This liquid diet is...not easy!

[SomeBigGuy 110]

18 hours ago, lewalt818@gmail.com said:

Im only on day 2 of liquid diet… sleeve surgery on the 12th of Feb. So this is all new, I read some of the comments, and they say 💭 it gets a lil more tolerable as the days go by. My thing is how do you develop the strength. When everyday your cooking 🍳, or someone else is cooking 🍳. I can't complain, cause they can't stop just cause I chose my path.The shakes are constipating me, and the pain is a b***h sometimes. I can handle the Water, but the shakes are causing this to be intolerarable, and its only day 2. Can someone suggest a better shake ?(on the equate shakes from Walmart) Nurse said a lot of patients like them and are affordable, but they're just doing the above that I mentioned. Any suggestions, definately wanna get through this 2wks.

If you can find them, look for the Fairlife shakes. I drank those for my pre-op and post-op, and my surgeon was happy with the results. They have different varieties with 26g, 30g (most common), and 42g of Protein and are generally 150-200 calories per bottle. These taste more like a Nesquick chocolate milk to me, and don't have that chemical taste that Premier Protein or Muscle Milk have. Check at Sams Club or costco, if you have one nearby. They sell out fast, so you may want to check online each morning and place a pickup order for that afternoon before they're gone. My local one usually gets a pallet in weekly.

[Splenda 257]

21 hours ago, lewalt818@gmail.com said:

Im only on day 2 of liquid diet… sleeve surgery on the 12th of Feb. So this is all new, I read some of the comments, and they say 💭 it gets a lil more tolerable as the days go by. My thing is how do you develop the strength. When everyday your cooking 🍳, or someone else is cooking 🍳. I can't complain, cause they can't stop just cause I chose my path.The shakes are constipating me, and the pain is a b***h sometimes. I can handle the Water, but the shakes are causing this to be intolerarable, and its only day 2. Can someone suggest a better shake ?(on the equate shakes from Walmart) Nurse said a lot of patients like them and are affordable, but they're just doing the above that I mentioned. Any suggestions, definately wanna get through this 2wks.

I always tell people that the two weeks before surgery were much more difficult for me than anything that came after the surgery. It is a terrible period and you really do have to power through it.

As far as the Constipation, take Fiber capsules (preferably psyllium husk) with a probiotic. Its also a good habit to get into post-surgery, as soon as you can handle it. It will keep you regular and help with digestion.

Try a different brand of shakes and see it works better for you. I always preferred the Premier Protein shakes over the Equate ones.

Drink an insane amount of liquid during this time. Always be chugging some kind of liquid, just to try to keep your stomach relatively full. Eat sugar free popsicles by the box.

[Livingliferenee… 20]

1 hour ago, Splenda said:

I always tell people that the two weeks before surgery were much more difficult for me than anything that came after the surgery. It is a terrible period and you really do have to power through it.

As far as the Constipation, take Fiber capsules (preferably psyllium husk) with a probiotic. Its also a good habit to get into post-surgery, as soon as you can handle it. It will keep you regular and help with digestion.

Try a different brand of shakes and see it works better for you. I always preferred the Premier Protein shakes over the Equate ones.

Drink an insane amount of liquid during this time. Always be chugging some kind of liquid, just to try to keep your stomach relatively full. Eat sugar free popsicles by the box.

@spenda, thanks for the referalls, will try diff shake and fiber pills, anything is help too get though the next 11 days.

[Livingliferenee… 20]

4 hours ago, SomeBigGuy said:

If you can find them, look for the Fairlife shakes. I drank those for my pre-op and post-op, and my surgeon was happy with the results. They have different varieties with 26g, 30g (most common), and 42g of Protein and are generally 150-200 calories per bottle. These taste more like a Nesquick chocolate milk to me, and don't have that chemical taste that Premier Protein or Muscle Milk have. Check at Sams Club or costco, if you have one nearby. They sell out fast, so you may want to check online each morning and place a pickup order for that afternoon before they're gone. My local one usually gets a pallet in weekly.

Thanks….. No sams or costco, here on east coast where I am, but will look on line.

[SomeBigGuy 110]

23 minutes ago, lewalt818@gmail.com said:

Thanks….. No sams or costco, here on east coast where I am, but will look on line.

I've noticed shipping is usually outrageous for these, I'm guessing because its heavy liquid weight. If you have a BJ's Wholesale nearby, they should have it too, but check online. Walmart and some grocery stores will sometimes sell individual bottles, but wholesale stores would be cheaper. My local Sam's Club has a 12pk for $21 ($1.75 each), but Kroger sells them individually for around $3.50 per bottle.

When I was on the liquid stage, another thing I had to do to keep away some of the cravings was chew up a bite of something and spit it out, just to get the flavor and distract from the shakes. Others have mentioned this too and it seemed to help them somewhat.

Also if you're dealing with Constipation, try a tablespoon or so of olive oil 2-3x a day to get things back to normal again. It usually takes about 8 hours after the first one to kick in. It is somewhat higher calorie, but it can become an emergency if things back up too much, so it is a little more drastic than over the counter laxatives.

