I know when I miss a couple meals I turn into a real #@tch. Now I don't know how in the heck you people made it on a liquid diet for 2 weeks thank heaven's that I only have to go 2 days on a liquid diet...

But what about after the surgery did you go through withdrawals?

Did you turn angry what what happened tell me tell me please :redface:

Today is day 3 of my pre-op diet. I had a headache all day yesterday. I'm thinking withdrawl from sugar and caffiene. Today so far so good. I am on full liquids until the day before my surgery than it's clear liquids only. The only ones that have to hear me bitch are my doggies. Lucky there! These 2 weeks are going to be the hardest of the whole thing. But I've been training the last 20 years for this very 2 weeks. I know I can do this. The dtr told me that day 1-3 after surgery is still liquids, but days 4-14 are soft or pureed foods. This will be the best tasting foods ever I'm sure. But after 2 weeks, I can have anything I want. This is when I'm going to have to be extra careful with chewing and not drinking when I eat. Right now my diet consists of: Slimfast, ensure(alittle high in calories but sooo yummy!), water, gatorade, clear soups, 100% grape juice(my favorite). Now the jello, popsicles and sherbert are not sugar free. One- they don't make sugar free sherbert (that I've ever heard of) plus it wasn't listed on the instructions that it had to be. And two- I try to limit my popsicle and jello intake because it is me that can't stand sugar-free stuff. It makes me sick to my stomach. So while they said SF popsicles, I am not doing that. But I also haven't had one yet. But I had the sherbert last nite---it was sooo good!!! Hope this helps. Susan:cool2:

Hi Vegas Girl. I have been on the pre op liquid diet for 7 days. Today is day 7. I haven't gotten on the scales yet today, but as of yesterday I had already lost 8 pounds. I have to lose 14. So I am sure that we can make our goals. I know that for the next few day, I really need to hit the water!!! I know you can do this.

happy days! That is fabulous! How much water are you able to drink a day, are you exercising, and what drink are you using---if you don't mind me asking? And thanks for the reply!

clayverde! thanks for the response. All the posts I've seen and I've never heard of Nectar. I'm going to check it out. I did order the protein bullets in fruit punch and I'm looking forward to trying those. And I never would have thought about the milk idea. Ordinarily, I would never drink milk alone like that without a dozen cookies to go with it (LOL!), but I'll try that. I do agree with the ice and straw thing. I'm a big crushed ice, blender and straw person. I'm just feeling so overwhelmed with all the different types of protein mixes out there and ways to mix them up. So, thanks for the ideas!

The first week is the worst. It does get better. I was on Boost 3x's a day and Optifast bars 3x's a day. I couldn't stand the bars after a few days so I tried other high protein low cal bars. Believe it or not, the best thing post op was the lime jello and ice chips. Hang in there!

Hey Vegas Girl,

This is my pre op diet

5 cans of slim fast low carb

sugar free Jello, popsicles

broth ocassionally

all the sugar free drinks that I want

and 1/2 a cup of raw veggies.

It is so freaking hard. I look at what some others get on their pre diet, and I wonder why my dr. hates me....LOL

I guess i am lucky...

I get 3 Protein shakes a day plus a meal inclusing 3 oz chicken, 1 cup veggies, 1/3 cup whole grain, and 1 piece of fruit.

All day I crab and whine about what i wish i could be eating (for some reason it has been weird things like brie cheese and refried Beans lol) but at mealtime i am the happiest girl in the world! haha BUT as soon my food is gone i am back to my complaining.

I find myself also getting really jealous of what everyone is eating around me. Oh and has anyone been to the grocery store? LOL hardest experience of my life. Make sure you are DRINKING A Protein Drink WHILE YOU SHOP...or else you will want everything in sight!

Its badddd....but we will get through it and look fabulous!

Keep up the good work future bandsters!

-Lindsey

Well, I just had my first protein shake with the Isopure chocolate mix-1 scoop, skim milk, and ice. I'm thinking for lunch, I should add half a banana or some cottage cheese to give it some substance and body. The hard thing is going to be getting down the water. I don't even know my surgery date yet, but I figure it's going to take a while to lose 16 lbs, so I better start now. I can feel caffeine withdrawal on the horizon. :party:

Hi Vegas Girl! Welcome to the liquid lunch! (and Breakfast, and dinner...)

I've been trying a few ready-made Protein drinks, and my favorites are the Atkins Advantage and Isopure Fruit Drinks. The isopure also comes in a green tea that I tried today - delicious! They have 40g protein and 160 cal, so lots of bang for the buck. I am not allowed anything except the shakes and Water. It's been heck since Monday. This afternoon I felt like my body was screaming for nutrients, so I cheated with a tiny can of v-8. It was soooooo good!

The great variety of pre-op diets is kind of confusing to me. Some get to have a meal, some no diet until right before the surgery, and some all liquid. My surgeon has me terrified to stray, because they say they will cancel the surgery that day if my liver hasn't shrunk enough.

Good wishes to all...July 25 here I come!

losingit! My nutritionist suggested another plan that actually had some real food on it, but since I have to lose 16 lbs and want surgery soon, he suggested I do the liquid protein.

And yes, I also got the Isopure fruit drinks yesterday. I bought 3 different flavors, but haven't tried them yet. I know they pack a whopping 40 grams protein per bottle, but I'm worried about actually getting TOO much protein. I'm supposed to have 60 per day. How do you take the Isopure? Straight from the bottle? I heard another lady say that she mixes half a bottle with crystal light or something to that effect. I'm interested in how you and other people balance out their protein. I did stock up on sugar free jello and popsicles for a switch. Thanks!

