So I am apparently the world's biggest wuss because I didn't even make it through day 1 of my pre-op diet without cheating. I am on a "Protein diet" that consists of 500 calories worth of protein--in various little packets like pudding,shakes, drinks--a day. End of day one and I am dizzy,lightheaded, and starving......so I ate chicken breast and asparagus. I have an upper GI tomorrow and then a doctor's appointment. I wonder if I should tell him that I caved on day one. I am really embarrassed. Part of me wants to yell, "Hey--fat lady here--can't make it on 500 calories a day for 2 weeks" I mean, that is like 3500 calories a week. I can eat that in a day easy. Who am I kidding--I am 300 pounds--I can eat double that in a day with no effort.

Any tips or hints about how you made it through your pre-op diet will be appreciated. I have 4 phentermine left over and am considering taking them to get through the first few days. I have 13 days to make up for today.

Everyone stumbles along the way. You made wise choices it seems, as long as the chicken was not battered and deep fried. Put your big girl panties and do better tomorrow. Don't beat yourself up.

Don't beat yourself up! your choice of chicken and veggies was a good one! I had a hard time on my preop because everything was so sweet! I was able to have protein shakes and unlimited veggies.

It's ok. Don't be too hard on yourself. When you go to the doctor why don't you ask them about optifast. I had to drink shakes and eat bars for two weeks before surgery then two days before surgery I cheated as my "last meal" thing. You need to try to really stay strong and tell yourself "I can do this. This is temporary and for my surgery. I might be hungry now, but it will help for the long run. I can do this. If they can, I can." It's all about your mind set. Message me if you want to talk more.

It does get easier. I was only required to do 5-6 days of full liquids, sugar free, low carb. I started at 10 days out to ease myself into it. I am on my last day, and honestly I have no cravings, and I am not hungry. I have probably had way less today so far than any other day.

It will get better. Try a different Protein, the one I use keeps me satisfied and I'm 270 so I know what you mean about being on a reduced calories, keep drinking Water. I'm on 2-3 shakes a day. For lunch I have 2 egg white omelet with veggies, and for dinner some protein and salad loaded with veggies.

About the pills I would call and ask them doctor if you can take it before surgery its a powerful stimulant that may have side effects.

I'm going to be HONEST here because honesty is what works best for me. If you can't make it through one day of your pre-op diet, are you sure you are ready??? The reason I ask is because after the surgery, you can get seriously ill by cheating. I was on a liquid diet pre and post op for 3 weeks straight. It sucked. I was a sugar and caffeine addict, and, just like a junkie, I went through withdrawls. I had horrible tremors and felt dizzy a lot, but the doctor assured me it would pass as my body adjusted...and it did. I know it is hard. I think that you should be honest with your doctor. He is setting up a big surgery and treatment plan for you with the assumption that you are following his orders. Don't beat yourself up. You did it...it's over....tell your doctor...and resolve to follow the rules from here on out. I would hate to see you put your recovery at risk if you can't handle the pre and post op rules. Take care and kudos to you for your honesty.

I'm going to be HONEST here because honesty is what works best for me. If you can't make it through one day of your pre-op diet' date=' are you sure you are ready??? The reason I ask is because after the surgery, you can get seriously ill by cheating. I was on a liquid diet pre and post op for 3 weeks straight. It sucked. I was a sugar and caffeine addict, and, just like a junkie, I went through withdrawls. I had horrible tremors and felt dizzy a lot, but the doctor assured me it would pass as my body adjusted...and it did. I know it is hard. I think that you should be honest with your doctor. He is setting up a big surgery and treatment plan for you with the assumption that you are following his orders. Don't beat yourself up. You did it...it's over....tell your doctor...and resolve to follow the rules from here on out. I would hate to see you put your recovery at risk if you can't handle the pre and post op rules. Take care and kudos to you for your honesty.[/quote']

Awesome.....I agree 100% it does get easier I am on day 4 and doing great....it is not judgement...for me if I need to cheat I am not ready..I do not want this to be one of my options.....it is the ONLY option.....our minds do crazy things.....walk slower...get up slower and you will get past the dizzy....most of the stress we go through, the needing to cheat is all in our heads.....

