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how long was your pre-op diet?



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Hi everyone!

Okay so here's the deal, I saw my surgeon this week and it was my very first appointment with him. He told me that he wanted me to start my pre-op diet asap (which I have) even though I don't have a surgery date yet and earliest I'll be able to have it is 6 weeks and latest around 8.

The diet isn't as bad as many I've read, definitely not a liquid diet. He has me on a slimfast shake for Breakfast, a slimfast shake for lunch, and 1 serving (of unspecified weight) of lean meat and either 2 servings of vegetables or 1 serving of vegetables and 1 serving of fruit for dinner with the only rule being no potatoes allowed and only Water between.

I'm just curious to see what everybody else's experiences were like, I've seen people have their pre-op diet be anywhere from 8 weeks to 12 hours and varying in contents. I'm also aware that all surgeons are different and you should follow what they say is best for you, just wondering! Also was it successful with no complications during the operation?

*edit* I forgot to mention that I've been on my pre-op diet 3 days now and have lost 3 pounds so far, so I'm averaging a pound a day on my specific diet at the moment.

Edited by spotsuns

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I had to follow a strict liquid diet for 4 days prior to surgery. I waited almost a year between my first appointment with my surgeon and my actual surgery which was Tuesday.


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I start mine on Tuesday. It'll be a 14 day clear sugar free liquid diet and I'm only allowed one bariatric approve approved Protein Bar a day. Surgery April 10th

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I had a 2 week Optifast pre-op diet which was only liquids. It was pretty much a miserable rite of passage. Now, I am 10 days post-op and still on full liquids but it is not nearly as miserable because the liquids are filling, no hunger sensations, and I don't have to use OptiFast. I found OptiFast shakes to be foul stuff.

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7 day liquid diet and that was it. I was trying to make smarter choices as soon as I got my surgery date though.

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The weeks leading up to Surgery (before insurance approval), I was working with a dietitian, and lost 29 lbs. then when I got my surgery date I had a 10 day liquid diet that looked like this. 5 Premier Protein shakes a day two 1 cup servings of either a fruit or a veggie. I could also have SF Jello and SF popsicles and broth. Then the day prior to surgery no Protein only Clear Liquids, broth, SF Jello, SF popsicles.


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My insurance required a 3 month medically supervised diet, and I must either lose weight or remain the same weight during that time for approval. Once I get a surgery date I will have to be on an extremely low carb diet for 2 weeks prior to surgery (for shrinking the liver). Every surgeon required something different. I've seen several people that are on a liquid diet for 1-2 weeks before surgery. Thankfully I'll be able to have solid food, just very very little carbs. I'm already on a pretty low carb diet (50 net carbs a day), so hopefully it won't be too bad once I get to that point. Hoping to have surgery sometime this summer. Good luck on your journey!

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If I have one regret it is that I did not make any real serious efforts to lose weight up until the 2 week pre-op diet. The attempts were really going through the motions. Otherwise, things have been plugging along. I am really starting to crave food of a healthy variety. Protein Shakes get older than dirt, very fast.

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No pre op diet required at all. Just no food and a colon cleanse required the day prior to surgery.

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If I have one regret it is that I did not make any real serious efforts to lose weight up until the 2 week pre-op diet. The attempts were really going through the motions. Otherwise, things have been plugging along. I am really starting to crave food of a healthy variety. Protein Shakes get older than dirt, very fast.


I myself would love to chew some food. Carrots, cucumbers, fruit, is settle for gum right now.

Sent from my Z983 using BariatricPal mobile app

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      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.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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