I know there are several Perth bandsters out there. The Melbournites and Sydneysiders have their own thread and we should too!! So who in here is from the West?

Been told strict optifast x 3 and green veg only. Don't dare eat anything else, although I could eat my own leg right now!

Low-cal icecream toppings don't break the rules and can be the saving of Optifast. Failing that, if you like coffee, a level teaspoon in both the chocolate and the vanilla can make it almost palatable...

Hi Caterpillar

The Vanilla sucks - but I doctored it with frozen berries and some Spenda. (I was allowed as Doc said "do your best". I also loved the strawberry Optishakes. And Capuccino are okay.

And hey, I LOVE brussels sprouts!!! :tongue:

Good luck with your surgery :eek:

What is spenda?

Thanks for the tips, only one more Optifast day to go before surgery.

Splenda - like Equal (artificial sweetener)

Hi All,

My partner and I both want to get lap band surgery. We have an appointment to see Dr Watson on Feb 19. Have been doing a LOT of reading on the net and we're very excited about. I lost a bunch of weight doing weight watchers but have put 2/3rds of it back on in the last 12 months. Tired of this yoyo crap and being depressed about how I look. The boy is super supportive and as keen to get it done himself - although he "only" wants to lose about 35kgs (I want to lose about 50kgs). Hope that we can get it done together.

Not looking forward to the Optifast but looking forward to not being scared to try on last years bathers!

I must be really lucky, Dr Watson told me I didn't have to do optifast before surgery - thank goodness cause the stuff is disgusting.

Really? So there's hope to avoiding the Optifast? Awesome!

I went to Tony Keirath and there was absolutely no mention of Optifast! If there was i think i would have run away... or negotiated for the Tony Ferguson shakes are they are 100 times better, some might say even nice!

Need for optifast seems to be dependent on how much weight you need to lose. People with a lot to lose (I have 58kg) tend to have to go on optifast. I have a smaller friend who had 30kg to lose that did not. Same surgeon. Last optifast day for me, surgery tomorrow (OMG) barring last minute disasters. All I can say is that optifast may be disgusting, but how else do you lose 5kg in a week?

Caterpillar - Goodluck for tomorrow, looking forward to hearing your progress - Rastis

Yeah, Dr Watson did say I didn't HAVE to, but he showed me the videos of surgery with and without the pre-op fast and encouraged me to do it. I liked the way he let me make my own decision and decided to do it to give myself the best possible chance.

Well I emailed Dr Watson to ask what the wait time was for surgery after the initial consultation (feb 19) and he has pencilled us in for Feb 29th! WOW!

If the Optifast makes a difference then we'll suck it up and go for it!

What the Optifast does is help you to shrink your liver, faster than in a normal diet because it is so low cal/low carb. If you have a fatty/enlarged liver at surgery time, it gets in the way of the surgeon, making the op more difficult for him and can bruise/bleed very easily, causing more pain in the post-op. Get Doc Watson to show you the videos - it is sooooo apparent when you see it. It's hard to stick to but well worth the results. I had a dream recovery - no gas, virtually no pain other than a little soreness around the incisions. Didn't even take the pain meds after the first day and I'm never one to turn down pain meds if they're needed.

Yes I see the benefit, should give it our all from the beginning!

Where do you buy Optifast from? The chemist?

Yep - you can get optifast from the chemist. Shop around though for prices because it can vary. I know that the chemist on the corner of Risley St and Canning Hwy (Applecross) have it and it's reasonably priced.

I thought the chocolate was the nicest, but a friend of mine also said the vanilla one is nice with a bit of coffee in it.

Also just be aware when you are on it for the three meals a day, you can get bad breath due to the amount of fat your body is loosing, so having sugar free chewing gum close at hand is a real help.