i am doing my pre-op diet. my doctor has me on a liquid diet for 2 weeks before my surgery. this is day 2 and i am hungry! i am tryin to keep a positive attitude... i got out my skinny clothes to look at and i have my skinny photos. i have let peole know i am doing liquids thinking if they know i wont cheat. this is the easy part but boy it sure seems hard.

is 2 weeks of liquid the norm...or am i just being tortred?? lol;)

i cannot wait to be banded!!!!!! 10 days to go!!!!1:D

thanks

michelle

Hi Michelle,

I had clear broth for 2 days but got tired of it. Last night for instance I had 3 table spoons of rice (well cooked) with yougurt. And right now I am having tuna with crackers. This morning for Breakfast I had a 1/2 cup of cheerios with 1/2 cup milk. But I chew, chew, chew, because I hate to throw up so I am very careful that nothing gets stuck.

For at least the first 4 days to be safe just have Clear Liquids. Trust me you won't be hungry so it's not hard to do. After that a good rule to follow is if you can eat it with a straw then its ok.

As I mentioned before every "body" is different. I am doing well with more solid foods, you may or may not and may need to take more time before progressing to solids. You have to just take it easy and allow your stomach to heal.

Let me know if there is anything else.

Mary

P.S. I LOVE Taco Bell, I am looking forward to next week to try some, I am afraid that Beans may be too heavy to digest.

I also self-payed for the procedure. As I mentioned my father is a doctor and the manufacture of the band recommends moving back to solids after 3 days. This is not something that I did on my own. Trust me I would not want to go through another surgery!

After telling my surgeon about the manufactures recommendation he said they normally recommend 2 weeks of liquid 2 weeks of mushy food to those that have more than 100 lbs. to lose to give them the greatest amount of loss in the first month to keep them motivated. But since I do not have 100 lbs. to lose and have already lost 7 lbs. in less than one week, I am doing just fine.

You should always do what is right for you. Some people can do 2 months of just juice without a problem. Great! I just don't understand if someone can do juice for long periods of time without a problem then why get banded?

Mary

Hi Michelle and others planning to eat solid food soon after being banded:

I have been banded since last December, and belong to the Bandster groups. From what I have learned there, most experienced surgeons, like the ones in Mexico, who have done thousands of bands for many years, require their patients to follow a liquid diet for the first month after surgery. The purpose of this is to allow the stomach to heal and the band to set and heal firmly in its place. This is extremely important to prevent possible future slippage of the band. If you start eating solid food too soon, the stomach then has to move around and churn to digest your food, and will not be able to heal properly, and the band may not set properly.

You do not need to eat solid food to prevent hunger. You can make many thick satisfying Soups from refried Beans thinned with V-8 juice, salsa, sour cream, melted cheese, etc., blended chili thinned with tomato juice, blended cream soups, bean Soup, lentil soup, blended clam chowder, blended chicken noodle,etc. You can have the soups, Protein shakes, thinned yogurt, Jello, about a hundred other satisfying liquid meals as often and in as much quantity as you need to feel full and satisfied. Just chose soups and liquids with a lot of protein, and blend the chunks to make a smooth mixture. You are only limited by your imagination! Please do not eat solid food too soon! The risk is too great, and the benefit of waiting is too important!

Mary in Sacramento

oh you guys i think my stomache has been talking for me!! i printed these posts out and if i get the urge eat something of substance i will read and get a reality check like i just did!!!!!

i have lots of food i can make for post op- like i said i will start with the broth from the chicken soup then puree the veggies with the broth on the 3rd day ( my doc says clear liquids for 2 days then onto full liquids for a week then onto mushies)

for mushies i will be doing more thick soup... lentil soup:D black bean soup:D chili and cheese:D wow thats a lot of Fiber let me add beano to my list of foods:eek: lol i think i will do fine once banded! it is my unbanded stomach now that is freaking!

michelle

THANKS FOR KEEPING ME IN CHECK!

Mushy foods are the best, especially chowder yum:D I have not tried chilis because of the bean I'm afraid it's too soon but in 2-3 weeks it's definitly on my list

hey I done steak and potatoes at OutBack Day before Surgery. I then stayed soft with nothing after 12:00 Midnight..No problems..3 Days after I'm eating small portions and smart but mostly what I want..

One little trick I learned in my first weeks after banding was this. Get a bunch of bananas, peel them, cut in big chunks and put in a container in the freezer. Then use the chunks like you would ice cubes in your shakes. The frozen bananas make the shakes more filling and cold at the same time.

I also did this because I was getting leg cramps after surgery and bananas always seem to deal with that for me so it was the obvious choice.

