Pre-op weight loss..please HELP!

[cckcsharp]

Hi,

I started my pre-op diet two weeks ago. I lost 3 pounds the first week and only 1 the second week. Dr. Miranda asked that I email once a week to check in. When I checked in with her this past weekend with my 1 pound weight loss, she responded saying that I may need to post pone my surgery. I am frustrated because they have my starting weight as 296. But 2 weeks before calling the OCC, I weighed 304. I lost 8 pounds just prior to calling them. So I am technically down 12 pounds in 4 weeks, but they are recognizing 4 of those pounds. Now, my weight loss has slowed since when I first started, and I am frustrated because, I know that initially when people go on these pre-op radical diets they drop weight fast. Well, my fast pounds came off right before I called them. Because my BMI is 53, I have to lose weight before surgery. They didn't give me a number, but the paperwork they send out says 5%, for me that would be 14 pounds. I have 4 1/2 weeks until surgery. I am doing the 2 protein shakes and 1 lean cuisine diet. I eat about 800 calories per day and I am walking on my treadmill 5 days per week. The weight is just coming off slow. I don't want to post pone my surgery and I don't know what more I can do to make the weight come off faster. I thought 7 weeks of pre-op diet was plenty of time. I am frustrated because I am not even sure what weight they are looking for prior to surgery. I did respond to Dr. Miranda and ask this question, so hopefully she will clarify so I know what weight they want me at. But I guess I am just ultimately frustrated because I feel like this is why I am over weight. It seems like no matter what I do, nothing works. I am wondering if I should be doing some liquid diet for the next 4 weeks to see if this will help. Although I know that would be awful to follow that up with another 3-4 weeks of post op liquid diet. Help, what can I do different to help keep my surgery on track for Aug. 29th.

Jessica

[Clynn]

Be sure to let Dr Miranda know what you are doing to lose the weight. Your problem at this stage may be that you're not getting enough calories. She can offer suggestions on how to get the weight loss back into gear. Also, sometimes the effort to lose the weight prior to surgery is just as important as the actual weight lost. Don't sweat it, just do your best and you'll make it.

[sparetire]

Hi,

I started my pre-op diet two weeks ago. I lost 3 pounds the first week and only 1 the second week. Dr. Miranda asked that I email once a week to check in. When I checked in with her this past weekend with my 1 pound weight loss, she responded saying that I may need to post pone my surgery. I am frustrated because they have my starting weight as 296. But 2 weeks before calling the OCC, I weighed 304. I lost 8 pounds just prior to calling them. So I am technically down 12 pounds in 4 weeks, but they are recognizing 4 of those pounds. Now, my weight loss has slowed since when I first started, and I am frustrated because, I know that initially when people go on these pre-op radical diets they drop weight fast. Well, my fast pounds came off right before I called them. Because my BMI is 53, I have to lose weight before surgery. They didn't give me a number, but the paperwork they send out says 5%, for me that would be 14 pounds. I have 4 1/2 weeks until surgery. I am doing the 2 protein shakes and 1 lean cuisine diet. I eat about 800 calories per day and I am walking on my treadmill 5 days per week. The weight is just coming off slow. I don't want to post pone my surgery and I don't know what more I can do to make the weight come off faster. I thought 7 weeks of pre-op diet was plenty of time. I am frustrated because I am not even sure what weight they are looking for prior to surgery. I did respond to Dr. Miranda and ask this question, so hopefully she will clarify so I know what weight they want me at. But I guess I am just ultimately frustrated because I feel like this is why I am over weight. It seems like no matter what I do, nothing works. I am wondering if I should be doing some liquid diet for the next 4 weeks to see if this will help. Although I know that would be awful to follow that up with another 3-4 weeks of post op liquid diet. Help, what can I do different to help keep my surgery on track for Aug. 29th.

Jessica

Awwww hun, you are doing great! you might not be getting enough calories, especially if you are exercising so much. Try bumping up to 1000... add a salad with some good protein, your new muscles will need it and they will help to burn the calories. You can do it!!! >

[OICU812]

I know you are frustrated, but you can do it. I started my pre-op diet on July 1 and was told I needed to lose 30 lbs to have my surgery by mid August. I thought it would be tough. I was down 28 lbs. this morning, so I'm almost there. I have been having a protein drink( I use the EAS whey protein in chocolate from Sams Club and it is very good), having a lean cuisine and salad for lunch, and a lean cuisine and salad for supper. I sometimes have some sugar free jello for snack at night. Check the protein drink that you are using and make sure it doesn't have alot of sugar or fat, some do. Like others have said, maybe you need more calories or protein to get the process rolling. I'm sure Dr. Miranda will be able to help you on this. She has been very encouraging to me.

[cckcsharp]

I know you are frustrated, but you can do it. I started my pre-op diet on July 1 and was told I needed to lose 30 lbs to have my surgery by mid August. I thought it would be tough. I was down 28 lbs. this morning, so I'm almost there. I have been having a protein drink( I use the EAS whey protein in chocolate from Sams Club and it is very good), having a lean cuisine and salad for lunch, and a lean cuisine and salad for supper. I sometimes have some sugar free jello for snack at night. Check the protein drink that you are using and make sure it doesn't have alot of sugar or fat, some do. Like others have said, maybe you need more calories or protein to get the process rolling. I'm sure Dr. Miranda will be able to help you on this. She has been very encouraging to me.

