Who has failed the pre-op liver shrinking diet?

[EsojLabina 68]

All I have to say is I am failing miserably in my pre-op liver shrinking diet. I think is anxiety my mind playing tricks tell me you won’t to be able to like before. Kinda insane I think 🤔 anyone else has had this issue????

[Smanky 743]

Hi EsojLabina.

The liver shrinking diet is hard, no doubt about that! I don't think anyone breezes through it without at least a few days of wishing the weeks away. Try distracting yourself - do some DIY, engage in a hobby, go for walks - anything to take your mind off food.

Do you mean you're thinking you won't be able to eat like before? Because that is actually true. The upside is your body won't want to eat like before post-bypass, and that's the biggest tool to help change your mindset around food. But honestly, changing your mindset about food needs to begin pre-surgery, and if you have a complex relationship with food like binge-eating disorder or emotional eating, then you really need to see a bariatric psychologist to get on top of that, or the issues will follow you post surgery, and can manifest as depression.

[vikingbeast 985]

You can't tell whether you're failing the liver shrinking diet because you can't see your liver. Just because you're not seeing big movement on the scale doesn't mean you're not changing on the inside. As long as you are following the diet and not cheating, you should be okay.

[EsojLabina 68]

14 hours ago, Smanky said:

Hi EsojLabina.

The liver shrinking diet is hard, no doubt about that! I don't think anyone breezes through it without at least a few days of wishing the weeks away. Try distracting yourself - do some DIY, engage in a hobby, go for walks - anything to take your mind off food.

Do you mean you're thinking you won't be able to eat like before? Because that is actually true. The upside is your body won't want to eat like before post-bypass, and that's the biggest tool to help change your mindset around food. But honestly, changing your mindset about food needs to begin pre-surgery, and if you have a complex relationship with food like binge-eating disorder or emotional eating, then you really need to see a bariatric psychologist to get on top of that, or the issues will follow you post surgery, and can manifest as depression.

On point. I do need to meet with a Psychologist to follow up on that.

Edited October 18, 2021 by EsojLabina

[EsojLabina 68]

14 hours ago, vikingbeast said:

You can't tell whether you're failing the liver shrinking diet because you can't see your liver. Just because you're not seeing big movement on the scale doesn't mean you're not changing on the inside. As long as you are following the diet and not cheating, you should be okay.

😂🤣😂🤣🤣 that 1st sentence made my day. Yeah I am cheating.

[vikingbeast 985]

OK, stop cheating. Seriously. You will be glad you did. And if you have to cheat, only eat one bite of the cheat and chew it all the way down.

[Splenda 250]

I struggled with the pre-surgery diet and the liquid phase. For me, the week prior to the surgery was much tougher than the week after the surgery (I had no major complications, so take that for what it is worth).

And it is a struggle for the reasons that you mentioned -- you are completely changing your life. You are not just changing how much you eat, you are changing what you can eat and you are changing your emotional coping mechanisms. I had my little plan for how I was going to eat right and eat light for the few weeks before the surgery and then my emotions and fears blew that plan to pieces. My mind was terrified of what was to come -- I had some terrible eating binges about 10 days before surgery.

But remember why you ever stepped into the surgeon's office to begin with. For me, it was the realization that I had been telling myself for 20 years that the "next diet" would work. Some of the "next diets" worked for a while, but none of them kept the weight off. Everyone says surgery is a tool for weight loss. Agreed. But I needed an extreme tool to lose an extreme amount of weight. It was now or never and I didn't consider never to be an acceptable answer. So I buckled down, made it through the liquid liver phase (it gets better after about day 3) and got through to surgery. And it has been worth it. I'm 2 months out and do not regret it.