Hey everyone,

My surgeon told me he isn't requiring me to do the Optifast diet before surgery. Should I be concerned? Or has anyone else been told the same thing? Curious.....

I didn't have any pre-op diet to follow, either. I did, however, start to watch what I ate and try to cut back on my own. I figured I'd try to get a jump start on losing.

You'll find every surgeon is different, not only when it comes to pre-op diets but post op diets too. Heck they even differ on what they think you should and shouldn't eat. Some say no carbs, some say a little carbs, some don't care about carbs at all. Some say 40g of Protein, others as much as 80g. I've even seen some recommend as little as 800 calories a day while others tell their patients not to count calories at all!

It's confusing, so the best advice I can give is to do as your surgeon advises but also do what works best for you and your body.

Thank you again Mis73 :-) I very much appreciate all your advice so much! You have been a big help!

My surgeon told me he isn't requiring me to do the Optifast diet before surgery. Should I be concerned? Or has anyone else been told the same thing? Curious.....

My surgeon asks patients to limit their calorie intake to no more than 1400 per day for at least two weeks prior to surgery. Patients are instructed to pick from the following: meal substitution (products such as Slim-Fast), established programs (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, TOPS), diet books (Atkins, South Beach), or counting calories.

I'm choosing to count calories.

Hi ElizabethAnne!

Thank you so much for your reply! Currently I am substituting one of my meals with a Protein shake but am going to bump that up to two meals a day with a shake and a sensible dinner. I'm hoping that in doing so I will be able to shrink my liver somewhat and help the surgeon. Another worry I have is I'm only 4'10 1/2" tall and I'm concerned that he will have a hard time getting around in there and putting the band in as well as port placement. But hoping that if in some way I can shrink my liver before surgery on may 3rd it will help things

I wasn't on full liquids prior to surgery. My two week pre-op was two shakes and two small meals a day. He only required that I be on liquid 48 hours prior to surgery.

I am not on a liquid diet at all. Just told to eat light the day before.

Okay thanks guys! It is so good to know that I'm not a lone in this! I was talking to a friend of mine who had lapband surgery 2 years ago and she was concerned as to why my surgeon didn't put me on this diet before surgery and it got me a bit concerned as well. So I thought I would post on here and see if anyone else had to do the liquid diet or not. Thank you all a ton for getting back to me on this! Really eases my mind to know you all didn't go through it and did fine with the surgery :-)

I was told to do a low fat diet for a few weeks prior. I did the low fat for two weeks, and the last week I did a pseudo liquid. I figured it would be more motivating to lose the most weight possible pre-op.

My doctor does not require any type of pre-op diet. The only thing I have to do is clear liquids for 24 hours before my surgery (which will be on Monday!). In contrast, my brother had his surgery 2 months ago and was required to be on full liquids for 2 weeks prior. We have different doctors so I guess it really does depend on your doctor. I did some research on pre-op diets and there is no real research that shows any difference in surgical outcomes either way.

Currently I am substituting one of my meals with a Protein shake but am going to bump that up to two meals a day with a shake and a sensible dinner. I'm hoping that in doing so I will be able to shrink my liver somewhat and help the surgeon. Another worry I have is I'm only 4'10 1/2" tall and I'm concerned that he will have a hard time getting around in there and putting the band in as well as port placement. But hoping that if in some way I can shrink my liver before surgery on may 3rd it will help things

I can tell your motivation level is high. I was very motivated after meeting with my surgeon in January, then when I had the appendectomy on April 2, I became less focused. The next thing I knew, I was buying Easter candy and didn't stay out of it like I should have. That got me way off-track. Have you read the magazine article on Inertia? That article is excellent and describes me well---If I am not completely "mindful" at every given moment, I can quickly get off-track with my eating.

This week my surgery was rescheduled, and since getting that phone call, I am once again completely motivated. I told my husband I think I am even more motivated than I have ever been to lose weight. And that's a bit odd for me because once I get going on a diet, I am always motivated. This time, however, it's a much higher level of motivation. I, too, want to shrink my liver, to be as healthy as possible going into this surgery, and to do my part ahead of time for my surgeon.

I just need to be careful about losing too much. My insurance has approved me, and I am concerned about what will happen with my insurance if my BMI goes under 30. I don't know if they weigh us on the day of surgery or if they go with our weight on the day that we do our pre-op testing. I have to do the pre-op testing once again since my surgery needed to be rescheduled.

My height is 5' 4.5" and I am short-waisted, so like you, I am concerned about my surgeon having the space he needs. On the day of my surgery, I want to ask him about where he plans to place the port.