Pre-Op Diet Shenanigans... And a question

Hi y'all. I've been... straying a little from plan. And not in the direction I expected either.

Don't worry, I've not been plowing through Delicious Forbidden Foods... But I have made myself sick of my once lusted-after daily salad + Grilled chicken parts. I don't want to eat it at all.

So a couple nights last week, I didn't. I just had a 4th protein shake :/

Last night, I had a very small version(I ate the chicken), and had a 4th protein shake.

I'm hungry. I don't know what the deal is. I'm aware for large swaths of the day that I am in fact hungry. But I just can't seem to choke down the salad.

If I just skip the salad and keep on with the shakes and maybe a 2oz chicken breast each night, is that a bad thing? I know those green leafies are full of vitamins and whatever... but Ugh.  I only have 3 more days of this before a full day of clear liquids--which I am not especially looking forward to either--but I'd rather do all liquids/protein than face another salad at this point.

All that would be Problem #1

(Problem #2) A question follows:

I have lost a good bit of weight before surgery(as of today: 92.5#). I know that slows loss down post-op, but does it diminish the amount of weight people usually lose post-op? 

See, the thing is, by everyone's accounting of their monthly losses(and by the Post-Op Planner) I know most of the weight comes off in the firsts 3-4 months. But if your first months are slow because you already lost a bunch of weight... see where I'm going here?  Is there a cap to what I am likely to lose that's still rooted to what I weighed almost 100# ago?

I want to be the kind of person who just goes LA-LA-LA IT'LL COME OFF IN TIME.... But I'm going to California in July for work. I'm totally excited about it, but trying to plan or get a wardrobe together ahead of time rather than going on a wallet-disabling spending spree at the last minute. It's a conference, I'll need at least five professional outfits, two for evening(fancy parties, etc), and pajamas because I'm rooming with friends I've never actually yet met in person. I thought I could just ballpark an estimate it for the PJs, and the ones I bought that I thought I would wear in a few months? Fit now(they're 22s, I started at 34s...). I'm just completely clueless, and waiting until the last minute to buy a bunch of clothing is going to give me an aneurysm.

Okay, I guess that became a little more than a single question but... I think the squirrel that powers my brain went to sleep around the same time I started this pre-op bidness...

Hello! 

I would think that as long as you are getting in your Protien you'd be fine. I'm not your nutritionist though.. You could always call the office and ask? That's what they are there for. Me being 5 months out.. Sometimes I'm not hungry but I need to get my Protien in.. I just have a shake. It's always a safer option in my mind. 

Weight loss per-op.. I lost 53 lbs pre-op. I have reached my 100 lbs lost and I am still losing at a nice steady pace. Well a nice steady pace for me that is. I still have another 100 lbs before I reach goal. My doctor continues to tell me I am doing just fine and I will make it there. As long as you do what you need to do you should be fine. I lost about 23 lbs in month one and about 8-10 pounds each month after. To me a loss is a loss. If it takes me 12 month or 18 month or however long it takes.. I know that I will eventually get there and I won't stop until I do get there. So I wouldn't worry about the rate at which you will lose weight. Just take it one day at a time and remember that this is a life journey not a fast fix.

Buying new clothes.. Because I am losing weight each month and inches all the time I didn't want to buy new clothes at all. Unfortunately I work in a bank and have to dress professionally all the time. I decided to go to good will and buy some "new clothes". That way I would be upset if after a few months they didn't fit anymore. You can find really nice things at Good will. So that's an idea!

good luck to you always!! 

Hi, thank you for your reply.

I thought about calling the bariatric center, but it's really hard to get in touch with my nutritionist, and now that I've been approved for surgery, my patient liaison there isn't really my contact anymore. My contacts are supposed to be the nurses at the surgeon's office. I guess I could call them. I'm frankly astounded that I don't want the big salad. Maybe I mucked things up when I bought a different mix of greens. They do taste different but I don't look at them and go: UGH before a couple days ago.

