I'm on day 2 of the pre-op diet. I find I'm not as hungry as I thought I would be. Why do I need to drink the protein shakes? I mean, what purpose do they serve?

Protein and the amino acids they provide are the building blocks for your body. Without it, you will feel tired and your body will start to use internal sources (your muscles) for fuel. Losing your muscles will result in a decrease in your metabolic rate (how many calories you're burning) and you will have to consume fewer calories to burn the same amount of fat you could have been burning with your muscles. Protein is also what helps your hair to grow. No protein equals lots of hair loss.

The high Protein pre op diet gets your body burning fat to shrink your liver. If you are on liquids shakes are the way to get your protein. This is also what you will need to be doing post op, high protein liquid diet.

Protein helps protect the muscle you have and build more. More muscle = faster metabolism. Muscles burn fat.

End of story!

Ginger

Some basic nutrition facts:

food is how we sustain our bodies and maintain our health. Food is not just for the pleasure it gives our taste buds or to medicate our feelings with.

Every calorie is not equal to other calories. Protein calories are the most important ones we take in.

Protein is the form of food that rebuilds our bodies when they're injured (like the injuries you will sustain during the surgery you're about to go through!) and that get exhausted and "used up" in daily exercise and activity.

And if your body doesn't get that much protein a day, it will literally eat your muscles.

At your body weight, you need at least 80 grams of protein a day (maybe even more) to sustain your body's muscles--including the muscle tissue of your heart, lungs, intestines and other body organs. The last thing you need to do to your body just before major surgery is to weaken your vital body organs by having your body devour its muscle tissue.

So that's why you need protein now. And that's why you will always have to eat protein for the rest of your life, post-op.

Edited September 22, 201411 yr by VSGAnn2014

Thanks everyone. You had me at hair loss.

today I got a haircut. I have had my hair long for awhile but I am so tired of the hair falling out. I am real careful to get a minimum of 60 grams of protein a day but I usually get more in. stress is also a big factor in hair loss and while we are losing wt. we are under stress. so count your protein, drink water and take your supplements, everything is in place for successful wt. loss. oh my hair dresser said that I still had plenty of hair and lots of new hair growing. yea!!!