Got my surgery date, need help on liquid diet.
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nakeddog
Posts: 79 Member
My surgery is booked March 22.
I have to do a 3 week liquid diet. I've been given my instructions, and for the most part it is typical of what we get here.
4 ensure high protein bottles, meal replacement
1 cup 1% milk (mostly I use this for my coffee)
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt OR 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
1 cup broth
water, tea, coffee, no sugar drinks like lemonaide, crystal light add ins, sugar free ice tea (articifical sweetners ok)
My issues:
Ensure is gross, I am switching to Boost (is allowed), I can't do plain yogurt or cottage cheese (gag reflux if I'm not careful).
Broth is fine if I add seasonings, I quite enjoy it.
I am NOT allowed any veggies, or meat...but i have cheated. I am on day 4, and the headaches and stomach growls are had to ignore. So I've had 1 celery stalk a day, 1 mini cucumber a day...and today I ate some deli turkey.
I did find a recipe I liked for chai tea with ensure...so I enjoy that. Freezing the choc with the yogurt is something I am trying. I will alternate Boost and Ensure, because we had already stocked up on some ensure.
When it comes to the 2nd week, I hope I am okay and lose the urge for the food...but right now this is really hard. I have to cook for a family, my kids are too young so I can't just ignore food and smells...tho I did prepare a bunch of freezer meals, and hubby is helping me out when he is home.
What happens to a person with cheats like mine? Does it prevent the liver from shrinking? I have lost 5lbs these first couple days.
The final 2 weeks, I will be 100% compliant with my instructions, for sure by then I should be used to it., right?
I have to do a 3 week liquid diet. I've been given my instructions, and for the most part it is typical of what we get here.
4 ensure high protein bottles, meal replacement
1 cup 1% milk (mostly I use this for my coffee)
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt OR 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
1 cup broth
water, tea, coffee, no sugar drinks like lemonaide, crystal light add ins, sugar free ice tea (articifical sweetners ok)
My issues:
Ensure is gross, I am switching to Boost (is allowed), I can't do plain yogurt or cottage cheese (gag reflux if I'm not careful).
Broth is fine if I add seasonings, I quite enjoy it.
I am NOT allowed any veggies, or meat...but i have cheated. I am on day 4, and the headaches and stomach growls are had to ignore. So I've had 1 celery stalk a day, 1 mini cucumber a day...and today I ate some deli turkey.
I did find a recipe I liked for chai tea with ensure...so I enjoy that. Freezing the choc with the yogurt is something I am trying. I will alternate Boost and Ensure, because we had already stocked up on some ensure.
When it comes to the 2nd week, I hope I am okay and lose the urge for the food...but right now this is really hard. I have to cook for a family, my kids are too young so I can't just ignore food and smells...tho I did prepare a bunch of freezer meals, and hubby is helping me out when he is home.
What happens to a person with cheats like mine? Does it prevent the liver from shrinking? I have lost 5lbs these first couple days.
The final 2 weeks, I will be 100% compliant with my instructions, for sure by then I should be used to it., right?
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Replies
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Three weeks sounds like a long time on the pre-op diet but all Doctor's are different. I suggest reaching out to your Doctor's office for additional suggestions on what to eat and how to curb hunger. One thing that helped me stick to the pre-op diet was I wanted my digestive system empty of any food going into surgery. I only had two weeks and at the time lived alone with the exception of my dog. Since I wasn't interested in dog food it was easy to stick to the plan, I understand the difficulty when having to cook for others. Hang in there it gets better and easier.1
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My surgeon told us stories of starting procedures only to find big livers and having to stop (they had all aparently cheated alot) and the story of a woman who a week post op who decided having a cheese sandwich was a great idea..... she woke up in intensive care after bursting her staple line
Well that scared me straight. I had 2 weeks on the milk diet (3 pints of milk a day....... and that was it)
I cooked and fed my daughter, cleaned the house till it shined, took long baths, got my paperwork in order, anything to keep me busy and my focus away from food2 -
I wasn't cheating on crap food, or big meals...it was celery and cucumber. But I get the point, I was just curious I suppose because I know some who are allowed specific veggies, some are even allowed a small salad. I am doing better, I've found ways to make my choices a little more tolerable and within the rules. I think I'm over the worst of it, and tho I am still starving, I have it more under control now. TOM has now passed, and the headaches are less intense. Lost 7lbs in 5 days...so far.
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You're doing great. It's not easy. My pre-op was Optifast for 2 weeks and that included shakes and bars. Keep up the good work! You'll be very glad you did.1
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Stick with the plan. You have worked long & hard to get to this point, so the sacrifices are well worth it. You don't want to take a chance on not being able to have the surgery because you didn't stick to the guidelines.
You need to remind yourself that eating healthy after the surgery will be a lifelong commitment. Put thoughts of eating junk food or whatever you like out of your mind. Even when you get to the point after surgery that you CAN eat those things, you definitely SHOULDN'T! The weight will come back faster than ever.
Remember that this isn't a "fix" but rather a tool to help you. After a year, I found myself able to eat chocolate, donuts, other assorted unhealthy junk and was able to once again consume copious amounts of soda. Without going into too much personal detail, life went crazy last year with driving 130 mile round trips to the baby doctor 2-3 times per week, 2 weeks back and forth every day 140 mile round trips to the NICU before our baby boy was released, construction on our house that was nerve-wracking and my wife losing her disability benefits from work and filing bankruptcy.
Needless to say, I was on an emotional rollercoaster and leaned into eating those old "comfort foods." 38lbs came screaming back and slapped themselves to my *kitten* over a relatively short seven months. That's about 5.5lbs per month gain. I've lost 21lbs of that gain so far and consider it a lesson learned.2 -
Nakeddog, glad to know you're feeling better and getting into the grove. It's a learning process from start into infinity. Ditto on everything Steven said about the lifelong commitment.1
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To date I have lost, 12lbs in 17days, only 5 more days to go.
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You should be post op by now. One of my favorite shakes after surgery when it was allowed was nonfat Greek yogurt with one or two sugar free popsicles Blended in. Later in my journey I made the shakes with one sugar-free popsicle and a small handful of frozen fruit but make sure you are paying attention to how much fruit you use. Fruit is great but also has a lot of natural sugar and is easy to overindulge.2
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I’ve been told by my team in London that Slimfast ready made shakes are an Optifast substitute. They’ve suggested 16 days prior to surgery ( Bypass scheduled for April 30 2017). *new poster *0
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What about fat? How much fat can you have? I'm also on a liquid diet and I find that fat satisfies me like nothing else sometimes. And rice will provide starch for a boost of energy. I make my own food instead of buying "Boost" using various blending tools.0
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Hi everyone, I am now 1 week post op. My surgery was Thurs March 22., and 1 week later, so far things are going well. Taking it slow, still on a full liquids but now I get to have soups, cream of wheat, adding milk and protein powder to boost the protein. In one more week I can start to integrate more soft foods. I had an uncomplicated sugery, my liver was just fine, they had no issues. I am healing well., no complications like infection, but I am still sore and tender.5
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@nakeddog congratulations!1
