How many of you have cheated on your pre-op diet? Im day 10 and have cheated twice... I get 2 shakes, 1 small piece of fruit, 1 carbmaster yog, and for dinner its 4oz of meat and veggies... Do u think my liver isnt shrinking??

Not gonna lie, I cheated every day of my full liquid pre-op diet AND go cold turkey on caffeine (8 diet coke a day girl). I'm not advocating that anyone cheat, but I couldn't do full liquids. When I went for my pre-op appt, the doctor couldn't even feel my liver - he said that meant it was where it was supposed to be and not enlarged. For the record, I cheated with eggs. I had scrambled eggs every night for dinner - it was the only thing that got me through that week.

However, I did not cheat on the clear liquid diet before and after surgery, nor did I cheat on my post op full liquid diet. And I haven't had a diet coke since March 27th.

You can cheat on your pre-op diet all you want. It's okay. Eat whatever you like and ignore your surgeon's advice. The only person you're really cheating is yourself. Following the diet as written will shrink your liver and help you overcome the addiction to sweets and caffeine before surgery, but you can cheat during pre-op and add those two withdrawals to your post-op misery if you like.

I was a diet coke addict before surgery and I drank several cans a day. I'm ashamed to say that I seldom drank Water at all. Now, I may have a diet caffeine free coke a couple of times a week, but it's very seldom that I do that. Once I removed the stricture about diet coke from myself, I've found that it's pretty easy to give up.

I've also noticed that sweets don't have the same appeal to me now that they did pre-op. Anyone who is my friend on MFP knows that I do have sweets sometimes, but I plan them into my day and I try to eat them early, before my workout. That way at least I get to use the sugar boost when I'm doing my cardio. I'm NOT advocating it, btw, just saying...

The pre-op diet helps us change our eating habits and helps start the mind set that we really need to watch what we're eating if we want to make it to goal. It's really best to stick as close to the plan as you can. I credit the two weeks pre-op and the six weeks of post-op restriction with helping me handle both soda and sweets as well as I do today. I'm not perfect but I'm nowhere near as bad as I was before surgery.

Please try to follow your doctor's diet instructions. if you are cheating on your pre-op diet, you will most likely do the same on the post-op and may not be the best thing for your new sleeve. Be careful.