PreOp Diet

Feb 28, 2014

Pre-approval didn't really take too long, about 10 days (submitted after 6 months of nutrition support with daily diaries). I originally went to the bariatric center in Sept '13, not really sure of what I wanted. My family is all obese, with siblings having surgery at some point in their lives. My weight was normal up to about age 42, where I gained about 4 lbs a year that never came off. Currently I am 57 years old, my start date BMI was 37, but I was eligible because of obstructive sleep apnea. My major motivation for the surgery is to come off a CPAP machine.

My past attempts at losing weight have included weight watchers and self medication with OTC diet pills and fad diets. At one time I lost 40 lbs, but gained it back! The problem was mostly evening time hunger and snacking. Basically I work at a office so not much daily activity.

As of the time of this posting, I am day 3 of a 14 day preop diet that consists of mostly blended foods capped at 1200 cal per day. My VSG surgery is scheduled for Mar 11, 2014 so that is coming up soon. My weight loss during the last 6 months has been about 12 lbs and my BMI is 35.1 which is the bare minimum to qualify for surgery for our health insurance.

My biggest challenge to date has been exercise as we live in a cold climate in a rural area, temps below zero the last 4 months. No motivation to walk in that weather. I've been using an elliptical exercise machine for about 30 minutes a day. I've developed a routine of using the elliptical in the AM followed by a protein shake. Occasionally I will have oatmeal. 

A bit scared about upcoming surgery, but my wife is supportive. 

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