Did you start your 2 week pre op diet early

I started going to the gym and walking on the treadmill and doing the eliptical.  I really think it made my surgery much easier and the recovery so much faster.

I was suppose to do a 2 week liquid diet w/ 1 sensible meal a day.  I only ended up doing it 1 1/2 weeks because I had my last appointment with the NUT late.  It was pretty hard.  I probably wouldn't start the actual liquid any sooner, but you could start cutting out some of the bad things you may be eating.  That should help you alot.

Good luck.
Linda

Mine was a 4 week optifast with 1 small food meal a day.  I didn't start it a bit early but again, I had 4 weeks.  I do think it made the chage over easier after surgery.  Definately get rid of sugar, carbs and caffine now.

Price, Off Topic question... I know caffeine is not good for healing.  When others talk about protein coffee are they all talking decaf, or is it just that we have to wait a while to introduce it back in? 

I think the main thing is that it is dehydraing. My protein coffee is decaf. Some do add it back but try to drink an extra cup of water for each cup of coffee or caffine drink.  I still dring mostly decaf but if I am somewhere and caffine is all they have, I will drink it and try to get in more fluid.  I plan on staying off of it mainly just because it isn't good for you.

Gotcha.  I am able to get in tons of water so far and just one cup in the morning would be nice.  I am NOT a morning person.

It turns out it's not dehydrating though. They did some studies and found that out. Caffeine will make you pee, usually within 2 hours of drinking it, which is why people thought it was dehydrating in the past. But it won't increase your output overall. IOW, you'll pee the same amount for the day as if you hadn't had caffeine.

Caffeine has been demonized in the past, but we are finding out that it has all sorts of health benefits.

However, the biggest benefit for me is that it will improve your performance in an endurance event. And that effect is diminished if you consume caffeine all the time. So I only consume it when I am doing an endurance workout or race.

I don't understand why some surgeons make it so hard for us.  My two week pre-op consisted of 64 oz. water, 3 protein shakes, a lite protein & veggie dinner, and a handful of raw veggies if I just couldn't stand it. So, yes, I started easing into it early and, by surgery date, I lost 20 lbs which made the surgeon very happy since the average loss is 7lbs.

Do what you can live with and won't regret.  The harder you work at it from the beginning, the easier it will get and the better you will handle any surprises down the road.  Just my opinion.

I didn't have to do any sort of diet. I had already lost weight so my surgeon said that was fine.

I will tell you what I practiced that helped me:

1) Taking my vitamins
2) Chewing better and eating slower (and I wished I'd practice more)
3) Drinking all my water
4) Giving up soda
5) Starting an exercise routine
6) Eating smaller portions
7) Logging my food

Personally I don't think doing a liquid pre-op diet helps with post-op at all. All it does is get you to the point where you will scream if you have to drink one more protein shake that much sooner!