Is there someone out there who has worked 15-20 hour days and been able to successfully master the art of this liquid pre-op diet?

The bulk of my work is / was physical labor including heavy lifting; hours in a day don't matter. Day one went fine and dandy (12 hour day). Day two was going well... and then the WALL. On hour 8ish, I started to get sick to my stomach. Drank a high Protein shake / shot fruit thang, drank crap ton of Water and some juice... basic bodily explosion happened... hour 12 approached, stomach was eating itself, whatever, drank some water / home brewed ice tea (no sugar) and shook it off. In the middle of hour 15, I started to get really woozy, sat down, started to get that in and out feeling. Sitting down was my saving grace.. put my head down and regained myself... went back to work. At the end of the 18 hour day, I was beyond exhausted, almost blacked out on the job, and was in a bad place emotionally. On the way home everything hit me like a ton of bricks and had a total girl meltdown.

My liquid diet, now includes a bit of food. My 'dietitian' nor doctors office was helpful in this matter. The pre-op diet, had very little information, where as the post op was LOADED. Think one page vs 10 pages.

I feel guilty as hell "sneaking" in a sandwich once a day to get me through my hellish days, and even then I drag hardcore. The doctors only suggestion for me was "don't work long hours". I can't really afford not to, since I was told to take 10 - 14 days off of work.

I feel like a failure and I haven't even started yet. Btw when I do eat at this point (almost 6 days), my stomach is a disaster and doesn't handle it that well.

All suggestions comments welcomed!!!

ab lib notes / rant: I have no ultimate weight goal in mind. Numbers are numbers and I really don't see the point of seeking something that could be possibly unattainable AND make me look like shit [again]. (I'm pretty muscular and broad shouldered to begin with. Back in the day I was pretty athletic, and know what sort of exists beneath this bubble I've created.)

I have a few over all goals:

To be able to work and not have to worry about "weight capacities" on ladders, automated lifts, etc.

I'd like to be able to buy clothes in a non-plus size / non-men's section.

I'd like to see my feet again.

I'd like to have legs instead of kankles.

I have a few questions if you don't mind...how much do you weigh, how long and what is your preop diet, and has your doc told you what he wants from your preop diet (ie shrink your liver, drop 10% of your weight, etc?)

How much do you weigh: Wednesday it was 311, two weeks ago it was 318 (bmi fluxes between 49 and 51)

How long is your pre-op diet: Pre-op diet was for two weeks (14 days)

What is your pre-op diet: What is it, well the one page of information says that it helps to shrink the liver... reduce recovery time... and etc. Almost everything that everyone has said on here.

Has your doc told you what he wants from your preop diet (ie shrink your liver, drop 10% of your weight, etc?) There seemed to be no exact reason for it, she basically talked around it, and seemed like it was a general thing that is a 'requirement'. She even quoted the generic packet of papers that I got.

At a serious loss.

Wow, I feel so bad for you. The preop diet definitely sucks as I had to mine 3 times and the first time was really bad, no energy what so ever. Instead of the sandwich a day try eating something high in protein like a hard boiled egg - Yes it's not as great as the sandwich but the higher in protein the food the better - Drinking water helps but only so much so try diet cordials. I don't have a weight goal in mind either for me as long as I'm getting smaller and healthier then I'm happy, the inches are more important than the kgs/lbs. If you need anyone to talk to feel free to message me.

Of course the best thing is to do what your doc says and you know that. But if I were you and TRULY couldn't either cut the hours or do the work on the protein shakes (and honestly are you sure 2 weeks off is enough? Many of us have lifting restrictions beyond 2 weeks...)

then I would eat lean protein. eggs....chicken breast, turkey, fish. No fat, no breading, etc...(no sandwiches)

but I'd supplement with the lean protein....something almost like an "atkins" type thing but no red meat unless it is super super lean. I'd just do enough to get by (especially knowing now what I didn't know then...I cheated on my preop diet and my liver was too thick. I came to in recovery w/out the band, the 1st time)

Cutting down the hours is non-optional at this time. As it is, I'll be taking a $1k/wk pay cut when I "return" to work. (I'll be returning on what can be called desk duty, and have also been warned that I'm lucky I have a job to come back to since I'm a freelancer.)

Have you been successful with working on average 16 hour days and on the liquid diet????

I am right with you, I start the preop diet tomorrow morning and I work night 7pm-7am, my diet is weird because of work, want here something that sucks it was my 14years old b-day and my house is filled with cake, ice cream and junk food. I am worried but at the same time trying to remain positive. I did find a clue from other diets that eating fiber and protien fill you up. Try fiber pills with the protein shakes. I am trying the Eas shakes that have more protein and 4gram of fiber per container there are also 170 calories each. I am to due preop work this Friday. I am not wanting to be out of work long 2-3weeks tops because I just can't afford to miss work. I am also having one those nice shakes every 3-4 hrs because I am hypoglyemia Idon't want my sugars to drop. My BMI is 43 bordline 44 I can't drop below 40 and be ok with insurance so I don't want lose more then 5-8lbs on preop and I have 14 days of it. Ouch!!! Hope I help you.