I am having some surgery in a week. I already plan to bring my own SF jello
for my 23 hour stay, and crackers that are as low carb as they can be.

I am within 3 1/2 lbs of my goal and very proud of myself. I have never
considered myself a dieter, though 10 years ago I did a weight training diet
program for a short while. I just loved food. I just decided to try this
one day and found a WOL that I could live with. anyway, I am back to
all my old clothes and went from a 10/12 to an 8. I am a bit more liberal
now with my eating, i.e. some low carb bread, pasta, etc. I tend not to really
count carbs anymore as I know what is "bad". This works for me. I stalled
in Aug and since I have been dropping 1/2 lb or so a week on avg.

one thing I want to state is that I believe calories do count. With this
WOL I am fuller more and therefore do intake less. the only good part is when
I splurge going out, I dont gain like I used to.

Now back to my issue, I have been thinking that I probably want to add
a few more carbs back this week . not the refined sugar types, but
maybe some brown rice, whole wheat crackers, more fruits, to prepare
my body for healing. I know this is not an EXCUSE to stop this WOL, but
I know that when healing, its not the time to be "dieting". I figure I should
probably add the few extra carbs now, so that I dont shock my body if
a carb or two hits it next week on top of everything else.

OF course, once healed to back to what I have been doing.

HAve any of you long time Low carbers been thru surgery? what did you
do? Did you bring your own jello?


Sandy

I think it depends on what kind of surgery you're having - maybe check with the doc. If it were me, I'd definately be eating fruit and veggies (thus increasing carbs somewhat) and don't forget to drink lots of water.

Vikki

I agree it depends on what type of surgery you are having, and especially whether or not you will be put under with anesthesia. I get severe nausea from it, and the crackers are such a big help. Also, they tried to give me regular (not diet) ginger ale. Yuck! That may be another thing to add to your list. If you even feel like eating, you can pick around at what they give you. I wouldn't really mention the diet though, they usually really make a big deal about it. At least, that's been my experience. I have had over 7 surgeries in the last 18 months, so I am an expert at hospital food, hahaha. Take care!

I just had spinal fusion surgery 5 weeks ago and I am a diabetic so they gave me diabetic food but it was not lc Also, my IV was dextrose (yes, sugar). When the nurse came to remove the IV, she asked me why I had a dextrose IV since I was a diabetic. I did not even think to look at this so you may want to ask what kind of IV's are available to you. I was extremely nauseous because my recovery room nurse (Cruella De'ville) kept insisting on pumping me full of morphine, despite my objections. When I was finally able to eat, I did have regular crackers, sugar free ginger ale and, finally sugar free pudding which I am sure was high in carbs. The next week I was in a lot of pain so it was kind of hard to stick to lc, although I did not go crazy either. But after a few weeks, I felt better and got right back on board. So, I wish you luck with your surgery and dont be too hard on yourself while you heal.

I am going under. Since I am pretty much of "normal
weigh" now, they probably would think I am nuts if I asked about sugar in my IV

I will make sure DH brings diet ginger ale as well.
one thing I probably will "cheat" with will be
orange juice as I am getting better.

I expect the scales to go nuts for a while since
I will be swollen afterwards.

sandy

I had a hysterectomy 6 weeks ago, just getting back to feeling 100% this week. I didn't even feel like eating and when I did, I couldn't eat much. So, I ate what I could muster up. I did make some high carby stuff like pasta but ate like 1/2 cup. But not often. Mostly ate fruit-bananas & frozen berries. Lots of chicken soup, some Wonder Lite Italian bread (about 6 carbs I think) toast and butter. Don't forget to take your Vitamins and supplements!!!! You WILL need them!
Be kind to yourself and heal.
There will be plenty of time to go back on induction later.
BTW I lost 4 lbs!!!
Best wishes!
Judi

The best thing is to feel better and have a fast recovery, once you're back to normal, go back on induction -- orange juice, mmmmmm - mix it with the gingerale for a "mock" mimosa.

Vikki

I also had a hysterectomy seven weeks ago. My doctor told me to eat a normal diet. I did fine the first four weeks keeping my carbs on a moderate level, however, within the last three weeks I have been carb loading I have continued to lose and am now eating lc and feeling much better. My doctor told me that increasing my carbs would help with my healing. Remember to drink a lot of water and take your supplements. This helped tremendously. I am also three pounds from goal.

I wish you a speedy recovery.

Also expect the IV to contribute to water weight so dont weigh yourself for at least 1 week after surgery. And I am sure that if you ask the admitting nurse for options regarding the IV solution, they will accomodate you. Can you imagine I had diabetes listed all over my chart and no one noticed that I was getting a sugar solution in my IV until they went to remove the IV needle? It always pays to take charge of your medical treatment so if you want an IV with no dextrose, tell the nurse. You do not need to explain why. Good luck and let us know how your surgery goes

I haven't had surgery since Low carbing - but I was just talking to a woman tonight who is a personal trainer, and she said PROTEIN is the best healer for the body after surgery... even though what we really crave when we feel yucky is high carb foods.

So maybe you can find a way to keep your protein high...

Good luck & Speedy Recovery!

This is my theory, which is in agreement with Missmissy. Recently, I read an article about the high protein low carb lifestyle of Native Americans before their diets were altered to suit the high carb lifestyle. They healed quickly from wounds and had a very high immune system. Along these lines, it seems that building your protein intake will be your best defense fro a rapid recovery. You can review the article at
http://www.westonaprice.org/traditi..._americans.html

*Note the fifth paragraph of the article.
It is a good read.

Black57

If I remember correctly (my book was lent out ... should get a new one) Atkins says that in the case of medical situations (and especially since you are so close to goal weight) that you should eat a mantaineence diet until you are healed or doing better and then reassess.

Someone, please correct me if I am remembering that wrong