Diet

[Nancy13]

I’m new here. I have one more visit with my surgeon and one more visit with my Dietitian. My question is what carbs can l eat before surgery my dietitian and l haven’t really talked about it she just sent me a sheet with very few items on it. My surgery is suppose to be in December but l’m doubtful with Covid.
Thanks

 

[TraceyT]

Hi Nancy - welcome to the group!!

That is a surgical team / nutritionist question. Believe it or not - most of the nutritionists give varied instructions for the eating plan given to their patients.

I was on a 2 week post surgery diet. I was given explicit foods and liquids I could have during those 2 weeks. More than likely - once your surgery date is scheduled you'll get a more explicit eating plan from your surgical team.

Call them and ask them what you can and can't eat before surgery. I hope you get it figured out sooner rather than later.

 

[3momchaos]

I was directed to start steering clear of the types of carbs that I wouldn’t be eating often after surgery, but I wasn’t given specifics.

 

[JudyNY]

Welcome to the group Nancy! Since you haven't seen the dietician yet, I'm thinking the dietician will give you an eating plan before surgery. When do you have that scheduled? Every doctor is different. I got mine in the beginning of the process with a sensible diet as part 1 that allowed whole grain carbs and then the last two weeks was part 2 with protein shakes for breakfast and lunch and then a very lean dinner. I know some are restricted to just protein shakes the last two weeks. But I would call them in case you should have had your instructions already, it seems like they are cutting it close to the actual surgery date. Good luck!

 

[dianeseattle]

I love the fact that the medical community decided to work in conjunction with the insurance system to make this whole process into a routine that could be repeated no matter where you were. So everybody has a pre-surgery and post-surgery diet plan and that helps on so many levels.

When I had my surgery in 2007, I went to my doctor to inquire about having it in July, right after my 56 birthday, and he explained that he would have to write a letter to have it approved by Medicare, which he did immediately. The only requirement was that a patient be 100 pounds overweight. It's not that tough these days to get the surgery but I was lucky I was approved back then. He didn't put a clock on it but just told me that while we are waiting for the approval, I should start trying to lose some weight. He didn't specify how that should happen, so I just did things like throw away the buns on my cheeseburgers and avoid deep fried or doughy stuff.

But he already scheduled the surgery, assuming I would be approved. And I was. Less than a month after my inquiry, I was in the hospital recovering. I only lost a few pounds on my own but in those days it really didn't matter. The surgery was done using an open procedure, and it was really, really a solid rerouting of my plumbing. I could not have failed or gained the weight back no matter how hard I tried. I began losing weight immediately and could not put it back on.

So I lost 35 lbs first month and 25 lbs the second and 15 pounds the third month, which took me to Thanksgiving. My weight loss slowed and even stalled for months after that. But by my 14th month I had lost 110 pounds.

I'm not sure I could do what everyone does these days because I don't think I could stick to the pre-op diet. Post-op was easy because I was sick as a dog at first and lost a lot of weight really fast. I didn't feel a lot like eating after that and continue to lose steadily for a couple more months without any effort.

I went to the YMCA 5 or 6 times a week after that because I wanted to get my muscles into good shape so I could start hiking. I had hated hiking all my life because it just seemed really really hard to go uphill, even when I was young and skinny. But for some reason after the surgery hiking just became the passion of my life, and building stamina was simple.

Following a preoperative diet is so smart. Not only do you lose weight before the surgery, but you're already learning how you have to eat after the surgery. Otherwise, it's kind of a rough transition.

 

[drewmangia]

Hi everyone, I’m a four weeks out from surgery and I’m concerned about the sudden halt in weight loss. I lost 20lbs in my first two weeks but I haven’t lost anything else and I’m coming up on week five. I eat like I are before surgery. I don’t have that feeling of being full, I can eat almost as much as I did before without any complications, and I haven’t experienced any uncomfortableness or vomiting from eating too much. And I think this might be related to my not losing anymore weight. I’ve talked to my surgeon and dietician a lot and they both say that this is all normal but I don’t feel that it is. With the rise in COVID cases in NY I haven’t been to the gym all that much since leaving the hospital. I don’t know what to do. I’m starting to feel hopeless and discouraged that things are not going like I was led to expect. Does anyone have pointers or experienced the same thing I am? Please help.

