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How much weight did you lose on your pre-op diet?



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Hi, I'm wondering how much people lost on their pre-op diets. I am on the two week Optifast diet but I am really struggling and I'm embarrassed to say I cheated quite a bit over easter! I just couldn't seem to get control over myself. Now I feel really guilty and I'm worried I won't have lost enough and my liver won't have shrunk for my op.

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I was on the pre-op diet for 2 weeks also, I will not lie, I cheated too. I only lost 5 lbs. The nurse at the hospital for pre-op said, not too many people do it.

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Don't worry about it. I didn't even have a pre-op diet. I was told to just eat lightly the day before and that was it.

I was nervous about my liver being too big/expanded. I ended up having a tuna fish sandwich and Soup the day before my surgery AND i ate a damn brownie.

I think that if you are eating non-stop or in super large portions - THEN you might have a reason to worry.

edit: Even though I didn't have a pre-op diet, I took it upon myself to cut back and ween off the soda/coffee...etc. Not sure how much I loss.. I am sure it was a few pounds. They were more worried about me GAINING weight. The surgeon asked before taking me into the OR if i had gained weight, I said "Nope" and he said "Good, because if you did.. I wouldn't do the surgery" .. I wasn't weighed on the day of surgery either. He just took my word for it.

Good luck : )

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Hey, thanks to both of you for your support. I'm definately feeling a bit better and more positive now! I will try very hard to stay on track for my last few days. :)

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I stuck to the preop diet for 2 weeks...very tough but I just kept imagining getting all the way down there and the doctor saying "we'll have to reschedule"...anticipating the disappointment hurt worse than missing the food. I lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks. 2 Ensure + 1 Lean Cuisine per day.

Good luck and hang in there...if you stick to it now, it'll be easier to stick with the post-op diet, I promise. And post-op is when it REALLY counts because you won't want to cause your band to slip.

E

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I was on Clear liquids with only 2 Protein shakes per day for 7 days pre-op.

The good news is that I lost 17 pounds during that one week. The bad news is that I was very difficult to live with and I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown by surgery day. I started the infamous "Is Sucking on a chicken Nugget Cheating?" thread. Boy, did that stir things up on the boards...

I had a fill on Wednesday and the doctor said, "Protein Shakes for a week, can you do it?" I will do it but I won't like it one bit. I have suffered to protect this band - like many people on these boards but the rewards have been great. I've gone from a size 22 to a 14. I feel good about me and people are giving me compliments.

You can do it. You are not weak for thinking about (or even actually) cheating. You are human. We are works in progress - BE KIND TO YOURSELF!!!

Good luck on your journey. :biggrin1:

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I was on Optifast from doctor 2 shakes, 2 bars and a special Soup for dinner. I never cheated...not once and lost 11 pounds. I felt great. Now, since March 21, I've lost 20 pounds (it was 19.6 yesterday, rounded up). I tried on a pair of pants today that I haven't fit into since last summer (and they were very snug) and they sliped right on...couldn't believe it. THAT MADE IT ALL WORTH IT:)

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I started the infamous "Is Sucking on a chicken Nugget Cheating?" thread. Boy, did that stir things up on the boards...

This has me roaring! LOL! I am glad you made it through ok.

Not much of a pre op diet for me, here. They just told me to cut back on sweets and carbs. And then I was eating pureed food by the time I left the hospital. My doctor does things very differently from most here, I've found.

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I didn't have a severe pre-op...liquid meals during the day and a Protein & veggies dinner. I was on it fo 10 days, also exercised like crazy and lost 10 lbs. from my initial consult (I do think I gained 2-3 more lbs after that so I'm thinking I lost around 12 lbs). I did it mostly for the liver-shrinking as well as avoiding really bad Constipation post surgery.

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I had to do a week of liquids pre-op. I stuck with it and didn't cheat. But, I've also heard some doctors don't require the pre-op diet. It's just to make the surgery easier so I'd try to do the best you can. There's no good reason to take any chances, right?!

As far a losing weight...I'm one of the weird ones who didn't really lose much during my pre-op and post-op liquid diets. I didn't stress about it and neither did my doctor. I was too focused on healing!

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My pre-op diet was just low carb for about 2 weeks before surgery, and I lost 10 pounds. I am so glad I didn't have to do liquids for that long! But every doctor is different. Don't beat yourself up though, I'm sure if you get back on track, everything will be fine. I wonder if anyone has actually had to reschdule their surgery because their liver was too big?

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My surgeon requires a high Protein, low sugar liquid diet for atleast 14 days prior to surgery. They gave me a list of "Shakes" that were allowabe. I can also have three servings a day of sugar free Jello, sugar free popsicles or sugar free fudgesicles.

It has been hard and I have cheated atleast once per day. Although each "cheat" was not a full meal and it was always something healthy.

I have 8 days until surgery. I think I have lost about 3-4 pounds since starting the liquid diet. Although my surgeon didn't say that I need to lose, they did say that I cannot gain. I still think that they want to see that you lost some weight to show that you followed the rules.

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I was put on a liquid diet for a week before surgery, to supposed shrink down my liver to make everything more accessable.. bad thing was i was in college and that was finals week as well!! I didnt cheat though.. Clear Liquids for 7 days.. i lost 16lbs.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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