I'm into my second week of my pre-op diet. Here's a daily menu: meal replacement shake for breakfast, another for lunch plus a light yogurt or fat-free cottage cheese, a large salad with 4 oz lean Protein for dinner (no corn, potatoes, starchy vegs) and sometimes a final snack of a sugar-free popsicle.

However, since I started 9 days ago I've only lost 2 pounds. I cheated once with 5-6 whole wheat crackers and Peanut Butter. That was last weekend. Since then I've kept to it. And, I really thought I'd have lost a lot more weight. I see others talking about losing 10-15 pounds during their pre-op diets.

What's going on? This is depressing and scary. If I can't lose weight with this, how is the surgery going to help?

I've lost around 8 pounds pre-op. Mine is different than yours. It was 4 Optifast shakes and 4 oz of protein for week 1 and 5 Optifast shakes week 2. 5 Optifast shakes is 800 calories. I also run 3+ miles a day and do 30 minutes of yoga. Have you been exercising while on the pre-op diet?

No, no exercise. I barely have the energy to take care of my daughter, let alone run 3 miles. lol. So, I applaud you! Work and taking care of the house are consuming all energy-stores I have.

Just think it's odd that others lose so much on the same pre-op (without excercise) and I'm losing next to nothing. I know everyone's different. Just feeling disappointed.

I wouldn't worry about it. Stress is another factor in losing weight. It could be that all this stress is causing your body to produce more cortisol which is a natural steroid. Doing all those things plus worrying about the surgery plus feeling crappy from the diet is a lot of pressure. This doesn't mean anything about how you'll do once you get sleeved. You're committed and are going to do great.

I've always done that exercise so I didn't add it for this phase. I just didn't discontinue it. I'm a diabetic so exercise is critical for me to maintain a healthy level of blood sugar. I also think that it's helping me lose weight because it's combined with the significantly reduced calorie diet. I still feel lousy and hungry though just everyone else.

No worries. My pre-op diet was similar to yours and I only lost a few pounds. However, 4 weeks post-op I have lost 20 lbs. Don't stress about it.

Also note that surgeons have different requirements and those that had significant weight loss could have been on a more restricted pre-op diet. For instance, my surgeon required my pre-op diet to be liquids only to accomplish a liver cleanse. That could be the reason others have a higher weight loss during pre-op dieting.