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It sounds like OP got some help, I found when I was doing my 2 week liquid diet I was having problems due to a sudden drop in salt. It made me feel terrible. I got permission from my team to have V8 and I found out he “minute miso” mix at the grocery store that both helped get some sodium into my diet. I think the takeaway here is that the pre-op diet is crummy, but if you feel legitimately like something is wrong reach out to your team. I appreciated the two week pre-op liquid diet because it kind of prepped me psychologically for the post-op time. I do question the offices that have people on specific brands of shakes, etc. I can understand having restrictions on carbs, calories, sugar, whatever, but if it’s only a specific type of shake sold by the office that seems pretty suspect.

Try pro source protein liquid? They gave me some at the hospital to take home but I have never used it, so I don't have an opinion about it. I have trouble hitting my protein goals without 1 shake a day, but I am working on that because I don't really like them and I am tired of them. I am 4 weeks post op, and so far can get to about 50g of protein WITHOUT a shake but can't seem to eat enough to get past that. I basically only eat meats and proteins right now too. Seafood has TONS of protein for very low calories!

It's really troubling to see how different the diets differ from country to country and from doctor to doctor. Everyone has their own twist on it. And that's the part that mentally plays with me so much -- knowing others are allowed to eat even one small meal a day while some of us are told no. And I keep telling myself exactly that -- whether I eat 160 calories of chicken or from a protein shake -- it's still 160 calories and still protein. It's a very messed up game I have in my head trying to tell myself to follow their rules meanwhile I'm suffering and not feeling good.

Its my understanding its due the the BMI, the higher it is the more likely the 2 weeks liquid diet is required. I have a high BMI and I have to have all liquids for 2 weeks. I have seen some on here with higher BMI than me or the same and they are allowed a low calorie, low carb, lean protein meal. No such luck for me. Ultimately its down to what the surgeon doing the surgery wants. I too find alot of varying directives on this.... 🤔

These American all-liquid diets pre-surgery are deeply unethical, and this is another example of it. You should only be on a low-calorie diet pre-surgery for liver shrinkage. Your liver doesn't know if you had Optifast or lean chicken and broccoli. All it knows is if you've been in a caloric deficit or not. This needs to stop. Immediately. Call your surgical team. If you need to, eat (protein-rich, low-calorie) real food and tell the uptalky nurse you did, indeed, stick to your allotted Optifast for the duration of your pre-surgery diet. Smile and wave.

Yesterday was a crap day for food. I drank a 100 calories protein shake mixed in coffee while having a Reese’s cup for breakfast. Then I tasted stuff as the day went on with baking. Followed that up with the news of my father’s death, so I wasn’t hungry. Even with tracking everything including this honey lavender cheesecake… still didn’t break 1000 calories. Today will be rough but hopefully I can just get through.

Hi. I need a safe place to post my feelings and I thought of posting here. I hope I can be as raw as I need to be without getting criticized or judged. I'm on day 6 of the all liquid diet. I'm not doing well emotionally of physically. My mood prior to the all liquid diet was me always happy, active, healthy and on top of my game in all senses. Prior to the all liquid diet, I was working out and eating right and losing weight to the point that the surgeon's team told me I could stop eating right and stop working out because I had showed them I'm fully capable of following the plan and succeeding on it. I didn't listen to them telling me to stop because I was feeling great on my new routine and seeing results, so why would I stop eating right and working out? Now that I'm on the all liquid diet, I get sudden bursts of extreme anger, extreme sadness and I feel depressed. I feel like I'm hurting myself so much. I've had six days of extreme diarrhea. I feel sick. I don't think this all liquid diet is normal or healthy. It's actually making me feel like this is not worth it. And, again -- that is not like my normal self. My normal self is the complete opposite of how I feel and sound right now. I feel like this all liquid diet, because of how harshly and badly my body is reacting to it and my mood, it's making me not even want to try to drink anything, because we aren't eating anything to begin with. This is complete and utter torture. I don't feel like helping myself, and again that is NOT my normal self. I feel so sad and angry and I just want to throw and break things and cry nonstop. This isn't me though. I'm so displeased with this right now. I absolutely hate this and right now -- to be honest, I hate anything and everything. I'm so triggered. I feel like calling out of work tomorrow and taking a day to just be more miserable and see if I can somehow bring myself back up. But I feel so broken, physically and emotionally. I called a 24/7 nurse hotline and they urged me to go see a medical doctor ASAP. I'm probably getting 300ish calories in a day. I feel like someone pushed me, and I don't even want to pick myself back up. Realistically, I know some patients are put on a full liquid diet for 2-3 weeks. I know others are put on an all liquid diet just ONE DAY prior to their surgery. I know others are allowed one solid meal a day. My head is fighting the facts with reasons. I've followed the diet to a T 100%. But I absolutely hate everything right now. And no, it's not a carb or sugar crash. I wasn't eating carbs or sugars prior to the all liquid diet. I've been extremely healthy for the past 2 months...I'm just shocked at how differently, in a very bad way, I feel right now. I just feel...sick.

