Hello all....Liquid Diet

Hello all this is my first post on this board. I usually post on other boards (VSG, Virginia, Mens, etc.). I was planning on having a VSG come this March but am now questioning weather that will happen. First of all I would have to be a self pay since my insurance won't cover it. So I'd go to Dr. Alvarez in Mexico to keep the cost down.

Anyways, I read about the liquid diet that the pre-op's go thru and thought I'd try to do that to lose some of the weight. I do add a bunch of "rabbit food" and as little carbs as possible. I really try to eliminate all sugars and breads. So far I'm down 13 lbs and I have been walking 3 or 4 miles a night. I also drink a ton of water. Its tough, REALLY TOUGH! I was at a resturaunt over the weekend and looking around people were eating all sorts of fatty greasy friend food and I had a few french fries. Its really hard but in the long run, I think I'll be able to lose 100 lbs without surgury.

I'm tracking my weight on my profile and have a link to fitday.com a tool to help me track my daily foods.

Anyone else tried this liquid protein diet?

Never tried it...but just wanted to say hello and welcome to the board :)

Welcome, Jack! I utilize protein drinks/bars/soups every day, but make sure I eat one "normal" meal daily, bu****ch the portions.  Like you, I will feel "deprived" otherwise.  I no longer beleive in changing out every thing (eating as you put it rabbit food), but then basically for many years now, I have lost my tatse for the really greasy stuff! My evening meal with my DH is very important to *not eat diet-y food*.  I will make the adjustment to carry protein drinks/bars/soups and a variety of veggies/fruits to work each day.  To me, you may need to de-tox for a period of time.  By that I mean no restaurant food, no deep fried food, plenty of fresh or frozen fruits/veggies, better grains (no wonder bread, cakes, etc and that kind of stuff). Protein drinks can help a lot, read labels, no high carb, high sugar ones! All foods can fit into a weight loss plan - it means to me to be ready, buy the better choices, have it at arm's reach, no excuses.  Hang out here!

So far I've gone 2-3 days with just the protein shakes and vege's and then on day 3 at dinner I had a regular smaller meal. I'm just gonna keep doing this over and over and see what results I get.

Hey Jack, I've done the liquid diet, and done a protein diet, but never the liquid-protein diet.  I would suggest Atkin's to you.  Grab a copy of the book on half.com.  Get the edition that was made in 2002 (the true edition, written by Dr. Atkin's while he was still alive) and get crackalackin'.  I lost 35lbs pre-op on Atkin's and it was a little difficult to get used to but once I got into the swing of things, it was easy.  You're never hungry, can eat as much as you want of the allowed foods and the list of foods you can it is pretty broad.   Best of luck!!

I have, but VLCDs are a huge cause of yo yo dieting, so I have walked away from them.  I'd rather lose weight more "securely".  I'll explain briefly since you're new to the board--I learned from fitness professionals who have helped a lot of people lose 100lbs plus that low calorie is actually the opposite of what you want to do if you want to keep the weight off.  I have it on my blog if you want to learn more.  Good luck 2 u.

Hey Jack, welcome to the board.  I've done the liquid diet.  I was on it cold turkey for about six to eight months.  Lost a  little over a hundred pounds.  After I got off of it my body went into starvation mode and I wanted EVERYTHING in sight.  I did this without doctors supervision, which is a no no.  So, within six months I gained it all back.  Talk about yo-yo dieting! :)   I didn't eat any foods at all though other than the drinks, soups, and bars.  I occasionally (like every two weeks) treated myself to some beef jerky, but that's it.  For pre op it might work for you.  But if your hesitant on having the surgery done now, be aware of what might happen once your off.  It's a good thing I think that your including "rabbit food" in with your diet, and an occasional small meal.  Just be careful with those evil little guys in your head that gets  you in trouble! :)

I think adding "diet foods" in your daily plan isn't a bad thing at all.  I'm like Necee on this one, I have realized that its not that bad to have these kinds of food as a staple in your diet.  Just as long as you eat other things also so you won't go hay wire, or go into starvation mode.   

Good luck. 

I'm sorry you went through that, Holly.   Jack, this is the thing--many diets and VLCs in particular don't tell you the ugly truth.  You will most likely gain the weight back if the way you lost it was through significant restriction.  To avoid that you must actually  up your activity and your calories and reduce from that point, which will allow you to restrict without compromising your metabolism, without entering starvation mode, and not trigger regain.  The regain comes, as Holly's experience shows, from taking from the body what it needs so that when you go back to meeting it's needs, you've now trained the body to see this as excess.  it's the ugly truth of dieting and why it fails for many dieters and even WLS patients. 

Thanks for the post. Yeah Im not in starvation mode although I do feel empty most of the time. I will continue to do this to see if it works. I'm looking at this as a pre-op diet and if it doesn't work to the weight I want to get to then I'll have the surgury, but so far I'm happy with it.

Yeah gotta eat the greenies but I like them. I wish I would have traced my food intake before starting this because I'm around 1500 - 1800 cal a day and before I bet I was doing 3500-???? a day. I just used to pig out every meal and snacks inbetween.

At least Im on the right track for me.

What do you mean you feel empty?  FYI, you should never actually feel hunger.  If you do, you're doing more harm than good. I understand what you're trying to do...and I won't debate it further so as not to seem unsupportive...but I've just learned differently.  I wish you well and hope it works and the weight stays off. 3500 calories a day wouldn't be bad (given your stat) if you were active and eating clean.  That's where intake and not calories can make a world of difference.