Have I ruined my pre-op diet irrevocably?

[MoominMan 17]

I'm so disappointed in myself. I am 6 days into the liver reducing diet (following a milk diet), but I've had fast food every day. That's even more than I usually do. It's as though my brain has started craving all the things that I know I won't be having again. I feel like this is just classic me being self-destructive.

Amazingly I haven't gained any weight because I've not been eating anything else, just fast food for dinner. I'm hoping I can put this past week behind me and start afresh, my surgery is on the 10^{th -} is that enough time to turn it around?

[Sammi_Katt 303]

Some doctors have liver shrink diets of two weeks. Some one week, and some one day. It depends on your surgeon. Now that you've admitted that you've made a mistake, own it and fix it.

You have to be able to be on track; the surgery is simply a tool, not a fix-all. It's up to you to put in the work to lose the weight once that honeymoon phase is over. I realize how hard it is to give up some things, but your health is worth it. Do your best to stick to your diet the remaining time, and be honest; call your surgeon and let them know. They'll probably tell you the same thing. Just do your diet.

This is legitimately the hardest part of the surgery. It's hard to change years of bad behaviors and mindsets, but you've gotta put in your best to make the attempt. Once you build the habit (and have had your surgery), it gets easier to be healthy. You will crave healthier foods, if any food at all, and your body will reject (mostly) bad foods.

You have to hang in there and keep your head strong. You've got this.

[jennyhenny0330 38]

You should be okay, but please avoid the fast food.

[Hop_Scotch 1,630]

Don't think of the pre-op diet just as a liver shrinking diet, think about it as practice for post op. While you may be losing weight and hopefully the liver shrinking you aren't doing yourself any favours with the fast food. It's not a useful habit for weightloss and very easy to do once your are post op. Start developing a new habit one that is more useful for achieving your weight loss goals, one that will be useful for post op.

[Lanie992 168]

My doctor did not even require a pre-op diet. I was eating normally up to the day before... however, I was on the "smaller" side, so I am not sure if that is his plan with every patient ... or just the ones with less fat to lose.

I think you will be fine, but I would suggest NOT eating any more fast food... and going back to the regimen your surgeon prescribed for you. You can do it! Dig deep inside you and resist the urge to cheat...Don't continue to sabotage yourself.

[BigSue 1,372]

You’ll probably be ok if you stick to the liver-shrinking diet 100% from here on out. Keep in mind that the purpose of the pre-op diet is to make the surgery safer for you. I’ve heard that some surgeons will close you back up without doing the surgery if your liver is too big when they start. That is very rare, and I’m not saying this to scare you, but it is something to take seriously — as are all of the instructions from your surgeon.

The post-op diet is really restrictive, too, and you won’t be able to eat fast food for a long time after surgery (and you might not be able to eat certain things ever again without getting sick). If you eat things you’re not supposed to while your stomach is still healing, it could cause serious complications. It’s hard, but so important to go into this fully committed to following your surgeon’s instructions.

[catwoman7 11,212]

you need to get on plan. You will need to follow a plan all throughout your weight loss phase as well as in your maintenance phase - which will last the rest of your life. The people who are really successful with this are the people who are very committed. This is your big chance to lose your excess weight - there's nothing else after being surgically altered. Don't blow your chance!!!

[AZhiker 2,252]

First of all, get back on track. I found it very helpful to remind myself that the food I couldn't have were not out of my life forever - just for a time. Tell yourself, "I can't have this now, but I will have it down the road at the right time." That being said, this is a great time to start retraining your taste buds and your mental attitude toward food. This surgery is supposed to help you get healthier - not just thinner. You have to learn to reframe your thinking - that fast food is NOT your friend, but veggies, fruit, and lean Protein ARE your friends - FOR LIFE! This is a lifestyle change, not just a weight loss plan.

I am eating healthier now that I ever have in my life, and enjoying every minute of my new food choices and lifestyle! That does NOT include sugar, soda, alcohol, simple carbs, and processed food. And I don't miss those things one bit now, as the good food is so filling and makes me feel so good. There will come the day that you can have a moderate amount of fast food - once in a while, and once you are in maintenance. But by the time that rolls around, you may not even miss it if you have learned to enjoy the better stuff. I remember my first pizza and it was NOT like I remembered - what a disappointment! Same with french fries - just a salty, oily mess that made me sick. Remember that the food industry manipulates our primal taste desires for sweet, salt, and fat. The more they can add these to foods, the more addicted they can make us to a particular product. They even add sugar and salt to foods that don't even need it, but it can trigger the addictive receptors in our brains. If you take a look at your trigger foods, I will bet they all have the deadly trifecta in some combination or another.

Edited August 2, 2020 by AZhiker

[New&Improved 1,780]

12 hours ago, MoominMan said:

I'm so disappointed in myself. I am 6 days into the liver reducing diet (following a milk diet), but I've had fast food every day. That's even more than I usually do. It's as though my brain has started craving all the things that I know I won't be having again. I feel like this is just classic me being self-destructive.

Amazingly I haven't gained any weight because I've not been eating anything else, just fast food for dinner. I'm hoping I can put this past week behind me and start afresh, my surgery is on the 10^{th -} is that enough time to turn it around?

Hopefully your liver actually does shrink but you'll need to stop the junk food.... As above you'll need to completely change the way you eat for surgery or your surgery will be a waste of time mate.

Throw out all the bad foods. Go buy good food and Protein shakes... You need low carb. Low sugar. Healthy food now if you don't change your surgery won't help...

Edited August 2, 2020 by New&Improved

[over65 133]

My surgeon said he has taken patients to O.R. and found liver too large to safely operate so stopped. You certainly don't want that to happen. You should lose some weight and shrink liver during presurgery diet. Hopefully you have time to get back on track. Fast food cannot be an option for you now anr at least the next year during weight loss.

Stats: 5'1", age 67, female. Highest weight: 245. BMI 41. Surgery Date: May 28, 2020. Weight at surgery: 211. VSG.

[allison12541 20]

How have you been doing on your liver shrinking diet since you posted? I good way to think about it is remove the diet word, and I forgot where I heard this but instead of saying “I can’t have (insert food)” say “I don’t eat (insert food)” it helps to look at this as a life style change.