Did anyone ever cheat on their pre-op diet?

If you don't feel like reading this whole message just answer me this, did anyone cheat on their clear liquid diet? ....My 3rd day of my week long clear liquid diet is coming to and end. I do good all day long up until the afternoon and then im starving and desperate for something solid to chew. Today has been the hardest day for me. I live with in laws who brought home pizza for lunch. I get back from the dentist, open the fridge to get milk for my protein shake and BAM im hit will the most overwhelming smell of pizza. Its never smelled so good. I was in such a bad mood and frustrated after seeing and smelling that I slammed the frig and kick the door and cried a little as I made my nasty shake which I gagged on the whole time. Then when my husband went to eat dinner I cried to him and told him I couldn't take it anymore. Well I was bad tonight and had a slice of that pizza. Ughh has anyone else cheated before? Did i just screw myself over? Will my doctor be able to tell?

Well I didn't even HAVE a pre op diet. Just a bowel prep of magnesium citrate the day before surgery, so I'm guessing the doctor WON'T be able to tell. However, remember that 50% of pre op diet is more to get you into the mindset for liquids post op. that said, I'd have probably cheated too. My will power sucks. 

I had my breakdown on the third day too!  No, I didn't cheat, but I balled my eyes out and wanted to back out. I felt like it was the defining test to see if I could really do this.  What helped me was that I kept telling myself that I was making a choice to have this surgery and if I wanted it that bad, I would make the horrible liquid diet work.  I had a two week liquid diet and it sucked...BAD. 

The good news is, you can do this!  Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it.  I look back at myself seven months ago and it's just a moment in time!  That's all it is!  You will be glad you did it...no regrets! 

As we say in scuba diving, there are people who pee in their wet suits and then there are people who lie about it. I always thought this saying was funny, however, I know there are people out there who did not cheat on their pre- op liquid diets. Thought I had better say this before I got everyone mad at me. The pre-op diet is to get as much fat out of your liver as possible. The excess fat in your liver makes your liver one of the most dangerous components of your surgery. A fatty liver is easily broken, whereas a fat free liver is not. I am not a surgeon, but I was told the liver needs to be moved out of the way during the VSG surgery. A lean liver is a much more stable liver and will absolutely contribute to the success of your surgery. My surgeon actually showed me a photo of my liver after my surgery and it was a deep red healthy color. A fatty liver is more pink in color because of the high fat content. The liquid pre-op diet is to help you during your surgery. Ask your doctor if you can have a light dinner of lettuce and chicken on your tough days.

Now to your question, did I cheat? Yes, I did cheat, felt terrible about it, and went right back on my liquid diet. If your liquid protein is making you gag, try a different protein supplement. Try a different flavor. Use almond milk in it instead of regular milk. I find I actually like my protein shakes with the almond milk that only has 30 calories per glass. Try it, you may like it.

Can you have sugar-free popsicles?  They help tremendously with the urge to chew something. .

Well..... You want to follow the doctors orders but Yes sad to say I did one day! It was a square slice of thin pizza (tasted like a steak) but however I wouldn't continue to cheat, I know its hard you will have 3-4 weeks post op of liquids WILL YOU BE ABLE TO DO IT? WHY ARE YOU HAVING SURGERY IN THE FIRST PLACE? DO YOU REALLY WANT TO CHANGE?  That's what I asked myself.  We all make mistakes don't beat yourself up over it, move on and make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

The point of the liquid diet for most is to shrink your liver so the surgery can be done safely and for them to able to lift it out of the way. Good Luck See you on the Loser Bench YOU WILL DO FINE. KEEP YOUR HEAD UP YOUR ALMOST THERE!!!!

Well, I actually didn't cheat on the pre-op diet.  Now, I won't pretend that it wasn't miserable, but I made it through.  I was allowed to have some steamed or raw veggies once a day (I saved them for my 'supper), so I at least got to feel like I had something to chew.  I figured that if I couldn't make it through the pre-op then how on earth was I going to make it through post-op.  I really wanted to cheat and had lots of chances, but I struggled through.  Don't beat yourself up about your one cheat.  Just move on from there.  It helped me to focus on the post-op results.  Take it one shake at a time.....   You can do this!! 

 

Kym:)

Yep...during the first week, my friends had a get together with pizza and wings...they wouldn't let me touch it and I went off on all of them. They didn't care, they stood their ground and just laughed at me in my hunger craze. By the end of that 1st week, I couldn't take it anymore. I snuck to Popeyes, got 4 wings and fries with a biscuit and I scarfed it down. After the last swallow, my body said, You Dummy! You haven't eaten food, let alone this fried greasy stuff in a week and you have the nerve to pig out now! I felt disgusting and it all came back up at the foot of the porcelain goddess. I didn't make that mistake again after that. It was a HORRIBLE feeling! Soup broth was a savior for me. It got rid of my hunger quickly and made me feel relieved and satisfied. You DONT have to cheat! Your doc will be so happy to see a more slender less fatty liver when they open you up.  :)

My surgeon gives the option to do the liquid meal replacement diet or just a very low carb diet. We have to do it two weeks pre-op. I drank the EAS shakes for breakfast. I drank them with a straw as fast as I could without breathing! My lunch was usually some turkey and dinner I ate veggies with my meat. So I am doing well on my diet and I go to my consult with my surgeon 9 days before surgery. In that meeting he was talking about the diet and said " you only have to do it for a week" I was thinking.. What.. All this info says two weeks! That immediately put a thought into my head that I could cheat. I did just that.. As soon as I left that office I went to old Chicago and had an individual pan all meat pizza and of course since I was blowin it I had a cookie with ice cream too! That meal was 218 grams of carbs! More than I consumed the entire time I was on my pre-op diet. I felt like crap! I cried and beat myself up a little bit. I did cheat one other time after that but it was no where near as bad. Doc said my liver was a little larger than what he proffered but I was fine and no damage was done. He explained that the liver covers the stomach. In order to get a good view of the stomach to make sure he is making a good incision line the liver needs to be moved easily out of the way. If it is large then it is heavy and in the way. Your liver stores glycogen which is used for energy. But in us big folk we eat way more carbohydrates than needed. So those glycogen stores are never used. Which makes your liver bigger. So the point of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver. Since you are not taking in carbs, your body will use the glycogen stores and your liver will then shrink!