Hi!

I have a few questions.

I have been directed to follow a 2 week pre-op diet instead of the recommended 3 day pre-op diet by my surgeon due to my higher BMI. But I am not pleased with the instructions. Here is all I got:

You will need to be on a liquid ONLY diet. You may have broth (chicken, beef or

vegetable), sugar-free Jell-O, sugar-free ice pops, sugar free juice, Clear liquids (i.e.

Crystal Lite, Diet Snapple, water), coffee or tea with a sugar substitute, and Protein

powder mixed with Water. The key to the liquid diet is LOW sugar and LOW carbs. NO

SOLIDS of any kind.

2 weeks of this??

Any suggestions?

Hi, I'm one week post op. I have been drinking EAS advantEdge carb control shakes. U can buy them at Walmart. There pretty good. I also ordered protein powder online from bariatric advantage. It has 27 grams of protein and 8 grams of carbs. There also good. I would alternate between a shake and a cup of broth. It will get boring but it's worth it. I hope this helps. Good luck

I have mixed with water and also done it with milk, it tastes fine either way. The amp is very tasty mixed with warm water... Hot chocolate yum

I mix my shakes with 4oz water and 4oz skim milk and also add some ice and frozen fruit such as strawberries, banannas, blueberries etc i put it in the blender and drink it..i bought vanilla, cookies and cream and strawberry whey protein powder from gnc. The frozen fruit i bought is for smoothies found in the grocery store. After i blend it if its not thick enough i freeze for about 10 minutes and it does thicken up if you like yours thick. My liquids sounds like yours all except for the fruit. For me it took about 3 days to feel like i wasn't hungry anymore. I tried to space the shakes out and the broth tastes so bland that i ve been using ramen noodles broth packet which has a lot more flavor and I know the sodium is high so i just try to keep a eye of that..good luck!!

Premade protein shakes I get from Costco or Sams are really good. They are called premier protein. Has 1gram of sugar and 30 g of protein 160 cal. Really good flavor!

I have my pre-op diet in hand, just not scheduled yet so I'm anticipating you 'pain' only. Besides the high protein/low carb shakes, liquids (water, broth, sugar-free pops and gelatin) I can have, twice a day, certain yogurts, cottage cheese (1/2 cup nonfat) 1 hard boiled egg 2 oz. deli turker/chicken. Also, once a day steamed or raw veggies.

Maybe your doc will go along with this.

Good luck. Sorry you were beat up at the beginning of this post, I knew what you were trying to say. Just think, besides being banded at the end of all this you'll be able to say you survived the pre-op!

HI. The big questions I would have for your doctor is how many calories per day can you have. Clearly they want to limit your cals if they are saying to mix the Protein shakes with Water instead of milk (fat free still has about 90 cals per cup).

Be aware some protein powders are VERY high in cals, fat and carbs so read the labels. Gold Standard Double chocolate and Dymatize Nutrition Gourmet vanilla are very good and are about 110 cals,with low carbs and fat for about 23 g of protein.

As for premade shakes look for something that will get you at least 25 g of protein for 150-200 cals. I second Premier Protein (they now advertise on this site but I discovered them before that). Avaialbe at SAMS and costco. Post op I use them for my prework out snack since I have a looong time between lunch and dinner and I exercise in between.

I think everyone has given you quite a bit of good advise. I really don't see any criticism from anyone.

I have had my band 2 years and 3 months and lost 89 lbs. I am 64 years old and did great. I did lose very slowly, Compared to younger gals and guys.

Instead of having a 2 week liver shrink, I had to do it for 3 weeks. EVERY DR and EVERY CENTER is different as is every person. You have the advantage of being an RN. I amongst everyone who wrote to you only wish the best for you. Honestly, If you follow the rules of the lapband world~ you will suceed. If you fight them you wont. I hope that you do not plan on eating bread, drinking soda, and stuffing your mouth with food.(and other rules not mentioned ). Other than that, I am anxous to hear of your great weightloss in the future.

Oh, I completely understand that I need to shrink my liver (I am a RN )

And, I do trust my surgeon, but I wish the pre-op diet instructions were more specific. I understand a lot of LB patients go on the MediFast or Optifast diet to lose weight before surgery. I wonder if that would be sufficient?

When I got my pre-op instructions my surgeon said, "we sell HMR here." I had a bunch of Medifast from a previous attempt. I asked if I could use that, he said no problem. He sells the HMR because it is convenient for the patients, he said, not because he requires it's use.

Perhaps your surgeon would be the same and let you use Medifast...? Give him a call.

Hi Chamie,

This is what i received from my doctor. Maybe it will give u a better idea of how to do things.

Follow full liquid diet (1000 calories and minimum 70 grams protein) everyday starting 2 weeks before your surgery.

FULL LIQUIDS INCLUDE :

skim milk, lactaid milk (fat free) or soy milk

Low fat cream Soup (campbells low fat/low sodium cream soup or healthy choice or any other low fat/sodium)

Any fruit juice without pulp

Any vegetable juice (V-8, tomato...etc)

sugar free pudding

Dannon lite and fit yogurt

No sugar added fudgesicles

Protein supplement- we recommend (World Wide) Pure Protein shake found at Trader Joes, any flavor (170 calories and 35 grams protein per 11oz can), or other Protein powder to equal 70 grams protein /day.

LIQUIDS THAT YOU CAN CONSUME IN ANY AMOUNTS:

Water

Crystal Light

Diet snapple

Tea

Decaf coffee

Sugar free Jello

Sugar free popsicles

broth, low sodium beef, chicken or vegetable

EXAMPLE OF EATING SCHEDULE:

Breakfast

1cup coffee

Creamer and artificial sweetener

4oz orange juice no-pulp

8oz fat free/skim milk

4oz sugar free jello

SNACK

1 can world wide pure protein

lunch

1 cup hot tea with lemon

4oz apple or orange juice

1 cup low fat cream soup

4oz sugar free jello

SNACK

4oz sugar free pudding

1 bottle diet snapple

dinner

1cup hot tea with lemon

1 cup low fat cream soup

4 oz sugar free jello

4oz apple juice

SNACK

1 can world wide pure protein

Hope this helps!!

As a matter of fact, i found this online. VERY INFORMATIVE! !

www.permanente.net/kaiser/pdf/63278.pdf

Copy and paste into ur address bar.

nela mariposa- THANK YOU!! THIS IS WONDERFUL!!! Just what I was looking for! I really, really appreciate your help! You are GREAT!

My pre op diet starts for me on Sat. May 12. I have been having a protein shake on my own now for breakfast just to get used to them & I like them! Been doing it for a week. I think the shake fills me until lunch pretty well. I put 1%milk, ice cubes, a sprinkle of cinamon, adds a nice flavor! I sometimes add 1/2 banana for extra flavor!

I could be super wrong but i dont think bananas are allowed in the shakes when u officially start. U might wanna look into that.

I get banded on the 16th. My official liquid diet started today (well yesterday) the 6th. However; I started early to get a feel of what I would go through. I must be extremely honest, this is very hard and every day so far I keep telling myself that I made a mistake choosing the lap band. It is very helpful if you have people around you who supports you. I work 7p-7a and my co-workers are very supportive but since the census is low I find I want to snack. I still cant believe its all liquids. Im convinced my surgeon made a mistake. lol

For my pre op diet I was on muscle milk ( protein) 3 times a day for 2 weeks. It helped a lot. Also now I am doing bariatric advantage protein now and it's very good. If u absolutely need some food have baked season chicken and 1 cup of veggies. Also I would start working out ASAP hope everything works out for you