Yikes! Read the labels. The Gatorade has more sugar than protein. I had a RNY so I have to watch sugar and carbs to avoid dumping. But I am inspired to mix a scoop of unflavored Isopure protein powder with some regular V-8 for a different flavor profile. The. Veggie juice is 45 calories and 2 GM of sugar. Thanks for the inspiration!

I would trust my teams instruction on the timeline (whether they think you are healed enough), but if I did decide to have a drink I would try it at home first (same mixer and all) to make sure it doesn’t make you sick. We are all different and our bodies react differently. For me, I can’t stand the taste of rum anymore and I used to drink it often enough. I can’t drink it fast enough to get a buzz so it seems like a waste of calories. I have tried a few times and it just tastes awful to me now. I have heard others who dumped and some it just made them feel sick while others got beyond inebriated so make sure you try it at home first and have a plan for your ride home.

Here’s todays meals and calories- breakfast was a protein shake with special k protein cereal (a whopping 39g of carbs per serving- I probably won’t but it again). And obviously coffee was needed with the rest of that protein shake because clearly I can’t even function to make it. Lunch was fajita meat and veggies and pea salad. I counted what I ate while making it but was done after the meat and veg. Dinner was surprise, another salad! The lonely piece of chicken didn’t make the cut into the digestion club. 😂 Also, in case you’re wondering what I do with ALL that fruit I buy. Tada- fruit salad! A mini watermelon, a whole fresh pineapple, 2 containers of blueberries, a 2lb container of strawberries, 4 apples. It made about 2 gallons of fruit salad and almost half has already mysteriously disappeared but I think it was the children. 🤔

In the Uk the Docs here are not all on the same protein shake page. Mine hates them and has me drinking skimmed milk. 8 ounces = 8 grams of protein. You can make peanut butter [ 2tbsp = 7 grams of protein ] and banana shakes with it. Win win. 1 ounce of hard cheese = 7 grams of protein. I cut it into tiny slivers and chewed this deliciousness slowly. We have supermarkets that sell good quality Bolognese sauce, good on the protein count and easy to digest as the beef is really tender. I was allowed to eat melba toast as it was really crisp and disappeared on my tongue. I had this with egg mashed with mayo and tuna mashed well with mayo. Pate is good on this too. My favorite is crab pate. I can manage 3 tiny melba toasts and they are only 39 calories for the 3. Just keep trying foods. I have only just about mastered chicken thighs at almost 5 months. Salmon is still a no go area. Hummus is good protein but I hate the taste now. Good luck trying foods, it is all a bit boring till you get to proper food

Perfectly understandable. I went through the same emotions years ago. I was walking 10 miles a day, counting calories and I had this irrational fear that the number on the scale would go down, I would lose the weight, BUT I would look exactly the same. 🤔 I think it’s something that many of us think about.

Hi redhead_che, I am a recent band to bypass conversion. I think I may know a little about how you are feeling. With the band, I felt more comfortable having long hair when anticipating hair loss/thinning. This time, I decided to cut 17 inches of my hair about a week or so before my 4/5/22 surgery, which I plan to donate to a cancer non-profit. I am still early in my present journey and so I have not had to endure any hair loss/thinning yet, but I can attest that personally it has made showering and washing my hair a lot easier during my recovery. Also, importantly, my hair is definitely still growing despite a very low-calorie intake for the past four weeks, and I can gather my hair back in a band again. For me, a ponytail is very helpful for covering hair loss/thinning. I have no regrets at all. For what it is worth, I think you should do whatever makes you happy and comfortable.

1) you're in a stall. Just make sure you're following your program to a "T", and it should eventually break 2) you're starting out at a much lower weight than many of us. Therefore, it's not going to come off as fast as if you started out weighing 300+ pounds 3). 1000 calories a day should be fine. I was eating 600-800 when I was about where you are in the journey. That 600-800 from about month 2 to almost a year out used to be pretty standard, but nowadays some surgeons are recommending higher levels. But 1000 should be fine. Again, you're likely just in a stall.

