Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group

Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight in the form of fatty tissue, and the health problems ("co-morbidities") which result. If you are considering gastric bypass or have had it, join the community where we share our experiences and find support.

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GailTx 03/10/2009

I,m new and I went to the doctor last week. He said I need to lose 70 pounds before gastric by-pass surgery. I weigh 385 pounds. I have six months to do it in. If I could not lose weight before how does he expect me to do it now. I was wonder how most of you lost weight before surgery and now you did it. I have not taken my nutrition class yet. I.m take them in about 3 weeks. So I am still not sure what to eat. I been going to the Gym and working out about a hour and half for the last week.
I was wondering did any of you ever go on Medifast. I see people losing on the Show Big Medicine. It,s about Gastric bypass patients and their doctors that live in Houston, Tx.
So I was wonder. How much did most of you have to lose before surgery and if do not get to your goal weight. Do the doctors refuse to do it.

deleted_user 03/10/2009

I kept my eyes on the prize. I stopped drinking soda and eating processed sugar and dropped 40 lbs. in 7 months. I started at 325 lbs. and went into surgery 285. If you get rid of your worst vices (chips, chocolate, etc.) it will help emensely. My husband got rid of carbs and concentrated on eating protein and he also dropped 40 lbs. in 4 months. His way makes more sense, because you are going to concentrate on eating as much protein as you can post-op. I know it sounds overwhelming, but YOU CAN DO IT!! It is well worth it. Between the two of us we lost over 300 lbs. That's a fat man!!

GailTx 03/10/2009

Thank you so much.

barb128 03/10/2009

I didn't lose that much before surgery, but I went on the Optifast liquid diet for 2 weeks prior to surgery. My surgeon explained that in order to perform the surgery he has to be able to see around the liver and mine needed to shrink. I lost 40 pounds, but I have to tell you the stuff tastes horrible. It was torture to drink it. Reply #1 has good advice for you. Cut out the surgar and fat and walk more and you might find success.
Barbara

deleted_user 03/10/2009

Yes I did have to lose weight before surgery. I lost about 16 lbs over 2 months working with a nutritionist and relearning what to eat. She taught me a lot, especially how to eat after surgery too. Her advice was to preplan menus in advance. And write down everything I ate. This helped a lot. Then I did a preop liquid diet for about 3 weeks and was able to lose an additional 15 lbs. going from 344 to 313 on the day of surgery. Total 31 lbs, (I had to lose 30 preop).

I wasn't losing enough weight on week one of the liquid diet and my surgeon was going to move my surgery date out so that I had more time to comply. I got to keep my original date, but she scared me into losing 12 lbs in five days.

So go see your nutritionist and take as much help as you can get.

My nutritionist's suggestions:
No potatoes, no bread, no crackers, no rice, no corn or peas. No cereal, even oatmeal. No sugar, (you become sugar intolerant after surgery). Low fat, high protein choices, like tuna, cottage cheese, chicken breast, etc. No fast food. Tons of veggies. Try Morning Star products, in the frozen foods at wal-mart, safeway, etc. 64 oz of water daily, vitamins. Also add 2 protein shakes daily at least 40g of protein/serving. You may have to really shop around, because most of them are disgusting.

It's a whole learning process though. They arn't kidding when they say "lifestyle change." LOL Also a great place for recipe ideas is from our fellow support group member eggface. She has an amazing collection at http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/

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