Hi, I'm new here. Tomorrow I start my liquid diet. I'm only allowed 2 cups veggies and must drink 7-9 high Protein ensures. I'm also allowed Clear liquids. Has anyone done this? I'm terrified. I realize I'm probably going to detox from surgery, milk, carbs etc. just looking for any strategies. I do have advice from the dietitians, but as they have never had to do this, they simply look at it from the clinical point of view.

Are you terrified of getting ill or that not enough foods? Is this your pre-op diet?

3 months is very excessive. I am struggling on at 14-day pre-op diet.

It could be done for the following:

1) Liver Shrinkage

2) Fat around the midsection shrinkage.

3) Healthy weight for a successful surgery.

You can do it. After awhile, it is not so bad.

Was this a typo? Do you really have to be on a liquid diet for 3 MONTHS??

Sadly, yes I really have to do a liquid diet for 3 months. It's day 1, I've had 2 frankenfoods (Ensure High Protien) and I have a headache. The surgeon says he has seen excellent results from patients who do this. He also wants to do a sleeve and then next year if I want the bypass. My surgeons were switch and this is the new protocol from the new surgeon. Ugh... I'm not happy. It's not completely a liquid diet, I'm allowed 2 cups veggies per day, water, tea, coffee, sugar free water enhancers, sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles and broth. I know, try not to be too excited about that meal plan. Just wondered if anyone else had gone thru this.

This is my pre-op diet.

Many surgeons want their patients to get to a healthier weight for surgery, your surgeon is looking out for you in the long run. My surgeon wanted me to take off 50 pounds before my surgery......still working at it with a month to go.

My advice for broth is, make your own. If you have a crock pot it makes it easier. For a hearty tasting broth, roast your meat a bit then use it to make the broth. The store ones don't have as much flavor, the do for a bit but then you want more. If you make it in crock pot or slow cook on stove, you can add veggies then strain them---adds flavors and nutrients. If you google broth you will find tons these days. After surgery in Mexico, we picked up broth from a steakhouse that was like the best thing on earth (after no food for a couple weeks). Like you I am not a fan of frankenfoods. I hated the sugar free jello, hated the sugar free puddings, my dr. recommended Premier Protein, at some point I gagged on any protein. I think once you start it will be rough at first, then you will just go with the flow. DO NOT THINK 3 months......take it a day at a time. You might want to try some herbal teas, I enjoy teas and have berry flavors, and such you can also fill water with some fruits for flavor. You are not eating them, just adding natural flavoring to your water. Do make chicken broth, save the chicken in freezer for later use.

This doesn't sound right by any surgeon I have ever heard of. Ensure is a lot of sugar also. Something isn't right here. Is this surgeon online and do they have or are recommended with anything by the ASMBS?

Totally smells - and no offense.

3 hours ago, CalgaryWoman said:

Sadly, yes I really have to do a liquid diet for 3 months. It's day 1, I've had 2 frankenfoods (Ensure High Protien) and I have a headache. The surgeon says he has seen excellent results from patients who do this. He also wants to do a sleeve and then next year if I want the bypass. My surgeons were switch and this is the new protocol from the new surgeon. Ugh... I'm not happy. It's not completely a liquid diet, I'm allowed 2 cups veggies per day, Water, tea, coffee, sugar free water enhancers, sugar free Jello, sugar free popsicles and broth. I know, try not to be too excited about that meal plan. Just wondered if anyone else had gone thru this.

Hmmm he's talking of doing the sleeve then next year the bypass if that's what you want? Seems a bit of a red flag to me. I would get a second opinion.

52 minutes ago, swimbikerun said:

Totally smells - and no offense.

Yes, you may be right. Ensure is also soy protein rather than whey isolate.

On 3/18/2017 at 11:06 PM, CalgaryWoman said:

Hi, I'm new here. Tomorrow I start my liquid diet. I'm only allowed 2 cups veggies and must drink 7-9 high Protein ensures. I'm also allowed Clear liquids. Has anyone done this? I'm terrified. I realize I'm probably going to detox from surgery, milk, carbs etc. just looking for any strategies. I do have advice from the dietitians, but as they have never had to do this, they simply look at it from the clinical point of view.

Hello fellow Calgary poster. What you described is exactly the diet I was given, except replace Ensure with Glucerna.

This is the standard AHCIP recommendations. No dietitian in the WM program will deviate. They face serious consequences advising anything else like losing their license and effectively making RD education (4-6 year degrees) worthless.

A lot of people here don't understand why such a long diet and to be honest it confuses me as well. I'm sure it will confuse them even moreso when I explain my situation too.

I dunno if Glucerna is even available in the US.. I lived there for 27'ish years before moving to Canada and never even bothered with diet shakes/meal replacements. Nonetheless, it's been the most disgusting thing ever. I am supposed to be on 5-6 Glucerna a day. I had a really hard time even swallowing any kind of it, I'd just regurgitate it while trying to drink. I can manage the chocolate but it has to touch the back of my tongue first and go down -- cannot touch the front of my tongue or else I'll throw the stuff back up. My wife even jokingly suggested a feeding tube.