Hi V! Glad you were seen by your GI doc. Perhaps some coconut water or milk for a gentle replenish of electrolytes. Some Pro biotic, Yakult or a supplement. There really is more to gain from compliance than there is that we lose in the temporary limitations. Yes I re gained 100% of my wt loss from a RNY 23 yr ago.. I followed everything the first year or two, then over time started snacking, having one more bite, a cpl cocktails, sparkling water and so on. I normalized the incremental weight gain and then it just all got to overwhelming to get off. I was eating everything just like everyone around me was eating. I went through several hoops over the last few years to get my revision. I wanted a surgeon with experience because my first RNY was open so I have a ton of scar tissue. I put aside cocktails years ago. Just a bad habit and empty calories. But changing my comfort foods, grazing, and sugar has been a struggle. The last 6mo have been a Re commitment to myself. The last 3 I have been completely off the grazing behavior, no more carbonated water, sugar very limited. Now I just need to push through to Tue to my Post Op where my diet will be advanced. Be Well! Tina

Hi! Is diarrhea normal when on the all liquid pre-op diet? I'm on day 4. My intestines are nonstop rumbling and causing discomfort. I have probably gone #2 about 5-7 times so far and I've been awake for only 8 hours today. I called my surgeon's office today to ask if I can somewhat expand my diet or maybe add some other things to it (like fiber? or chia seeds?) and I was told I'd have to make an appointment and the next availability wasn't until June 9 (LOL my surgery is scheduled for April 26th). I was on such a clean diet and losing weight prior to the all liquid diet. I was at the gym daily lifting heavy too. I stopped going to the gym since I started the all liquid diet. I still try to do daily 1 hour walks to at least get my system going. I'm worried about working out how I was when I'm probably on a 500 calorie diet now... I've had nonstop GI issues for over a year now that I've been working with my GI doctor to figure out. And the all liquid diet isn't helping. I'm not quite sure what I can do or where to seek help. I do have access to a 24/7 nurse through my insurance so I may explore that tonight just for advice from a nurse. Being honest, I just don't feel okay in regards to my digestive system. I'm uncomfortable and constantly running to the bathroom. I feel bloated and gassy. Sometimes the urge to go #2 is super strong and I try to run to the bathroom (which isn't even far from me) and I've already had accidents. I know this is super raw and honest, but I'm so shocked at how my system is reacting. I know I already had other GI issues so this certainly isn't helping one bit. Do people have normal stools during the all liquid diet? Is diarrhea common? What should I do? Any advice or tips?

I had VSG in February and haven't really lost that much weight. I started at 192 the day of surgery, and am at 172 today. I have been 172 for 3 weeks now and have not seen any change I wonder if I'm not getting enough calories. I only eat about 1000 calories a day. I struggle to get my fluids in as well.

I have decided to start the process of getting gastric bypass and my sister is doing the same thing and she has her surgery scheduled for beginning of May. I'm just struggling with the whole process! I feel guilty for being hungry and wanting to eat. Like physically hungry not just head hunger. And when I do eat I feel like it's never a healthy enough choice and I constantly hear my sister and the surgeons PA in the back of my head saying I'm not eating healthy enough, or I'm eating too much or not enough? This is what scares me about this whole process because I've tried losing weight in the past and I became SO OBSESSIVE with counting calories that I went days without eating. I just feel like I have no idea what I'm doing and that I'm doing everything wrong.....thanks for coming to my Ted Talk [emoji50]‍[emoji100][emoji23] Sent from my SM-N980F using BariatricPal mobile app

After all I had to do to GET the surgery and all that I have to do to make sure that it works for a lifetime, you couldn't pay me to have a drink. I am following my surgeon's instructions to the letter and that means no alcohol. Besides, I'd rather chew the very few calories that I consume.

I’m so sorry you are so tired, but it’s perfectly normal. Your body burns 2500 calories a day just healing from surgery, coupled with the calorie deficit, of course you are at an energy deficit. You will turn the corner soon, listen to your body and give yourself the rest you need. please keep posting…thank you.

My surgeon has me on three 4 oz low sugar protein shakes every day for two weeks (I use Muscle Milk, which has 140 calories and roughly 30g protein per 4 oz serving) and broth/sugar-free Jell-O as I want it more or less. Unless you're having sugary drinks or Jell-O (which obviously aren't good), then idk how the guy expects someone to go two weeks essentially eating nothing. I'm obviously not going to tell you to begin drinking protein shakes if your doctor doesn't want you to, but your regimen makes no sense to me.

