Pre-Op Diet Fears...how did you do it?

[fancypants67 162]

So i received my pre op diet instructions and im terrified!!! I have NEVER been able to fast or do a liquid diet for more than a day...HOW am i gonna do this for TWO WEEKS?!?! Im more afraid of this than the surgery itself! Any tricks you used to help get through... Or were there "light" foods you could eat to keep you satisfied (ie: sugar free greek yogurt)? This feels like i am about to climb Everest.

[SalOdyssey 441]

So i received my pre op diet instructions and im terrified!!! I have NEVER been able to fast or do a liquid diet for more than a day...HOW am i gonna do this for TWO WEEKS?!?! Im more afraid of this than the surgery itself! Any tricks you used to help get through... Or were there "light" foods you could eat to keep you satisfied (ie: sugar free greek yogurt)? This feels like i am about to climb Everest.

What does your plan allow? I did an all liquid shakes/broth diet for 2 weeks. Days 2-4/5 were HELL. Stomach rumbling, slight headache. Do your best to stay occupied, and remain focus. It is a large hill to climb, but you can get there.

My plan allows for sugar free Jello, pudding, light yogurt, cream of wheat/oatmeal, and 1-2 cups veggies.

Stay Strong @@fancypants67!!

[Cayenne112 1]

Think of this as a preview of your life for a couple of weeks after surgery and an opportunity to lose some weight quickly. Just take one day at a time and stay busy. I embroidered a lot because it kept my hands busy. I would recommend staying away from the TV as there are a ton of food commercials on when you are most vulnerable. I stuck to the pre-op diet closely and wound up losing 20 lbs. in those 2 weeks. You got this!

[Dub 9,922]

Think of it at a gut check in the sense of it being a hurdle to get past.

If you can't muster the willpower to get through the brief pre op diet.....are you truly ready for the surgery itself?

It's not that bad.

[rebecca wills 190]

I have been practicing and honestly feel full for a while after my shakes. I start tomorrow and feel Great.

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[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,443]

You're wailing like a banshee over two weeks out of a lifetime. If you believe that you can't stick to liquids for all of two weeks, are you capable of changing your eating habits and food choices for a lifetime?

You're the one who has your pre-surgery instructions in hand. If lists of "'light' foods" are included, fine, go for 'em. If not and someone responds that he was permitted yogurt or other items, you can choose to follow your instructions or change surgeons.

Bariatric surgery requires adult thinking and behavior. You're the one who must make the determination.

Edited June 22, 2016 by WLSResources/ClothingExch

[judanna77 45]

I was scared of the pre-op diet as well, and it truly did suck for the first few days, but then it got better. It still wasn’t fun, but it is survivable. One thing that helped me really stick to it was that I had had an abdominal ultrasound as part of my pre-op tests, and so I had hard evidence that my liver was “mildly enlarged”. Knowing that even though the diet sucked, I was making my surgery safer helped me to stick with it. Another thing that helped me was looking into all the scientific studies that I could find about doing a pre-op liver-shrinking diet. There weren’t too many I could find (and the ones I could were mostly about gallbladder surgery), but I could see that there was a measurable benefit to the diet in terms of a shorter surgery time.

I think the notion that being nervous about going through the pre-op diet means that you aren’t ready for surgery is misguided. It may be true that some people aren’t ready for the changes that go along with surgery, but the fact is that the pre-op diet is hard, and I think it is normal not to want to put yourself through that, even if you are ready for the huge changes that come along with surgery. I was hungry and tired and had a horrible headache for the first few days of the pre-op diet. The good news is that the post-op diet is way easier.

Another good thing about all the research I did was that it really brought home the point that there is no one “magic” pre-op diet. The studies found that there wasn’t a measurable difference in liver size reduction from diets between 600-1100 calories a day, and ranging in length from 1-4 weeks.

