My surgeon's liquid diet includes:

- 3 protein shakes per day

- Any clear broth, sugar free pops throughout the day

- Up to 2 cups of either = Lowfat cottage cheese, Lowfat Yogurt, Fruit Juice, or up to 3 servings of regular jello, pops, or no sugar added fudgsicles

I have heard that other doctors add veggies and some other choices. I am 6 days into the liquid diet and STARVING! Has anyone else had a similar or completely different diet given to them? :thumbup:

You can find just about as many liquid diet regimens as you can surgeons. Different surgeons all have their own take on the subject of pre and post-op diets.

IF your Surgeon is experienced and has true expertise in Bariatric issues (and some don't, they simply got into it for the money), then he/she will have a very good idea of what is the most effective protocol for their patients.

So, I am hoping that you are merely curious about what other people are doing, and are not contemplating making any changes to your diet without consulting your surgeon.

I think it is very important to follow your surgeon's instructions to the LETTER. The Surgeon does have a vested interest in your success, and if you have taken the time to choose a really GOOD doctor, then you will want to do exactly as they say.

So enjoy those sugar-free popsicles....they kind of grow on you!....:thumbup:

At least you get FOOD! I'm on the Optifast diet. I hate it so much. It's giving me heartburn. I drink 5 shakes a day. It's expensive and the taste is horrid! I envy you so much.

Thanks for responding guys. I'm am very confident in my surgeon. My father as well as 3 friends have seen him and had wonderful results/experiences. I'm not really questioning his pre-op diet so much as wondering if others are also concentrated so much on Protein. Mine seems to be very similar to an Atkins type of plan. I am curious as to what the reasoning is behind that. I can understand it completely if it is being used as a jump start to preparing oneself for a high protein lifestyle. My doctor mentioned the reason for the pre-op change is to rid the liver of some "fat." I wonder if this is sending my body into ketosis and if it will slow my metabolixm down to have so few calories.

What is the nutrion content of "Optifast" shakes? Are they also high protein, low carb and is that part of you post-op diet as well?! If so, I must say I am very sorry!

My preop diet was 3 protein shakes and a lean cuisine or something similar, 300 calories or under with 2 oz of protein added. I was told at one of the group sessions that the protein prevents hair loss. I'm sure we need protein for other reasons, as well, but I definitely didn't want to lose my hair. So i make sure I get in all my protein in first.

At least you get FOOD! I'm on the Optifast diet. I hate it so much. It's giving me heartburn. I drink 5 shakes a day. It's expensive and the taste is horrid! I envy you so much.

Sorry to hear you think the Optifast tastes horrid. I am on day 2 of the Optifast and so far so good. I like the way it tastes. My surgery is April 7th as well. I wish you luck and try not to think of how bad it taste and think of it as this is the start of the new YOU.

I am curious as to what the reasoning is behind that. I can understand it completely if it is being used as a jump start to preparing oneself for a high Protein lifestyle.

The liver stores carbohydrate in the form of glycogen. It releases the glycogen as needed by the body.

When your liver is well-"stocked" with glycogen, it's larger than when it's not.

The aim of the preop diet, which focuses heavily on protein and is usually quite scanty in terms of carbohydrate, is to spur the liver to release the glycogen stores.

The result is a smaller liver that is more easily maneuvered around during surgery :Banane20:

My preop regimen consisted of 2 Protein shakes a day, plus one meal consisting of 4 ounces lean protein and 1/2 cup of nonstarchy veggies. In addition, I was allowed to have up to 2 servings/day each of broth, sugar-free popsicles, or sugar-free Jello.

It's no fun, but it does make for an uneventful surgery and recovery--so well worth it!

ETA: If you want really good protein supplements, Bariatric Eating's Inspire line is excellent.

The liver stores carbohydrate in the form of glycogen. It releases the glycogen as needed by the body.

When your liver is well-"stocked" with glycogen, it's larger than when it's not.

The aim of the preop diet, which focuses heavily on Protein and is usually quite scanty in terms of carbohydrate, is to spur the liver to release the glycogen stores.

The result is a smaller liver that is more easily maneuvered around during surgery :Banane20:

My preop regimen consisted of 2 protein shakes a day, plus one meal consisting of 4 ounces lean protein and 1/2 cup of nonstarchy veggies. In addition, I was allowed to have up to 2 servings/day each of broth, sugar-free popsicles, or sugar-free Jello.

It's no fun, but it does make for an uneventful surgery and recovery--so well worth it!

ETA: If you want really good protein supplements, Bariatric Eating's Inspire line is excellent.

Wow, Betsy...you've done your homework! Thank you so much! That actually makes me feel much more motivated to get this done correctly. I have not strayed and do not plan on it, but knowing exactly why it is neccessary makes a world of difference. Hope you don't mind if I ask you one more question...Is it really true that you don't feel the hunger after banding? I feel it now, of course or I wouldn't be going through with the procedure. I am hopeful that the diet to follow feels a bit easier without so much hunger.

Thanks, again! :Banane20:

I wish it were so! But it's not true. After banding, most people do feel hunger.

In fact, at first--when there's minimal restriction--you will be hungry a lot. That period is referred to as Bandster Hell. And its name describes it really well!

Your stomach will get full more rapidly than before, but its rate of emptying will be nearly the same as preop. As you gain restriction, emptying slows down, and hunger tapers off.

(In the very immediate postop period, when there's still swelling, you may not be terribly hungry, though.)

Wow, reading this has helped me understand alittle more. Although I do envy some of you that can each something. I am on a 3-4 protein shake (with more that 20 g of protein and less than 250 calories) and all the clear/noncarbonated liquids I want. I am only a few days away from procedure.

