I am very motivated to have my surgery on December 28th, but that means I have to be on the liquid diet for Christmas Eve and Day. I plan to do everything necessary for a safe surgery, but if I do eat something will it prevent me from having surgery or is it just a recommnedation? Did anyone "cheat" during the fasting period and if so what happened? Thank you so much for your time.

I would highly recommend NOT cheating. It's only a few days of your life.. you'll live through it. Besides.. cheating is what got most of us in this place to begin with.

It is my surgeons understanding that the liquid diet beforehand shrinks your liver to make it easier to get the band placed. Some surgeons will NOT do the surgery if they open you up and you have not followed their orders. I wouldn't want to risk the chance of not getting the surgery just because I couldn't follow instructions for such a short period of time.

Do not cheat! If you find it okay to cheat before the surgery than you will rationalize cheating afterwards. You need to make a commitment to YOURSELF that you can do this. I was on Liquids for 3 weeks Post op, I had some complications during the surgery so I was on Liquids a week longer than normal. If you cheat, you may find that you wake up from the surgery with a very large bill and no band. It is not uncommon for Dr's to not give the band if they think the patient is not following orders. Not trying to get down on you, just trying to give you the facts. You can do it, but only you can make that commitment. The work is not over after the surgery, it is mearly the beginning of good things to come. However you do need to work @ it and have personal commitment to your goal.

my surgery is the 28th, also. I am allowed a small fat free/carb free (basically) meal a day. Are you allowed anything?

I am very motivated to have my surgery on December 28th, but that means I have to be on the liquid diet for Christmas Eve and Day. I plan to do everything necessary for a safe surgery, but if I do eat something will it prevent me from having surgery or is it just a recommnedation? Did anyone "cheat" during the fasting period and if so what happened? Thank you so much for your time.

My recommendation is to not cheat. But I will tell you that when I was on the liquid for 2 weeks before surgery, I had a scrambled egg and 2 pieces of fat free lunch meat. It didn't stop me from having surgery. But the idea of fasting is to shrink your liver as much as possible. This way it's easier for the doctor to move around inside during surgery.

Stick to the plan because once you are banded you will be successful. The faster you teach yourself not to 'cheat' the more easier it will be in the long run for you.

Congratulations on your upcoming surgery. I wish you much success.

Thank you, everyone. I appreciate your replies. I will not cheat; I'm just worried about the difficulty, but I know it will give me a good taste of how focused I need to be after the surgery. The doctor said I cannot eat anything and I don't want to do anything that will prevent me from having the surgery. Good luck to everyone who is having the surgery around the time I'm having it and congratulations to those who have already had it and had great weight loss!

I'm still waiting to be approved by my insurance but I'll admit, the two week liquid diet before surgery is my biggest fear in the whole process.

I can't provide any tips, just my all-time favorite motto, one my dad said everyday for 10 years battling cancer, "one day at a time".

If you are worried you will cheat because of the holidays, postpone your surgery for a couple of weeks.

If you are worried you will cheat because of the holidays, postpone your surgery for a couple of weeks.

I had the choice of doing the surgery December 3, 10, or 17. That would put me doing my pre-op diet during Thanksgiving or if the 17th recovering and on liquids still on Christmas or pre-op dieting. I worried about cheating, but moreso, I knew I would be out-of-town Thanksgiving and felt that trying to complete a diet away from home might be difficult. As bad as I wanted to have the surgery in December (really bad), I had to do what would ensure success. In this manner, I start my pre-op right after Christmas when I am already off work.

I am on week two of my pre-op diet - sugar busters, and it has been HARD right here at Christmas, but I need to use the time I will have off at work to do this so I can recover without having to go back to work too soon. I will be banded on Dec. 21st. Good luck!

DodgerFan-I will try to remember that motto. Good luck with your liquid diet. I'll let you know how it works out for me and to see if I can give you any advice.

I scheduled my suirgery to coincide with my days off too so I'll just have to suck it up. I've waited this long to not give it my best. Thank you for your advice.

If it makes you feel any better, I am on a really strict clear liquid diet. My surgery is on the 24th. I am like 5 days into it and I want to die I am so hungry!! It's the hardest thing I have had to do so far! I share your pain I want to eat sooo bad!!

I had the choice of doing the surgery December 3, 10, or 17. That would put me doing my pre-op diet during Thanksgiving or if the 17th recovering and on liquids still on Christmas or pre-op dieting. I worried about cheating, but moreso, I knew I would be out-of-town Thanksgiving and felt that trying to complete a diet away from home might be difficult. As bad as I wanted to have the surgery in December (really bad), I had to do what would ensure success. In this manner, I start my pre-op right after Christmas when I am already off work.

oh we are the same creature my friend. I did the same thing! I start my pre-op diet on Dec 29th and my surgery is on Jan 12th. I didn't want to risk failure and I'm honest I wanted one last holiday horrah!

oh we are the same creature my friend. I did the same thing! I start my pre-op diet on Dec 29th and my surgery is on Jan 12th. I didn't want to risk failure and I'm honest I wanted one last holiday horrah!

Yes! Although I can't do too much celebrating:sad: It is fully expected when I go for the pre-op visit, that I would have lost weight on December 28th!

For all of you that are on the Pre-OP diet all I have to say is HANG IN THERE. The rewards are awesome. All of the hard work really does pay off. Your almost there. Keep going. :thumbup: Happy Holidays to everyone