Four week liquid diet....

[breezy25 69]

So my surgery is scheduled for 4/4 so I haven't been sleeved yet.

My surgeon did tell me that they want you to do a 4 week liquid diet after surgery. That in and of itself is overwhelming, but it is what it is. What I seem to have the most trouble wrapping my head around is the first two weeks it's Clear liquids only. Ugh. Has anyone else gone through this? And it's all sugar and carb free. I went to the Vitamin Shoppe today to start gathering some things to try so I'll have a plan and provisions after surgery and they had almost none of my approved Protein items in stock. Most of them were not the low carb options. I did get some clear Isopure drinks but he warned me that they taste terrible.

I do appreciate that my surgeon seems to err on the side of caution. He said the longer liquid diet protocol has dropped their leak rate to almost zero. He also does some sort of extra step that anchors the sleeve so it cannot become kinked and lessens the likelihood you'll get a hernia.

I am just mentally trying to gear up for this whole thing and I feel scared. Scared of surgery, scared of leaving my two kids without a mom (dramatic I know), and scared of a super long liquid diet! Any tips/advice would be much appreciated!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[liannatx 897]

I had a week of liquid pre op, a week of clear post op, and then 2 weeks of full liquids. (Which seems pretty standard, but your protocol is also common) Variety helps, a lot. VitaminWater Zero, Crystal light, Mio, Broths, Decaf flavored teas, Syntrax Nectars have great tasting fruity Protein drink mix that is more like KoolAid and I was allowed if mixed with Water, Isopure is good diluted and over ice. chicken broth with a little taco seasoning tastes like chicken tortilla Soup. Boil broth with carrots, onion, and celery then strain... so much better! Swanson flavored broths. It was hard pre-op, but post op you really only have head hunger for the most part.

Once you get to fuller liquids it is pretty easy... the addition of pureed Soups is like heaven!

[breezy25 69]

Thank you for your encouragement! And that's a great tip about cooking broth with some veggies in it and straining them.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[Thucydides 250]

I had to do Clear Liquids for 3 weeks after my surgery. Honestly, I found that to be a lot easier than the 4-week pre-op diet that I had to do ahead of surgery. I had absolutely no appetite for those first few weeks after surgery and subsisted largely on those Isopure Zero drinks. They didn't taste great, but they worked for me because they gave me an easy way to get the amount of Water and Protein in each day that I was told to aim for.

You can do this! The post-op part was much, much easier than I thought that it would be. Best of luck!

[breezy25 69]

Ah thank you! The surgeon wants me to do a 10 day clear liquid diet beforehand too, but the girl that gave me all my paperwork and booked my surgery said that tons of people can't do it and as long as I can do 5 days I'll be fine. I hope that's true!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[katcycler 95]

You're gonna do fine. I had liquids only for 2 weeks before and 3 weeks after surgery. The before was hard for 2 days but became much easier the second week. After surgery you really don't want much to eat and truly can't get much in except liquids anyway. Protein Shakes, fruit2o, sugar free Popsicles , sugar free Jello and broth kept me going and really wasn't bad at all. Keep variety. It will go by quickly. If you have head hunger, get up and walk around a bit.

[breezy25 69]

Thanks. I just tried an Isopure clear Protein drink that was a little bit of hell on earth lol. I'll def be trying to find some things I can tolerate before the surgery!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[LisaLouBop 181]

@@breezy25

I found the Isopure clear Protein drink is best really really cold I also cut it in half with cold Water. I can tolerate the grape, and I still drink it over a year out now.

you can do this breezy!!!!

[breezy25 69]

@@LisaLouBop

It straight up tasted like rotten eggs and smelled a bit like a sewer. I'm not exaggerating. Is that normal? How can anyone drink it?!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[Thucydides 250]

I used the Isopure Zero Orange pineapple banana. It wasn't the greatest taste, but I thought that it was the most tolerable of the lot.

[LisaLouBop 181]

@@breezy25

Are we talking about the 20 ounce Isopure zero carb Protein drink, 40 grams of Protein? Flavor grape frost? That's is the only one I could/can tolerate. I tried the apple and the alpine something, but didn't care much for them and settled with the grape.

I never tasted rotten eggs with this Isopure drink, but since all our tastes are different, you very well may be tasting something that I didn't.

I will look back on my diet during the pre-op and let you know what I drank or ate , and what I actually liked as I logged everything on my fitness pal app.

[LisaLouBop 181]

The 3 main Protein Drinks were the Isopure zero carb, Syntrax Nectar (many flavores) , and Unjury ( chicken broth, chocolate and vanilla). I liked the isopure grape and the unjury chicken broth the best.

[liannatx 897]

I only like the Isopure in a glass with tons of ice. They are much better very very cold and slightly diluted.

[Bomberchick 1]

I added Crystal Light, Mio, or Kool Aid liquid to the Isopure. They made them much easier to drink. Good luck....it's not easy but it's worth it!!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App