Can anyone tell what the pre diet before surgery will be like

I am going through Guelph and will be having my first real appt. with the social worker, nurse, and dietition in April.  I hear that they want you to lose weight before surgery so your in good shape for the procedure.  I was just wondering how many calories I would be eating.  Would I be counting calories, ticking off boxes for food choices?  I was just wondering about the eating plan.  I dislike counting calories.  I don't mind measuring, weighing, writing down in a journal, or ticking off food choices etc.  Does anyone know?  What did your center have you do?  I also heard that Guelph is pretty strict if you gain a few lbs. while your in the presurgery stage.  When most people lose weight they may have a week where they regain a lb. or 2 because of fluid retention or maybe you just have a stressful week.  I am nervous about the presurgery dieting.  Thanks for any help you can give me.

2 or 3 weeks (depending on your weight, usually it's 1 week for every hundred pounds you weigh) before surgery, you'll be ingesting only Optifast, which is a 900 calorie food supplement drink. It comes in chocolate or vanilla

I liked them. You'll find a lot of negativity about them, but try to think positively. You can add things like decaf coffee or crystal light flavouring to them to change the taste. Tha****er, and decaf diet drinks is ALL you'll be allowed. Some centres (like HRRH) allow you to have veggies or broth, but i think Guelph doesn't allow them.

The purpose of optifast is not necessarily to lose weight, but to shrink your liver. During surgery, the doctor has to move the liver aside to get at the stomach, its best if your liver is not fatty when they do that.

The purpose of Optifast is reduce the FAT around the liver.

yes, thanks for the clarification.

Thanks Monica, I know about the opti fast and the reason why it is used.  It is talked about so much on the forum so I have that info down pat.  I'm wondering about the wieght loss before opti when I see the dietician, s.w. and nurse.  I've heard that we need to take off weight to have ourselves healthy for surgery.  I was wondering about that diet, and how others motivated themselves, found support, and what the diet plan was like.  Thanks for responding.  I should of been more clear when I posted.

ohhhhhhhh...

track your foods, either with pencil and paper, or online tool like My Fitness Pal.

Try to get away from calling it a "diet plan", lets call it healthy eating. you should aim for 40% of your calories from Carbs, 30 % from protein, and 30 % from fat.

Its more about "proving" to them that you can stick to something.

Hi Zillah,

I went through my seminars and assessments at TWH and had my surgery at TEGH. 

I did 21 days of Opti before  my RNY on Monday.  They do want you to be in as good physical health as possible before the surgery (within reason, as they know why you are having your surgery!), so they ask you to exercise 5 x a week for 30 minutes - whatever you can, if you can manage working up from walking very slowly for 10 minutes to longer and faster walks like I did, they'll be very pleased.  That's different from why they put you on the Opti though.  Before surgery, I worked up to a 40 minute walk almost every day because my resting pulse was 100 (or more), and walking reduced that, making surgery probably safer for me.

When I was drinking the Opti shakes, I used a lot of Da Vinci sugar free syrups: peppermint, orange, hazelnut, gingerbread, pumpkin pie, and caramel.  They really improved the taste of Opti, which isn't that bad (I thought) after I got used to it.  I'm not sure where you can buy SF flavour syrups in or near Guelph though.  I bought my at The Low Carb Grocery Store in Markham, near the 404 and Steeles. http://www.thelowcarbgrocery.com/catalog/davinci-c-132_267_5 39.html

They do deliver.

Jenn.  :)

Okay everyone has been telling you about the Optifast which is just prior to surgery.    I tihnk you were asking about even before the optifast. I went through Guelph.  The nutritionist will review the Canada Food Guide and ask you to questions about what you typically eat in a week.  She will review with you some recommendations on changing your diet.   They aren't drastic but they do want you to make a concentrated effort to make changes and show you are able to follow a plan so that after surgery you can also follow a plan.    They like to see a little weight loss but they don't come out and say you have lose such and such before optifast.   However they will be absolutely clear you cannot gain ANY weight during the process or you aren't folllowing the plan.  The nurses and dietitians are very firm about not gaining weight between visits.  Holding even is not horrible but once you start with them don't gain.  Make the changes and it can't but help.

With that she will recommend you record your food intake and try to follow the Canada Food Guide.   When you go back for the 2nd time she reviews it and what you have learned, changed and what you plan to change in the next while. 

They are looking for things like knocking back on eating out, fast food, stopping pop, reducing caffeine , switching to lower fat cheeses, reduce things like chips or sweets, etc and getting the right portions of the food groups from Canada's Food Guide.      I quit pop (diet coke) within a couple of weeks, cold turkey, and had no problem.    Figured there was no reason to procrastinate and wait to the last minute. Either I could do it now or I wasn't doing it at all.   So I stopped last June 29 and never looked back.   Just from making a few basic choices I managed to drop 22 pounds.    Wasn't hard to do it all.    And then on Optifast, for 2 weeks prior to surgery, I lost another 11 pounds.   So I went into surgery 33 pounds down from the very beginning of my Hightest Weight.

Oh and they will ask you do some exercise.   Not a marthon or anything but show you are doing something to move.  Park your car farther away from the bldg.   Can you take a walk?   Treadmill?    something.  As exercise is vital part of the plan post surgery.  Depending on your current weight and health you may not be able to do much but they will talk to you about recommendations as to what you can do.  That gets recorded too.

Having been on the forum for awhile I can tell you that Guelph has stricter guidelines for what you are allowed or not allowed to eat during even Optifast and post surgery.  While on Optifast I was so envious of the other centres that allowed you to have vegetables to crunch on.      Besides broth, Optifast and all the water you can drink...that was it! Regardless, they know what they are doing and you have to have faith in that.   Follow the plan to a T and you will be successful.       They are wonderful in Guelph.  

Good luck with your upcoming appointments Zillah!

Thank you Dar-Marb I do know about the opti-fast.  I was asking about the diet restrictions before the opti fast.  You answered everything that I was asking.  I will find the diet plan before opti the hardest part of the process but this will be what I have to do after surgery so I better get used to the changes.  I am a yo yo dieter I have been fighting the same 40 lbs. for several years now.  I take it off and stall then get discouraged.  I can do it.  I am so discouraged that the effort of thinking about it again overwhelms me.  I just need to get in the right frame of mind and begin the process.  Hopefully after my first series of appts.  I will feelmore motivated.  I have lost 10 lbs. so far since orientation though.

There is a pre-surgury liquid diet (Optifast) as described above.

Some folks also have a period of time where they improve their eating habits in preparation for surgery. This could include multiple visits with a dietician, setting and achieving goals that may or may not be about weight loss, journaling. Whether you have to do this or not depends on and the dietician / surgeon / social worker (and possibly other professional) assessment of your readiness.

It is best to think of your journey starting now, and not on the day of surgery. Every behaviour you change, every step you take, every pound you lose now will only serve to make you healthier for surgery, and better set up for success.

I would suggest that you set aside what you have struggled with in the past in regards to things like calorie counting and go in with as open a mind as possible. Pre- and post-op is a whole different ball game. You may find things that you hated before become critical tools for you, and work very differently because you are in a brave new world. Calorie awareness (if not counting per se) is an important part of a mindful relationship with food, and most of us need to find a happy relationship with it both to make sure we are getting enough nutrient in the very early days and to learn how to maintain when we are vets.

Good luck to you on your journey!