I am using the herbalife protein drinks, .5 grams fat and 9 grams sugar. I think that pretty low isn't it?

[Kim2BSlim]

Water! Drink it all day long. You have to have lots of water to flush the fat you are losing out of your system.

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Hang in there, you may have a drastic drop all at once if you get your water in and keep up the exercising. You can do this!!

[julieburns]

:lb4:

You still have plenty of time to lose your weight.

[Kimra]

Kim is right.. drink tons of water.. I notice that I lose WAY more weight when I get ALL my water in and then some! Let Dr. Miranda know about the 8 lbs you lost prior.. that may help. Good Luck and keep us posted!

[cckcsharp]

Kim is right.. drink tons of water.. I notice that I lose WAY more weight when I get ALL my water in and then some! Let Dr. Miranda know about the 8 lbs you lost prior.. that may help. Good Luck and keep us posted!

Okay thanks. I started this morning with lots of water since that seems to be what everyone says will help. And I did tell Dr. Miranda on the phone this morning that I had lost the 8 pounds prior to calling the OCC. She didn't say anything, but at least I told her.

[stormy]

Hi,

I started my pre-op diet two weeks ago. I lost 3 pounds the first week and only 1 the second week. Dr. Miranda asked that I email once a week to check in. When I checked in with her this past weekend with my 1 pound weight loss, she responded saying that I may need to post pone my surgery. I am frustrated because they have my starting weight as 296. But 2 weeks before calling the OCC, I weighed 304. I lost 8 pounds just prior to calling them. So I am technically down 12 pounds in 4 weeks, but they are recognizing 4 of those pounds. Now, my weight loss has slowed since when I first started, and I am frustrated because, I know that initially when people go on these pre-op radical diets they drop weight fast. Well, my fast pounds came off right before I called them. Because my BMI is 53, I have to lose weight before surgery. They didn't give me a number, but the paperwork they send out says 5%, for me that would be 14 pounds. I have 4 1/2 weeks until surgery. I am doing the 2 protein shakes and 1 lean cuisine diet. I eat about 800 calories per day and I am walking on my treadmill 5 days per week. The weight is just coming off slow. I don't want to post pone my surgery and I don't know what more I can do to make the weight come off faster. I thought 7 weeks of pre-op diet was plenty of time. I am frustrated because I am not even sure what weight they are looking for prior to surgery. I did respond to Dr. Miranda and ask this question, so hopefully she will clarify so I know what weight they want me at. But I guess I am just ultimately frustrated because I feel like this is why I am over weight. It seems like no matter what I do, nothing works. I am wondering if I should be doing some liquid diet for the next 4 weeks to see if this will help. Although I know that would be awful to follow that up with another 3-4 weeks of post op liquid diet. Help, what can I do different to help keep my surgery on track for Aug. 29th.

Jessica

When I go on the pre op diet, I am going to freak out if they cancel my surgery. I thought you go on a liquid diet before the surgery to lose the weight. I hope my husband can do it. If it is cancelled then we will lose over $800.00, on airline tickets, this is not good news.

[cckcsharp]

When I go on the pre op diet, I am going to freak out if they cancel my surgery. I thought you go on a liquid diet before the surgery to lose the weight. I hope my husband can do it. If it is cancelled then we will lose over $800.00, on airline tickets, this is not good news.

Stormy, it depends on how much you weigh and your BMI what they have you do pre op. My starting BMI is 53, so thats pretty high. Dr. Miranda said that I would only go to liquid protein shakes the 3 days before the surgery. Before that, it's the two shakes and one lean cuisine. But, I am starting to wonder if I should just do the liquid diet for the next 4 weeks just to lose the weight. I am worried the other way won't work. As for your husband, well guys suck!!! They lose weight much faster and easier than us gals do, so I don't think he will have to much of a problem. There's another guy on the board who has lost 28 pounds in the last 4 weeks. I am not sure about the surgery being cancelled. They can ask you to post pone it. Which means that you pay a hefty fee with the airlines to change your ticket to new dates. I too will lose money if they make me re-schedule. And I wonder if post poning the surgery would even make a difference. If I can't lose the amount they want in 7 weeks then I don't think that delaying the surgery will help. I am going to keep trying to lose the weight though. So don't worry because of my failure. Most people do lose the pre op weight. And if your starting weight is low enough, then they don't even require you to lose that much or nothing at all. What is your starting weight?

