Pre Op Diet help please

[bethm 0]

Hi :smile2: I have a 10 day diet where I have 2-3 Protein Shakes a day (1 is glucerna though and only has 10 grams of Protein hmmm.. suggested by my nutrionist.). I can have sf Jello and broth. Also can have cottage cheese and light yogurt a couple times a day but both make me vomit.

This is very very hard. My stomache hurts literally. The deep hunger pains hurts. I admit also have head hunger where I dream of dancing cheeseburgers and sushi and such.

I am full committed to doing this without messing up. So my question is.. does the extreme hunger go away at some point during these 10 days? Are there tricks to divert your attention from how hungry you are? I went to bed in tears last night because I was so hungry and imaginging myself making a sandwich and it was just awful.

This is day 3. I haven't lose any weight yet. I step on the scale and expect to see a pound or two gone since I went from a million mountain dews, iced coffee xtra xtra, fast food and other bad food to Water and Protein shakes. Is this normal?

[sherich2008 0]

Beth,

The first 3-4 days are the hardest. Are you drinking enough Water (64 oz or more)?

I don't like cottage cheese either, but I am able to eat it with marina sauce, cheese when heated in the microwave.

What about sugar free puddings? Are those allowed on your liquid diet.

[bethm 0]

No sf puddings. And I'm pretty sure I can't have cheese or marinara sauce. :smile2:

I am trying to drink the Water. yesterday I drank 64 if you count the Water in the tea I drank plus the 3 16 ounces of dasani.

Water doesn't seem to take the edge off.

[LvnDreamz 0]

Bethm,

You may want to go over the directions for your pre-op diet again with your doctor or nutritonalist.

Please understand that this is my opinion...but you are not getting enough calories, Vitamins or minerals and it is no wonder you are hungry. You need Protein girlfriend.

I can understand no carbs...but I don't see where you are allowed chicken breast, turkey, fish...even a little bit of beef.

YOu seem to be on a stravation diet and your body will be reluctant to give up the fat if it thinks it is starving.

Again, I am not a professional but your diet doesn't seem inadequate.

[doodleallday 0]

I'm on Day 6 and still experience hunger every 2 hours. The only thing that really helps is being allowed 2 tablespoons of Peanut Butter, which I eat while drinking a glass of skim milk.

[kelli130 0]

you can do this. You have to do it. You will be on the same type of diet once you are banding. (in the beginning stages) i am finishing day 14 today and I have my surgery in the morning.

i was told that warm liquids actually fill make you feel full. warm chicken broth or beef broth did the trick for me. i took my Vitamins during this time. I watered down the shakes a bit (use more Water, not less power) and mixed them in a blender and drank them quickly.

this preop diet was hard, but you can do it. i broke down in tears on saturday with only 3 1/2 days to go. but i did not give in to my cravings and i distracted myself until the feeling went away. now i'm at 23 hours and counting.

you can do it!!:angry_smile:

kelli

[ptmyers 1]

Hi. I'm new here - just joined today. I start my pre-op diet in the morning and it scares the daylights out of me. I'm so afraid I won't be able to stick to it and then my liver won't be small enough and the surgeon won't be able to perform my lapband. I'm scheduled for surgery on the 17th. Any encouraging words would be helpful. Thanks.

[slynclark 0]

Don't worry,

The liver shrinking diet is supposed to be low fat, low sugar. I had the same diet. If you have a salad with lean Protein on it, it won't effect your surgery. It helped me with the hunger pains. Just have a salad if it gets bad. Your liver will still shrink. I feel docs give us these crazy diets because they don't trust us to make low fat low sugar choices before sugery. You can do it! (You are doing way better than I did, I cheated so much on my pre-op diet)

[vonhelzing 3]

I was supposed to be on full liqueds for 2 weeks and couldn't stand the hunger pain. I would eat 1/2 of grilled chicken breast for lunch and then another 1/2 for dinner. A liitle dry, but definetly helped with the pains. Lost 13lbs by surgery day.

[bethm 0]

Day 9. 3:43 pm.

