Hello everyone! I started my pre-op diet today. I'm one protein shake in. Bleh! While drinking my delicious, chalky beverage I had an important thought! Christmas is right around the corner and I want to be able to enjoy the meal with my family. Does anyone think this will be a problem? I can't see one meal increasing the size of my liver. I think, what is one day to 13 days? I have a pre-admissions appointment on December 23rd, so I can discuss it with my surgeon, but any advice beforehand is much appreciated. Thank you!

yes - talk with your surgeon. and quite a lot is riding on this visit! if you can truly tell the surgeon that you've been sticking with it, and he sees that the scale has slid down, he PROBABLY won't have a problem if you eat a sensible Christmas dinner - and go VERY VERY easy on the carbs [but i'm sure he'll give you directions on how to handle this].

a word of caution: don't start celebrating Christmas NOW - your post said 'what is one day to 13 days.' how about if you think in terms of MEALS - 'what is one meal to [umm 3 x 13 = ?] 39 meals!' if you start thinking of Christmas as a 'free day,' a lot can go wrong!

let us know what he says! and good luck!

I had my final surgeon appt today (surgery date 1-18) and he told me NOT to have a "binge" meal or "last meal" as I called it. He said a single high-fat meal would go right to the liver. Now-I'm not sure this is true-I know he wants me to lose as much as possible before the surgery (I have now met my pre-surgery goal!) but I guess what i'm saying is to be moderate I guess. Small portions and avoiding sweets/high fat items will likely be okay-but absolutely discuss it at your next appt.

By the way-protein shakes need not be disgusting. Try a few different kinds. I actually like the ones I make with choc or vanilla unsweetened almond breeze (very low in calories and sugars) and then sweetened with stevia.

Good luck!

I'm not pre or post surgery, so I may be out of line commenting... But, I know with ANY weightloss program, regardless of what it is, a mental change needs to take place. You have to start committing to healty eating. If you don't get into the mindset now, then even after surgery you may have these same thoughts. What's one birthday dinner out? What's one celebration for my BF's promotion? They all add up and also threaten long-term success.

Shytown-you are correct, however this issue for me is that there are some foods that I will likely NEVER be able to eat again. I'm doing pretty well-but it is difficult to not have a piece of fudge or pie during the holidays knowing it's probably the last chance i have. Yes-there are somewhat decent sugar-free options but c'mon-we all know it's not the same! I've come to terms with it all-but i'm human-it's hard not to want a "last meal" of really yummy mexican food at my fave restaurant or grandma's fudge. But I'll get over it . . .

juliemarie - you WILL get those foods back - but best not to think about them for the first year, maybe 18 months. and that's OK. you simply won't be able to eat much of them, and you won't be able to eat them often, but that's actually the way 'normal' people eat.

soooo - my advice: focus on one day at a time, and don't think about what you can't have. think about what you're gaining in the way of good eating habits and health, and LOSING in terms of weight.

you can do this!

and congrats on meeting your goal!!! i KNOW that took quite a bit of effort!

Thanks Jiffy! You're so right-I need to stop this way of thinking or I'll drive myself nuts!

On that note-I had my first "surgery" dream the other night. Luckily it wasn't scary-just weird . . .

I am 8 months in and I have to remind myself of this ALL THE TIME, it is a mind set and you can seriously mess yourself up.
Ask yourself this will you be ABLE to NOT eat on Christmas? Is it just going to be so hard you can't stand it? If so what happens in a year?? or worse in a few months while you are still healing?
You must get in the mind set of the fact that this is LIFE CHANGING surgery, that you are not just changing your body but you Must change how you think or you are in for a world of pain.... trust me on this one.

Be careful with this syndrome cause I "last suppered" (and last beered) myself into a 13 pound weight gain in 3 months and had my surgery postponed 6 months, for me it was a blessing cause I got my head on strait and lost 52 pounds but it was HARD and involved changing my mind.
Chances are you will be able to have a bite here and there of goodies, the trick is to learn not to associate them with the good feelings you get from them or from the situations surrounding those foods.
It is scary and it seems you are doing great, but trust me it is easy to mess with your mind set and depression and WLS often go hand in hand as you deal with food issues and body issues.

I agree with the chickies... you're not saying good bye to foods you like, your saying... ummm maybe another time, maybe a healthier version... but not right now Last thing you want to do is become depressed about food.

Good luck

I originally thought of things in the same way......goodbye this or goodbye that. Then I got to thinking that this was more of an opportunity to still have the foods that I like but healthier. Changing recipes for healthier ingredients is sooooo much fun, even "healthy" recipes I've found in cookbooks. Good Luck.

Um, I NEVER had to do a pre-op diet of any kind and I did have my "last" splurge meal...14 of my friends joined me at my favorite restaurant. I think it all depends on your doctor and their practices......BUT and a BIG BUT....follow YOUR doctors orders to the T. This way you will get the most benefit out of your weightloss tool.

I know it is after Christmas, but I just wanted to chime in on this, if I may. I understand that it seems like one meal wouldnt increase the size of your liver, but I wouldnt take this chance at all. I followed a 10-day liquid diet to the T, diluted the soups, got my protein and water in, took my vitamins, etc. I mean, I followed it to the letter for all 10 days. I went in for my RNY, and afterward the surgeon told me my liver was the biggest liver he had EVER seen. He said my liver was so big that he almost had to do my surgery open (a large incision instead of laproscopic). He said that had it been earlier in his career as a surgeon he would have definitely had to do it open. He said that can be caused by deviating from the liquid diet. I almost cried because I had driven myself NUTS with the liquid diet. I emphatically told him I did NOT cheat. Anyway, that was my experience. So even with staying faithful to your Dr's orders 100% you can still have a huge liver. I just wouldnt tempt fate.

i'd lost just under 100 pounds before the surgery, so the surgeon didn't put me on a pre-op diet [he didn't usually do that anyway]. but after the surgery, he said that he was really surprised that my liver was so big. there was no sign of fatty liver, though, even on the biopsy, so he said that i simply had a big liver. he did the lap RNY on me in less than 90 minutes.

everyone's different, and everyone's surgeon is different!

Jiffy--That's a good point, some people do just have larger organs that others. I should have clarified that my liver was enlarged and I did (do) have fatty liver disease. The surgeon said with a fatty liver it bleeds very easily, and as soon as he picked up my liver it began to bleed. Thankfully he said that it will most likely be corrected and go down as I lose weight, but I am just thankful that he didnt have to do it open. He said it took about 2 1/2 hours for my surgery.