Well, I'm to be banded Sept. 12, and starting to think about stocking up for pre and post surgery. My Dr is saying a two week pre surgery diet. Protein shake for breakfast and lunch, small meal with protien and veggies for dinner, no red meat. I'm thinking hmmm... if I had a regular life and schedule that would work. I'm up 16-18 hours or more a day with overtime, I work a swingshift too. This is really gonna suck!!! I'm starting to wonder how I'm going to cope and have any energy with that little food in such a long time span. Like right now I'm on afternoon shift. I've been up since 7am when the 2yr old gets up, went to work at 3pm and I'll be hear until 3am, then home to sleep until 7-8am and over and over. Does anyone have any suggestions, or am I just whining too much?:cursing:

I don't have any suggestions, jill, but I start my pre-surgery diet tomorrow, and I won't be complaining after reading about the schedule you're keeping. Maybe your incredibly busy day will keep you from thinking about food so much (I hope it does, at least).

Hi Jill,

I too keep a crazy schedule like yourself and I train in the classroom at a 24hour call center. I started my pre-op diet last week and I've been doing the following -

I purchased the wide mouth Water bottles - 20 oz. Life Water or Propel - I purchased 6 just to have a round number. I drank the water out of them all - and I use them to store my daily Protein shakes.

I mix each shake 8oz and store 2 shakes per bottle to bring with me to work. Plus 2 bottles of water and I also have a Protein Bar in case I get hugry in between shakes.

I have my meals at home - no matter what time of day or night that I'm home and it's usually a medium to large salad with only lettuce (no iceberg as it's only water has very little nutrition value). I add 3-4 oz protein - chicken, turkey or fish and a sugar-free low or no carb, low cal salad dressing. That's it.

While I'm at work I drink the half a bottle of the shake - wait 3 hours and have the other half, in between I drink one of the 20oz bottles of water. Believe it or not after the 3 day of this diet I wasn't really hungry - don't get me wrong my craving for sugar and bread was driving me crazy day 1 & 2, but by day 3 90% of my cravings had disappeared.

It's working for me so far - my surgery is a week from Tuesday - Sept 2nd! I'm so excited!

Good Luck - you can do it - just think of it a preparation for your new lifestyle.

Hi all!

I just want to express how important it is that you stick with the pre-op diet. I'm sure you've heard it all before but the other day I heard about a gal who had to have her surgery cancelled because her liver did not shrink enough! It would be absolutely horrible to get all the way to that point just to have the surgery cancelled. Now...don't get stressed. :cursing: Just a bit of advice:

I was banded June 24, 2008. The pre-op diet was hard but I made it through by the skin of my teeth. Do teeth have skin? Anyway, my problem was the shakes. They tasted horrible and made me gag. I did try a couple of things that made them taste somewhat better and much more tolerable.

1. To keep the carb content down and give your shakes a little creamier taste you can try a couple of spoons of heavy cream. Mix the shake according to directions, but use Water instead of milk and a couple of spoons of the heavy cream. Mix this in a blender with ice and it tastes much like a real milk shake! The key is moderation, go easy on the cream.

2. Use the same recipe above but add some cold coffee.

3. Invest in an extra container of vanilla and mix with root beer, orange soda or any other DIET soda. Tastes a lot like a float! :wink2:

Yes, you've probably heard it all before but I just want to reiterate how simple it is to play around with your shakes to make them tolerable. Remember, you CAN and you WILL do it! If nothing else, try the sugar free carnation instant breakfast shakes, mix in a blender with ice, etc.

Drink water like a fish! Stay well hydrated and get some walking in before your surgery. This will strengthen your heart and lungs and promote healing after surgery, not to mention help you burn some calories.

After the surgery, you will have this very annoying gas and sometimes you will have some shoulder pain, they say this is from the anesthesia. Keep in mind, it will pass! After a few weeks you will be feeling great.

Your stomach will be swollen due to the procedure so you will only be able to tolerate liquids for like the first week or more according to your surgeon's instructions. Do NOT choke down any solids. No matter how good something smells, etc. pass it up. Stick to the diet ordered by your surgeon.

After the swelling goes down, you will be surprised how much you can eat before your first fill. Be very careful during this phase. You will be tempted to wolf down the same EVEIL FOODS that got you into this mess in the first place. food is not your friend. Break up with food. The relationship is not good for you. It is a destructive relationship that is robbing you of your health and vitality.

Reach deep inside your soul and find that inner strength that has kept you going all this time. Think positive and remember all those times you've dreamed of being thinner and healthier. You will make it...we all will.

Mucho love...

I may be the "gal" Desert Rose heard about. Doc put me on a VERY similar pre-surgery diet for 3 weeks. Since I am a "professionial" dieter, I did what I thought instead of what he told me. I DID lose 15 pounds. However, my liver was too fatty and although he tried, he couldn't get it out of the way to place the band. I came to in recovery only to be told I wasn't banded. NOW I'm on the diet like he said, have lost another 12, and will get banded Aug 29.

Apparentlly a low-carb, low to no fat diet causes your body to go first to your liver to pull glycogen and it gets that from the stored fat, so it can shrink a fatty liver. Who knew! Well, my surgeon. LOL

SO Let me be a horrible warning. DO what your surgeon says. You may squeak by, but if you don't, it's a pretty miserable feeling.

Hi Jill,

I too will be banded on Sept 12!! I go to the dietition on Aug 27. She will be giving my 10 day diet then. I'm not sure what to expect, I too am hoping that I can make it through. Since the surgery is getting closer I seem to be getting more and more nervous about the whole thing. I guess it is the fear of the unknown. I wish you good luck and maybe we can share our experiences together!

Hopfam

Hi there! I am scheduled to be banded on Sept 16th, and am also looking for tips and suggestions for the pre-op diet. I have my pre-op appt on Aug 27, so I will find out for sure what kind of diet I have, but I believe its a week of clear liquids with up to 4 protein shakes a day! I am trying to get prepared for this, and have NO idea how I'm going to do it, but I AM going to do it! So, any suggestions would be great, esp for the clear liquids...soups, etc.