I also ended up buying some Fiber powder because since surgery I only seem to have a bowel movement every four or five days (sorry if TMI). The thing I discovered is that the fiber powder is quite filling. It is even a tasty if you add a sugar free syrup like the ones made by www.davinvigourmet.com (these are really good, I recommend them).

I ate lots of instant Knorr Hot and Sour Soup. Because you stir an egg into it the soup is quite filling and the bits are all small enough to eat in your liquids and smushy-food period.

All these little tricks can work on the pre-band diet you are on.

Well I had my first class last night for this surgery. I was told that I would have to go 7 days on clear liquids pre op as well. I do not know how I am going to do it, but I know that I will. I can not wait to have this surgery. I have read so much on here and learned so much that it has been very easy to make up my mind to do this.

Thank you all for the motivation. I am sure that you will hear more about how hungry I am when I get to 7 days out.

hi michelle,

im on day 12 and getting banded on this wednesday.My doctor also told me to go on two liquid diet,optifast,and like you,i did well the first week,even losing 7 kilos,but then slipped up the second week badly,to the point where im worried now they will cancel my surgery which would be the worst considering i was on the waiting list for neally 2 years.

all i can say is,do the best you can and hopefully being strict on the diet isnt as important as once thought,i know its to shrink the liver and all that but i just dont have willpower which is why i need the band.

i feel terrible for cheating but i just couldnt help it

good luck with everythig and ill let you know if i get banded on wed or not.hopefully,,,,fingers crossed,,,i still do

I get to start a 2 week liquid diet next week. I am worried. I usually get really sick when I dont eat. =/

Not looking forward to the headaches and nausea. sigh.

My doctor doesn't actually require me to go on a pre-op liquid diet, but I've learned so much from these boards that I mentioned it to him and he said if I wanted, I could do it for a week and it would be beneficial to get a jump start on weight loss. From what I understand as well, it helps with the surgery because it shrinks your liver...if you have a fatty liver, they won't do the surgery. I assume because he said I didn't need to diet pre-op that my liver was fine, but I'd rather be safe! Besides, I want to try it out and see how I do. I think I can handle a week! I'm so sick of being fat, I can't "weight" to get started, haha.

I'm starting my pre-op this Monday, Feb 2nd, and my surgery date is set for Monday Feb 9th - so excited (and nervous too!).

Good luck to everyone out there. :redface:

How did day 2 go with the liquids? Hang in there!! Monday is coming! Good luck to you!

I'm on day 5 of my 2 week pre-op diet. Yeah...it's definitely a challenge. I hate the term 'cheating'. I'm supposed to do 800 calories a day...I might push 1000 on most days...that's still good. Last night was the first time I had anything solid. I put some mozarella cheese in my tomato soup. So sue me. I've lost 8 lbs. in 5 days so I'm not too worried.

I think the big thing to watch is how much and with what you're cheating with. Cheating with some vegetables...or some crackers here or there...big deal. Now eating a whole pizza...THAT would be cheating and I would discourage you from doing that. Hang in there...others have been where we are and soon we'll be looking back giving helpful advice to the upcomers...won't that be nice? I can't wait to be post-op :cursing:

This is my second day of the liquid diet prior to my surgery February 24th. The smell of food is what gets me....if I could only shut that off for a while I think I could do this. That and getting so busy that I don't eat (drink) something too long in between times. Taking something in every couple or few hours will be my key to beating this liquid thing. I have to do the clear liquids two days before banding then yum:thumbdown:....back to full liquids post op again. Thanks for some ideas given here. Especially the frozen banana in the shakes. Doesn't blending soups with noodles,rice or beans make it too pastey thick?

Usually, my doctor recommends ten days, but because of when they scheduled my surgery, we're only doing 10. My surgery is 7 days away, and so far, I'm doing okay. I've been keeping my calories under 1000 (the doctor recommends between 800 and 1200, so I think I'm doing good). I have been having cheese, as I feel like I need something to chew on every so often, but it's Cabot's 75 percent less fat cheddar, so there's 60 calories and 2.5 grams of fat per serving. The diet is only suppose to consist of 3 to 4 cans of slim fast per day, no sugar added apple sauce, low fat and low sugar pudding and low sugar yogurt.

I've had a lot of trouble with the slim fast too. The consistency makes me gag with every sip. I figured out that, if I mix the can with nonfat milk, it's much better.

I felt bad, last night was Valentine's day. Of course, my boyfriend and I went out. But I didn't finish anything. I had a little of the appetizer and a little of my meal, and took the rest home for my dad. However, after that, I'm not eating ANYTHING else. And, mind you, I didn't eat ANYTHING that day, as I knew I'd be going out.

Here's to the yogurt I'm eating while I write this.