Could you get down from 390 to 200, or even lighter, and then keep it off? Yes, absolutely. Anyone can, with or without surgery. However, there's a difference between can and will. Obviously, I don't know your physiological intangibles such as your muscle profile, body type, genetics, ability to stick to goals, follow a bariatric diet, etc. BMI doesn't account for these things. Because of this, we can crunch some statistics, and assuming you're average when it comes to the intangibles, we can begin to get an idea of the odds for you. Based on the BMI chart, every pound over 154 pounds is excess for your height, which leaves you with 235 pounds of excess weight. Now with sleeve statistics, the average person loses between 60 and 70 percent of their excess weight. Obviously, some lose 100 percent or more of their excess weight, and some lose much less than the 60 to 70 percent average, but again, let's assume you have an average surgery experience and lose 60 to 70 percent (we can call it 65 percent as an even marker). 65 percent of 235 pounds of excess weight is 152.75 pounds. 390-152.75=237.25. So, by math alone, 237.25 would be your most likely outcome, which is obviously 37.25 pounds over your goal. To meet your goal, you would have to exceed statistical expectations when it comes to average amount of excess weight lost for sleeves. Instead of losing 65 percent of your excess weight, you would have to lose approximately 81 percent to hit 200. I'd certainly say this is doable, albeit not easy. Now the unfortunate thing about losing weight is that your body fights you on it, and it has various forms of ammunition. Cravings, plateaus, and different types of phantom hunger are all in its arsenal. Bariatric surgery depletes our bodies' weapon stock to an extent and limits the damage should we fall into one of its traps. It's something we can lean on. It won't do the job on its own, but we've essentially enlisted reinforcements that swing the odds of success in our favor. However, the one thing that bariatric surgery won't change as we get closer to our goal weights is adaptability, and this is probably why your weight loss has stalled in the past. Our bodies learn our tricks. They adapt to low carb and low calorie diets, and thus, the weight loss stalls until we give up. So what do we do? If a plateau occurs, we have to change our tactics (even slightly) to catch our bodies off guard again. Change the diet and eating patterns slightly. Try a little intermittent fasting, or maybe switch out your carbs for fat for a bit. Same thing with exercise. If you're exercising (let's say running for example), switch things up and go to HIIT training or swimming for a while. Once your body adjusts to that, then go back to running. It's a little weird to be "at war" with ourselves, but the reality is that we are. Got to be smart and merciless when it comes to confronting the weight monster.

Hello All, So, I had my gastric sleeve done about ten days ago. Had a lot of pain in the day or so afterwards, but that dissipated fairly quickly. However, with the physical pain reduction has come something that's also painful. Food cravings. Food cravings more intense than any I've ever experienced in my entire life. Multiple times a day, and my mouth literally waters. I haven't been eating stuff besides protein shakes, broth, and sugar-free Jell-O for obvious reasons, but there's no question that I would be if I could. This isn't just "in my head" either. My stomach is definitely involved as well. I can feel it empty (although certainly not as empty as 500 calories a day would've left it before surgery). This has been a shocking experience for me. Nobody at my surgeon's office gave me a heads up about anything like this potentially occurring. With that being said, can anyone offer any explanation? Is this common and/or just a mental thing? Did my surgeon do a bad job (apparently my stomach was one of the biggest he's seen in thousands of operations, and someone literally took pictures of them standing around it in the operating room after it was out)? I've also considered the possibility that my body is "fighting" me atm, as I've been losing weight rapidly (was 355 on surgery day (4/4) and was 334.5 this morning). Anyways, can anyone assure me that this is temporary or offer any wisdom at all? Thanks.

OMG your diet is even harder! I'm lucky compared to yours. 😥 I'm on day three! Let's really connect and keep each other accountable/give each other help! I hadn't heard of Knox Blox and now I'm googling. I'm down for trying different things. Honestly, I find myself on YouTube a lot trying to figure out what to do and how to mix it up. I haven't tried the Shamrock Frams shakes or the Rockin' Protein ones. Fairlife is really recommended by a lot but I'm having trouble finding them at a somewhat affordable price since I already went out and bought four protein powders...honestly, I've spent about $250 just on liquid foods to fill my fridge. It's insane considering I'm just drinking liquids. It's mind blowing. But there's nothing I can do about it. It still seems so impossible and I'm trying to be positive about it but right now my mind is hung up on this: Some surgeons require all liquid for 2 weeks, some surgeons require all liquid just the day before, and some surgeons require all liquid all day except for one solid meal under XXX calories for 2 weeks. So I keep thinking to myself that maybe there's some wiggle room...but I also don't want to risk it, but so many other people get placed on different diets for the same procedure.

Yassss! In didn’t overcook it this time!!! Sesame-crusted pan-seared tuna with my leftover salad from yesterday. Sooooo good: 442 calories for the plate. Ate a little more than half, and told Mr. that NO, he CANNOT have my leftovers cuz im totally eating the rest of it when my stomach allows, dammit!