I am on day 7 of my preop diet. I just have a no carb/no sugar diet. So i do NOT envy you liquid dieters. But I really have not been the nicest person. normally I get along with almost everyone and am very happy and cheerful. A couple of days this week have just been really hard!! I feel bad for my poor DH. His younger brothers came over last night and I was in one of my moods. They left pretty early. SAD!! I am actually looking forward to the post op liquids and mushies. Something besides eggs veggies and meat will be a nice change. And I am going through some serious chocolate withdrals!!

Is a 10 day pre-op liquid diet normal? Or does it vary surgeon by surgeon? That kind of scares me....I don't want to abuse my body before I have a surgery to make my body healthy....

Is a 10 day pre-op liquid diet normal? Or does it vary surgeon by surgeon? That kind of scares me....I don't want to abuse my body before I have a surgery to make my body healthy....

I know! That is what is bothering me about the liquid diet. I feel kind of weak and lethargic (not extreme, I'm still doing all the stuff I do) - which is not how I wanted to face this new opportunity!

From what I've seen on this forum, pre-op diet does seem to vary (widely, I might add!) from surgeon to surgeon. Mine feels it's very important for me to reduce the size of my liver before the surgery. So weird, I never had thought about the size of my liver before...

My doctor has me on the all liquid diet for 10 days before the surgery. So I can have slimfast or carnation instant breakfast, etc 4 or 5 times a day and then in between I can have broth, propel, tea, coffee and ALL the Water I can drink! So it is really hard!! I would KILL to have a meal right now, even just one. Or even just some veggies throughout the day - ANYTHING!! But I just keep thinking that this is really important and so I have to hang in there.

It's funny, just now I got a phone call and it was the nurse from the hospital and he said that they were checking up on me and how I was doing on the diet. He said that it was really important for me to stay on it - that it wasn't a test of character, but to make the surgery safer and easier. And I would imagine that normally this wouldn't be a good or healthy diet at all, but the benefits gained that make the surgery safer outweigh the temporary bad effects of an unhealthy diet. I have found that knowing the reason behind the diet and wanting the surgery to be as safe as possible has really help strengthen my resolve when I was close to giving in and eating something.

I have had pretty good luck with nectar Protein powder (I got a samples package from Vitalady.com) - the taste is not bad and it helps to have more variety than just strawberry, chocolate and vanilla. They have flavors like lemonade, fruit punch, green apple, iced tea, peach, orange, etc. I also found that I really don't like the taste of whey protein, so I add a individual packet of Crystal Light that compliments the Nectar flavor and through in some ice in a blender and that helps a lot! Still doesn't fill me up, but I couldn't even get through drinking the other stuff.

It will all be worth it eventually!!! :smile2:

Clayverde, I also ordered the Nectar in fruit flavors (I think fruit punch) and cappucino & vanilla flavors. I was wondering how you mixed the Nectar fruit with Crystal light. When you put it in the blender, do you add water or what? Can you explain please? I need more variety for my liquid diet. thanks!

Hi - the nectar comes in a small ziploc baggie that is already one scoop. On the front is the sticker that says to mix it with 5 oz Water. What I am doing is pouring the powder into the blender. Then I pour in one of the single servings of Crystal Light (actually I also used the Target brand of the same thing and it was just as good but cheaper). Then I used 2 cups of water. I figured that is a little more than 5 oz for the Nectar and then some water for the Crystal Light. Then I'd put some ice in it - not that much. If you use to much ice, it locks up. Like bricks up and just doesn't blend well - I don't know if it is the Protein or what. But if you use just enough ice to float in the water but not fill it, then blend, it made the mix just a little slushy but still liquid and well blended. That seemed to work for me. That might be a little strong for you, the Crystal Light alone normally calls for much more water than that, but I like the strong flavor and it is especially helpful to cover up the protein taste. And given the range of Nectar flavors, it is easy to get Crystal Light flavors that will match.

As for the vanilla, I like that and decided to mix it with milk instead of water (it knocked out two requirements for the day in one shake) and some ice and it was pretty good.

I tried the Cappuccino and didn't like it at all. But that is probably because I can't follow directions. It came with a little recipe to make fake Starbucks with that, chocolate Protein Powder and some hot water, etc. Well it clearly said hot tap water but I hate our tap water and I like my tea, coffee, etc to be HOT. So I boiled some water and continued with the directions. Well, skimming the directions. And when I sat down and took a sip, I gagged and immediately pushed it away. It was gritty and weird - like yucky chocolate sandy water. So I start complaining to my husband, what the heck - that tasted like crap - someone needs to visit starbucks again if they think that was even close, blah blah. And Patrick looks at the directions and says, did you read these at all??? I said, well yeah. He laughs and reads the first line that says hot tap water and then reads the very last line on the bottom that says, make sure to only use hot tap water!! So, if you can manage to follow the leader better than I can, you may actually enjoy the cappuccino.

I did like the fuzzy navel, the lemonade, and fruit punch.

The iced tea and caribbean cooler were all right - not bad but I didn't like them as much as the others. Although the iced tea one I used real iced tea instead of water (not even Crystal Light) and I think it was just too much or something. Not bad but not as good as the others. And I am just not wild about fake coconut. But if you like that flavor, then the caribbean cooler is really good and you'll like it. That one (Caribbean Cooler) was also the only one that I simply mixed with water and drank. No ice or anything and it was actually good. Not chunky or grainy or anything like that. It was sort of like kool aid with a hint of that whey protein flavor. I just am not wild about coconut.

Anyway, hope that info helps!!