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How long was your pre-op diet?



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My preop diet was relatively easy except that I was on vacation in Disneyland for a week of it.

It was 2 weeks low carb under 40 grams a day. My BMI was 31 so I was actually worried about losing to much weight as my surgeon office requires a BMI of 30. But my surgeon was great and reassured me that I had already qualified. Good thing as I lost 10 lbs in two weeks and it put me around 29 BMI. Good luck a 4 week liquid diet sounds hard especially since that's pretty much what you do after the surgery.

~LA

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I think My doctor is trying to kill me with these awful Vitaleph shakes. Three weeks of it. He wants me to lose 14 lbs in three weeks. If I could do that I wouldn't need surgery. And supplements: ch-ching!! $250 for the shakes and pills.

What can I say, it helps me to kvetch...

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2 weeks all liquid diet for me and my BMI was over 50 also. I lost 16lbs in those two weeks and my surgery & recovery went as well as it could have. Good luck!

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My insurance company required a 6 month supervised weight loss program pre-op, so on my first visit to my surgeon, she put me on a modified diet of replacing 1 meal a day with a Protein shake. I had to do that for 4 months, then beginning month 5, I had to go to 2 Protein Shake replacements per day. After 4 weeks of that, I had to go to all liquids for 2 weeks, and the last 2 weeks I was on Clear Liquids only.

I've had many people tell me that my surgeon's requirements were extreme, but I'm happy I did things exactly like she instructed me to. I lost 30 lbs. pre-op, and I've lost another 53 lbs. post op.

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I've only been able to lose 7lbs in two weeks. It's hard. Surgery next Thursday. I'm getting nervous. I want steak. Nuts, bacon, peanut butter....

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2 weeks for me although I've read in forums before that some surgeons base the pre op diet length depending on how much weight you lost beforehand.

Although I don't get how that matters I had a lot of issues and didn't lose much on my own.

I would ask your nutritionist or surgeons office.

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Mine was 4 weeks. 3 Protein Shakes a day and one meal that consisted of 3oz lean Protein and 1cup of veggies. I lost 18 pounds

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My bmi is just above 50 so I have to do the four week diet. Plus they tacked on another two weeks to help ease me into the liquid diet. I'm on day three. Week one I get a Protein Drink for Breakfast lunch and dinner are frozen meals no higher then 300 Cal. And a snack in between each meal. The second week is the same thing but I switch out a dinner or lunch meal for a shake, the last four weeks is the liquid diet.

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I'm glad to hear others are only required 1-2 days of liquids pre-op. My surgeon said if I lost 3-5 lbs he would do the surgery (BMI 47). I've lost about 10 lbs and surgery is 3 weeks away. I see my NUT again Tuesday for my official pre-op class but I was starting to worry that I was missing something!

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Hi there!

My surgery is scheduled for May 18th and I start a 4 week pre op diet on April 20th. I'm just curious about how long everyone's pre op diet was. I haven't met anyone yet that had a four week pre-op diet and it has me a little curious.

my pre op diet is complete Meal Replacement that I have to buy through my surgeon's office. Mostly shakes and other Protein drinks that are like hot chocolate or juice drinks. I'm allowed to have One Bar a day.

My surgeon's office has a scale based on BMI and since I'm over 50 BMI I am in the four-week category. I've already been on a low carb diet for about 6 weeks now and I've lost 26 pounds but I'm still over 50 BMI. so I guess it's four weeks of liquid diet for me.

so what was your experience like? How long was your pre op diet?

I'm currently on Day 8 of a 2 week Pre-op liquid diet. Can have 2-3 Protein Shakes per day and sugar free popsicles, broth, sugar free Jello and Water or uncaffenated tea. I don't think I would have made it 4 weeks. The first 5 days weren't so bad but now I'm craving just a small bite of food. But, I know I can't have it. My BMI is 37 -- having the surgery for two reasons -- obesity and several medical issues.

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    • 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. 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💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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