I had a hard adjustment, having only 1-2 Glucerna a day, my dietitian freaked out after Day 2 when we talked and verbally threatened to derail the surgery if I didn't comply with her diet. I told her I'd just wind up lying to her then if I can't be honest without her going crazy.

Being fed up with this I did a ton of research on the diet, shrinking liver, and others who had it done with staged fibrosis of the liver plus type 2 diabetes. I noted wildly differing opinions, but there were consistencies with meat.

So, within a week, I was eating 2 string cheeses a day (0 carbs), 1-2 Glucerna (as I could keep down), broth drained from regular chicken noodle soup, and now my wife has made me home made lean ground beef meatballs, substituting bread crumbs with almond meal.. no carbs. I only eat a couple maybe once or twice a day, but it's more than enough. Then I mix Beneprotein into the broth to make sure I'm exceeding my protein goals.

A month into this diet I've had my hBA1c done, vast improvements to my blood sugar (maxed at 7.9 a year ago, 5.7 now and will likely be well under that with my next done in June), just had a fibroscan and liver function tests last week during hepatologist appointment all showing great improvements to liver function, down to normal, inflammation gone.. liver softened 50% since the diet started. I've lost over 60 pounds since starting the pre-op (most of that in the first 3 weeks), shrunk my liver, improved diabetes, etc.. all while ignoring the dietitian. Saw my surgeon who said I was doing fantastic, seeing him again in 2 weeks..just a few weeks before surgery, have no doubts he will be thrilled with my progress again not knowing I've done my own thing. It's not something I recommend, but if you truly understand the premise of this diet, I think it's not absurd to. 3 months liquid diet is what's absurd.

Here's the kicker too.. yes, it uses that shoddy sugar substitute, yet 26 grams of carbs in every bottle of Glucerna. This is supposed to be for people who are diabetic? 6 a day? That's over 150g of carbs a day. Why??? 3 months of misery for something that doesn't even make sense. I think in essence it's punishing people who don't lose enough weight in the program before meeting the surgeon.

I will make sure post-op they know how stupid that is. The fact that you can't even talk sense to them is ridiculous. Still, this is, much like the real world, a race to see how much you can bend the system to give you what you want, with the irrational goals of others having competing interest with whats best for you. Forcing me into Glucerna 6 times a day wouldn't have worked, and would have just caused me to be malnourished going into surgery because I'd still not be able to drink more than 1 or 2 in a day. All this lady would do is try and derail/postpone my surgery until I complied with the nonsensical diet. Yet I'm dumping weight and shrinking my liver while having far less carbs than they wanted, plus less calories. Because I have so much more energy I'm also on a proactive vitamin schedule, meaning going into surgery in fantastic shape.. meaning easier recovery post-op and easier job ahead of helping myself be malnourished. Now, post-op I will again listen to what my dietitian wants and will adjust things accordingly again. At least they aren't so anal at that stage.

Being forced into this diet inadvertently helped me understand more about portion control too. I'd much rather have portion control and be shrinking my liver and dumping weight this way than be forced on that god awful Glucerna crap a half dozen times a day. Not to mention it's near $10 per case of 6 bottles, so $10 a day for 78 days.

Edited March 22, 20179 yr by PatientEleventyBillion

I agree I'm struggling with the rational of this diet and the consumption of Ensure....I to have had the dietician threaten me. We probably have the same one. Thank you for the insight.

44 minutes ago, CalgaryWoman said:

I agree I'm struggling with the rational of this diet and the consumption of Ensure....I to have had the dietician threaten me. We probably have the same one. Thank you for the insight.

Yep, my suggestion is, lie to her. But if you do, at least follow the premise of the diet.. if they poke you with the laparoscopic tools and see your liver hasn't shrunk or is too fatty they will close you up and postpone your surgery.

Dr. Gill is thrilled with my progress, so is my family doctor, hepatologist, and the internist I see, Dr. Scott. This dietitian btw, when hearing my diet was for 12 weeks (3 months) said she would have a chat with Dr. Gill and get back to me what my real diet will be -- it remained 12 weeks so we know who won that convo.

To be honest I don't think very highly of these RD's.

Edited March 22, 20179 yr by PatientEleventyBillion

Dr Gill is my surgeon too! And Dr Scott

is there anything else you are eating? Or a diet plan you follow? String cheese, broth glucerna and meatballs? I've been allowed 2 c veggies

The diet you Calgary folks were put on is insane.

Well done Eleventybillion on your weight loss and more importantly your health improvements!!

I think the premise of all our pre-op diets are the same, lose weight to decrease surgical risk, shrink the liver, and start adjusting to a limited diet in preparation for post-op.

I find it amazing how many different pre-op diet plans there are out there. As soon as I booked my surgery (I'm Canadian but opted for self-pay in Mexico), I was to start on a high protein, low carb diet, then 2 weeks ahead of surgery was 3-4 protein shakes/day, low cal beverages, and unlimited vegetables.

CalgaryWoman, if I were you, I would sub out the Ensure for some quality protein shakes, eat unlimited vegetables, and maybe do a lean protein and veg for 1 meal a day. You would be maintaining the principles of the diet and as long as you are seeing good results...