Anyone have to do the Optifast HP pre-op diet?

[ShelleyB 2]

Okay, if you haven't noticed yet, I do ask alot of questions! But I want to be well informed! I am scheduled for surgery on 2/25/09 and start my pre-op liquid diet on 2/11/09. My doctor wants me use Optifast HP (which I get from his office). It's 5 shakes a day...period. No other foods. I am curious who has had this pre-op diet, what they thought about it, how they coped and any other words of advice! Thanks guys...you are wonderful!

[JuneAct2 0]

My doctor/clinic recommended Opti-Fast (available through them, of course), but I chose Atkins RTD shakes. It was cheaper and available everywhere, and since I was self-pay for the surgery I had to cut corners where I could.

That said, I was allowed up to 6 shakes per day, and lots of Water. What worked the best for me was to divide out my day between shakes. 3 hours apart starting at 6am, and ending at 9pm.

The first day was easy. Day 2 and 3 were the worst. Fortunately, those days fell on the weekend and I tried to sleep as much as possible. By day 4, I was good. I knew it was for a limited time so it made it more bearable. It also helped to break the "eating" habit. This will come in handy when you're on liquids after surgery.

Stay busy, and OUT of the kitchen if at all possible. My husband agreed to fend for himself while I couldn't eat. That helped! Good luck to you! And, ask all the questions you want! That's what we're here for!

[dragonfly34 0]

Asking questions is the only way you are going to learn what you need to know. I am on the 2 week Optifast liquid diet as we speak. This is my 7th day. I will be banded on February 11, 2009. The same day you start your liquid diet. I will be totally honest with you--it has not been easy. I would say today has been the hardest. Today I seem to be more hungry then usual. Now the last 2 days I only drank 4 boxes instead of 5. Don't know why just didn't feel hungry I guess. I had the option of chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. I choose 1/2 chocolate and 1/2 vanilla. But I got more vanilla then chocolate cause they ran out of the chocolate. Make sure you put them in the fridge and I even crush ice in mine. The are much better cold. And to me the chocolate is much better then vanilla. But at the same time I do get tired of drinking it with the crushed ice so sometimes I just drink it cold from the fridge. I haven't cheated unless you count communion on Sunday and chewing sugarless gum. I can't help chewing gum--I feel like I need to chew something. I have been blessed that my mom is seeing to it that my daughter is getting dinner at night. Of course she has school during the day for lunch. And she's not a big eater for Breakfast so she fixes herself ceral or toast. Mom has helped a lot on the weekends too. I drink a lot of Water and diet green tea. My doctor said I could have as much zero calorie beverages as I wanted and if it needed to be sweetened use splenda or something like that. I stay away from people eating if I can. And being on this diet has seemed to make time stand still.

These things so far have worked for me but everyone if different. I hope your 2 weeks is easy for you and goes by QUICK!!

[LuvShihTzus 2]

I am not sure what the "HP" is, but I was on the Optifast diet for 14 days before my surgery back in June '07. I wasn't sure I could make it through two weeks either but I surprised myself. I lost 22 pounds in the two weeks. I did buy more vanilla than anything and mixed it with ice and diet soda (before soda became a no-no). I particularly liked it mixed with orange or root beer. I also had a choice of Garden Tomato Soup in the Optifast. It became a treat for me. I still buy some occasionally to keep my Protein up. My surgeon's office let it slip (not the surgeon) that it was okay to eat carrots, celery, and berries during the time when it was the toughest. I don't know how "legal" that is for most surgeons, but it made it easier to get through. My sister was banded two months later and used the same philosophy. She lost 17 pounds during the phase. I wish you luck. I am sure you will be happy you did it and it will be a distant memory soon. Take care!

Cindy

[Blaze21 5]

I did the 1 week Optifast back in June of 2008 and was able to put fruit in the shakes and blend them up. It was definitely had the first few days but I was able to stick it out. I even lost about 8 lbs on it. Good luck!

[LuvShihTzus 2]

A few other things I forgot to mention:

Be careful mixing the Optifast with sodas and using a Magic Bullet. Some sodas are more carbonated than others, and we had the top explode off of the Magic Bullet while mixing one with Diet Root Beer. A blender works better because there is more room for expansion.

Also, if you try the Tomato Soup, be sure to mix the powder with room temperature Water first and then microwave it to heat it up. If you mix it with hot Water to begin with it will clump up on you and it is not very good. We also added a little seasoning to the Soup to jazz it up a bit.

We would also add some flavored extracts to some of the drinks. For example, we would mix the chocolate powder with diet cream soda and add a few drops of coconut extract.

Good Luck!

Cindy

[ShelleyB 2]

A few other things I forgot to mention:

Be careful mixing the Optifast with sodas and using a Magic Bullet. Some sodas are more carbonated than others, and we had the top explode off of the Magic Bullet while mixing one with Diet Root Beer. A blender works better because there is more room for expansion.

Also, if you try the Tomato Soup, be sure to mix the powder with room temperature Water first and then microwave it to heat it up. If you mix it with hot Water to begin with it will clump up on you and it is not very good. We also added a little seasoning to the Soup to jazz it up a bit.

We would also add some flavored extracts to some of the drinks. For example, we would mix the chocolate powder with diet cream soda and add a few drops of coconut extract.

Good Luck!

Cindy

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for all the wonderful information! I think I will be good with the carbonated drinks, as I don't drink them anyway. I had to quit them some time ago because they upset my stomach, so it was habit I already broke. Yeah! Hey, my surgeon is also Dr. Veninga. He is great and his office is wonderful! Maybe I will see you around the support groups or walks?!