Pre-surgery diet is kicking my butt

I'm jumping through the hoops for my insurance to pay for the sleeve and those hoops are kicking my butt.  I'm trying to not eat between meals, only drink water, eat lots of lean protein and much, much fewer carbs.  And I'm having a super hard time with it.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  Any hope for the future?  I'm afraid that if I'm struggling now is the post-surgery diet going to be super difficult too?

You have to cut your self some slack. We all did this for a reason. It helps you to have more self control. I have not heard of one person that did not struggle post op. After surgery it is easier. I only lost 32 pounds in my 6 months before and 15 pounds my first week after. See the difference?

Work with your surgeon and nutritionist. Maybe try a modified liquid diet. Good luck!! I was (lucky) to qualify mostly on my core morbidities for my surgery. I lost 6 lbs between seeing my surgeon the first time and right before surgery. I went on the pre-op liquid diet and lost another 6 lbs. Had surgery 5/13/14 and have lost 10 lbs since then. So ask for help anywhere you can get it.

Why did you reply to me with this?

It gets easier after surgery because the tummy size is so small.  You might want to eat more but as long as you avoid liquids around meals and eat dense protein first, the tummy helps set the limits. 

Do the best you can before surgery.  Anything you can do to establish good habits ahead of time will be a big help after surgery. 

Personally I find that I am very sensitive to carbs and I have to keep my carbs very low or I will have cravings.  You might benefit from trying to keep carbs very low for a few days and see if the cravings are reduced.  I know I could never have kept to the diet if I hadn't discovered the impact of carbs on my cravings.

best of luck,

Carol

I'm doing the pre surgery diet now.  I have done well by staying on a strict schedule with my breakfast, lunch , snack and dinner.  I also make sure I have what I need in the house and accessible and not have things I DON'T need in the house.  Then I stay busy.  I have hard times.... if i get hungry after breakfast, I know I cant eat again until noon, so I try to stay busy and fight it and think of the things I can do, or text one of my encouragers and whatever I have to do to not fall.  Find what works for you, try everything.  I think by me doing this it will help my journey after surgery.... Good luck and if I can help in anyway pm me. 

make shore you weigh and measure everything that goes in your mouth , and track it

myfitnesspal.com is a great tracking program for free online ,if you don't measure and track you will not know how many cal you really are eating

A little exercise goes a long way too.  Drink water and cut calories (sounds easy but it isn't!)

You don't have to be perfect, this is your time to learn a new way of eating and dealing with food.  To get into new habits and practice eating the way you will have to after surgery.  I lost 70 pounds pre surgery and if I could do it, anyone could!

My lightbulb moment came when I realized I had the power to make good choices for me, nobody was forcing me.  That took away all the pressure because the only one who I would be disappointing was me. It isn't always easy but most things worth doing are not easy.

Good luck to you!

Rest assured, it is SO much easier after surgery.  That's sort of why we get it, right? :)

I'm on day 4 of the official pre-op (been slowly easing into it for a while) and the headaches are killing me! No aspirin, ibuprofen, or caffeine. The caffeine is the worst-I can handle the low-carb. I had a nauseating migraine today from a perfect storm of contributors:hormones, stress, lack of sleep, weather changed and lack of caffeine. It's hard to work through those and I can't take a sick day right now because I will be off for 2 weeks. I'm just venting...surgery is on Monday. I am waking early worrying about things, which I know is completely normal, it's just a tough week emotionally and physically. Looking forward to headache-free days and getting past the worry.