Two more weeks until pre-op liquid

I'm excited but nervous. I don't want to fail at this. I couldn't even do a three day cayenne pepper with lemon and maple syrup cleanse, how am I going to manage 2 weeks of clear liquid. Freaking out a bit. Any tips would be appreciated. Anyone have any clear protein suggestions or product recommendations? I already know this is going to be rough.

Well, hopefully the fact that this is leading to a scientifically proven method of weight loss, unlike the cayenne pepper with lemon and maple syrup cleanse, will help you to stay on track.

Lots of people like Isopure for clear protein.

Ultimately, liquid diets just suck and all of us who have them just have to suffer :P

You're so right. I tell my self I got this but then the reality of how difficult 2 weeks on liquid will be kicks in.

I think it's harder if you dwell on it too much. I actively worked to stop those thoughts from entering my head before the diet started. Putting up that mental stop sign and moving onto something else is a helpful thing.

Also, as an RN, you know that the "cleanse" that you did is not based on any solid scientific data. It's a fad diet and one that I imagine tastes disgusting. I would not have been able to stick to it, either.

Something to keep in mind about the liquid diet is that it will help to eliminate complications during the surgery by shrinking the size of your liver. If that isn't motivation enough, know that you will likely lose weight during the liquid diet, so it's a nice jumpstart on meeting your weight goal.

Very helpful. Thanks for helping me to keep things in perspective.

You're right! There are a lot of great reasons to do this! Thank you.

Protein shakes are really very filling .. I wasn't really hungry on the all liquid diet ... more than anything I was bored. It isn't a fad diet lacking in nutrition you will be on. Eat on a schedule is my best advice. Because if you allow yourself to get too hungry you will be more tempted to cheat.

Thanks for the advice. I'm clarifying on the 20th when I see my surgeon. I don't think I can have your typical protein shakes. My list says clears only. It very specifically states no milk or milk based products.

Definitely get clarification on this... I haven't heard of anyone having to do CLEAR for 2 weeks PRIOR. I've heard of clear requirements for 2 weeks AFTER, but even that varies surgeon to surgeon.

If you can tolerate them there are a number of clear protein drinks.

However, if your surgeon is requiring a clear liquid diet with NO protein for 2 weeks either before OR after, I'd be grilling him as to how in the heck he expects any healing to take place in a protein deficit situation. And demanding citations from the studies he's basing his requirement on.

I frankly wouldn't use a surgeon *****stricts protein for any more than a couple of days post-op, and wouldn't use one at all *****stricted it pre-op. My RN school as well as MANY of my mentors stressed the importance of protein for healing and recovery.

The goal of the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver. Unless he believes that milk products inflame the liver (which I don't think has any scientific basis) I can't for the life of me figure out why he'd want to eliminate them prior. My surgeon doesn't even really do a liver shrinking diet unless she sees evidence of an enlarged liver. She does a modified fast with 2-3 protein shakes a day and a low-fat meal, and allows fruit/nuts for snacks if needed.

All that being said, in my opinion the pre-op diet is the worst part of this. You're keyed up about the upcoming surgery, don't have the appetite suppression that you have post-op, and they're asking for an extreme restriction/change in intake. Even with the modified fast my surgeon asks for, it was incredibly hard.

I don't know that I'd have been able to comply with a liquid only for 2 weeks, and I know without a doubt I could have complied with a CLEAR requirement for 2 weeks. Even post-op my surgeon includes any protein shake, plus jello, pudding, and greek yogurt starting on day 2. I haven't had to do more than about 12 hours on clears.

I agree. Even though my post op progression was a week of clear liquids, it included protein shakes because protein is important for healing. When I had my surgery 3.5 years ago, there wasn't the variety of clear proteins that there are now, and that may be why my surgeon included protein shakes in the clear liquid diet.