Pre Op high protein diet

[Ren2022 4]

Hi all!
I still do not know which surgery I am getting as of yet, as my first dietician appt was last week. She has me on a Protein first diet... about 1500 calories a day etc to start getting used to the way I will be eating post surgery. No date yet for surgery,. btw. Assuming June or July.

How many of you had to do this and what did you find eating works good for you? Ive been watching a lot of Youtube videos on what they ate before and after. Im doing a lot of mushy high protein foods already. Refried Beans with sour cream, Soups, tons of eggs, etc. But for snacking I was told to always eat protein first!!

Im only a week in and I have not had 1 sweet yet! The most sugar I had, was a thing of cottage cheese last night with a teeny bit of strawberry topping and an apple with cinnamon sugar. That is it.

I crave sweets so much. This is so hard.
What worked for you guys in the sweets department pre op?? Did you still lose before your surgery?? I dont NEED to lose before surgery. ,but they dont want me to gain either.

My dietician told me eat sweets in moderation, and obviously I know that... but if its eat protein first, where do I fit in a slice of cake once in awhile?? LOL

Can any of you give me some good food/snack ideas/ plans that worked for you pre op?? As Im writing this, my snack tonight is a cup of vegetable beef Soup that is high in protein.... Is that bad?? lol Pinterest has been a help too.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Ren2022

[JessM87 9]

44 minutes ago, Ren2022 said:

Hi all!
I still do not know which surgery I am getting as of yet, as my first dietician appt was last week. She has me on a Protein first diet... about 1500 calories a day etc to start getting used to the way I will be eating post surgery. No date yet for surgery,. btw. Assuming June or July.

How many of you had to do this and what did you find eating works good for you? Ive been watching a lot of Youtube videos on what they ate before and after. Im doing a lot of mushy high Protein foods already. Refried Beans with sour cream, Soups, tons of eggs, etc. But for snacking I was told to always eat protein first!!

Im only a week in and I have not had 1 sweet yet! The most sugar I had, was a thing of cottage cheese last night with a teeny bit of strawberry topping and an apple with cinnamon sugar. That is it.

I crave sweets so much. This is so hard.
What worked for you guys in the sweets department pre op?? Did you still lose before your surgery?? I dont NEED to lose before surgery. ,but they dont want me to gain either.

My dietician told me eat sweets in moderation, and obviously I know that... but if its eat protein first, where do I fit in a slice of cake once in awhile?? LOL

Can any of you give me some good food/snack ideas/ plans that worked for you pre op?? As Im writing this, my snack tonight is a cup of vegetable beef Soup that is high in protein.... Is that bad?? lol Pinterest has been a help too.

Sounds to me like you're doing great! I started at 301, got down to 289 in the course of the 3-4 months I've been going to appointments and classes and I am on day 6 of my pre op liquid diet and I am down to 281 as of the night before last! Stick to it, you can treat yourself every once in awhile just don't let yourself slip back into treating yourself all the time. You're doing a great job! Keep it up!

[Ren2022 4]

20 minutes ago, JessM87 said:

Sounds to me like you're doing great! I started at 301, got down to 289 in the course of the 3-4 months I've been going to appointments and classes and I am on day 6 of my pre op liquid diet and I am down to 281 as of the night before last! Stick to it, you can treat yourself every once in awhile just don't let yourself slip back into treating yourself all the time. You're doing a great job! Keep it up!

THANK YOU!!! You as well. Great job!! We can do this and it will be so worth it!

20 minutes ago, JessM87 said:

[JessM87 9]

43 minutes ago, Ren2022 said:

THANK YOU!!! You as well. Great job!! We can do this and it will be so worth it!

You're right!!!! My surgery is tomorrow at midnight. LOL. It's Wednesday. I was so nervous at first but now I'm anxious and excited. I'm ready to get it done!!! I hope you get your surgery date soon. Do you have to wait for insurance? I was on the fast track insurance plan. It didn't seem fast but I started going beginning of December and am having surgery April 6th!!

[suzannethemom 121]

My dietician put me on a 1,300 calorie diet with 45% carbs, 30% Protein and 25% fat. I only had to lose 5 pounds to get a surgery date. Honestly, I ate what I wanted as an evening snack every other night. My healthy Snacks were Greek yogurt with fruit, low fat Cookies with green tea, or one piece of string cheese with almonds (counted out). I wasn’t ready to sacrifice ALL of my favorite foods. I viewed the diet as a sort of “practice” for eating healthy, tracking my food and drinking more Water. You will give up everything and lose a significant amount of weight when you do the two week liquid diet before surgery (which I am doing right now). Maybe you should ask your dietician if you’re supposed to follow the diet 24/7.

[summerseeker 2,166]

Your [ diet before your ] pre op diet is brutal, You haven't got your date yet and they have you on a diet regime. I am no dietician but feel that you should deal with your sugar addiction first. If at the moment, if your food is high in sugar, and you cut it out of your diet, you will get head aches and stomach cramps and be lacking energy for a few days whilst your body gets used to living without this easy energy. Find a sugar substitute you can accept, they don't all taste the same and add it to all the times you would use or need sugar. Some ideas that helped me with the sugar craving are - Plain Greek yogurt with your sugar substitute and fruit and Jello. High Protein, low fat , sugar free yogurts are a good snack with extra berries. Cottage cheese is good with pineapple or sliced apple. Sugar free popsicles and sugar free frozen yogurt. For Breakfast, I always enjoyed jars filled with layers of homemade apple sauce, porridge oats, nuts and yogurt. Amazon is brimming full of all kind of syrups and Proteins that help but cost plenty of cash. If you live in the US then this site has its own shop too.

[catwoman7 11,214]

I was just supposed to eat healthy (which honestly, I already did) and keep my calorie intake at around 2300 (which clearly, at well over 300 lbs, I didn't). The dietitian didn't restrict any specific kind of food, but on the other hand, eating more than the occasional sweet treat wouldn't really be healthy eating. I lost about 40 lbs during the six-month pre-op diet (required by my insurance company) and another 17 lbs during the two-week liquid diet (required by my surgeon).

[lizonaplane 1,613]

I lost 50 lbs prior to surgery. I ate lower carb, higher Protein, and counted calories - about 1700 a day. I did throw a few food funerals towards the end!

You don't need to eat mushy foods prior to surgery. You will have enough of that in the weeks after surgery.

Giving up sweets is really hard. I am 6 months post surgery and I find I eat some sweets - more than I need now. Sweets like cake are "slider foods" meaning you can still eat them when you are full on protein. It's the bane of my existence when I eat with my family on vacation. I try to just have a few bites of a dessert, not the whole thing, and I try not to have dessert every day we're out. I also try to keep the rest of my day high protein/low carb. It's not about perfection; just 80-90% of the time making the right choices.

[Arabesque 7,318]

My pre op diet was Keto so high Protein too but also high fat which I struggled with. No calorie limit though. Why are you focussing on mushy food? After surgery you only eat purées & then soft foods for about 4 weeks & believe me that’s too long! Ensuring you meet your protein goals will be life long thing so I say enjoy any & all Proteins in all forms.

The protein Snacks I go to are cheese, high protein yoghurt, hummus, liverwurst or pate (with crudités or a couple of multi grain crackers), Protein Bar (be careful some have a lot of sugar or artificial sugars). Occasionally I’ll have nuts or roasted fava Beans or chick peas. You can also nibble on some meat like some chicken (watch deli meats that are cured or fatty like ham, salamis, etc.) or a boiled egg.

Hope you get a surgery date soon.