So my surgery is scheduled for end of August. I have been put on a bariatric protein shake for breakfast and dinner. I am allowed to eat a lunch that consist of 3-4oz lean meat and 1-2 cups of certain veggies, no more than 500 calories, low fat. I have to lose 40lbs before surgery. Anyone else have to do this? If so how did you get through it and how well did it work?

Edited June 15, 20224 yr by AmbiiNicole

I didn't have to do that, but I did lose 50 lbs before surgery just through counting calories and eating 1500 calories a day. I think your surgeon may want you to lose weight to be safer for surgery if you are above a certain BMI (I can't tell from your profile).

Your plan will be hard, but it will all be over in a few months, and about a month after surgery you will start to eat "real" food, although food may not taste good for a while.

Good luck!

2 hours ago, AmbiiNicole said:

So my surgery is scheduled for end of August. I have been put on a bariatric Protein Shake for Breakfast and dinner. I am allowed to eat a lunch that consist of 3-4oz lean meat and 1-2 cups of certain veggies, no more than 500 calories, low fat. I have to lose 40lbs before surgery. Anyone else have to do this? If so how did you get through it and how well did it work?

Most people have a week or 2 weeks of a pre op diet. tho that depends on your weight and BMI... The heavier you are the longer you are on the diet. You havent updated your stats on your profile. It would be helpful if you did. you can put your weight and height and the type of surgery you are getting. (Click your profile at the top right corner and go to SURGERY setting and update... but 2 months is brutal. as for having to loose 40lb. I have seen some surgeons require people to get under a certain BMI as a safety issue for surgery. but all surgeons are different with their guidlines.

I wasn't required to do that (I just had to work with a dietitian for six months, as my insurance company required it), but as someone else said, I know some surgeons won't operate if patients are over a certain BMI (like 60, for example - but that varies).

5 hours ago, AmbiiNicole said:

So my surgery is scheduled for end of August. I have been put on a bariatric Protein Shake for Breakfast and dinner. I am allowed to eat a lunch that consist of 3-4oz lean meat and 1-2 cups of certain veggies, no more than 500 calories, low fat. I have to lose 40lbs before surgery. Anyone else have to do this? If so how did you get through it and how well did it work?

That's a long time!!! I had to do a week of all liquid diet before surgery and 2 weeks of liquids after. I wasn't allowed to have any food at all in my pre and post op liquid diet, and if you look at my posts on here, I was MISERABLE lol I could never do 2 months. No way, no how. I give you huge props for it, and I wish you all the best and all the luck with it.

6 hours ago, AmbiiNicole said:

So my surgery is scheduled for end of August. I have been put on a bariatric Protein Shake for Breakfast and dinner. I am allowed to eat a lunch that consist of 3-4oz lean meat and 1-2 cups of certain veggies, no more than 500 calories, low fat. I have to lose 40lbs before surgery. Anyone else have to do this? If so how did you get through it and how well did it work?

I wasn't required to do it, but I chose to do an additional five weeks of pre-op diet. It'll make my end pre-op period 8 weeks. During those five weeks, I would drink a protein shake for breakfast and lunch and have a dinner of protein and vegetables. I didn't stick to a specific calorie range, but it was normally between 500-700. The 700 calorie days were typically when I couldn't avoid eating out and had to choose the healthiest option available to me.

I'm starting my last week of pre-op today and I've lost 37.4 pounds so far. I was hoping for 50, but I knew that was a big ask.

Thank you so much for the reply! It is really good to know that the 40lbs is possible as long as I stick to it. I am of course horribly hungry but that is not a shocker. I have decided to munch on pickles when I just can't bare the hunger. Hoping that won't be an issue. Luckily I also love pickles.

57 minutes ago, acopas said:

I wasn't required to do it, but I chose to do an additional five weeks of pre-op diet. It'll make my end pre-op period 8 weeks. During those five weeks, I would drink a Protein Shake for Breakfast and lunch and have a dinner of Protein and vegetables. I didn't stick to a specific calorie range, but it was normally between 500-700. The 700 calorie days were typically when I couldn't avoid eating out and had to choose the healthiest option available to me.

I'm starting my last week of pre-op today and I've lost 37.4 pounds so far. I was hoping for 50, but I knew that was a big ask.

Thank you so much for the reply! It is really good to know that the 40lbs is possible as long as I stick to it. I am of course horribly hungry but that is not a shocker. I have decided to munch on pickles when I just can't bare the hunger. Hoping that won't be an issue. Luckily I also love pickles.

