Pre Op diet
Here is a little recap: Saw my surgeon Monday, he said I have to lose 10 lbs by my surgery on March 18th or he is going to postpone it. I have been drinking a premiere shake, lots of water and eating Jell-O since Monday and I have only lost 1 lb!! What am I doing wrong?? and yesterday I walked about a mile or 2. And I had a few sugar free popsicles.
I've been on my liquid diet since last Tuesday and didn't see a difference in the scale until Friday which was about three pounds and then over the week the scale jumped a lot and today I am down 10lbs. and it has been a week. I am eating the same things you are and walking when I can as well. Not to be gross but I had a really upset stomache over the weekend and basically am cleaned out which I think accounted for a pound or two LOL. It will come.
How many Protein Shakes are you drinking a day?? And that isn't gross, I was wondering about that. My boyfriend made a comment that I need to "flush out". So, today I drank a tea that helps with that. I was told on another forum that Im starving myself because Im only drinking 1 shake, so I thought I would add one and see if it helps.
My requirement is three shakes a day - two scoops of protein powder with 8 oz skim milk for each shake. I can also have up to 300 calories of the other things you listed like yogurt, broth, applesauce, jell-o, popsicles - all low cal and sugar free. I think all together is between 800-1000 calories a day but very little fat and low sugar.
Sorry but that doesn't sound like a very good liquid diet. Your right, your not eating enough, your body is totally fighting back. It's very unhealthy to only have one shake and water a day.
At my centre we go on a liquid diet, optifast for a certain time preop. Does your centre not provide a 'diet' to follow preop? One shake and water honestly seems ridiculous to me.
Starting weight: 334 lbs.Starting opti weight: 323 lbs, Surgery weight 303 lbs.Surgery-May 21st, 2013 with Dr Hagen at HRRH Goal weight 165 lbs reached at 13 months. Current weight 156 lbs
I would suggest calling your surgeons office for suggestions because 1 shake a day is just not enough calories. I was put on a reduced calorie diet and instructed to record and measure everything I eat. The week prior to surgery I had a liquid diet with 5 shakes a day. Every surgeons plan is different so I suggest you call the office for some guidance. Now is the best time to start learning healthy food habits. And one shake a day is NOT healthy.
I'm gonna respectfully disagree with another poster. Ten days of very limited calories will not, NOT make you malnourished. (Assuming you're not underweight.) The bigger issue would be to make sure you're really, really hydrated and drinking a lot of fluids.
Secondly, and this is just my personal experience and what I've seen, not a lot of surgeons will actually cancel your surgery at literally the absolute last minute on surgery day just because you don't lose 10 pounds right on the nose. They'll assess the situation but if everything is a go, losing only seven pounds instead of 10 is probably not gonna keep you out of the OR on your date. Now if you've not lost but one or two, or God forbid you gained, that would be a whole other story.
I'm not saying you shouldn't give it everything you've got to lose the 10. You should throw everything you have into it - and that sounds like what you're doing.
Try not to stress, drink a LOT of water to flush all of the crap you can out of your system and to give your liver a boost, and I'm betting you'll be fine.
edited to add: we can live for short periods (10 days qualifies for that) on a very, very low or no calorie diet. Ten days will not cause lasting physical damages related to malnutriton. If you're not sure though what an ideal calorie level is for you at this time, just give your surgeons office a call. They hear this all the time. And they might even have some more ideas on what you can eat that will help you through this time.
I'm gonna respectfully disagree with another poster. Ten days of very limited calories will not, NOT make you malnourished. (Assuming you're not underweight.) The bigger issue would be to make sure you're really, really hydrated and drinking a lot of fluids.
Secondly, and this is just my personal experience and what I've seen, not a lot of surgeons will actually cancel your surgery at literally the absolute last minute on surgery day just because you don't lose 10 pounds right on the nose. They'll assess the situation but if everything is a go, losing only seven pounds instead of 10 is probably not gonna keep you out of the OR on your date. Now if you've not lost but one or two, or God forbid you gained, that would be a whole other story.
I'm not saying you shouldn't give it everything you've got to lose the 10. You should throw everything you have into it - and that sounds like what you're doing.
Try not to stress, drink a LOT of water to flush all of the crap you can out of your system and to give your liver a boost, and I'm betting you'll be fine.
edited to add: we can live for short periods (10 days qualifies for that) on a very, very low or no calorie diet. Ten days will not cause lasting physical damages related to malnutriton. If you're not sure though what an ideal calorie level is for you at this time, just give your surgeons office a call. They hear this all the time. And they might even have some more ideas on what you can eat that will help you through this time.
Thank you Amy for your help. Im going to email the nutritionist right now and ask for suggestions.
I wasn't saying it would cause malnutrition in 10 days. What I was getting at is that it's not a healthy way to eat long term. I would be more interested in learning healthy eating overall not just a quick fix. If you are not sure about good nutrition,pre op is the time to work with a dietitian to get the information you need to make good life long choices.
