Pre-op Diet Questions.. There's a lot of them!!

My nutritionist told me that I will need to go on a pre-op diet and she said that I will need to eat NO more than 40 carbs per day.

Is this the pre-op diet that most people go on? Because... I'm reading about how most people have been drinking the protein drinks for their pre-op diets and having little if no carbs at all.

I'm a little confused with the whole pre-op diet. Does everyone get put on a pre-op diet?

I'd almost rather stick to the protein drinks while I'm on the pre-op diet just to keep everything simpler because finding foods with little to no carbs is challenging. Even a small apple has 30 grams of carbs. It's insane!!! I love my Pink Lady apples. I thought apples were supposed to be good for you?

I don't even know how many grams of protein I should be consuming per day. Do you? If I do decide to go with the protein shakes for my pre-op diet is this all I can have?

I think I need another appt. with my nutritionist....

Thanks for any advice that you guys can give me. It is much appreciated!!

XO,

Hilary

 

It depends on what your surgeon requires. Everyone is different.  Mine had me on a 2 week pre-op, that consisted of 3 protein drinks daily, not over 150 calories each and no less than 15 grams of protein, and then a  light dinner meal, like a lean cuisine, or 3 oz chicken and some veggies, then the day before surgery is was protein shakes only.

I would talk to your surgeon about what he/she wants and follow that.

Good luck!

 

Seems like different surgeons have different requirements.  My pre-op diet starts Wed and it is two weeks of 800-1000 calories. One protein shake as a replacement meal, two high protein low carb meals of 3-4 oz of protein and veggies, and one protein snack, like a protein bar or cheese.  I was very relieved for this plan as the idea of 2 weeks of liquids before surgery was really freaking me out. I know others do it, I just had very little confidence I could without the  restriction of surgery to help me along.  Meet with the nutritionist, clarity will give you confidence.  Good luck.

I'm with you there. Protein shakes for 2 weeks doesn't sound like much of anything but then again I look at what I eat now and most days I'll just have a 24 oz. quad mocha for breakfast and I won't eat anything until later on in the night around 6PM or so. I know it's terrible for my body. I've started eating 3 meals a day and 2 snacks and I've lost 16 pounds so far. Who knew?? LOL.... I could literally feel my metabolism start going every morning and now, if I don't eat within 30 minutes of waking up I feel starved, like I could throw up if I don't eat something and QUICK... It's crazy!!! For the last 10-13 years I've been using calorie packed mochas to fill my appetite and then at night I'd indulge. But no more...

Good Luck tomorrow, you can do it. You'll be just fine. It sounds like you know exactly what you need to do so just stick to it.

We have some serious life changing events coming up, we've got to be prepared. :)

Hilary

Many responses on here begin with Everybody's body is different. I have noticed that when it comes to pre-op diets that Every ones Surgeon is different. LOL 

Mine has me on a medical weight loss plan called Optifast. I am in the home stretch and can't wait to be off this. I have 3 shakes. 1 protein bar, and one soup everyday. All totaling 800 calories. I am allowed to have 1/2 cup sf jello, cucumbers,or celery. At this point I don't think I will ever eat cucumbers or celery again! My team wated me to loose 12 lbs in the 2 weeks of pre-op and so far I have been very successful. 1lb a day to me is great. 

I hope you get all the answers that you need from your NUT. Best Wishes!!!!

I have been surprised at how different all of the pre-op diets are.  However - what we are doing and eating prior to the pre-op diet was not working for any of us or we wouldn't be lead to the surgery.  Your nutritionist is working with your surgeon so they are following what they have seen work for the patients in their practice.  I have not agreed with everything with the nutritionist based off some posts on here; however the fundamentals I follow because I respect my surgeon's expertise.  It took me a lot of mental gymnastics to get on plan as it was just different.  Myfitnesspal - an app that you can download is the best thing you can use to make sure you are tracking everything to stay under the numbers.  I had to go on the induction diet for Atkins essentially and that sounds like what they are having you do.  A good rule of thumb is no breads, no fruits, no pasta, no rice, no starchy veges.  There is still a lot of food in the world to eat.  The low carb shrinks the liver is what I was told which helps the surgery.  Good luck to you and just know that it is normal to feel confused and disorganized about all of this which is why this site is so helpful!

Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions, thoughts & ideas.

I'm feeling overwhelmed with this whole process.

My surgeon wanted me to lose 10lbs on the pre-op diet. I've lost 16 pounds so far & I haven't even started the pre-op diet yet. I'm just waiting on my insurance to authorize everything & then the RN will call me & schedule my surgery date. I know my insurance will authorize it right away, the lengthy part is going to be waiting for the the actual day of surgery.

The nutritionist did mention the Atkins diet when she told me what type of diet I'd be on but I'd almost rather prefer to drink the protein shakes every day just so I can keep everything simple.

