Do many people cheat on the liquid diet? I broke down and had regular food on Sunday and chicken last night. I did not go ho wild, but I could not take it. I was also having a lot of cramps as well. I was feeling light headed too. What are your thoughts on this?:thumbup:

My doctor had me on a 3 Protein shake a day diet. It was horrible. I was hungry almost all the time. Not to mention the caffiene withdraws since I didn't drink coffee or soda since I started my liquids. I started it on 12/28 and had my surgery yesterday. I was only allowed to have sugar free popsicles, and broth. I did cheat. Five times. I had family over for New Years and we did go out to eat twice. My husband took me to a mexican food resturant down the street from our house 3 times and I had only Beans and cheese. I felt out of 42 meals, that wasn't too bad. I still lost 15lbs.

I'm not saying it was the right thing to do, but it was what I did. Now post op, I will stay on my liquids since I don't want to displace the band while I heal. Right now I can only get about 1/4 cup of broth down until I feel very, very full. I'll be on liquids for another 2 weeks, before my doctor puts me on soft foods. He kinda skips the whole mushie stage, and keeps you on liquids longer.

Do many people cheat on the liquid diet? I broke down and had regular food on Sunday and chicken last night. I did not go ho wild, but I could not take it. I was also having a lot of cramps as well. I was feeling light headed too. What are your thoughts on this?:thumbup:

Some doctors require a preliquid diet...some don't. I doubt it's that much of a big deal that you've cheated.

I asked my surgeon if he would have required a several week liquid diet if I had weighed more and he said he has put bands on people who have BMI's in the 60's and 70's and has never put any of them on liquid diets before hand because (a) it sets them up for failure since they are likely not going to stick to them anyway and ( he hasn't found that they've taken off enough weight to make much difference in the long run.

*HOWEVER* any weight you can take off prior to surgery is less you'll have to worry about later *and* you'll feel better coming out of surgery. I only took off 14 pounds prior to surgery but I took off more than that in inches. I went into surgery feeling better than I had in a long time and I would guess that is what contributed to my super quick recovery time.

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My office Christmas party was smack dab in the middle of my 2 week liquids, I e-mailed my nurse and said "hypothetically, if I went out to dinner and had a drink or two would there be any issues?" She responded "hypothetically there wouldn't be any problems so hypothetically enjoy yourself but get back on the diet the next day". I love her :thumbup: I also cheated with celery, cauliflower, and egg whites...the egg whites (I take the yoke out due to calorie content) filled me better than anything....I behaved better post-op.

As I'm allergic to ALL the shakes (and yes, I have tried the whole lot) I had to modify the pre-op diet in a big way and have an all food pre-op diet. It is possible to stick to the pre-op instructions while still eating real food. I ate a lot of home made chicken Soup. Had to be home made because the store bought didn't fit the bill. I got low-sodium chicken broth and threw in a ton of zucchini, eggplant, celery and chicken breast, and just the smallest amount of squash for sweetness. Add lots of basil and presto, diet-conforming real food. No cooked carrots, rice, noodles, potatoes or other stuff that was strictly off limits. I did ok by losing 31lbs in 30 days, and I was hungry only the first two or three days as I adjusted.

If the prescribed pre-op diet is making you dizzy and crampy, and you're going to cheat anyway because of it, talk to your surgeon to see if you can get some approved actual foods to eat.