I am day 4 of my 14 day pre-op diet and I am really having trouble. I am on the optifast meal replacement and i cant take another drink!

I am having the bars and I am not hungry, but just that powdered taste is so vial and its making me feel physically sick at the thought of eating.

I rang my dietitian and asked her if the high protein diets shrunk the liver too, and she said yes but its not good long term. I said what about just pre surgery and she said its not got enough nutrition in it.

Well at the moment i am supposed to be having 4 meal replacements a day because i have a high BMI, and i am having 2 because i just cant stomach it.

I am thinking i should just replace one meal with protein and have the drinks/bars the other times but i am scared that my liver wont shrink enough and i will have to have open surgery.

My surgeon and dietitian are so strict on the optifast being the only thing we can have but I have 11 more days of this!

Would love some opinions/advice

I just finnished 3 weeks of liquids post op and yes it sucked. I had unexpected complications so I was liquids for longer than expected. As much as it sucks, try to keep it in perspective. You need to follow your Dr's orders or there is a possibility you could go in for surgery and wake up with the holes and pain and no band. The band is only a tool to help with the weight loss, you must make a personal commitment to YOURSELF. If you think you can do it than you can, but if you have doubts in yourself it sure makes it harder. Good luck and remember, evey day you make it through is 1 day closer to your goal!:thumbup:

l have just finished day 7 of 14 of the Optifast diet:thumbdown:. On the second & third day l was feeling a bit off(head aches & my stomach feeling weird) but that soon passed.

l'm tring to mix up the diet with different flavours, chocolate & vanilla shakes, chocolate & berry crunch bars, The berry bar is much better than the choco one, l'm allow 2 cups of veges a day. Tonight l went to a chinese restuarant and had the vegetable stir fry which was nice. Tomorrow morning l weigh myself for the first time. l'm only going to weigh myself once a week, so that l'm not going to do my head in with extra worry:lol:. It's all for the better.:thumbdown:

Even though l have not done this myself, I have heard that adding super cold Water (from the fridge) or ice cubes to the shake make it alittle more bearable and if the consistency is too think for you, add alittle more cold water.

All the best. Hang in there.... remember the shakes are only short term..... and remember to visualise the new you at a smaller and healthier weight... THAT is your goal and YOU can do it!!!

Edited October 29, 200916 yr by Bundy

I know it is very difficult but it is really important to do what your surgeon says. If your liver doesn't shrink enough, they could actually cancel your surgery until it does and you don't want that. Please prepare yourself because this is just the beginning of your journey and there will be difficult days ahead. However, it is very very much worth it in the long run. Stay strong and keep remembering why you are doing this.

Thanks so much guys for the support.

I rang my dietitian thisarvo, and she said if i am really having trouble tolerating it then they have a food diet equivalent that I can go on that will do the same thing.

Its only very small meals but I dont care as my hunger isnt the problem.

My problem is that I just cant stand the powder mixes and every time i try to swallow them i dry retch.

The only thing I can stand is the berry crunch bars but I cant even manage 4 of them a day as I am supposed to have.

I am prepared to go without for the sake of the band and the end result, believe me I have thought about this for the last 7 years, I just wish that I could have had the atkins diet instead of the powdered drink and bars.

In all the time leading up to my surgery, my biggest fear was the diet shakes as I know I have never been able to tollerate them before when I have tried.

We all know that no diets are nice, but I have always had trouble with the shakes and powdered foods unfortunately :thumbdown:

Anyhow,, I will be able to do the food equivilant and I am sure that I will cope a lot better with that.

Thanks for your positive wishes, it means a lot.

You can feel so isolated at this time and its nice to have some encouraging words :thumbup:

I'm glad your dietitian listened to you and responded with a sensible plan that fits your needs. I was wondering how a high protein diet could possibly be *less* nutritious for someone who truly can't tolerate the shakes. Good luck with your upcoming surgery, and I'm sure you're going to do great!

I'm glad your doctor was flexible. But am concerned about one thing. What is your post-op diet? It will probably be liquids for a while, have you found any shake ou there that you can tollerate? You might want to experient with some more of them now.

powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury (unjury.com) has a chicken Soup one that isn't bad. Also, I buy the unflavored unjury and mix it with sugar free Carnation Instant Breakfast and that's pretty good and has 33 grams of protien!

Good luck to you!

Thanks so much Kiz....Its a huge relief and I know I will be able to get there :thumbdown:

As for after the op, I am able to have any form of liquids including things like "up and go" its like a long life milk and broths etc. They don't have to be powdered drinks YAY :thumbup:

Anything that is liquid consistency is fine for us to have, and they say as long as it fits easily through a MacDonald's straw, then its a liquid and we can have it.

I have planned on having chicken broth (home made) and any soups like tomato that I can dilute with water that are smooth and runny liquid consistency.

I will also have a few up and go's for the protein, so I know I will be able to do the post op liquid stage.

As I said before a liquid diet or any diet is a pain, but its ok as long as you can tolerate what you are drinking. In my case the powdered shakes I just can't tolerate unfortunately.