Too early to start?

[gabby_abby 1]

I have my first meeting with the surgeon on the 13th. I already have insurance approval. I am wondering if it is too early to start weaning myself into a liquid diet. My patient advocate sAid it could be 30-90 days from the time the insurance approved to when the surgery takes place depending how long it takes me to get everything together. I was thinking just Breakfast for now and working myself into more as time goes by. What has everyone else done? I am getting super excited!

[Suzannesh 376]

I have my first meeting with the surgeon on the 13th. I already have insurance approval. I am wondering if it is too early to start weaning myself into a liquid diet. My patient advocate sAid it could be 30-90 days from the time the insurance approved to when the surgery takes place depending how long it takes me to get everything together. I was thinking just breakfast for now and working myself into more as time goes by. What has everyone else done? I am getting super excited!

I think just breakfast for awhile to make sure you like it. I didn't do a liquid diet at all. I used the Atkins diet for about a month before I had my sleeve surgery.

Suzanne

[peppercma 12]

My surgery is at the end of July. I've been doing the shakes for breakfast for several weeks now. I like the idea of slowly getting used to eating less instead of all of a sudden I'm drinking all my meals. I've done the Slim Fast thing before and it sucked! Maybe this way it won't be so bad.

[GreginMI 76]

I had someone who had WLS tell me to just keep eating as usual up until the pre-op diet for the surgery. She said your body will have a whole reset after surgery anyway so enjoy it while you can. Not to eat any more than usual, but just keep your routine. I followed her advice and I didn't gain anymore weight than I was and was able to enjoy my regular food until the surgery. I was happy I did it.

[GreginMI 76]

My surgery is at the end of July. I've been doing the shakes for breakfast for several weeks now. I like the idea of slowly getting used to eating less instead of all of a sudden I'm drinking all my meals. I've done the Slim Fast thing before and it sucked! Maybe this way it won't be so bad.

It's going to be bad whether you do that or not. The liquid stage sucks!

[Rootman 1,101]

Yes, the liquid stage sucks as your tummy still wants food and every craving you ever had will come back to haunt you. But the real answer is the it is NEVER too early to start in some form or another. Try a liquid diet for a while then if it gets to be too much start eating one whole meal a day and see if that works. Since you are seeking WLS then it is safe to assume you have adequate body fat to sustain yourself safely through the liquid stage and will only give yourself a jump start on the loss.

We wish you the best!

[Roseib 13]

Hi, I did mostly liquids for a two week pre-op diet (64 oz Water and two Protein Drinks a day plus a palm size dinner, half Protein, half veggies). Had no problem moving to full liquid stage, but only had to be on it 10 days. I personally didn't have a problem staying on it at all. Everyone differs. Mushies is what killed me. I'd say you don't need to go on liquids this early. Do you have a one or two week pre-op diet? That should be enough to prepare you. I agree with GreginMI. What I did was make sure I stayed off refined carbs, rice, potatoes, caffeine and carbonated water before the pre-op. That made the transition to pre-op and after surgery a lot easier as I already was weaned from them and didn't miss them. Good luck!

[Beadingnurse 116]

I'd start cutting back on things like carbs, caffeine and sodas as you will feel better pretty quickly and you won't have the withdrawl to go through on top of surgery. I got weak and headachy after decreasing my carbs sharply just like a physical addiction so I was glad to go through that before surgery. Good luck!

[nikki c 16]

I wouldn't start liquid, but you should start eating low carb. My diet was less than 30g carbs per day (not including carbs from veggies or eggs, cheese, meat). You will lose weight and i think it'll make pre-op diety easier cause you'll be over the carb withdrawal!

[lolasmom 3]

My surgeon told me not to start the liquid diet until one week before my surgery. I shopped around for a Protein Powder that I liked and had one shake a day. What I did do in advance was to increase my Protein and lower my carbs so I would be somewhat used to that type of diet. Cutting out the carbs was much harder than going on liquids. By the time I started liquids I was so excited that it wasn't hard for me...each day of liquids brought me closer to my surgery date! date! Good luck!

[TheButterfly145 9]

It also depends on how close you are to the 40 BMI number. I made the mistake of working out like a bandit and cutting calories etc. when I went in to the surgeon I had lost 5 pounds which I thought was great but it put me at 39.95 BMI so we had to fight with the insurance to cover the procedure!

If you are close in weight to the 40 BMI then NO! DON"T DO liquid YET. You will lose weight and won't be approved by insurance.