Good luck Hun...tell the dr. That will be the one saving your life if something goes wrong....hugs

I have seen a lot of pre-op diets and this one seems very restrictive. I am ok eating only veggies or something along those lines, but I don't think I have that option. I wonder if I understand the diet correctly. I was told to come pick up my pre-op diet, and it was boxes of little packets--no instructions. I counted them and divided by 14 days. That was 3 packets a day of 130 calories each.....so I guess it isn't even 500 calories a day. I think it is a bit worse because of the timing (TMI--sorry) around my cycle. I am dropping a ton of pre-period Water weight and that always makes me feel weak. I wonder if I could take some potassium or something. I usually eat a high-potassium food around this time of the month and it really helps with the weakness and dizziness.

Did anyone else have a diet that didn't allow anything except 3 packets of pudding or shake mix a day? The more I think about it the more I am beginning to wonder if I am doing this right.

Oh--the chicken was boiled breast with no skin and the asparagus was with no butter. I knew I was screwing up and didn't want to go too far.

I have seen a lot of pre-op diets and this one seems very restrictive. I am ok eating only veggies or something along those lines' date=' but I don't think I have that option. I wonder if I understand the diet correctly. I was told to come pick up my pre-op diet, and it was boxes of little packets--no instructions. I counted them and divided by 14 days. That was 3 packets a day of 130 calories each.....so I guess it isn't even 500 calories a day. I think it is a bit worse because of the timing (TMI--sorry) around my cycle. I am dropping a ton of pre-period Water weight and that always makes me feel weak. I wonder if I could take some potassium or something. I usually eat a high-potassium food around this time of the month and it really helps with the weakness and dizziness.

Did anyone else have a diet that didn't allow anything except 3 packets of pudding or shake mix a day? The more I think about it the more I am beginning to wonder if I am doing this right.

Oh--the chicken was boiled breast with no skin and the asparagus was with no butter. I knew I was screwing up and didn't want to go too far.[/quote']

I am on only liquids for four weeks pre op......max two shakes a day calories between 500-600..........they want you to shrink your liver.....after a few days you will be good...when hungry drink water....

500 Calories? Holy cow that's not many calories at all. Your "cheating" doesn't mean you aren't ready, I think your body is in shock and you did what you thought you needed to do. Especially at tht time of the month. Ugh... I hope tomorrow goes better.

500 Calories? Holy cow that's not many calories at all. Your "cheating" doesn't mean you aren't ready, I think your body is in shock and you did what you thought you needed to do. Especially at tht time of the month. Ugh... I hope tomorrow goes better.

Thank you. I really needed that bit of encouragement.

OK,so I have been doing it wrong. It is 6 packets a day (what I picked up was for 1 week--not 2 and they forgot the instructions). I can have sugar free Jello (which makes a lot of difference), low sodium bullion, sugar free Popsicle, etc. I had an upper GI today and talked to the surgeon about struggling with the pre-op diet. He said that I was doing ok and I am actually down 5 pounds in 36 hours, so I guess I didn't blow it too badly. I made one of the shake mixes into a pudding and let it get really cold.....had some broth and then some jello and finished up with the pudding--I feel so much better. I think losing so much Water weight all at once made me too weak to think straight. The sodium in that broth really helped. I am refocused and determined to lose the pound a day the doctor wants me to lose. He said that the grilled chicken breast without skin and veggie was actually just fine if I needed to use that to get through the first couple of days while I adjust. Here is to a successful pre-op diet.

Oh--and for those of you that flooded this topic with criticism, thanks for nothing. I was asking for help/suggestions not judgement. I was already upset with myself and your judgement didn't help. To those that posted encouragement--thank you thank you thank you. Just a positive "it is ok--get back on the horse" really goes a long way.

OK' date='so I have been doing it wrong. It is 6 packets a day (what I picked up was for 1 week--not 2 and they forgot the instructions). I can have sugar free Jello (which makes a lot of difference), low sodium bullion, sugar free Popsicle, etc. I had an upper GI today and talked to the surgeon about struggling with the pre-op diet. He said that I was doing ok and I am actually down 5 pounds in 36 hours, so I guess I didn't blow it too badly. I made one of the shake mixes into a pudding and let it get really cold.....had some broth and then some jello and finished up with the pudding--I feel so much better. I think losing so much Water weight all at once made me too weak to think straight. The sodium in that broth really helped. I am refocused and determined to lose the pound a day the doctor wants me to lose. He said that the grilled chicken breast without skin and veggie was actually just fine if I needed to use that to get through the first couple of days while I adjust. Here is to a successful pre-op diet.

