hello all, i have been reading for month,but this is my 1st post.

I want to lose as much weight as possible,before my operation.I have four Weeks before i start a two week Optifast diet,any suggestions???

I'm in the same boat - actually, I have about 3 weeks before I start on Optifast - so I'm interested in any answers you get...

My advice would be to start slowly weaning yourself off carbs. I started Medifast suddenly, and the first 3 days I thought I was going to DIE!!

I would just treat myself well in this period. You're going to lose plenty of weight in the future, I would be concentrating on feeding myself well, healthy foods, getting strong and relaxed for the surgery.

The one thing I didnt want to do was go off on a Last Supper binge. I could not imagine anyway to feel worse about myself, more miserable than doing that. My new self respect started the minute I made the decision to have surgery.

What I did do in preparation was begin an exercise program and wean myself off caffeine. My doc has never been a believer in giving up coffee, but I knew that I had a few days post op and a fair time on liquids where my stomach capacity would be small and I couldnt afford to waste it on 6 coffees a day so I weaned myself down to smaller caffeine levels to avoid the withdrawals.

I just ate well, kept my weight steady and looked forward to my new life!

this is my second time around for a pre op diet,,,my first date was moved ahead 6 month.i wanted to try and get my sleep aphnea under control.I have tried optifast before and failed after one week,i could not take the stuff,it tastes like crap! anyway my biggest concern is making my liver smaller...will any weight loss shrink the liver or does it need to be optifast for two weeks,also what is optifast low carb protein or what? any input is greatly appreciated

Actually I start mine on Wed. the 19th so i'll let you know how it taste. I was told that it sucks but I like whey protein so I might like it.:smile2:

For me, I tried to go ahead and focus on eating the foods that I knew that I would need to eat after surgery-lean Proteins, whole grains, etc. I didn't worry at all about portions as I knew that they would pretty much take care of themselves post op, I just focused on eating the right foods.

Except for the night before starting Optifast. That night, I had pizza, wings, beer, and ice cream. Since then, I have had an occasional slice (I can't believe I'm full after one slice) of either cheese or chicken pizza. No wings or beer or ice cream since surgery.

Optifast is good, bad, and ugly. The good-I lost almost 20 pounds in the two weeks leading up to surgery. I was very good at being compliant with Optifast. No cheating at all. The bad-it tastes terrible, for the most part. The vanilla shake in my opinion was the best, and the tomato Soup was tolerable. When you're in the middle of it tasting so bad, remind yourself-it's only 2 weeks, it's only 2 weeks. In the middle of it, it can seem like forever, but keep telling yourself that it's only for a very short period of time. The ugly-my bowels. I don't know if I'm typical or not, but my bowels did some really funky things during the Optifast period. I don't say all of this to scare you about Optifast, or to try to talk you out of it, because I'm honestly very happy that I did Optifast. But it's important to be prepared for what it's like. Make sure that you have support, that the people around you won't try to sabotage you, and that you keep telling yourself "It's only 2 weeks."

Now that I'm down 78 pounds, there is no doubt in my mind that all of the hard parts of this process were well worth it. Just keep focused on the end result. Good luck!

I'd go with what the sheila said about kicking caffeine but also cut carbs. You don't need to go low carb for the diet but definitely up the Protein and reduce the carbs.

Three helpful tips:

1) Learn to chew. If you can't chew everything to a pulp right now, get the dental work done prior to surgery.

2) Saliva is your friend. Since you won't be drinking with your meals and not eating slider food, saliva is all that's available to help the food particles pass through the band.

3) Sample as many forms of Protein drinks, powders, suppliments, bars, etc prior to surgery and find the ones you like/tolerate and stock up on those. There will be some that you can't stand and some that are quite good and it seems the preference is individualistic.

Cal