I know I’m in the minority here, but I don’t think that you have to follow your surgeon’s plan exactly in order to be successful. I think that part of being an adult is making responsible choices, and I think it is fine to make the choice to modify your surgeon’s plan to something that will work for you, provided that it still fits within the overall nutritional goals. For instance, my surgeon’s pre-op diet plan called for 1,000 calories a day, coming from only Protein shakes and Protein Bars, with less than 20 grams of net carbs total per day. Instead of following this plan, I made my own plan which included the same 1,000 calories / <20g carbs per day, but instead of shakes/bars, I got most of my Protein from chicken breast, cod, and greek yogurt. I also included lots of vegetables to help keep me feeling full. It was way easier for me to stick to this plan than it would have been to stick to only shakes and bars, and my surgeon said my liver looked great.

[4u2nvyme 96]

im on my 9th day in this 2 week liquid diet and let me tell you it has been hell. Its so hard. no food at all, Ive slipped up a few times nothing bad but a piece of cookie here and a piece of chicken there but now Im doing good. Just try your best and keep yourself busy that's what has helped me stick to it so far. You can do it the days go by far. I add ice to my shakes helps me a bit more. and get the sugar free Jello those have really helped me. Good luck

[fancypants67 162]

You're wailing like a banshee over two weeks out of a lifetime. If you believe that you can't stick to liquids for all of two weeks, are you capable of changing your eating habits and food choices for a lifetime?

You're the one who has your pre-surgery instructions in hand. If lists of "'light' foods" are included, fine, go for 'em. If not and someone responds that he was permitted yogurt or other items, you can choose to follow your instructions or change surgeons.

Bariatric surgery requires adult thinking and behavior. You're the one who must make the determination.

I guess i was banking on the fact that after surgery i wont feel AS hungry or will feel full faster. But you are right... I will grow some balls.

[fancypants67 162]

And thank you @judanna77. That was very nicely put. Thank you everybody!

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,443]

I guess i was banking on the fact that after surgery i wont feel AS hungry or will feel full faster. But you are right... I will grow some balls.

NO, No, no, no ball-growing. Better to be eggsy.

Diminished appetite and quicker satiety are what it's about.

[ami23 7]

I'm terrifies of the pre-op but luckily only need to do it for one week.

My doc told me I can still have solids that are no/low fat (I was very concerned about not having veggies for that period of time).

My biggest challenge will be giving up diet coke.

I am happy that surgery is forcing me to do so, but I don't drink coffee/tea just Water and diet coke. I drink far too much of it and it is my biggest crutch probably.

Anyone else have/had a DC addiction like me (I'm talking 25+ years)?

[bini120 163]

@@judanna77 response makes complete sense. Don't pay mind to responses saying that 'if you can't do the pre-op diet you shouldn't be doing the surgery'. That's unnecessarily unsupportive and not true. I had my own fears (see my own post in one of the Beginner's forums where I was given wonderful advice by @@MissMay and @provenzee). And even though my plan allowed more than others' seem to have, I still had slip ups here and there pre-op.

After surgery the whole thing changes - I was only done a couple of days ago and you realize how little you want or crave food.

You're justified in being nervous about pre-op - after all, right now you're functioning with the mindset and stomach that led to obesity. If pre-op diets were easy to do, none of us would even need the surgery!

But look at your surgery as resetting your mind and body. Once you're over that hump, you'll listen to your body and be great.

Do the best you can during pre-op. If you have a slip up or two, don't be too hard on yourself.

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[jimsettepani 0]

You can do this, I promise! Keep yourself busy and your eye on what you ultimately want out of this WLS. The pre op diet isn't easy, but you will get used to it quicker than you think. Good luck!

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[GoingRogue 53]

I haven't had surgery yet but I didn't want to be shocked come my 2 week diet so I started at month 4 of my 6 months and I have been doing shakes 2-3 times a day and then a low carb dinner. I've been able to lose a good chunk of weight and I also will be quite used to eating this way when I "have" to.

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