I have been reading this section in hopes of relieving my anxiety but think I am making it worse. My doctor doesn't have a pre-op diet that I have to follow.

I am fearing the liquid diet right after surgery ... wonder if I should torture myself now to start getting used to it. My surgery date is November 11th.

Each doctor has his or her own rules based on how he or she does the procedure and your body.

Just because most of us had to do a pre-op doesn't mean that we all did. Don't be concerned. Don't torture yourself in advance!

The post-op diet will be enough torture.

Best wishes for a great surgery and speedy recovery.

I'm not required to have a pre-op diet either, but I wanted to see what I was in for. So I've been experimenting with different Protein shakes, to find one I like. So far, powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury.com has the best flavors.

I was home from work last week for a few days, and I decided to try following the post-op clear diet for a day. I drank 2 ounces of Protein shake per hour, plus six to eight ounces of Water in the same hour. I was not hungry all day, even though I expected to be. If it's going to be like that, about the only thing I think I'll be fighting on Clear liquids is boredom.

Dave

A pre op diet is meant to help shrink your liver and get rid of some fat around it. If you have too much going on around your liver then your doctor might not be able to do the surgery. That would be terrible to wake up and be told you couldn't get the band.

I have a low BMI so we weren't worried about my liver. I did however start doing more liquids, reducing my food portions etc a week before my surgery.

At my first meeting with the nurse she said I needed to loose 30 pounds prior to surgery. A month later I met with the doctor having lost 10 pounds and asked if there was going to be a presurgery liquid diet. Having felt my belly he believed the surgery could be done that day but if I wanted to go on a liquid diet he recommended HMR 500 (500 calories a day that's it). Since my surgery date was iffy (due to a blood clot) and I was loosing weight on my own (dieting and exercise); I decided to hold off on this very expensive liquid diet that you had to buy from the hospital. Fast forward 2 months to my second meeting I've lost 25 pounds and he says "So you've been on the HMR diet". To which I said no you said it was voluntary and I have been loosing on my own". He was a bit irritated and I went and bought $250 in shakes that were not covered by insurance.

I used them for 5 days (worst 5 days you can imagine) and there were two results: NO LOST WEIGHT, and they were giving me allergy like sensations in the back of my throat (my brother has life threatening food allergies so I know all about them). I went to see the nurse and told her I was very concerned about allergy; I am in a horrible place mentally with food (which was not true on my own diet), and I was not loosing weight (when a 300 pound person does an hour of moderate cardio a day and only eats 500 calories they should be losing weight!). She said you were loosing on your own go back to your diet. So I did.

Sorry to be long winded but I find the liquid diets to be very arbitray; some doctors don't require one and others make their own rules.

About two weeks prior to my surgery I started to had a Protein shake for Breakfast and one for dinner made with fat free milk. Look for recipes on here. And then had a modest lunch. Calorie wise I was around 1,300. I had no problems during the surgery.

My doctor is a member of the no pre-op diet camp.

He is a member of a 5 surgeon practice at a Bariatric Center of Excellence. He told me that at one time they did require a pre-op diet, but they found that it did nothing to enhance the outcomes for their patients, so they stopped requiring it.

Here's my experience....even though my BMI was >50, I did no pre-op diet, my surgery went very well. I followed the usual post-op diet (clear liquids, liquids, mushies..) and lost weight very quickly, probably due to the fact that I hadn't done liquids prior to surgery. For whatever reason (post-op swelling?), I was not hungry during the liquids part of the diet. I managed to escape the dreaded "bandster hell".

In all, I was very grateful to have skipped the pre-op diet. I was more that a little nervous about having surgery and I think that 2 weeks of liquids would have been very difficult for me. Post-op, it was no problem at all.

All of our doctors have their reasons for their pre-op procedures, and I think that if we've done our research, we need to trust their experience. I always question my doctors, but it's more so I understand their reasons, not so I can ignore them.

Good luck on your surgery.

Cindy

It sounds like I have nothing to fear but fear itself :wink2:.

I trust my doctor because I haven't heard anything to the contrary and actually know a couple of people from work who have used the same doctor.

I am just trying to relieve the anxiety I have been experiencing since I learned of my surgery date.

I wouldn't worry, and I certainly wouldn't do a liquid diet even a minute sooner than required; there's no "getting used" to that!

My surgeon has me doing a pre-op diet 2 weeks before surgery consisting of slim fast low carb shakes 3 times a day and 1 small meal.

He said that it helps with some fat around the liver and stomach and makes the surgery easier. He said even losing 10 pounds pre op makes a big difference for him when it comes to the surgery.

Starting mine Monday. Not looking forward to it but going to try my best! :w00t:

My dr requires a 10 day pre-op liquid sugar free carnation breakfast 5-6 a day. Then clear. Liquids the day before. Don't have a date yet but hoping for mid nov or begining of jan

I don't have to have a pre-op diet and I have been worried too about that. I was looking forward to eating all the things I wouldnt be able to anymore until i read that isnt a good ideal. I do think my doctor would have said something about a special diet before hand and you should call your doctor with those kinds of questions. I have been doing part shakes and some food just so I can start getting use to the diet changes. Plus, i'm afraid of having what others are calling a fatty liver, which is something i've never heard of before. So i'm doing half and half for now. If your doctor hasn't said anything i wouldnt worry about it.

I have been reading this section in hopes of relieving my anxiety but think I am making it worse. My doctor doesn't have a pre-op diet that I have to follow.

I am fearing the liquid diet right after surgery ... wonder if I should torture myself now to start getting used to it. My surgery date is November 11th.

My doc only had a 3-day liquid diet before the surgery.

I put myself on a very low-carb/high Protein diet a month in advance. I HIGHLY recommend it. Basically, I shrunk my stomach (sense of hunger) and got rid of my junk food cravings well in advance of surgery. As a result, I don't find the post-surgery menu a chore or torture at all. I was doing perfectly fine and losing without a fill, and now I have a small fill (I can't tell a difference) and I'm still doing well. I 100% believe that my experience after the surgery has been so positive because I did that month diet beforehand.

My surgeon did not require a pre-op diet. The surgery went well and I was up and walking within two hours after surgery.

It is a surgeon preference as to whether they want you on a pre-op diet or not.

With that said you might want to trial a few of the proteins out there so you will have one that has a taste that you can tolerate.

It is ok to be nervous...keep thinking of the goal and the new you!:blushing:

Outside doing a pre op liquid diet the more behavior modification you can make the better. Figure out what your food triggers are and deal with them. For me it was things that go crunch: crackers, sweet children's Cereal, baked potato chips. I stopped cold turkey. I also used to enjoy fat free frozen yoghurt from costco. Gave that up also.

Again, slightly off topic but along the lines of new behaviors. If you are not doing an excise program (and you doctor believes you can exercise safely); find exercises that you enjoy/don't mind doing. The more you exercise the more you will lose.