Thanks for responding guys. I'm am very confident in my surgeon. My father as well as 3 friends have seen him and had wonderful results/experiences. I'm not really questioning his pre-op diet so much as wondering if others are also concentrated so much on Protein. Mine seems to be very similar to an Atkins type of plan. I am curious as to what the reasoning is behind that. I can understand it completely if it is being used as a jump start to preparing oneself for a high protein lifestyle. My doctor mentioned the reason for the pre-op change is to rid the liver of some "fat." I wonder if this is sending my body into ketosis and if it will slow my metabolixm down to have so few calories.

What is the nutrion content of "Optifast" shakes? Are they also high protein, low carb and is that part of you post-op diet as well?! If so, I must say I am very sorry!

Here is my take on the preop diet, as I went through 14 days of the Optifast program it included 2 shakes, 2 high protien bars and one powdered Soup that needed to be reconstituted. In total 800 cals per day. All of the food replacement products had 12-15 gms of protien in them and as long as I took my time eating them (think 20-30 min good practice for after the band) I was not physically hungry. That is not to say I didn't have mental hunger. You know when you are sitting on the couch and a Burger King commercial goes on and you start thinking about how good that would taste ect. But I had to ask myself after every craving, how will I feel 10 minutes after I eat this, one hour ect. I decided early on it would not be worth it. I did not cheat on the preop, not even once and I lost 16 lbs in 14 days.

The reason the Doc's put you on this diet is to empty the fat stores in your liver. If you are obese, and all of us on here have been at one point or another, you have a fatty liver. This during surgery is very hard to manipulate and the liver could be damaged and you could hemmorage very quickly. Besides he has to lift up the left lobe of the liver to get to the stomach and makes his/her job much harder, and harder on you.

I also stopped drinking pop all together during the preop phase cuz I wouldn't be able to drink it after and instead would drink Water ect. Now I don't even like the taste of Diet Coke, which was my staple before.

As for the nutrition content of the optifast each "replacement" meal was about 150-170 calories, low in fat, salt and had Vitamins and minerals in it. At first yucky but get your head in the game and you can do it.

Good luck and God bless.

PS. If there are typo's in here I am sorry. A little druged here.:Banane20:

Laurie, if you mixing your own protein shakes and are using water, try adding either a 1/2 cup of the cottage cheese or a 6 oz of either vanilla or plain to the chocolate shake in the blender. It will help make it a little thicker and you really don't taste it. A fruit flavored yogurt would do well in a vanilla flavored protein shake or you could take a RTD one and put it in the blender and add it.

Hi all,

I'm on day 15 of a 21 day Protein shake diet and Water only. It's been hard and yes, I've cheated, mainly because I crave salty food. I've had a few olives and pickles...Oh, and on my b-day, I even treated myself with chicken noodle soup (the "no chicken" high in salt kind) and I felt much better after. I feel guilty when I cheat but if my body craves something, it must be because it needs it... Right?

My surgery is on April 1st (no joke !) and I'm sooooooo anxious !

For the 'up to 2 cups' choice, I would go for the cottage cheese. That will help fill you up better than any of that other stuff, especially the sugary stuff like juice and full sugar popsicles. I'm surprised they would put that on the list because they are empty calories w/so much sugar that will put your blood sugar on a roller-coaster that will make you super hungry.

In my case, my surgeon required no special pre-op diet except for the day before surgery to eat a light b-fast, soup for lunch, and only Clear liquids for the rest of the day. So, other than that one day before surgery, I could eat whatever I wanted. Yep, its crazy how different the rules are from surgeon to surgeon!

Laurie, if you mixing your own Protein shakes and are using Water, try adding either a 1/2 cup of the cottage cheese or a 6 oz of either vanilla or plain to the chocolate shake in the blender. It will help make it a little thicker and you really don't taste it. A fruit flavored yogurt would do well in a vanilla flavored protein shake or you could take a RTD one and put it in the blender and add it.

Thanks for the suggestions, Aquarius! I've actually been mixing my own shakes that are sold on the "Bariatric Advantage" site and I mix them with 1/2 water, 1/2 vanilla soy milk (fat free, sugar free.) The shakes are really good! They even cost me less than buying the Atkins or Boost that was recommended. I'm also able to add two scoops of a powder form of Calcium w/ Vitamin D. And you are all right about the cottage cheese. That and the chicken broth are pretty much saving me. I am so sick of all this artificially sweet tasting stuff. I don't think I'll touch sugar another day in my life! Today I cheated a little and added some fresh brocolli to my broth. It wasn't much, but it totally filled me right up. I was able to skip the cottage cheese.

I amazes me how different the pre-op diets are. Guess there's more than one way to get the "fat" out of the liver!

For the 'up to 2 cups' choice, I would go for the cottage cheese. That will help fill you up better than any of that other stuff, especially the sugary stuff like juice and full sugar popsicles. I'm surprised they would put that on the list because they are empty calories w/so much sugar that will put your blood sugar on a roller-coaster that will make you super hungry.

In my case, my surgeon required no special pre-op diet except for the day before surgery to eat a light b-fast, soup for lunch, and only clear liquids for the rest of the day. So, other than that one day before surgery, I could eat whatever I wanted. Yep, its crazy how different the rules are from surgeon to surgeon!

Now that you mentioned it, I can't understand why they would put something containing sugar on that diet either! I know if I go about 2 weeks without carbs/sugar, I have no craving for it. Do they not understand that real sugar will continue those cravings and add carbs to the diet? Weird. Well, I actually havent had any of those choices. I'm happy for it since you mentioned it.

Thanks