I am starting my pre-op diet for the lap band today! I am so excited. I am having surgery on Dec 17. I hope that next year I will be posting a positive one year review.
Good luck! What does your pre-op diet consist of? I always think it's interesting how varied different doctors are. I basically had no pre-op diet, except for the day before and even that was not particularly limited.
Thanks guys. My pre-op diet is South Beach Phase I which has mostly protein and very few carbs. It is to shrink the liver so that it is not in the way during the surgery. Jiffypop - I am very nervous!!!! I am also really excited. I want this so much. I did a lot of research and feel like the lap band is the right choice for me.
Hi Liz
I also just began my 2 week pre-op diet. My surgery is on the 16th. My doc only allows no calorie liquids (crystal light, snapple etc), protein shakes and 2 cups of veggies a day! I am going insane. The first day I totally cheated and yesterday I was good and today I have been good but not sure how i will make it tomorrow when I have a chanukah party!
I am an old/new member of 3FC, lol, I havent been on here in a couple of years actually. I came back because I am having gastric bypass on 12/14, and just looking for support.
I just wanted to chime in on the pre-surgery diet. I am so jealous that your diet is South Beach phase 1! LOL, but seriously my diet is 10-day straight liquids before the surgery. I am doing that right now. Its basically low fat thinned cream soups, thinned tomato soup, sugar free jello, SF FF pudding, SF popscicles, skim milk, protein shakes, Carnation Instant Breakfast (no sugar added variety), Cream of Wheat thinned with milk, and juice diluted 1/2 with water. I have done really well on it though, I havent deviated from it at all which surprises me that I have that kind of willpower, lol. Anyway, just wanted to share and say "thanks" for letting me lurk and get some support and inspiration from you all.
Yep, I'm supposed to get 60 grams of protein a day, which I get from a protein shake in the morning (52 grams) and usually a yogurt or skin milk later in the day. I forgot to mention that I can have yogurt, the light varieties with no fruit. I get the Yoplait Light Vanilla which is about the only light yogurt I can stand. I'm not a yogurt fan unless its greek yogurt or kefir, but that's all too high in sugar and fat.
Thanks for the compliment on my hair. Its dark brown as the base color with red and blonde highlights.
Amy-you might want to have 2 protein shakes a day and divvy up the protein-I could be wrong, but I don't think it's possible to absorb 52g of protein in one meal . . . but if that's what they told you to do-nevermind!
I am not a WLS person but this is something I've always felt curious about and hope that some people would not mind answering. I find it bizarre that doctors have clearly accepted that a person has tried other means to lose weight and all have been unsuccessful, and that they feel the person does not have the option to lose weight without the surgery. Those are the ethical conditions for going ahead and listing someone for WLS so if the surgeon doesn't believe those things to be true he/she should refuse.
So into that situation they throw a pre-surgery diet plan. So are they admitting that they think some people can stick to a diet plan without losing any weight? If not then presumably they are saying that the person presenting for WLS cannot stick to a diet plan, yet they give you a diet plan! And if you cannot stick to a diet plan the surgery is ill fated because it cannot diet for you, just make you feel fuller faster. I find it all very confusing. Is the idea that the pre-op diet plan is very short-term so you can manage it if you just have to keep to it for 2-3 weeks vs sticking to a program for a year or more to lose the weight without surgery?
I don't really understand what is going on there to say I accept that you are unable to diet, here's a diet. Can anyone explain the logic in there?
Last edited by RoseRodent; 12-10-2010 at 02:42 PM.
Rose-the point of the pre-op diet is to get rid of liver fat right before the surgery. A fatty liver can complicate the surgery-especially if it's laproscopic. I was told that if the liver is too fatty-it's hard to work around it and they would have to switch to an open GP-which can have more complications, longer recovery. The pre-op diet can be fairly strict and not something you'd do long-term.
Also-it's not necessarily that myself or others cannot stick to a diet plan. That may be the case. I can lose weight-I have just been unsuccessful in maintaining my weight loss. This will just be a tool to help me be successful.
Julie--I had not thought about that, I will start dividing up the servings from now on. They didnt tell me anything about dividing them up like that.
Rose--I agree with Julie, its not that I cant stay on a diet, its that I have a hard time keeping the weight off. Its also not as simple as just having the willpower or intestinal fortitude to stay on a diet. Many people (myself included) who have bariatric surgery are so big that we have a hard time exercising. Diet without exercise doesnt work too well. The surgery is a tool that will help me to lose weight. Weight lost initially is usually quite fast, so it will help me to be able to exercise more effectively sooner, to then help my diet along even further.
Thank you, yes I do understand the point behind the pre-op diet, I just always found it odd that doctors had said here is a person who needs this surgery in order to lose weight and the first thing we need them to do is go on a diet - although I knew why it was necessary it seemed a very bizarre thing to ask someone to do to say dieting is not for you, now go on a diet.
Starting My PreOp Diet Today
