I'm reading a lot of stories and responses by people regarding the pre-op diet. I am not, not, NOT a sweets eater so it takes me literally HOURS to finish one protein drink. I hate every single brand I've tried. I am a teacher and on the first day I started one at 9:30 and finished at noon. Then it took me the rest of the day to get the other one down! I followed it to the letter for five days (lost six pounds) and then started to add more proten because I felt weak from the lack of calories. Now I'm reading forums from lots of people who say their doctors did not make them follow it, some who said it actually wasn't necessary, etc. I had two friends from two different doctors who were NOT told to follow it and three friends from three different doctors who WERE told to follow it. I understand the part about shrinking the liver, but I have a gut feeling that the real reason is twofold: one, so that we don't eat ourselves into oblivion (which I was doing before the pre-op diet), and two, so that the all-liquid diet afterwards doesn't feel like such a shock. I think this is boiling down to a doctor's preference. Not sure now why any of this is necessary . . . I feel like I'm starving!

Edited September 14, 201412 yr by Luana526

Well, here I am 12 days post op! I lost 10 pounds pre-op diet and 12 pounds since surgery. It is coming off fast but I'm paying more attention to the diet than the scale. I went on Stage 3 diet a week early (they said no problem since I was tolerating everything so well) because I could not--NOT--drink another shake and I had no find a way to get my protein in. Believe me, it was just about adding eggs and tuna fish and cottage cheese (exciting!)--nothing too crunchy or drastic. I was almost in tears from those shakes because I disliked them so much. I'm not a sweets eater, never was, and particularly would never drink a milk shake, much less one that tastes bad. But that's behind me now. What is very, very new to me and something I so far don't really like is having to actually spend more time eating! I'll have to see what others in my group session say. The thing is, I had a BMI of less than 40 before I even looked into this. I'm not hundreds of pounds overweight, I looked like I did and weighed what I weighed because I love junk food, fast food, and anything fried. But . . . I didn't eat all day! I ate and I was done until my next meal (which wasn't always the best choices, I know). I'm not used to taking forever to eat a dollop of tuna fish! I am physically and literally spending more time eating and I'm not really enjoying it. I'm finding it a nuisance. I only get 40 minutes for lunch and I spend the entire time trying to eat! I'm looking forward to having this whole thing settle down, which I sure hope it does.

Here I sit, reading your post, finishing up a sugar free popsicle and typing this with mean fingers. I would GLADLY gnaw someone's arm off right now and not even think twice!!!

KarenF1972, you just gave me a good laugh! I wanted to eat my own children and pets when I was following pre-op. Mostly I was bored. But I got past it! And BTW, my BMI was below 40 to start and my doctor required that I lose only five pounds, so I followed it to the letter the first week and the second week I was definitely adding more Protein and a few Snacks here and there (stuck to low fat). I knew to stay low fat, but I was already past the five pounds (ended up being down 10 by the time I had surgery). So, yeah, it was a pain but I did't follow it to the letter the entire time and everything turned out fine. I really believe now that the pre-op is more about making sure you don't gorge yourself up the scale before surgery. Smaller liver, sure, but it's obviously not life and death since not everyone is being required to follow it. But I'm 13 days post-op right now and happier than ever . . . pre-op is all a blur!

Edited October 9, 201411 yr by Luana526

As I understand it, (and I'm NOT a medical professional) the primary reason for the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver to provide the surgeon more room to work and give you the safest surgery possible. That said, they all seem to have different requirements. Mine said "lose 10 pounds" before your pre-op appointment. I was lower BMI (37) to begin with. They didn't put me on a liquid diet to do it. I did it on Quest Protein bars and a light, high protein dinner. 13 pounds came off. No problem. I then had full liquids the last 5 days before surgery which, by that time, was not a big deal. I can do any "diet" for 5 days. As for hating the Protein drinks... This may sound harsh, but you need to find a way to get them down. If it's a problem now, it will be worse after surgery when your stomach is swollen and your tastes are all screwed up. You need to commit to your after care BEFORE you have surgery. Read http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/backontracktogether/discussion/4491168/THERES-NO-CRYING-IN-BASEBALL-Wise-words-about-WLS/. It's a great reminder of what we sign up for when we let them cut out our stomach or rearrange out guts.

As far as product suggestions, I second the nectar products. They have an Iced tea you can add lemon juice to that will help de-sweeten it. It was my go to for months post op. I also enjoy a scoop of chocolate whey in my coffee. I actually PREFER protein'd coffee to regular coffee now.