Hey all! I had my surgical consult last Wednesday, October 12. Per my insurance, I am required to have a 6 month medically supervised weight loss prior to approval. So, he wants me to lose 13 pounds which I feel I should be able to do easily in 6 months. Hahaha. Nothing is ever easy. Then the dietitian walks in and hands me the Liver Reduction Diet. Seriously? For SIX MONTHS? I realize that this will help shape my eating habits and get me ready for what it will be like afterwards, I get that. It just seems like maybe I could have a fruit here or there for a few months initially while I'm working on it instead of such a drastic diet.

More importantly, I'm curious how many grams of carbs/protein/fat I should be consuming in a day. I really have no idea what the target range is. I know it's not extremely low carb, because they allow 1/2cup All-Bran once a day and that is 23g by itself. Add in the cup of soy milk and I'm up to 32g in one meal.

Any suggestions or experience would be appreciated. Thank you and nice to meet you all

Kim

That makes no sense at all. Not sure how you could sustain yourself on that. I would call the dietician back, and ask if they misunderstood what your needs were for now. My insurance doesn't require a medically supervised diet, but when I spoke to my dietician, she gave me guidlines for an 1800 calorie diet until I get to 10 days before surgery. That's when I would start the liquid diet. She also said that's what she would also give me if I were to do a 3 - 6 month supervised diet.

So I'm guessing your surgeon's version of the liver-reduction diet is low carb?

Did they give you a daily calorie intake target? It's hard to set something up to know your proteins/fats/carbs without knowing the calories you should be eating in a day.

Fitday.com is a site many posters use to log food and exercise. It's great in some ways- tons of foods in their database, more things to track like mood, etc., but I personally prefer to use fitwatch.com . Here I've entered my calorie goal for the day (oh yeah another thing- fitwatch doesn't allow you to have a goal under 1200 calories) and stipulated what percentage of Protein fat and carbs is my goal. Right now I have it set at 1200 calories, with a breakdown of 40% carbs, 30% protein & 30% fat. If I were using fitday that would work out to be 480 carb calories, 360 protein calories and 360 fat calories.

Of course you don't need to worry about calculating those numbers constantly- when you add foods to your daily food log the program will give you a running tally of your grams of each, so you'll know by dinner if you need more protein, less carbs, etc.

As far as the Dietician, I think they work with the DR to get you to buy Vitamins, shakes and other stuff. Don't do it becuase they will suck you in like AMWAY. You only need to shrink your liver the two weeks before the operation! All the products you need are available at Taget, costco, GNC, Whole Foods, your grovery store and many more.

I would consult with a/your NUT on this for sure. She or he will help you though the entire journey if they are good! So you know, the two week pre op diet is not about calories or carbs ( you will get Protein during this time from shakes).. So don't worry when you get to that point. The little secret about Insurance and WLS is very interesting. The reason they want you to start on a 6 month diet plan (which you only need to do this 2 weeks prior for medical reasons) is because by that time, the insurance company has paid for the procedure with your premiums. Or better yet, they will hope you are so successful you won't want the surgery and they can save even more money. Insurance companies are only about the Benjamin's.. They suck.

In any case, do what you need to get the surgery! It is so worth it! Keep usupdated! Best wishes.

Yea I would consult with a/your NUT on this for sure. She or he will help you though the entire journey if they are good! So you know, thetwo week pre op diet is not about calories or carbs.. So don't worry when youget to that point. The little secretabout Insurance and WLS is very interesting. The reason they want you to starton a 6 month diet plan (which you only need to do this 2 weeks prior formedical reasons) is because by that time, the insurance company has paid for theprocedure with your premiums. Or better yet, they will hope you are so successfulyou won't want the surgery and they can save even more money. Insurancecompanies are only about the Benjamin's.. They suck.

In any case, do what you need to get the surgery! It is so worth it! Keep usupdated! Best wishes.

Interestingly, my pre-op diet is about carbs, Protein and calories. My book from the program has an outline of 1000 calories/day for women, 1200/day for men. Protein at around 100 g, and Protein shakes with 20g or less of carbs per serving. Though I have to say I am not sweating it if I have 25-30g of carbs in my protein Meal Replacement. It's the calories that have been so hard to stick with. I can't imagine calories have nothing to do at all with the pre-op diet. I mean, one could eat the targeted protein while consuming 4000 calories/day, which definitely wouldn't shrink the liver....

The diet states, specifically:

1. There is no restriction on portion sizes. Eat 3 meals per day and stop as soon as you feel full.

2. Protein/Very Lean or Lean Meats: Includes soy, low fat/fat free cottage cheese and fat free/2% cheese.

3. Lean Dairy: limit milk & yogurt to 2 servings/day

4. Vegetables: avoid corn, peas, potatoes, lima Beans, olives, avocado

5. Condiments: choose fat free/light

6. Soups: broth based, no rice or noodles

7. AVOID: Pasta, rice, breads, beans, rolls, crackers, pancakes, waffles, french toast, Cereal, cakes, pies, Cookies, ice cream, candy, pudding, cool-whip, potato chips, popcorn, nuts, Peanut Butter. She also told me no whole grains like barely or quinoa or legumes like lentils.

8. NO FRUIT or fruit juice of any kind.

I've been journaling on the RealizemySuccess since that's what he'll be using. I can enter my own goals for grams, but have no idea what it should be. Some days I have like 50g of carbs, others I'm up to 100g.

I'm also feeling very bloated from the Water. Haven't seen much of a weight loss, either.

Okay, that is very low-carb, especially if you cannot incorporate any whole grains, and have to limit your lowfat milk & yogurt to two servings per day. Even though they say to avoid cereal, you can have All-Bran?

I think if you can stick with it you could very well lose more than 13 pounds in 6 months. I also think I personally would go a little crazy on this diet for that period of time.

It is interesting to see how different everyone's requirements are.

Pats, I think I'll be able to lose more than 13 as well. My personal opinion is one of clean eating, so I may start incorporating more whole grains into the diet. I'd like to get a few weeks under my belt and see an initial loss before changing it up. I did have half a hamburger bun with my chicken last night, for kicks.