 

[WazzuCoug]

Hi everyone, I’m a four weeks out from surgery and I’m concerned about the sudden halt in weight loss. I lost 20lbs in my first two weeks but I haven’t lost anything else and I’m coming up on week five. I eat like I are before surgery. I don’t have that feeling of being full, I can eat almost as much as I did before without any complications, and I haven’t experienced any uncomfortableness or vomiting from eating too much. And I think this might be related to my not losing anymore weight. I’ve talked to my surgeon and dietician a lot and they both say that this is all normal but I don’t feel that it is. With the rise in COVID cases in NY I haven’t been to the gym all that much since leaving the hospital. I don’t know what to do. I’m starting to feel hopeless and discouraged that things are not going like I was led to expect. Does anyone have pointers or experienced the same thing I am? Please help.

First and foremost, stalls are not unusual at any point in your journey, especially after the first three weeks when we all lose quite a bit of water weight and then go through a period of rehydration that counter-balances fat loss. You are still burning fat during this stall, regardless of what the scale reads.

You might want to read my post on stalls on this forum.

Like you, I have never felt the level of restriction that many people describe on this journey. There were times right after surgery when I wondered if they just cut some holes in me to make it look like the surgery was done. I've never vomited, I got sick once around week three, and I have only experienced uncomfortable fullness on a handful of occasions.

If you aren't tracking your caloric intake right now, you might do that for a few days. When I did that, I realized that although I wasn't feeling like I was "restricted" in my eating, I was only eating about 800 calories at the 1 month mark, which is about average. Although calorie counting is grossly inaccurate, it does help provide a general idea of caloric intake. The amount of food and calories that you eat, however, is not nearly as important as what you are eating. If you are making good food choices and not eating sugar and other simple carbs, that is good.

One thing that people often forget is you don't have to eat until you "feel" full. In fact, in studies of the longest lived peoples on earth, they rarely eat until they are full. They eat a reasonable amount and then stop. It's a different relationship with food, but that is an area I'm working on. You can get by on far less food that you would eat if you filled your stomach up, even your small stomach. You can learn to be satisfied without being full.

As long as you are making good food choices, staying hydrated and maintaining a caloric deficit, you will be burning fat and you will lose weight. Good things are happening even if the scale doesn't move. That doesn't make it less frustrating when it happens, but as long as you stay on track, you will reach your goals.

Don't worry about not getting exercise for losing weight. Exercise is great for overall health, but it does very little in contributing to significant weight loss. If you do some basic body weight exercises at home, working your main muscle groups, you will be doing enough to reduce muscle loss.

In summary:

1. You aren't doing anything wrong (assuming you are following post surgery guidelines)
2. Exercise doesn't really help with weight loss, but it's great for overall health. Don't count on that for breaking a stall.
3. Almost everyone experiences stalls that last days or weeks, and it's totally natural and normal (but no less frustrating)
4. Fat loss is not a natural body process; we are not designed to lose weight, we are designed to protect weight
5. Our bodies have to go through adjustments in this process, and how quickly that happens varies from person to person
6. Continue to make good food choices, stay well hydrated, work in some resistance exercise, and you WILL reach your goals!

Your body composition continues to change, and regardless of what the scale reads, good things are happening in your body!

 

[dianeseattle]

You have a level of awareness that should allow you to answer your own questions. Stop eating the same way you ate before the surgery. You should have changed your diet along with the surgery and you should not be able to eat as much as you did before. I don't understand what your surgical team is saying to you if you are gaining weight and telling them that you are eating the same amount as before. This doesn't make any sense and it shouldn't be happening. But the only solution is within you. Get some support from your medical team and stop eating as much food and the same kinds of food as you ate before. I don't know what else to tell you.

 

[drewmangia]

You have a level of awareness that should allow you to answer your own questions. Stop eating the same way you ate before the surgery. You should have changed your diet along with the surgery and you should not be able to eat as much as you did before. I don't understand what your surgical team is saying to you if you are gaining weight and telling them that you are eating the same amount as before. This doesn't make any sense and it shouldn't be happening. But the only solution is within you. Get some support from your medical team and stop eating as much food and the same kinds of food as you ate before. I don't know what else to tell you.

I haven’t gained any weight. I changed my diet 12 weeks before surgery so I haven’t been eating the same foods I always had. I have been eating less because I’ve been following a post-op diet. What was causing me to eat as I did before was the fact that I wasn’t eating throughout the day every 3 hours like instructed. Since I’ve gone back to that I’ve lost an additional 10lbs this week. But thank you for your sincere words of encouragent.