I am having surgery in a week...and was told to eat a low fat low carb diet...that is it. What did you eat, or what were you told to eat?

Dena

You're lucky. I have to be on OptiFast for 2 weeks prior to my surgery which is scheduled 2 weeks from today.

Yup, mine is on March 9, 2006 and I will start my optifast on Thursday. Not looking forward to that. Oh, and I am allowed a serving of veggies a day... hold me back!

Here is the diet I was on for two and a half weeks:

Optifast or Slimfast (3 times each day)

Protein powder (75 grams per day)

Fruits and Vegetables (Amount desired eat day)

Water (60 oz per day)

30 Minutes of aerobic activity per day

1 Mutlivitamin per day

I was told to follow this diet 75% of the time. If I needed to add something more, I should add carbs like Pasta or rice. I ate salads (sometimes with a bit of tuna or chicken) and had some brown rice a couple of times.

Guidelines for the protein powder:

Carbohydrates should be less than double the amount of protein (i.e. 20 grams)

Protein should be at least half of the carbohydrates (i.e. 10 grams)

Fats should be not more than half of the protein (i.e. 5 grams)

I lost 16 pounds while on this diet.

I had no specific diet to follow before surgery. After was similar to most, 2 weeks liquid, gradually puree food, then solids...

I am having surgery in a week...and was told to eat a low fat low carb diet...that is it. What did you eat, or what were you told to eat?

Dena

I ate a lot of chicken and vegatables. If you're eating skinless chicken, you can eat an awful lot of it and still be low calorie -- and certainly low fat, low carb. Be careful with fruit. Your doctor is trying to put you into a state of ketosis so that you body can burn some of the fat around your stomach so that there's enough room between your liver and stomach to do the surgery safely. Eating too much fruit, although a healthy food choice, will keep you out of ketosis and your body won't accomplish what your doctor is hoping it will.

Chicken, vegatables, turkey, turkey-based deli meats (or almost any deli meat for that matter) are your best bets. Low carb isn't nearly as much fun when it's low fat too, but it's a very effective way to lose weight.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

Thank you for explaining in "easy" terms why I need to be on such a low cal diet for two weeks. That makes sense!

surgery is in five days....I am so excited....I am trying to stick with my low fat low carb diet....I am actually glad I didnt have to drink protein drinks for two weeks prior....

Yep - avoid anything with carbs or hidden carbs and keep the fat as low as you can. Lean meat, fish & chicken + nice veggies... I ate lots of raw veggies - but cooked ones are ok, too. Stay away from the sauces... they usually hide both fat and carbs. Clean up that liver, Baby!!

**I lost 16 lbs pre-op, and my liver was STILL fatty - so much so that my doc commented on it to my DH. It's important. If your liver is too fatty and squishy - they can't get around it to do the surgery on your stomach.

Be good! and Good Luck! Hopefully, once you get healed up, you will never have to do such a controlled "diet" again.

:]

Just to let everyone know that I started the Opti fast today. Hmmm, not a big fan of it, but I added strawberries and only gagged twice:) But hey, I can do this...right:)

Hey, I drank either 2 protein shakes a day or ate 2 protein bars a day and then a frozen meal such as lean cuisine or weight watchers....had to be under 10 grams of fat and under 700 calories. I lost 17 pounds on my pre-op in 9 days. Most of it was water I am sure, but O'well it was a good jump start!

The doctor's office I went to for my original evaluation said I would eat low fat/low-carb. I am planning on returning to him very soon. Does anyone know

if I COULD'NT eat the following foods:

oatmeal

Low carb yogurt

Low Carb Slimfast

Veggie Soup with a beef base/no Pasta

chicken soup with a chicken base/no pasta

I hate to ask such specific questions, but I want this to go perfectly so I am planning far, far ahead. I had mono back in October and my liver swelled up like crazy. It's apparently back to normal, but I have this crazy paranoia that he will get in there and it will be huge again.

Also, someone commented above about thier liver still being fatty after the diet. I wonder if doing the diet for 3 weeks would help even more. I can do anything for three weeks.

My surgeon's pre-op diet is for two days. It consists of sugar-free clear liquids. Sample foods the nutritionist provided include SF Jell-O, popsicles, flavored, non-carbonated waters, diluted SF cranberry/grape juices. For diabetics there are additional provisions.

The 3 weeks before surgery I was on 1200 calorie low fat diet for the first 2 weeks and the week before surgery I was on liquids. The day of surgery clear liquids then liquids for 2 weeks, blenderize foods for 2 weeks and then soft foods for 2 weeks. Then I started to introduce 1 new food item a day into a 1200 calorie low fat diet. I've lost 36 pounds in 2 1/2 months.