Oh--and for those of you that flooded this topic with criticism, thanks for nothing. I was asking for help/suggestions not judgement. I was already upset with myself and your judgement didn't help. To those that posted encouragement--thank you thank you thank you. Just a positive "it is ok--get back on the horse" really goes a long way.[/quote']

It wasn't judgement at all......and I am sorry if it was taken that way......for me, I have spent years thinking I needed oh hood job, keep trying, it's ok.....andi hot bigger......for me if I cannot do my liquid then I can't do after surgery.....so at no point was I or I believe anyone on here being negative....again sorry if that is how you seen it....

So I am apparently the world's biggest wuss because I didn't even make it through day 1 of my pre-op diet without cheating. I am on a "Protein diet" that consists of 500 calories worth of protein--in various little packets like pudding' date='shakes, drinks--a day. End of day one and I am dizzy,lightheaded, and starving......so I ate chicken breast and asparagus. I have an upper GI tomorrow and then a doctor's appointment. I wonder if I should tell him that I caved on day one. I am really embarrassed. Part of me wants to yell, "Hey--fat lady here--can't make it on 500 calories a day for 2 weeks" I mean, that is like 3500 calories a week. I can eat that in a day easy. Who am I kidding--I am 300 pounds--I can eat double that in a day with no effort.

Any tips or hints about how you made it through your pre-op diet will be appreciated. I have 4 phentermine left over and am considering taking them to get through the first few days. I have 13 days to make up for today.[/quote']

My preop diet included 5 ounces of lean protein and 2 cups of non-starch veggies daily. My doctor told my mom he could really tell I'd followed the preop diet because my liver looked so good. That being said, I cheated a bit too by having some extra lean meat and non-starch veggies several times. I'm not advocating cheating. I'm saying I think you did no harm. It's carbs that interferes with the liver shrinking.

I have a friend who used Phentermine the first few days with our doctor's permission. know that it does get easier. The first days are the worst. You can check out my blog to see how much whining I did on the beginning and how much better it got. The posts are titled preop diet and the day of that preop diet day if you are interested.

Hang in there! Remember that this is only temporary and remember what you are doing this for. It will be worth it. Since i started my preop diet on May 22nd, I've had some sort of food restriction. That's 7 weeks sp far and I never thought I'd get through it. It was almost so overwhelming that I considered not having surgery. I now only have 6 days left until the only restriction I will have is the restriction my sleeve gives me. When I look back, I can't believe it has gone so fast.

Best of luck to you!

OK,so I have been doing it wrong. It is 6 packets a day (what I picked up was for 1 week--not 2 and they forgot the instructions). I can have sugar free Jello (which makes a lot of difference), low sodium bullion, sugar free Popsicle, etc. I had an upper GI today and talked to the surgeon about struggling with the pre-op diet. He said that I was doing ok and I am actually down 5 pounds in 36 hours, so I guess I didn't blow it too badly. I made one of the shake mixes into a pudding and let it get really cold.....had some broth and then some jello and finished up with the pudding--I feel so much better. I think losing so much Water weight all at once made me too weak to think straight. The sodium in that broth really helped. I am refocused and determined to lose the pound a day the doctor wants me to lose. He said that the grilled chicken breast without skin and veggie was actually just fine if I needed to use that to get through the first couple of days while I adjust. Here is to a successful pre-op diet.

Oh--and for those of you that flooded this topic with criticism, thanks for nothing. I was asking for help/suggestions not judgement. I was already upset with myself and your judgement didn't help. To those that posted encouragement--thank you thank you thank you. Just a positive "it is ok--get back on the horse" really goes a long way.

I don't think anyone was being critical. Those of us who are post surgery know how important it is to stick to the doctor's orders. I have a friend who has not followed a single rule, and she has been hospitalized several times. Her new stomach is basically not healing. In fact, she didn't follow pre op rules either and her surgeon almost called off the whole thing. We want you to be a success and are just trying to help. All doctors are different. My doctor said no food whatsoever in pre op to shrink the liver. Sometimes we don't always hear what we want to hear, just like anything else in life. It doesn't mean we don't care and that we are being negative. Good luck to you on your new journey. It is life changing.