Has anyone cheated??

Has anyone cheated on their OptiFast? 

Just curious ... here in Ottawa, we have to do the shakes for 3 weeks, no matter what you weigh, it seems.  Yet, some centers it seems that the length of times doing OpitFast, is dependent on what you weigh.  That part doesn't make sense to me at all!

I am just finishing my first week and have two more weeks to go!  I am struggling a bit and have no desire to cheat, but have heard and read online that some people do.

So just curious on other peoples experiences from here? 

Thanks!

 

Jen

27 days of Opti for me and no.. no cheating. That is nearly a month of Opti ... That doesn't give me a gold star or "way to go"  for getting through it, I can be proud of myself  but my journey is not  someone else's and they have their own struggles to deal with. 

I will say this, if you need to cheat throughout the Opti then maybe you need to rethink the program and if your head is in the game. Having a slip and acknowledging it and fixing it and not doing it again is part of learning and something different. 

At the end of the day they need to look at themselves and know what they did or didn't do. 

It was hard a few of the days, and I had some food dreams, and some cravings and some temptations to slip to old habits and order some dinner. But I sucked it up, had a shake a moved on ... one at a time. 

No, not really but my husband was having a barbecued pork chop when I was on Opti, I did run my finger across it and then licked my finger.  Don't mess up your chance for the prize.

 

Laurie

I am still pre op so by no means have gone through what your going through right now.....having said that when I went to my last appointments with the SW,RN,RD one of them told me about someone who was getting the surgery,  when the doctor open the person up could see by the liver that they had not followed the Optifast diet.  The patient was then closed up and didn't get the surgery.  From what I understand you need to be on the optifast so that your liver can shrink small enough to give the surgeon more room to perform the operation, you don't want them cutting into anything that he/she is not suppose to.  Every center is different in what they will allow and it's the surgeons who says what is allowed and what is not.  I am sure that some of the vets can give you some tips that might help get you through this.  You could also call your center and ask them what is ok so that your not cheating.   One tip that someone gave me for when I get to that stage is to make the optifast thick and freeze it that it it's like eating ice cream but not,  you can make it like a pudding too, at least this is what the lady told me and she had already had her surgery.   Good luck and stick to it I know your thinking easy for me to say and I may just like you when I get to your stage but just keep your eye on the prize.

Honestly I did cheat. Not a big cheat, I always hated myself after. It was always suppertime and I was cooking for my family. I measured the 1-2 ounces of meat I ate. That happened 3 times. I had a V8 once. These all happened week 2. I wish one Opti option was soup. It as all too sweet for me. By week 3 I realized I was only hurting myself. Although I lost 18 pounds in the 3 weeks they were not able to remove my gall baldder as planned. My liver was in the way.Just don't cheat. You never know the damage you are doing.

I haven't cheated but I am having a super hard time with the opti. I am lucky if I can get one shake a day down. I gag horribly as soon as I taste it. I have tried adding everything you can imagine to them to make them palatable but haven't found the magic ingredient yet. any suggestions would be great!

A sealed cup with lid and straw
Orange extract added to the chocolate
Root beer extract to the vanilla
Ice cold....... no really Ice cold
I do not like the many syrups I spent a small fortune on but have used pumpkin spice with cinnamon vanilla extract and the other one I use is pure peppermint extract

Trust me I'm not loving it but its not for long I hope this improves for you and if not i would ask you centre for some help

instant coffee. I could not use the syrups due to the added sweeteners. I was already reacting to the opti.

Today is day 7 and my mind sometimes goes to a place that says this might be your last chance but I can snap myself out of that mind set when I begin to focus on eating after and all the things I can still enjoy just later. I was also lucky to have been given only two weeks vs the three due to a lack of time before my date. This saved me money but adds some stress because now opti does not get the same chance to work its magic on my liver. I average three shakes a day and truly am not hungry often, sometimes yes i am. But,most often water can put the run on the hunger thing. I think it's my mind playing crazy games so this is my start to over coming the head hunger vs real hunger issue. I wish you luck in the battle . And keep in mind we will eat again it will just be different.

Is cheating good? No is it the end of the world if you do? No

The centres will tell all sorts of horror stories about those that get opened and closed, whether they are true or not, i'm not sure. The only way for anyone to know pre-op whether you even have a fatty liver, is ultrasound, which is never done, so really, hlthey can't tell how much it might have shrunk.

Most surgeons worth their weight should be able to operate regardless. There are probably hundreds of procedures done every day that do not require a pre-op diet. I had my gallbladder out over 3 years ago at a higher weight and had no problems whatsoever.

With that said, losing any amount of weight before surgery is a good thing. Optifast is a good way to control that. Stick to the plan, but don't think a couple slips are the end or have any impact on your success afterwards.

Also, i didn't do Optifast at all - i did follow another approved diet (due to other issues) and i was eating real food right up to the day before. And i slipped, just got back on the horse. There's just no need to freak out as much as some people do about opti.