Optifast liver shrinking meal replacement

May 03, 2017

So I'm now on day 2 of 21 of eating nothing but the Optifast MR (Meal Replacement) shakes until my surgery.

The Ottawa Weight Management Clinic uses this prescription meal reaplacement product in a few ways. They have an entire non-surgical program that uses it and then there is the pre-surgery use. Most people having Bariatric Surgery here in Ottawa will use Optifast for a minimum of 3 wks to minimize complications from the surgery by sufficiently shrinking the liver.

I know most people on this site are Yankee Doodles (no disrespect intended as I am ignorant of any nefarious meaning). And in Yankee Doodle land it seems many surgeons require a 10% weight loss before they'll operate... have you ever asked why? I'd always thought it was to 'prove' one had the will power to actually make change in their lives - which never made sense to me because, well, hello! don't you think if I could lose 37 lbs on my own I'd have done it already!!!!????? Duh!

But now that I've been asked to use this MR and told why I now belive (suspect?) it is for the same reason Yankee Doodles are asked to lose the weight - to protect the liver! BECAUSE here we are not asked to do the 10% weight loss thing. We are told to expect to lose weight as the MR program is just 900 calories a day. (Surgeon said men can lose 30 lbs in 3 weeks... she said it was extremely variable for women - which sucks 'cause I'd kinda like to know).

A few notes about using Optifast

• Diabetics (such as myself) need to make changes to medications (pills and/or insulin) the day before and through-out using Optifast. As each person's diabetes treatment is different please talk to your nurse practitioner about what you'll need to do.
• There are 4 packages of MR that must be consumed each day (per my prescription however based on everything I've read this is true for everyone)
• NO FOOD, however the dietician said that if one absolutely has to crunch something A cerelery stick or A dill pickle would not hurt (on rare occassion - which means not every day).
• Stop all supplements (in my case that was a multivitamin, a Vit. B complex, and Vit. D) the surgeon told me everything I need is in the MR - I almost forgot to do this as my pills were already in my dosette for the week
• Drink a minimum of 2 litres of water a day (2 quarts? not sure of the conversion) above and beyond your shakes and fibre drink. I'm not 100% sure exactly why it's being stressed now but I am not going to risk finding out by not doing it.
• There is no fibre in the MR so most folks use Metamucil sugar-free fibre powder. The product lable doesn't clearly state that it is sugar-free. One of two things tends to happen without it (according to the dietician) that is constipation and/or diarrea.
• You will poop much less often because, well, hello! you're not eating food.
• Oh, the best part you can have up to 20 calories a day - 1 cup of broth or 1/4 cup skim milk (for decaf coffee/tea) and sugar-free jello (and sugar-free water flavorings) AS LONG AS IT IS NOT SUGAR! (no candies folks!)

Making my first shake:
Was simple enough I just followed the instructions on the package and used a blender not a shaker.

Drinking my first shake:
- I needed a larger than normal glass to hold it all because I was too lazy (pain filled) to go back to the kitchen to refill the glass.
- I chose chocolate and it was really quite tasty although it has a bit of an after-taste, kind of a dry tongue sensation
- I was afraid of letting it sit too long so drank it quickly (as I have done for all the shakes since)

Shakes 2 - 4 (still chocolate):
- I experimented with #2 by adding a bit more water and three ice cubes - other than being colder I didn't notice any difference.
- I doubled up and had shakes 3 & 4 together, again with some ice cubes. I''d gotten home later than expected and was 'starving to death'

Observations from the first day include:

• Rinse/wash the blender and drinking glass well as there seems to be a black residue that appears on the bottom if it dries before washing and, I had a heck of a time getting it off. I remember seeing this residue in my mom's glass when she was on the non-surgical plan years ago, so it seems to be normal.
• At first I wanted to eat everything I saw, even the stuff I don't like and/or had never tried before. I figured this was my brain's way of dealing with the concept of 'never being able to eat whatever I want again' reality. Or at the very least of not being able to eat solid food again for 11 weeks (or more).
• I had been very reliant on liquid meal replacements before now (I used the walmart brand equivalent of Ensure) so I found drinking my meals very easy and fulfilling. I suspect someone who's used to chewing every morsel of their food might have difficulty adjusting but I did not.
• I needed to get some sugar-free water flavoring, jello and broth and after my earlier experience of wanting everything in sight I'd been dreading going to the grocery store. I guess a few hours was enough to adjust because I found the store to be LIBERATING. I saw all the food stuff and was able to completely ignore it, like totally see it, recognize it and then pay no attention. AND as a bonus, I actually found sugar-free Orange Tang (Tang was a real treat growing up so it is a coveted flavor I've not had for years because of the sugar). Needless to say, adding that flavoring to the fibre drink made it much more flavorful.
• I did not feel any hungrier than normal (which seems really weird to me and may be unique to me)
• It was a rather high pain day which means exhaustion so I couldn't really evaluate if I felt weak, will keep you informed as the days pass

Okay, that's more than enough for this post. Talk with you later.

Amalilly.

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