Dietitian appointment #1

Today I saw the dietitian.  Her name is Erin.  I really like Erin.  She is very easy to talk to, and I was very comfortable with her.  We talked about my eating habits and I'm doing well and what I need to improve on.  I told her how I realized I was a stress eater, and she gave me ideas to combat that.  She told me that now I need to start counting calories instead of carbs, and I should be consuming 1600 - 1800 calories per day right now pre-surgery.  For the first 6 months after surgery, I will be at 800-1000 calories per day.  When she showed me what the portion size would look like post-surgery, I admit is was frightening to see.  I would be eating many tiny meals about every 4 hours.  After 6 months I will be able to go up to 1200 calories per day.  She told me that I pretty much would be counting calories the rest of my life and as much as a pain in the ass that sounds, I know that is what I have to do.  I know I'm not going to starve, and it's a total change in lifestyle and mindset.

Besides calories, we talked about protein.  I will have to make sure to eat a lot of protein and to eat that first before my veggies and carbs.  Protein will help me retain muscle while losing the fat.  I would like to try tofu, and my hubby says that he has had it and it's not that bad.  I'll look into eating more beans too (the family will love that when it comes to gas department!).  I'm also going to start experimenting with protein shakes now so I can figure out which ones I like.  I'll be drinking more of those as I get closer to surgery and then after surgery.

Another thing we talked about is having a healthy back up plan.  When we have those evenings when neither one of us feels like cooking, we need to have healthy choices on hand (even microwave meals) so that we're not tempted to order in or go out to eat.  As an interesting comparison, Erin said that a peanut butter sandwich would be much healthier than running to McDonald's.  She also that on those occasions we do go out to eat, I should look at the menu online first and plan what I'm going to have.  This way I can compare the calorie counts and go with what is best for me.

We reviewed making sure to drink zero calorie drinks and what all the options are there.
Some of the suggestions for the stress eating were talked about too.  I've already started chewing gum, and am trying to do that more before reaching for a snack.  We talked about healthy snacks to have on hand as well.

Erin also gave the ok for me to start the pre-op classes.  I go to class #1 on May 6.  Then I see the psychologist in the middle of May and I see Erin again at the end of May and on that visit we are going to talk about healthy cooking.  May should be an exciting month!!  And I lost 6 pounds according to their scale!!