Anyone Tried to Do the Pre-Op Liquid Diet Before Its Time?

[I Am Enough! 197]

I'm two months out from surgery and I was thinking about doing some test trials with the liquid pre-op diet to see what works and what doesn't. Has anyone tried to do this and what were your results? Did it make it easier when it came time to do it for reals?

[daynuhlicious 61]

I did not do any trial runs, but I can say I had to do it. I had my gallbladder removed in April of 2019 in what was my very first ever surgery/hospital visit (not including ERs or urgent cares).

I had to do 10 days of the pre-op for the exact same reason as the bariatric surgery - to shrink the liver. Day 3 I remember being the worst part of it all. Day 1 & 2 you're thinking "I can do this, it ain't so bad." Then day 3 comes and you want to die. And then after that, you're just resigned to being miserable for whatever days you have left. 😂

I could only have 3 shakes a day for that one. For this diet I get 4 shakes a day, so I am hoping that it will fulfil hunger better this go around.

It's hard, but it's not impossible by any means when you keep yourself in the mindset that you are doing this for YOUR health, and that if you cheat or mess up it's YOU who has to suffer with whatever complications could arise (including having to forego laparoscopic surgery and be cut open). It definitely helped to keep myself on the wagon.

Edited June 8, 2022 by daynuhlicious

[I Am Enough! 197]

2 minutes ago, daynuhlicious said:

I had to do 10 days of the pre-op for the exact same reason as the bariatric surgery - to shrink the liver. Day 3 I remember being the worst part of it all. Day 1 & 2 you're thinking "I can do this, it ain't so bad." Then day 3 comes and you want to die. And then after that, you're just resigned to being miserable for whatever days you have left. 😂

That is super helpful and definitely sounds like a challenge. I believe I'm going to give it a try and start out for two days and then progress until I KNOW I can do it! Thanks for the inspiration!

[Spinoza 1,169]

I did it by accident because my first date for surgery was cancelled and I didn't know when I would be re-listed. I kind of ended up on it for 2 months, with the odd proper meal when I couldn't bear it any longer, thinking 'the minute I stop they'll give me another date'! Ended up losing 25lbs, which was a nice head start but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it! Good luck if you do give it a go.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Spinoza

[Bridge1967 42]

I would order a variety pack of premier shakes from Amazon or Walmart. They also sell clear Protein for the days of clear liquid diet.

[I Am Enough! 197]

18 minutes ago, Spinoza said:

I did it by accident because my first date for surgery was cancelled and I didn't know when I would be re-listed. I kind of ended up on it for 2 months, with the odd proper meal when I couldn't bear it any longer, thinking 'the minute I stop they'll give me another date'! Ended up losing 25lbs, which was a nice head start but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it! Good luck if you do give it a go.

Holy WOW! That must have been excruciating for you! Thank heavens you finally got the reschedule. Seriously... WOW!!!

[I Am Enough! 197]

9 minutes ago, Bridge1967 said:

I would order a variety pack of premier shakes from Amazon or Walmart. They also sell clear Protein for the days of clear liquid diet.

Thanks for the resources! I'll check into the clear Protein. Would Bone Broth be considered a clear liquid?

[Tufflaw 463]

Yikes! Why would anyone do this voluntarily?

Remember the goal of the pre-op liquid diet isn't to lose weight but to shrink your liver. It's not a particularly healthy diet in terms of long-term nutrition, and it's hard enough to manage the two weeks when you know surgery is coming up, I would never have done it otherwise.

[daynuhlicious 61]

10 minutes ago, I Am Enough! said:

Would Bone Broth be considered a clear liquid?

So by definition (at least by my team) clear is:

no sugar, caffeine free, and carbonation free. It also says "clear" but broths in general are not literally clear so I take that requirement with a grain of salt. Clear apparently means that you can see through it. If you can see the bottom of the bowl when it's poured, it's clear. Clear means easily digested and leave no undigested residue in your intestinal tract.

Here is what I found when specifically searching if Bone Broth is acceptable:

Quote

Stock, miso Soup and bone broth: Though they may appear to be clear liquids, these products often contain small particles of vegetables or fat that make them cloudy, so you might want to play it safe and avoid them

Again, a grain of salt. Your best bet would be to ask your nutritionist that you are working with on your bariatric team.

[I Am Enough! 197]

THANK YOU for that bit of extra information! I'll definitely review that with my nutritionist

[daynuhlicious 61]

1 hour ago, I Am Enough! said:

Thanks for the resources! I'll check into the clear Protein.

I am a fan of Premier Protein shakes. chocolate is the only one I've tried that I care for. As far as clear Protein, my vote would probably go to Protein2o (the no caffeine one). They seem to have a few flavors but the one I had was Mango Peach maybe? Somethin or other like that.

Those are probably what I will be using, so thought I'd throw out the ideas in case you wanted to try any of them.

[catwoman7 10,856]

UGH. That pre-op diet is so awful I'm not sure why you'd want to do it voluntarily, but then if you really want to...

[summerseeker 1,844]

Dont do a trial. It would serve no purpose. Its hard and has to be done before the surgery. That is the only thing that keeps you on the straight and narrow course. You just dont have the same goal line fear with a trial

Have some food funerals instead, I did

[acopas 104]

I didn't run a trial at the liquid, by I did start following my post-op parameters for five weeks before my pre-op diet. During that five week run, I lost 26 pounds. I started my 3 week pre-op diet last Wednesday and when I weighed in this morning, I lost another 5.4 pounds this week.

[daynuhlicious 61]

16 hours ago, summerseeker said:

Have some food funerals instead, I did

I'm dying 😂🤣😂