Jessica

[Chrissyw]

Hi

I also have a high BMI almost 55 at 340 lb. My surgery is scheduled in October 6 so I have time to lose the weight. Dr. Miranda wants me down to 300-310. I am on 2 lean cuisines and an atkins shake. Only 1 gm of sugar and plenty of protein. I don't think I have ever lost weight that fast. She also told me I could eat as much as 4lbs of green veggies with salad spritzer on them. I have just started so I won't know how quickly it will come off. She gave me several options and this is the one I'm going to start with. Otherwise it will be Atkins induction. I wish you well. I would talk to her specifically about what the expectations are. I haven't bought airline tickets yet because of this issue. They told me all this upfront though so I knew what is expected. Did they not tell you this before you scheduled? That sort of bothers me.

Good luck

Christine

[Blazn]

CCKC, does Dr. Miranda know how much you lost prior to scheduling your surgery? The entire amount of weight you have lost should count so make sure you tell her how much you weighed just before starting your pre-op!

[nicolek]

Kim is right.. drink tons of water.. I notice that I lose WAY more weight when I get ALL my water in and then some! Let Dr. Miranda know about the 8 lbs you lost prior.. that may help. Good Luck and keep us posted!

Kimra

You have done so well.

nicolek

[cckcsharp]

Hi

I also have a high BMI almost 55 at 340 lb. My surgery is scheduled in October 6 so I have time to lose the weight. Dr. Miranda wants me down to 300-310. I am on 2 lean cuisines and an atkins shake. Only 1 gm of sugar and plenty of protein. I don't think I have ever lost weight that fast. She also told me I could eat as much as 4lbs of green veggies with salad spritzer on them. I have just started so I won't know how quickly it will come off. She gave me several options and this is the one I'm going to start with. Otherwise it will be Atkins induction. I wish you well. I would talk to her specifically about what the expectations are. I haven't bought airline tickets yet because of this issue. They told me all this upfront though so I knew what is expected. Did they not tell you this before you scheduled? That sort of bothers me.

Good luck

Christine

I did talk to Dr. Miranda about the expectations today. She said that I have to lose 14 pounds by surgery. Doesn't seem that big until you see the scale going the wrong direction. Also, they never did say anything about waiting to buy airline tickets. So I bought them early, because I am scheduled for Labor day weekend and I didn't want to wait until the flights were booked or the price went way up. I didn't think losing the weight needed before surgery would be a problem. I thought if I did what she said, it would come off. That is not the case. So I am trying like heck to tweak it and do things a little different to get that 14 pounds off in the next 4 weeks. I am going to keep a food diary though. So when I email her my weekly updates I can also include exactly what I have eaten for the week. Then she can see that I am doing it exactly as she says. I am taking that supplements as well, and working on keeping the bowels moving. This pre-op diet will indeed stop traffic in the bowels if you don't do something. So watch that. I will just have to see how this next week plays out with my tweaks that everyone advised me on. Keep us updated on your weight loss progress as well. Hope things go better for you.

Jessica

[cckcsharp]

CCKC, does Dr. Miranda know how much you lost prior to scheduling your surgery? The entire amount of weight you have lost should count so make sure you tell her how much you weighed just before starting your pre-op!

I told her today and she didn't say any response to it. But I am going to tell her again, and probably directly ask her to count those 8 pounds as well. Well see how it goes. Thanks

Jessica

[MamaMichelle]

I did a mainly liquid diet for the last month of my pre-op diet and lost 15lbs in that 4 weeks, the month before I was semi-dieting while doing my research on lap-band doctors and only lost 6lbs.

I really liked the optifast shakes and also used them as the main source of my 3 week post-op liquid diet, I was able to lose 14lbs during those 3 weeks right after surgery! The optifast is pretty expensive but you get up to 5 shakes a day (each 160 cal and 15 g of protien) and after adding a little sugar free vanilla syrup to it made it just heavenly!

I believe KittyCat did a pretty lengthy liquid pre-op diet and lost a lot as well, it takes a lot of will power and I did have those farewell to food moments where I went to eat somewhere that I knew I wouldn't be able to after banding but the low calorie shake regime offset any damage those big meals might have done!

[Kimra]

Kimra

You have done so well.

nicolek

So have you honey!!! You got me beat by a lb!! LOL..

[cckcsharp]

I did a mainly liquid diet for the last month of my pre-op diet and lost 15lbs in that 4 weeks, the month before I was semi-dieting while doing my research on lap-band doctors and only lost 6lbs.

I really liked the optifast shakes and also used them as the main source of my 3 week post-op liquid diet, I was able to lose 14lbs during those 3 weeks right after surgery! The optifast is pretty expensive but you get up to 5 shakes a day (each 160 cal and 15 g of protien) and after adding a little sugar free vanilla syrup to it made it just heavenly!

I believe KittyCat did a pretty lengthy liquid pre-op diet and lost a lot as well, it takes a lot of will power and I did have those farewell to food moments where I went to eat somewhere that I knew I wouldn't be able to after banding but the low calorie shake regime offset any damage those big meals might have done!

I think I might give the optifast a try and I was thinking the same thing that you suggested. I am going to do mostly liquid diet for the next four weeks. See if this helps along with the water water water water. Thanks michele, you are truly awesome.

Jessica

[Paula Bee]

So have you honey!!! You got me beat by a lb!! LOL..

Yep, yep, yep! I think you are doing great!