I had no clue that I'd be drinking protein shakes for the rest of my life. I knew I'd need them for 5-6 weeks after surgery but I've read from patients that are years out from surgery that they're still drinking protein shakes daily. I thought that we can go back to our regular eating habits but they would need to obviously be in smaller portion sizes. Am I a fool or what? And... That's what the intake coordinator at my doctors office told me. I don't eat a lot of processed foods on a day to day basis as it is now anyways, I've always been a somewhat healthy eater.

Boy oh boy, do I have a lot to learn or what?!??

Thanks again for the many responses..

Xo,
Hilary

FYI, while I did protein shakes pre-op and for a while post-op, I rarely drink them anymore!  At almost 2 years out, I get all of my protein from food and my daily latte.  I don't NEED the daily latte... I just love it so much that I work it into my diet (and a skim no-flavor latte is a good source of protein) :)

While I followed the "special" eating plan the first months postop, I eventually transitioned into what I consider "eating normally".  Sure, I don't have pasta hardly ever (I never want it anymore), and I rarely eat bread and crackers (I also rarely want them now), I can still have awesome food (just less of it).  In order to feel my best, and not get hungry all of the time (my hunger never went away like some peoples ) I try eat 2-3 ounces of protein and .5 cups or so of fruits/veggies with my meals.  I've found that if I don't track my food, I end up eating the wrong stuff and gain weight....  so I'm back to tracking my food diligently 6 days a week :).

Sometimes, if I'm VERY stressed, I've found that I have a hard time swallowing food.  In those rare cases, I resort to having slimfast as a meal. 

 

Good luck!

"...go back to my regular eating habits after surgery...just smaller..."  and how have your regular eating habits been working for you? Led you right to morbid obesity,just like the rest of us,right? even thou many of us think we eat pretty healthily pre op,how healthy are quad shot mochas and nothing else all day? 
then indulge at night? depends on what you are indulging in,lol. not very healthy. You are wise to realize this now.

 

Many surgeons post op programs are a joke,not saying yours is by any means,as far as the intake coordinator goes. she apparently doesn't have a clue,too bad. Some people,in fact,few but some,can do that and lose just fine. the majority of us? not so much.

 

One day at a time and you will slowly formulate your program and find what works for YOU and that is really what matters.

Hi Hilary, I just finished mine-my surgery is tomorrow morning so I can hopefully give you a fresh perspective:).  I found out at 6:30 PM last Tuesday night my surgery was in 13 days so I had zero time to think about all this, I had to start the liquid diet the next morning!  In hind site, I am really glad it went that way-I think I would have been obsessing a lot about how I was going to survive missing the food and eating like I was going "to the chair" those last few days leading up to it!  HAHAHA. 

I went with the Premier Protein Shakes from Costco.  I tried a few others through out the week, but honestly, this one was by far the best.  I found it to have very little of that chalky taste, it's got 30 grams of protein per serving, 160 calories, 3 fat, 5 carb & 1 sugar.  The chocolate to me was no different than chocolate milk  the vanilla was a little too sweet for me, but still OK, I didn't try the strawberry.  I also threw in some Progresso Chicken Broth every few days to give me some of that food like flavor I was missing.  My dietician at the Cleveland Clinic also stressed how  important it is to keep the calories per day at or below 800 during pre-op, so you wont be drinking 6 shakes a day, more like 4.  I actually did 3 a day every day up until yesterday when I had to switch to all clear liquids and do the bowel cleanse which was by far the hardest part of the whole 2 week pr-op diet.  I found the first 2-3 days hard only because I missed food, but I really wasn't hungry!  The protein in the shakes really takes away the appetite.  I ate 2-4 sugar free popsicles each day too, as a snack mid-day and in the evening when I just needed to crunch on something.  Also, the sugar free jello is also a good snack when you feel like putting some substance in your mouth. 

Drinking water-a lot of water also helps.  I fill up 4 20 oz bottles every night, and take them with me where ever I go.  I am also in the process of weaning myself off the coffee, been doing half caf for the past month because I knew it was coming and I needed to completely eliminate the creamer.  I switched to a low caffeine hot tea, added one equal and a squirt of lemon juice and that got me over the morning caffeine headache.  

Finally, I found going for a walk helpful when I was missing the food, you'd be surprised how the movement and adrenaline takes the hunger away.  I am doing 4-5 30 minute brisk walks a week, usually 1.5/2 miles each walk.  

 

Here's the best part about it-I am down 18 LBS in 13 days!  I feel good, and heading into surgery tomorrow 18 LBS lighter can only be a good thing!  I feel like really sticking to the pre-op diet (and I seriously didn't cheat one bit!) is giving me the momentum I need going into post-op.  The first full week after the surgery is liquid, so I am assuming it cant be any harder than what I just did with a stomach 80% larger!  

Good luck with your liquid diet, keep us posted as to how you do!