[Bariover54 18]

Hi, 👋🏽 I’m 7 days into my two week liquid diet. I’ve searched high and low for recommendations. Here’s what I’ve done so far…

I found shrimp 🍤 broth, added low sodium Old Bay. It’s ALMOST like having shrimp!
Skinny syrups in high Protein Slim Fast

flavored water packets in Water and vanilla shakes

sugar free Jello and popsicles

Sugar free hard candies, like werthers

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
if I think of any more or find a miracle way of getting through this I’ll definitely share!

[NickelChip 1,358]

5 more days of "regular" eating before my liquid diet starts. I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night and to a diner for Breakfast over the weekend. I don't plan to go crazy with it, but I do want to have a couple nice meals to think back on over the next month of Protein Shakes and broth! I might split a dessert.

[newbegining2024 96]

Wow, that’s really hard! I applaud all of you who can do the full 2 weeks liquid only.

My two weeks liquid diet allowed me to have one small meal a day. It was lunch or dinner with 1 hand size flat lean Protein and same portion for veggies. Allowing to be able to have one small meal helped a lot for me and then 2 days before surgery the last mean at lunch then next day no meal and full on liquid till surgery.

[ChunkCat 737]

43 minutes ago, newbegining2024 said:

Wow, that’s really hard! I applaud all of you who can do the full 2 weeks liquid only.

My two weeks liquid diet allowed me to have one small meal a day. It was lunch or dinner with 1 hand size flat lean Protein and same portion for veggies. Allowing to be able to have one small meal helped a lot for me and then 2 days before surgery the last mean at lunch then next day no meal and full on liquid till surgery.

I had two weeks of a modified liquid diet (the shakes all day and a small, lean meat and veggie meal at night), and then another week of pure liquids, no Snacks, no pudding or yogurt, just shakes! It was SUCH a marathon... Then I had 2 full weeks of strict liquids post-op, no puddings, no yogurt, and I couldn't tolerate any Protein Shakes or Jello. But post op it was easier in a way because my body was telling me very clearly it didn't want any of those things! Pre-op the diets are a serious head game. LOL

[ChunkCat 737]

3 hours ago, NickelChip said:

5 more days of "regular" eating before my liquid diet starts. I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night and to a diner for Breakfast over the weekend. I don't plan to go crazy with it, but I do want to have a couple nice meals to think back on over the next month of Protein Shakes and broth! I might split a dessert.

Definitely have the dessert!! 🤣 My surgery date was changed last minute and I had to go on the pre-op diet immediately with no warning. I really wish I'd had time for one more dessert... But that could be the ketosis speaking. LOL

[Bariover54 18]

38 minutes ago, ChunkCat said:

Definitely have the dessert!! 🤣 My surgery date was changed last minute and I had to go on the pre-op diet immediately with no warning. I really wish I'd had time for one more dessert... But that could be the ketosis speaking. LOL

When is your new date?

[Bariover54 18]

38 minutes ago, ChunkCat said:

Definitely have the dessert!! 🤣 My surgery date was changed last minute and I had to go on the pre-op diet immediately with no warning. I really wish I'd had time for one more dessert... But that could be the ketosis speaking. LOL

When is your new date?

[Bariover54 18]

40 minutes ago, ChunkCat said:

Definitely have the dessert!! 🤣 My surgery date was changed last minute and I had to go on the pre-op diet immediately with no warning. I really wish I'd had time for one more dessert... But that could be the ketosis speaking.

Edited February 2, 2024 by Bariover54

[Avea 3]

On 1/10/2024 at 3:20 PM, lscott0594 said:

I get where you are coming from. I'm on day 10 of the two week liquid (surgery on 1/15/24). I got super depressed for a while so I made myself go to the gym and do walking around days 4 or 5. Right now I walk about an hour at a quick pace to just distract myself. Allowed 4 Protein Shakes a day, sugar free Jello and Gatorade Zero in between (others on the list but I wasn't interested).

Started this on January 1st and so far I've lost 21lbs. But I'm going crazy when my husband makes food or tells me what he's doing for supper.

Hang in there.

Were you able to drink the Protein Shake in one sitting? I was buy stopped because I think my surgeon wants us to drink up to 5oz per sitting .

Am I missing something?

[NickelChip 1,358]

20 minutes ago, Avea said:

Were you able to drink the Protein Shake in one sitting? I was buy stopped because I think my surgeon wants us to drink up to 5oz per sitting .

Am I missing something?

You may want to clarify pre-op vs post-op targets. I've been given two separate handouts. The lists are similar but a little bit different in terms of what is allowed. I've never personally heard of a pre-op limit on how much Protein Shake to drink in each sitting, but that doesn't mean your surgeon doesn't do things different. Post-op, you'll probably be lucky to get in a full 5oz early on, but that's a different story. Right now I'm on day 11 of my 14 day pre-op diet and I have been having 3 shakes per day plus sugar free liquids and popsicles. My shakes are made from powder, 2 scoops to 8oz of Water. My targets were simply to get 60-80 oz of Protein per day and 64 oz minimum of water. It wasn't on the handout, but when I asked my doctor, he said try to stay under 1000 calories per day. Definitely worth a quick call to your surgeon's office.