Hungry! (Pre-Op Diet)

[Stacy_wls 135]

Well today is day 4 of my pre-op diet (round 2 b/c surgery was pushed back).

I'm really struggling with hunger. I had a slip yesterday and I think that is causing the hunger to come on very strong. I have my food planned out for the day -- high Protein & veg, low carb (max 800 calories, 100 g carb, min 60 g protein). I am due to have a yogurt this afternoon and am trying to wait as long as possible so that it can carry me through dinner.

I don't know how people are able to stick to this. If I could do this, I would not be here. It was a struggle to stick to 1400 calories a day.

Arg. I understand the point of it, and want my surgery to go well, but it is crazy hard.

Just venting - thanks for listening and not blasting me.

[Sabredy12 55]

Hi, I feel your pain how long is your pre op for??

[Stacy_wls 135]

2 weeks. I can not wait until December 13th and I am back home from Surgery (on the 12th).

What about you?

[deejay1383837872 17]

One answer.....MEAT, meat, MEAT! Lots of it, carbs are the evil ones. Don't do yogurt, have a chicken breast, turkey sandwich without the bread, use lettuce, broiled fish, steak, pork chop, shrimp sauteed in olive oil with garlic. Quit feeling hungry! Eat meat! That is what I did and I got a gold star on my picture of my liver from my doctor! I ate 1,000 to 1,200 per day pre operation. After operation I am right on track! 24 pounds lost in a month!

[Sabredy12 55]

I'm on the 12

[McButterpants 2,846]

Hang in there - it will get better. I think it was on the 5th day of pre-op that I felt better (my pre-op consisted of 2 Protein shakes, 4-6 ounces of meat and 1 cup of vegetable daily).

Here are some things about your pre-op diet:

1. It's really hard - I underestimated it.

2. It's necessary.

3. It sucks

Then, I found some things that helped me with my pre-op diet, once I accepted the facts above:

1. Artificial sweeteners made my hunger worse, especially Splenda.

2. Green tea was my friend - I drank copious amounts of it.

3. Lots of Water helped.

There were times in my pre-op diet that I wanted to give up and I had to remind myself why I was going thru this procedure.

You will find you're stronger than you know. Hang in there! Best wishes.

[Sabredy12 55]

Have some boiled eggs if ur really bad, and ham high high Protein x

[Noor1969 150]

Hang in there...I wish I was "suffering" along with you, but I don't get sleeved until February. I will have to endure the pre-op diet also. You're not alone!

[SassySenior 111]

Pre-op diets are hard for several reasons -- not just to torture you. I didn't realize till later that the pre-op had prepared me somewhat for what was to follow after surgery, which was not eating anything resembling food for two weeks, and then another month of greatly restricted eating. I realized then that without the pre-op I would have been dropped into the ice cold Water of reality after surgery, which would have been a nearly unbearable shock.

The only thing easy about this surgery is your joy in turning into a different version of yourself ... one that's 1/2 or less of what you used to weight.

Many of us had much harder pre-op diets ... like no food whatsoever, only Protein shakes or bars and Water. I don't know how others managed on that. I couldn't. I had to have a mini meals of lean meat and veggies. But my total intake was probably about 700 calories.

If you have a more liberal pre-op., drop everything, run to your surgeons, and give him a big smooch on the lips for letting you eat something.

It's hard, but you can do it, just like we all did. Remember, it's absolutely necessary you be in this nearly starvation state of mind by the time you have surgery. What makes it bearable is that after 3-5 days your body will adjust (if you haven't cheated with sugar) and you will be able to complete the pre-op with a minimum of suffering.

[Stacy_wls 135]

Thank you everyone!

I put everyone into MFP today and realized I had 120g of carbs! I can't believe it. I ate Protein & veg all day w/ 1 cup of berries. The veg, yogurt and milk had way more carbs than I realized. I stuck with <800 calories, but need to adjust the veggies tomorrow.

Do you have any tips on low carb veggies? I had broccoli, brussel sprouts, and snow peas today. I guess I just need to have less.

So hard!

[SassySenior 111]

I doubt broccoli has any carbs, I don't know about Brussels sprouts, but I guarantee you the snow peas probably caused the carb overload. I love peas, and I plan on eating them soon as I can. But they are off limits for now.

Keep doing what you're doing --- good work! Keep it up!

[McButterpants 2,846]

Yep it was the snow peas - as delicious as they are, they are very carb-y!

Broccoli, cauliflower are good choices. Anything that is low on the glycemic index would be good:

Asparagus, cucumber, greens, and radishes are good choices.

Stay away from peas, corn, carrots, potatoes - those are high carb veggies.

[Stacy_wls 135]

So hungry. Pretty good day. I'm going to escape the night time munchies in dreamland. One day closer.

Night all!

[SoPeachy28 53]

I'm having a hard time on my pre op diet as well. Im on an ALL liquid DIET!!!!!! I had 3 chicken nuggets on the first day and 2-3 pineapple chunks on day two. Today's day three and I had a spoon full of collard greens. But I vowed that days 4 to 14 where going to be straight liquids. This is to prep me and my body for after surgery. I have to stick to it!!!!!

[smorgan0000 6]

It's ALL about Protein and water!! My preop diet was 2 weeks of sugar free Clear Liquids. I never really got hungry because I was constant drinking protein (premiere protein). I was having 10-15 grams protein every hour or two. Between protein I had TONS of Water and broth and Jello. Keep up the protein it'll be worth it! Best of luck!!