I'm as close to exactly 10 pounds less than you as you can be without being exact... The weight loss on my pre-op diet has been laughable considering this is already day 14 and I still have a few days to go. But I know you're right, I just hate looking like a slouch the first time I go to the conference.

I've never looked at clothing at Goodwill. Mostly because I didn't think it was possible they could ever have my size, you know? I'll try and look there the next time I'm in Columbus and not freshly operated on. The ones near where I live... seem very unlikely to have anything but jeans. But jeans are better than nothing. I'll go look there too.

It's weird that this is what's stressing me out. Probably because I haven't had to do the professional thing on a daily basis for like... 15 years. I have maybe 3 good office-type outfits right now, and the rest are just casual or maybe office casual--nice, but something you could only feel overdressed wearing to like...a honky-tonk or something. :)

IMO, don't sweat the lack of greens. You've done a good job on your pre op. If you're really concerned, call your surgeon's office and ask what is permissible the next few days. 

As for clothes for your trip, take it from someone who has traveled that road already. Don't buy any clothes for your trip until about one or two weeks before you go. You will have no way to gauge how your body will release the weight. I bought an outfit for a show and 3 weeks later I could no longer wear the clothes - they were far too big. 

Bah! Bah I say! I much prefer the idea I had of how this diet thing would go. Here's a mental image: Cookie Monster(me) + big salad. NOM NOM NOM.  That's pretty much how it went the past six months for my daily salad. Maybe I only look forward to it when it's not the only thing I'm eating(besides jello, and we won't even talk about the jello...)

Re: Clothes--- Sounds like it might be another GO TO COLUMBUS situation. Love the fresh air where I live(when it doesn't smell like a cow pasture), and the distinct lack of traffic(though sometimes inconsiderate farmers drive their tractors slowly and I have to creep behind them a whole mile or two before they turn off and I can resume flying down on these back country, curly-q roads), but when the local shopping choices are: Walmart and Goodies, you're kinda stuck. It's online(which is a crapshoot fitwise), or a long drive.

I still think I'm going to order some smaller pjs. I love Pjs. Maybe I'll go CRAZY and order an 18... Then if they don't fit by July, they'll fit eventually.

I don't know if this is better or worse than stressing about the surgery. They're both things I can't do jack to fix right now.

HaHa, luv the image of the cookie monster & big salad, nom, nom. My cookie monster is running amok & terrorizing the villagers. lol 

As far as the clothes go, not much advice I can give when preparing for a trip. All I can say is to not go too crazy when buying clothes when eventually you'll have to give them up anyway. Its a sad & happy moment to give away clothes, especially when they've hardly been used.

I think I'm gonna try the Gwyennie(however that was spelled) Bee thing that GeekMonster suggested. That's looking like a clothing gold mine.

My CookieMonster went into a coma. Or maybe he got some of that contaminated Dole stuff from a few months ago. But I rather like the idea of him joining some band of village-terrorizing disaffected cookie-monsters...  

I lost 85 lbs pre op and lost at a similar rate to people who didn't lose pre-op. I don't remember what my #s were but in the range of 10-15lbs a month for the first few months. 

Take Kairks advice and don't try buying clothes now. I too bought clothes and 3 weeks later they were too big. 

Thank you for your response :)

My pre-op diet... well I thought I'd lost less a couple days ago, but I was working with an incorrect number. So, as of today, day 14 on the pre-op diet... I am down 8.5 pounds, which seems like not a lot considering how little I'm consuming. Has made me think it will continue post-op.

Guess I'll wait and try not to fret, and hold off on the clothing :)

I think you are fine if you miss a salad or two, but are still making decent choices.  We don't have to be perfect, we just have to make good choices.

About the clothes for the conference.  Wait to buy, and remember, neutrals like black pants can be worn multiple days, and often hotels have a next day laundry service - you could probably get away with less than 5 whole outfits by mixing and matching.

Sounds like fun.  And shopping for size 18s sound fun too, so much eaisier to go to a regular store instead of having to shop on line.

Its getting so close....I'm thinking of you this week!