1 hour ago, SleeveDiva2022 said:

That's a long time!!! I had to do a week of all liquid diet before surgery and 2 weeks of liquids after. I wasn't allowed to have any food at all in my pre and post op liquid diet, and if you look at my posts on here, I was MISERABLE lol I could never do 2 months. No way, no how. I give you huge props for it, and I wish you all the best and all the luck with it.

Thank you so much. Only 3 days in and its definitely hard! However, so far so good!

5 hours ago, liveaboard15 said:

Most people have a week or 2 weeks of a pre op diet. tho that depends on your weight and BMI... The heavier you are the longer you are on the diet. You havent updated your stats on your profile. It would be helpful if you did. you can put your weight and height and the type of surgery you are getting. (Click your profile at the top right corner and go to SURGERY setting and update... but 2 months is brutal. as for having to loose 40lb. I have seen some surgeons require people to get under a certain BMI as a safety issue for surgery. but all surgeons are different with their guidlines.

Thank you so much. I was having a hard time figuring out how to update my stats. You can't do it through the app or on mobile. But got it figured out. I appreciate you.

5 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

I didn't have to do that, but I did lose 50 lbs before surgery just through counting calories and eating 1500 calories a day. I think your surgeon may want you to lose weight to be safer for surgery if you are above a certain BMI (I can't tell from your profile).

Your plan will be hard, but it will all be over in a few months, and about a month after surgery you will start to eat "real" food, although food may not taste good for a while.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your reply. I finally figured out how to update my profile. Sorry about that. Thank you also for the encouragement. Only 3 days in but I'm doing it. Farther than I thought I would have made it when the surgeon told me about it. lol.

10 minutes ago, AmbiiNicole said:

Thank you so much. Only 3 days in and its definitely hard! However, so far so good!

When i had to do the total of 3 weeks, I made sure to have a variety of protein shakes (my favorites are from Fairlife and Premier) as well as a variety of protein flavored waters, sugar free protein gatorades, and protein smoothies. There's also sugar free jello you can have. And sugar free tropical popsicles. This is what got me through, helped me get my fluids in, and got me to my protein goals. I still drink a protein shake in the morning (has 30g of protein and caffeine). Make sure you give yourself variety so you don't get bored.

11 minutes ago, SleeveDiva2022 said:

When i had to do the total of 3 weeks, I made sure to have a variety of Protein Shakes (my favorites are from Fairlife and Premier) as well as a variety of Protein flavored waters, sugar free protein gatorades, and protein smoothies. There's also sugar free Jello you can have. And sugar free tropical popsicles. This is what got me through, helped me get my fluids in, and got me to my protein goals. I still drink a Protein Shake in the morning (has 30g of protein and caffeine). Make sure you give yourself variety so you don't get bored.

So the surgeon has mean on a bariatric brand of protein shakes which I bought 2 flavors. As for the snacking.. He told me I can't snack at all. The only food I can consume is the lunch. I have however, I been snacking on pickles when I get super hungry which helps to munch on something. Everything I've heard of other peoples pre-op diets are soooo different from mine. I know every surgeon is different so trying to follow as much as possible.

1 minute ago, AmbiiNicole said:

So the surgeon has mean on a bariatric brand of Protein Shakes which I bought 2 flavors. As for the snacking.. He told me I can't snack at all. The only food I can consume is the lunch. I have however, I been snacking on pickles when I get super hungry which helps to munch on something. Everything I've heard of other peoples pre-op diets are soooo different from mine. I know every surgeon is different so trying to follow as much as possible.

My surgeon didn't allow me to have any food at all. So the stuff I mentioed is what I was told I can have. If you can have a meal, I would look at some ideas of what others had that were allowed to. I saw a lot of fish, steamed veggies, chicken, lean proteins (lean ground beef), etc... They also made sure not to have more than 4oz of food during their 1 meal. I wish you lots of luck. You got this

That’s a long time but at least it’s not all liquid. It will be tough but the good news is you will have a head start losing before you even get to surgery. You’ve got this.

If you have the ability to purchase a Ninja Cream, you can turn the shakes into ice cream. I'm looking forward to it more after so I can add some "fun" things in like sugar free puddings to get some better flavors, but I made one last night with Vanilla Fairlife and about 2 tbsp of a chocolate protein shake added when I did the respin.