Liquid Diet and loose skin

Im having my surgery on Wednesday (vertical sleeve) and im really excited but im also worried that I will have a lot of excess skin. Im 5'9 and have a 100 pounds to lose. Does anyone know about trying to slow down weight loss to help with excess skin? Also how has the weight affected their skin? Im 25 so im hoping that my youth will work for me.

Also im kinda freaking about the liquid diet. I have three weeks that I have to be on the sippy drippy and was wondering if any one has tips on getting their protein  and water in without feeling sick. Im looking for recipes too!

Thanks and I look forward to being on the losing bench!

Don't worry about the skin. You are young and most likely will have no problem with the skin tightening back up. Lose as fast as you can as much as you can in your window of opportunity and worry about the rest later.

I wouldn't do a total liquid diet either. You're a lightweight and surgeons have no problems getting around a LW's liver during surgery. So, if it were me, I'd do low carb and liquids only 2 days before surgery. You need to be as healthy as you can be going in to surgery. You could do 2 meals of a good quality protein shake like Syntrax Nectar or Optimum Nutrition or IDS MultiPro, and have a low carb high protein dinner. The liquid diet thing is a something they dreamed up years ago for super obese patients to suffer through prior to surgery. Low carb and high protein is fine too. I've seen several medical folks say that the liquid diet is excessive and ridiculous, this isn't just my opinion.

Protein Coffee:

brew a pot of coffee as usual
in a 20oz blender bottle with wire ball, add 6 oz of milk or cream or soy milk or water and 1 1/2 scoops of protein powder. Shake a little to blend. Pour the protein slurry in to a huge mug and add hot coffee on top. Stir to mix. Enjoy.

Gina - I think she's talking about 3 weeks liquid diet after surgery.   If that's the case - no Protein coffee!  It's usually recommended you wait 10-12 weeks for caffeine because it can delay healing.

But you're right...a liquid diet prior to surgery is a load of horse-poo!   There is no evidence that a liquid pre-op diet does anything to reduce complications or "prove" motivation for weight loss surgery.  Especially for light-weights.  A good colon cleanse can be done the the day before surgery and if you need to reduce the size of the liver then a high protein, low carb diet for 2-3 weeks is sufficient.

Oh. Never mind. lol

3 weeks liquid post-op is kind of crazy too, isn't it? Is that because sleeves are so small and so swollen the first month?  You'd still think mushies would be ok by the 2nd week. 

It's just up to the surgeon.

My program says 2-3 weeks for "thin" liquids for sleeves, RnY and DS. So it's kind of up to how things are going when you start mushies.

But bands they insist on 3 weeks because they absolutely want scar tissue to form around it and hold it in place (to decrease the risks of slips) so they don't want the stomach churning during that time at all.

Congrats on your upcoming surgery!!!!  I'm so proud of you for doing this when you are 25 instead of waiting until you are older! 

With your youth and height I don't think you will have any loose skin at all.  Exercising will define your muscles and make your body look so awesome!!

Are you talking about the liquid diet after surgery?

Like they said  , I wouldn't worry about the skin.  Do NOT try to regulate how fast you lose just for that reson.  You'll regret it.  Take advantage of your honeymoon period and go for the gusto.  Just get in lots of protein, water, and exercise, exercise, exercise!

The 3 weeks total liquid after surgery sounds a little excessive but if that's your surgeon's post-op plan then you should follow it.

Make sure you have a variety of liquids on hand just in case one doesn't set well with the new plumbing.

broth
water
protein drinks

No caffeine, red liquids (for the first week), milk, or juice - those are not suitable.

The first 3-4 weeks are the hardest but it gets much easier after that.  Hang in there!

Bekah

"Does anyone know about trying to slow down weight loss to help with excess skin?"

It does not. What happens is this:

When you lose weight fast, you lose faster than your skin's ability to contract. BUT when you stop losing, your skin continues to contract. So eventually it catches up. Hence, the rate of loss doesn't really impact the final result.

I have two 'jugs' of 100% virgin coconut oil in my house.  One on my kitchen counter  for cooking and one under my bathroom sink, which I use to moisturize my skin every night.  I'm 57 and I think the elasticity is doing great and my skin is shrinking to match the weight loss.  I couldn't be happier.  Extra Virgin olive oil is indeed another option if you can't stand the smell of coconut.  Sophia Loren looks great after 70 decades and swears it's the olive oil. 

You are young and can keep your youthful skin if every morning and every evening you do two simple things no matter how busy or tired you are.  How simple a thing it is too:

Cleanse and Moisturize

That's it.  :-)