Pre-Op weight loss

April 1, 2005

I had my first consultation with Dr. Spivak.......what a cutie! ANYHOO-I was told that I needed pre-op weight loss to shrink my liver prior to surgery. I was only told low carb- I do not know what in detail this means. Can someone direct me as to what I should and shouldn't be eating prior to lap band so that I can shrink the ole liver- dont want my liver quivering (ha) Thanks ahead of time for the replies.

Alexandra · April 1, 2005

Hi SRoytan, welcome to LBT!

I'm surprised your doctor didn't have a printout or something to give you. Weird. In general, lo-carb can be achieved by eliminating breads, pastas, and most sugars from your diet. Limit fruits, but vegetables are OK. The main focus of your diet should be Protein only. That means taking the bread off hamburgers and sandwiches, not breading meat before it's cooked, avoiding just about anything with sugar in it, and sticking to lean meats. And drink as much Water as you can hold--it's very important and will help a lot with the weight loss.

This is obviously a very limited description. It's not all that hard or complicated, especially because this sort of diet really does result in decreased hunger. Good luck!!

New Hope · April 1, 2005

Dr. Spivak had me follow a low-glycemic diet right before banding. No big deal, just basically eating healthy foods - no limited portions. Lots of vegetables, lean meats, no organ meats (like liver) or fatty foods, avoid fats, butter, heavy sauces. He gave me a print-out for it. If you can't get one, you can pull one off the internet.