Hi everyone! I'm going to be banded in Mexico on June 26th. I am so excited, and already in weight-loss mind mode! Sooooo, my question is: I see that a lot of people go on a pre-op diet and I'm wondering what this is exactly... liquid fast? shake Meal Replacements? Protein drinks and 1 "sensible" meal? As far as I can tell, my doctor doesn't have his patients participate in a pre-op diet, so I'll be going it alone. If anyone has any recommendations as to what product I should buy and, most importantly, best tasting, please let me know.

Super Stoked!

Lizzie:clap2:

I haven't been banded yet, but hope to be in the next couple months! My doc has his patients drink 4 cans of SlimFast Optima a day for the 2 weeks before surgery. I think it has to be the Optima as opposed to the regular Slim Fast because it has more protein in it, which, from what I've read, is the biggest part of the band diet. The purpose of the preop diet is to shrink the liver so it's easier to do the surgery.

Good luck!

Thanks Bug for the quick response! Just to clarify... that's 4 optima's a day, NO food... for 2 weeks. Correct?

Okay, I'll do that in 2 weeks, I want to help this along as best I can.

Cheers!

Lizzie

Yep, I'm pretty sure it's 4 Optima a day and no food. I'm having my first consult with the surgeon on Thursday morning (yay!) and I'm going to ask for sure then. I'll let you know what they say! He seems to have a pretty conservative approach, but I think that's because they've been doing lapbands for less than a year. I won't even get to eat regular food till 11 weeks after surgery. :faint: Lots of mushies though. Oh well, I'm betting it'll all be worth it! Just remind me of that when I'm cranky from lack of food and wanting to eat my kitchen table the week before I get banded. :confused:

My doctor had me on a low fat, sugar free /no sugar added diet that start 7 days prior to my surgery. This included yogart, milk, soups, jello, and puddings and I could have low fat crackers for the first 3 of those days, on day 4 no more crackers. Then the last day prior to surgery I had clear liquids only. Tea, Broth, Fruit Juice, Ices. , on this day I could have sugar to keep my energy up. The doctor stated the the reason for the fat free liquid diet was to shrink my liver. He explained that by shrinking the liver it made the surgery much easier to perform, he stated that they have to actually move your liver off your stomach to do the surgery and that the small it was the easier to move and that it was a very fragile organ so this really helped. I thought I would tell you what I did because there was a definite reason for it. Good Luck! Donna

My doctor did not have me go on a pre-op diet. However, I began tasting some of the protein shakes myself just to figure out what I liked and did not like to get used to the diet. I found that the Carnation Instant Breakfasts shakes were pretty good but they have to be super chilled in the fridge! They have a lot of protein and calcium included. Good Luck!

I wish it was as easy to get rid of the calories in a sundae!!

Donna

I was banded the end of April. I did diet 2 weeks prior to surgery, I was instructed to eat low fat, high protein foods. Including lean meats, chicken, fish, yogurt, that type of thing. I also ate protein bars. I began taste testing shakes and protein drinks prior to surgery. I ordered some on-line, and stocked my cupboards, with them, and broths, jello, de-caf teas, etc. Remember that the first week or 2 following surgery, most surgeons have you on clear liquids, so you need to find your protein without using the shakes. For this I used Zero Carb Isopure drinks(40g. of protein a bottle), I bought at GNC, and also Unjury Unflavored at 20 g.protein per scoop(www.unjury.com), that I could mix in teas, or apple juice. If you get your protein in, you will have more energy, and it sounds like when you do, you recover easier. I had my surgery in MX, and had a 5 hour plane trip as well as an additional 5 hours by car, to get home, on the 3rd day after surgery, I was shopping 4 days after surgery. I worked hard to get my protein in. My surgeon told me he could tell I had followed the diet well, that my liver was easily manipulated, and it made surgery much simpler. By the time you move on to shakes, and mushies, you will be able to get around to get them, just make sure you have the clear liquids on hand for when you get home the first week. It is not always easy, but the band makes it soooo much easier, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!! For the first time, I feel like I really CAN do this!!!

Good luck to you!!!

Kat