Okay, I have a question. When I saw the nutritionist, she said that if you do this diet faithfully and "cheat" for any reason that you have completely undone the good that you did and have to start all over again. I honestly don't know whether I believe this or not and wondered if anyone knew FOR SURE.

I have been straight-up faithful with the diet but my wedding anniversary is this weekend and we are going out of town. I have made lots of plans and am prepared to continue the diet while we are gone but we are definitely visiting a restaurant that we LOVE while we are there. I have already thought of an item I can have from the menu which would not be cheating EXCEPT for a sauce that I know is creamy. I don't want much but a little taste would be awesome since we only visit there once or twice a year.

So... will just a tiny smidge totally undue my hard work and cause my liver to spontaneously combust or is she just trying to keep us faithful? :coolgleamA: I appreciate any input you can give! Thanks!!

You'll be fine...just don't go overboard :coolgleamA:

I was so worried about the liver thing...turns out mine was normal size :cool2:

Well, I am not a nutritionist nor and I am doctor, but my take on it is they are trying to scare you into being faithful to the diet. BUT, I could be wrong, I don't even play a doctor on TV.

My suggestion is order it ala carte as most restaurants allow ala carte orders. You can pretty much to to any restaurant and order ala carte from the menu. That way, you are eating the food you love, but doing it in such a way that you are not cheating nor endangering your pre-op diet meant to shrink the fat from your liver. Heck it might even be cheaper to do an ala carte order. If you are insistent on having the sauce with this meal then order it on the side in a ramekin. That way you will get a dab a bit of sauce on your meal with out the restaurant drowning it in sauce.

The right answer is to always follow your dietitians and surgeons instructions. If all else fails see if you can get the menu online and bring it to the dietitian and see if you and she (he?) can work out what is best from the menu for you while you are on this stage of your pre-op diet. I forgot to add, that doing this would also show the team you are working with towards the lap band you are dead serious and really want this to become a reality.

gl my surgury is may 9th , I'm on liquid diet and 1 lean meal at dinner ,wishing you good luck

Thanks everyone for your answers, even those who "don't play a doctor on TV" . It was my intention to get the sauce on the side as the rest of the meal is totally within the confines of my diet. I just, like I said, didn't want it to blow all this work I have been doing.

Thanks again! :w00t:

southern missy--I am preop too and yes, the diet is hard--but doable.

This is written with lots of understanding and support--but isn't this how we got in trouble in the first place? We deserve a taste because it is our anniversary, we deserve a drink because we got a promotion, we deserve a taste because we worked so hard, etc, etc.

There will always be SOMETHING! Holidays, celebrations, bad times, lonely times, family events, etc. And no, we do not deserve a taste. We deserve to TREAT ourselves and NOT have a taste. Think how good you will feel afterwards. Think of how GREAT you will feel going into SURGERY knowing that you followed the rules. Think of how THAT feeling of accomplishment will carry over to following all of the Band rules later. Think of how great thin and healthy will be.

It's not so much the taste of something special that I am concerned about. It's the mindset of, "it's okay; it's my anniversary (or whatever)." Right now, it's not okay. We're having surgery because we couldn't say no.

Say no. Imagine how powerful you will feel.

Again, this is written with love and support. I want only good things for all of the fabulous people on this message board.

jb

Thanks JB! I certainly appreciate your support and the compassion with which it was delivered. :blushing: I just read something today on here that really stood out to me ....

"we always think we deserve this **food** as a treat but why don't we ever think... we deserve to be thin/healthy". I have to agree! Thanks again!

We're having surgery because we couldn't say no. jb

BTW, I'm stealing this quote, too! :blushing:

I heard Atkins with NO Sugar or carbs is = to the benefits of the liquid pre op diet. Both will shrink your liver. At least you could have a meat dish. Ask a nutritionist or the doctor's office.