(heehee)

I'm doing okay. I haven't cheated except for 1 mouthful of string Beans on day 1 or 2. (can't remember. I was in a psychotic no-food fog)

I'm hungry but a lot of the time I sit here and marvel that I'm not. It's sorta a rollercoaster. But I'm so close to my surgery now (dec 11th) that I'm just busy being nervous about that and the fact (AM I LUCKY OR WHAT?) that I'm due for my period tomorrow or surgery day (yay!).

I don't want to cheat because I think there's a method to this along with all the liver shrinking stuff and that is I've come to realize .. I'm not going to die without being able to eat food. It's temporary and whoa.. I sorta have willpower. Go figure. Because this ain't no weight watchers (which I thought was torture) and I'm doing it. And I am loathe to say it's easier because it's not by any means easy, but not the all consuming, crying my eyes out hunger that I had the first few days.

That said I am still having to hold myself back from eating everything in my house including my cats.

[kelli130 0]

You can do it. I am 14 hours away from my surgery. I am so hungry and so excited I can't stand it!!!

I notice that some doctors are much more strict than others. Mine is strict. It is 6-8oz. Bariatric Advantage shakes, s.f. Jello, low sodium broth (as long as they don't exceed 160 calories a day), and my Vitamins. I can't have anything else. It has been hell, but I have done it. I even gave up my diet cokes!!

I figure if you can do the preop diet, you will be successful with the band. If you make excuses to cheat now, you will make excuses to cheat after banding. To be honest, making excuses or concessions is what got me where I am today. It's just not worth it anymore. No more justifying in my mind, why I should have "fill-in-the-blank".

You can do this! I got excited stepping on the scale every morning. I think I would have dreaded it if I had cheated. You have come this far and you are making a huge investment in yourself. Don't sell yourself short. You deserve to succeed at this. You deserve to treat yourself right. You will not die on the preop diet. You can actually lose weight. You will go into surgery with absolutely no worries if your liver is small enough for surgery because you did everything you were suppose to do! YOU CAN DO IT! GO FOR IT!!!

Kelli

[BubblyBandit 0]

Tommorow I will be starting week 2 of my two week pre op diet. I can honestly say it has not been to horrible. I am on a strict diet. I can have 5 optifasts a day, any sugar free gum, sugar free beverages, added benefiber, and broth if I feel light headed. The only way I can see that I've cheated so far would be that I have had a few diet sodas which are not on the recommended list and I have been having 1-2 cups of broth even if I am not feeling light headed. I just need that warmth and the smell of real food.

The only thing I'm really craving is tuna fish with mayo. I can't wait to be on mushies so I can have some. I believe it will be the best meal I have ever had!

As far as cheating it is so not worth it! I am spending so much money on myself I am self pay and I have wanted this my whole life. This is hard but the benefits out weigh everything else. It's also not worth it to cheat because what if you do not shrink your liver to where it needs to be and you have to reschedule your surgery. Also this is a lifestyle change and nobody's perfect but you will have to live with this for the rest of your life. It is the easiest to get most of the weight off with in the first year and then you can relax a bit to maintain. I can work hard now and be down to goal in a year if I don't cheat and than it will be part of my life style and I can have a cookie every now and again but not the whole box.

[klutzyazhel 0]

Wow, my 2 week diet isn't to bad, although I almost cried the second day in..I am now on day 6, 9 days to go! And am down 9 1/2 pounds! Anywoo. I asked the nutrionist about the liver shrinkage part, I was told that, this high Protein diet was just a jump start to better eating and had nothing to do with shrinking the liver..I then asked the Doctor if any patient had a large enough liver that he couldn't do the surgery on, his reply was NO, because they use a liver retractor anyways..But anyways, I get 2 shakes, 6oz Tomato or v-8 juice or Calcium rich juice, a meal that consists of 3-6 oz of meat 1/2 c. starch and all the vegetables I want to eat, except potaoes,peas and corn, and also a snack of either 3c.popcorn or 1oz.cheese or 1oz.nuts or another shake, also was just added 1/2 c. cottage cheese, because I don't really drink milk, all the tea,water,crystal light,sf popcycles,coffee I want...So I think it's ok..But the first couple of days were very hard..Now I do ok..I try to stay active all day so that I'm not thinking of food constantly.