the first week or so is water.  On a month long diet, even while keeping to it closely, just one carbohydrate-heavy indiscretion will be enough to gain 4 or 5 pounds overnight, but just as it's practically impossible to gain 4-5 pounds of adipose tissue overnight (that would be 17,000 - 20,000 calories of food), much of that sudden 4 to 5 pound weight gain will also be water.  So that's not "real" weight that will stick around.

If after a month of dieting, you find that you have gained 5 pounds that persist, day in and day out even as you stay on that diet and participate in daily weight-ins, then you need to call the police, because we have a clear violation of the laws of thermodynamics.  You're either having more than 1 SF CIB for breakfast, and/or more than 1 Nectar for lunch, and/or you eliminated "all big meals" and replaced them with some number of "smaller meals", the sum of which exceeded your daily number of maintenance calories.

What have you been eating for that "very sensible dinner"?  How about between-meal snacks?  They can be fine, too, as long as they're taken into account.  The best way to answer your question is to maintain a strict food diary, detailing EVERY scrap of food which passes your lips.   And do that for a month, saving your work.  It's very easy to undercount food calories, but the body is a cruel and rigorous accountant.  An equally rigid detailed food diary gives us the ability to look back and answer the questions you have about "what happened?"  "How could  I have GAINED 5 pounds?"  There's no way the answer won't be obvious from a well-kept food diary.  (Of course the practice of keeping and maintaining such an accurate food diary helps keep people conscious of everything that's they're eating, so that they won't have to ask such questions in the first place.)

/Steve

have you hsad you thyroid checked? I gained 60Lbs before we figured out what the issue was. As for pre-op I lost 28Lbs by cutting out the sodas,75% of the bread I was eating and exercise.

I can't stress enough to do CARDIO CARDIO CARDIO!