Hi

I'm super new here. I was scheduled for surgery on September 1.

I live in Sydney, Australia and halfway through my pre-op diet all elective surgery in the state has been postponed. My dietitian isn't responding to messages and my surgeon has simply said 'go back to eating normally' but it feels like a waste of the work I've done this past week.

Does anyone have any suggestions about diet for a break (they are suggesting a minimum of a month) that will help set me up for my op, and my life post op, without being own the pre-op fasting diet??

The pre-op diet is for shrinking the liver. I guess you could keep it up if you wanted, but it will be a long four weeks or more before surgery.

You could may be eat at a small deficit, maybe 250 to 500 calories less per day than needed for maintenance or eat at maintenance level.

How much do you weight and what is your goal weight?

Bummer about your postponement -- I hope it's brief.

Here's a link to a less restrictive pre-op diet that another poster received. It seems so sustainable to me that I'm currently following it to lose weight (I'm not scheduled for surgery yet). With 64 oz. of water daily, it isn't as hellish as most pre-op diets I've seen.

in addition to the dreaded two-week pre-op diet, I had to do a six-month supervised diet as required by my insurance company. I could do it with either my PCP or a registered dietitian (I chose the latter). She had me eating something somewhat similar to the way I'd be eating once I was a couple of months out of surgery - at least 60 grams of protein, nonstarchy vegetables, small portions of fruit and/or complex carbs. She had me at 2000 calories - which for me at that time was super low, since I was used to eating more like 3000 (now, six years after surgery, 2000 calories would be a huge blow-out for me - I normally eat around 1600-1700 - but it was a comfortable level for me when I was pre-op - and certainly much lower than what I was used to). So maybe something like that? Work on increasing your protein and lowering your carbs - and focusing more on the "good" carbs (fruit, vegetables, whole grains) and avoiding or limiting the not-so-good ones. Once you get through all the initial restrictions and are eating somewhat normally again, that's the way you'll most likely be eating...for life, really...

Sorry to hear that but it sounds like you have an amazing attitude. I would be flipping out and eating everything in sight! I'm impressed with your focused mindset despite the stress.

@Hop_Scotch that's the kind of thing I was thinking, make sure I stay in deficit and keep losing weight without being on the liver shrinking diet. Currently 117kg, aiming for 75kg

@FutureSylph and @catwoman7amazing, thank you for the info on the less restrictive/post op guidelines. I'm feeling like I'm floundering. I'd done so much set up for my pre-op and ready for liquids post-op and expecting to have a dietitian and guidance coming out of the surgery that having a "follow the bouncing ball" type diet for a week or two is definitely the way to go right now.

@Maribelle76 I'm trying really hard not to flip out and eat all the things! The problem is that after a week on the pre-op diet when I told my body I was about to eat all the thing again my body said no. I'm not a teary person, but I keep bursting into tears and just want to have a tantrum. But I figure post-op I'm going to have to have some serious willpower, so I may as well start exercising that as well as my body pre-op

Honestly I just want to get a different dietitian that has a bit of empathy and is responsive to a stressful situation. But I can't do much about the Covid outbreak and the surgery postponement. So I'll keep a handle on the things I can control and try to let the stuff I can't control roll by.

?

Edited August 26, 20215 yr by Kams
Accident

Oh, I’m sorry @Pyxis. NSW is really struggling at the moment. So, so many cases and you’ve been caught in the fallout.

I agree with @catwoman7. Up your protein intake, your vegetables & your fluids. Cut back on processed carbs & introduce or swap them for whole or multi grain alternatives or vegetable based alternatives. Reduce your portion control. Don’t reintroduce things you’ve already cut out or reduced like caffeine, sugar, etc. You’ve already broken a lot of your dependency on them.

Look at this time as a bonus & start to refocus your diet & explore alternative food choices, ingredients, cooking methods. Look at this as a place to start. You don’t have to do everything we’ve suggested. Little changes tend to be easier to adopt & make permanent than changing absolutely everything you eat.

Good luck. Stay safe & well.

Edited August 27, 20215 yr by Arabesque

Consider using this time and energy trying out some healthy recipes that you will be able to eat post op. I am not much of a chef so I only have a handful of things I eat now and it can get boring if you don’t have a variety of recipes in your Arsenal. Fingers crossed you won’t have to wait long.