Cheating: Pre-Op Liquid Diet

 So, it's day three and I thought the head hunger had subsided, but I ended up eating at white castle. This seems like such a failure because I know I need better self control post op. How did you do it? Did you cheat? Should I be worried about whether I'm ready? Is this doubt normal?

Listen to me, you made a mistake lesson learned right? I was able to eat one meal due to diabetes but I didn't eat junk. If your hungry eat a piece of fruit or yogurt. What is normal? We all have issues that we need to work on right? What your going to do is life changing and that can be scary. Does your surgeon's office have group meetings? If so go believe me they help. Contact me anytime I will try to answer them and you also have all these people to help you on this forum. You can do it Jada believe in yourself

 when I was lying on the gurney pre surgery t minus 20 minutes and counting. The NP for our program came in to give me a last second pep talk. She looked at my weight and said "20 pounds lost pre op, not bad. some cant even lose 5 pounds pre op."

morale: do your best. Do what you need to do to get it done. If it means modifying it, modify it properly.

My program gave me these rules.  5 protein shakes per day. 3 fruit (tennis ball size or smaller) per day. if you have to cheat, you have 3 options, max of 3 times per day: baby carrots (about 14), celery stalks (x number, I didnt chose this option), and 1/2 cup sugar free jello. 

Did I stick to this completely? NO! I strayed. But as I got closer to the date, the more real it got. I didnt want Doctor cutting me open and finding leftover McRib in there, if you know what I mean. A couple nights (night munchies) I snuck a tortillia. Even one day I totally broke down and ate a whole plate of pasta. But I still made 19# pre op.....and thats because I kept as close to the spirit of what they were trying to accomplish as possible. In the 14 days of my pre op diet, I had 9 perfect days. 

If I were you, I would throw the white castle incident out of your head and start fresh. Dont beat yourself up. And remember, the more honest you are with this diet, the better it will be for you in the end!

welll, I might be wrong for saying this but in all honesty ..... enjoy that darn wite castle because post op you will not and can not have it. I am 12 days post op and i can barely get in my 4 oz of liquid every  hour. I only eat 1 oz of broth ....very hard to get things in. When I first came home I sat in horor of aall things I wanted to eat pre op and didn't. Try to stick with the liquid diet but if you slip up ....its all good ...have a bite for Tee ova here

Please reconsider what this poster is saying.

You dont have to think about this journey as NEVER being able to have X food again.

You must follow your plan and not eat this stuff for a few months, but a few months out of your life is nothing.

If you want to lose weight, follow your plan.

When you get to maintenance you can have these foods in moderation. Which means you dont have to cut out every single thing for the rest of your life. That thinking, that you Can Never have X food again leads to bingeing.

This is not a diet. This is a lifestyle. I refuse to cut anything out of my diet. I eat fast food. I eat anything. IN MODERATION. Protein first!  Post op you will learn to always put protein first. So maybe you will have that White Castle burger at 6 months out, minus the top bun.

This isnt a life sentence. Its a lifestyle.

Yeah. I don't consider foods as gone forever.  That's just depressing. Some are gone for a few weeks- some a few months.

I eat burgers now. Not a huge one. Not with all of the bread- don't want to because it would make me too full. I enjoy food now. I really do. And I am still losing.

protein, water, protein, water, protein, water (repeat)

The pre op liquid diet was really hard.  They really get you started on this journey harshly dont they?  LOL

To go from eating anything I wanted my whole life, now all you can have is a protein shake and some diet jello .. OMG! 

I made it through day 3 ok but it was the hardest thing I've ever done I think.  That evening I was ready to raid the fridge.  I wrote my NUT an email and told her I was loosing it and getting ready to go eat whatever I could find and she wrote back and told me to replace 2 shakes a day with 2 small meals of lean meat and veggies.  That helped out so much!  It was just so hard to do without the surgery to help.  I didnt loose as much weight as I probably would have just doing the liquids but I still lost 12 lbs in a week and half and the surgery went well.

Try to stick with it if you can but I know its hard as hell.

 I am starting day three today.. it has been really hard not to cheat but I have made it so far... I lost 4 pounds the first day, and 2 yesterday... the hardest part for me is smelling the kids food 

Please listen to what I am saying.

You are supposed to follow the rules, be on liquids or low carb, for your own benefit. Have some cheated before? Yes? Does everyone cheat, no. I had a slice of deli ham on my pre-op. Doesnt make it ok.

This is the issue. You cannot be doing this post- op. You can really hurt yourself. I think it is easier to stay on track post op. BUT- You must understand the importance of the liquid diet as it pertains to following the rules.

There is a reason why they want to on liquids pre-op, to lose some of the fat that surrounds your liver so it is less slippery and your stomach can be accessed (you do not want them to nick your liver). If you cheat you are only cheating YOURSELF.

And if you do cheat dont eat fruit. The pre-op diet is supposed to be lower carb- so in theory if you cheated eating straight meat will hurt you the least.