Pre-Op Pig Out - How to stop eating like the world is ending?

My surgery will be in February or March.  For some reason, my surgeon requires no special pre-Op diet except for 24 hours of liquids the day before surgery.  WELL!  With no rules to follow, and knowing I am getting this incredible tool and gift....I am having my Last Hurrah it seems with the food.  I am really choosing super fattening choices, really bad stuff, ice cream, cookies.....  I am probably gaining weight.  I had the Psych Eval yesterday and the psychologist said I should start keeping a food journal and start exercising "Yesterday". 

What should I do to get my head in the game????  I feel like I am in this weird state of Limbo.

 

 

I think the food journal is a great idea.  It gets you started and it also gives you a picture of exactly how much and what you were eating pre-op.

Start following the eating plan.  Not so much the calorie restriction, but the eating protein first, veggies/fruit second, and everything else last.  Eat your ice cream and cookies.  Just make it dessert at the end of a meal instead of eating them AS a meal.

Stop drinking with your meals.

Keep reminding yourself that you're not really saying goodbye forever to these foods.  You're just going through a trial separation. 

Excellent advice...thanks you!  That's really insightful advice.

LOL...My surgery is in March and I will have a pre-op diet starting the 2nd of March. I actually have already started cutting down on my carbs and upping my protein (not dr ordered-I just want to prepare myself if that makes sense). My thing is sweets...gosh I want to go chocolate crazy. =) 

So first, this happened to me. The first month of the 3 month pe op diet (more like my countdown until surgery more than a diet) I did OK, then the next month I did terrible, like really, really bad food choices. Finally in the third month, for the first two weeks I was very serious.. but then two weeks later I was eating again like it was the end of the world.

Basically, I had one hell of a hard time controlling last meal syndrome. 

I gained 14 pounds in the months before surgery.

This is more of a cautionary tale.. try to control it if you can. The food log is an awesome idea, because I thought I was only eating 2500 cal a day before surgery. OH NO, it was MUCH higher than that. And thus, the 14 pound gain.

Good luck to you :) I hope you fair better than me with last meal syndrome!

I had the same problem - Last supper syndrome. I am happy to say I don't want anything now. I hope this feeling lasts.

Oh, I hope and pray I will be the same way afterwards!  Happy for you!

I was told that the more weight you lose before surgery, and the lower the fat and carb content of the foods you eat preop, the smaller your liver is and the easier it is for your surgeon to do his or her work.  I was also told that the smaller and less "angry" my liver was, the shorter the time I would be on the operating table.

Having that hanging over my head was highly motivating for me.  I lost 18 pounds between July 9 and November 20, the dates between my first surgeon meeting and the day before my surgery. 

I did have two food funerals, but they were two servings each, and I was eating very well other than for those two foods.

I have to agree that keeping a food journal and writing everything down might be helpful.  Maybe you would want to sign up on MyFitnessPal and log your food in there, where you could see right away the calories, fat grams, carb grams and protein you are consuming.  Portion size and protein intake are going to be MAJOR concerns for you after surgery, so might as well start now, IMVHO.

You know, I never had to have any "last meals", however, I did see myself eating tons.  Somehow in my mind (unconciously I guess) I was thinking...hey, I have to enjoy this now, or I will never have it again.  I also had an irrational fear that if I lost any weight prior to surgery the insurance company would deny my claim, or they would send me home the morning of surgery and say...oh you don't need surgery anymore. 

first let me say this....you will eat all of those things you love again.  You will learn to enjoy the taste for a bite or two and then move on.  You will not have to eat six pieces of pizza to feel satisfied, a half of a small slice, and you will be happy.  Don't eat because you think you will never have it again, or you wont' get it again for a year, blah blah.  That is simply not the case.  As long as you are eating healthy overall and eating under your sleeve, you will be fine. 

A journal is a good idea.  Just because your doc doens't require a preop diet doesn't mean you can't do one.  If you can, start a diet of your own, low carb or liquids even will help you to be more prepared for the surgery. 

All of that being said...the biggest regret I have about overeating directly before the surgery is that I had to lose all of that gained weight on top of what I already needed to lose.  If you already qualify for the surgery, why add more to the weight you will have to lose later.  Yes, it will come off more easily than it has in the past, but it is still the result of sacrifice.  It is just that much longer before you get to maintenance and can just relax and enjoy your new body.  Don't do that to yourself.  That is the best advice I can give you. 

Your world is ending. At least how you know it. I would recommend getting in some of the things you know you will really miss. From the time I decided to do the surgery and I started my pre-op diet was only 2 days so I missed everything. My last day of eating was crappy, I didn't even get to eat at my favorite restaurant.

Getting your head in the game is a never ending battle. But my biggest suggestion is to focus on why you are about to eat what you are eating when you pig out. Pay attention to the feeling you have when you want it and figure out why so you know how to deal with it when you can't have it any longer.