Corridor72

Yes, I realize that the purpose of the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver which is why I was concerned about not losing during this time. It isn't that I want to lose weight quickly but I just want to make sure that I'm doing things right and that, whether my body shrinks or not, my liver does shrink during this time. I know I have a long journey ahead of me-I just want to make sure that I get myself off to a good start. I want to be sure I'm not making mistakes that I don't see but that others might, that's all. As long as I'm doing everything right, I'm ok with things as they are.

Thank you

I've been using the bouillon cubes because that's what they told me I could have. Although, looking at the nutrition information, I don't see why I couldn't just do the liquid chicken stock?

I didn't have any today. I'm far enough in now that I'm not really hungry so I didn't have any "salt" cravings. It's actually getting kind of difficult to get in all the shakes and plenty of water much less anything else. I've had my shakes, 2 sf popsicles, and 3 bottles of water. I need to try to squeeze in at least 1 more bottle of water. Actually, I'm trying to figure out how to loosely schedule my shakes and water so that I get them all in AND they're pretty evenly spaced. Anyway, not having the bouillon may help cuz you're right-lots of sodium=water retention.

Thank you! I will do my best to stay away from the scales and just have faith that if I'm doing everything right and following my diet, it'll work out the way it should. I really am worried more about making sure my liver shrinks enough for the surgery more than I do the scale moving though. I was just afraid that, if the scale didn't move, neither would the fat in my liver. I promise to try to focus more on the positive though.

I *think* I'm doing everything right. I hadn't thought about it being TOM but that's possible since I don't really have a flow but still have the hormonal changes associated with all of that. I should probably just put the scales up and not get them back out until my surgery day. I don't know if I have the willpower to do that though!lol...I can resist the food and the soft drinks but I'm not sure about the scale!

Thank you. You're right-I just need to work on not being so hard on myself and not sweating the small stuff. One thing I hadn't thought about was that it *may* be TOM for me. It's hard to tell because I had an endometrial ablation last year so I don't have a flow anymore but still have the hormonal changes associated with it so that could be part of it too. And honestly, it isn't so much about losing a ton of weight quickly. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right. The last thing I want to do is screw this pre-op diet up, go into surgery thinking I'm going to get my band, and come out only to hear the surgeon say "We couldn't do it because your liver was still too large and in the way".

Yes, I'm doing the high protein/lower carb version of the slimfast shakes. It's 20 grams of protein. I'm not hungry or anything like that. I won't lie-I do still have cravings when I see or smell food or if there's a commercial for something I like on tv. As far as hunger though, I'm not really hungry at all. And like I said, I haven't cheated. I'm just worried that if I'm not losing pounds, perhaps I'm not getting the liver shrinkage either which is the whole goal of the pre-op diet.

So I keep reading about these huge losses people have while on the pre-op diet. I have been on my pre-op diet for 5 days now and I've lost 1 lb! Yup, you read that right *1* lb is what I've lost in 5 days And no, I haven't cheated. Not once. I have my 4 Slim Fast shakes each day. Additionally, I usually have 1 or 2 cups of chicken broth made from bouillon cubes throughout the day, a cup of SF Jello, 3 or 4 SF popsicles, lots of Water and maybe 1 or 2 sticks of Crystal Light. What is going on here? Am I doing something wrong??? Am I just doomed to being a fat girl for the rest of my life? HELP!!! PS. My doctor's order for my pre-op diet is this: Slim Fast Shakes- You will have 4 shakes per day. 1 for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then 1 more at your discretion. You may have all of the SF clear liquid you want including SF Popsicles, SF Jello, Chicken & Beef Broth, Crystal Light, Diet Soda

Unjury is the best of the ones I've tried. I also like Isopure.

Those are the guidelines. Actually, if I'm not mistaking, the FDA approval for use of the lapband device states that a patient should have a BMI of 35 or above with at least 1 comorbity or 40 and above with no comorbidities. The reason is that with a BMI of 40 or above, your risk of developing those diseases increases significantly. I'm on my phone instead of my computer or I would look up the FDA recommendations for lapband and post the link. You might search this site to see if you come up with something because I THINK I have seen something like that posted here before.

They make a high protein version of slimfast, which is what I'm using. It has 20 grams of protein and only 4 grams total carbs.

Sounds like you're doing great! Keep up the good work!

I'm doing ok with it. The first day was horrible. I did ok until about 3pm that day and then I got really hungry. And THEN, the whole family was chowing down on fast food and the smell was almost more than I could handle. I stuck it out though. I know I'm going to have to toughen up if I'm going to be successful so I just look at this as the beginning of breaking through my addiction to food. I made it more difficult for myself by choosing to give up my addiction to Diet Dr. Pepper at the same time . Yesterday was easier though and today really hasn't been that bad. I feel much better than I thought I would so I hope it continues. I am noticing that there are way more food commercials on tv than I realized. Ugh. How are you doing with yours?

Wow, that's amazing! Congrats to you!

Congratulations!

What did you mix it with? I have tried the Unjury and I really like the flavor so maybe that's what I need to do.

I keep reading posts that recommend using a blender for making smoothies and for pureeing foods during certain phases of the post-op diet. Anyone have recommendations on a good, reasonably priced blender? I'm going to have to buy one but I'm on a budget so I need some advice here. Thanks!

My liquid diet starts tomorrow but I only have to do 3 weeks. It's the same as yours- 4 slim fast shakes per day. I have the high protein version so I'm hoping that helps. I can also do sugar-free clear liquids too so I stocked up on sf popsicles & jello today.

Just be honest. I filled out a whole stack of forms in the beginning of the whole process and then had my first appointment with the surgeon. He didn't say much about it. The psychologist gave me a really long quiz and then another shorter quiz. He encourages people to be very honest and says that the reason they ask those questions is NOT so that they can turn you away or decide you're not a good candidate for the surgery. The reason is so that they can make sure that all of the support and resources you will need are available to you. They WANT to help you but they need to know as much about you as they possibly can in order to do that.

What type of protein drink/supplement did you use during the clear liquid phase of the post-op diet?

I will let you know what he says. Another question-are you on any type of medication for gastroparesis?

Sorry for the duplicate post. My internet is acting up today.

Thank you. I have read that as well so I'm going to ask him if that might be a better option for me. I originally had looked into having the sleeve but he felt the lap band would be a better option and since it is the least invasive and most reversible, I decided to do more research and finally settled on the band. I don't like the idea of switching to the sleeve because I really don't want to cut out part of my stomach, but I also don't want to make things worse by having a surgery that could cause more damage. Right now, I don't suffer from any symptoms of gastroparesis so I don't want to do something that will cause me to be symptomatic, if that makes sense. I guess the surgeon and I have lots to talk about.

I have read that as well so I am definitely going to ask him if that would be a better option for me.