water, water WATER

I hate the stuff. plain water can sit forever, my hand will not automatically pick it up. give it some flavoring and I am fine.

but 80 ounces a day, on top of 5 optifast shakes? and a purist dietitian who only believes in plain water?

I ought to be sloshing when I walk!

can anyone explain the rationale behind this super-hydration?

Sharon

80 oz??? Typically it is 64 oz for wls patients newly post op. Also most nutritionist and surgeons I know of allowed flavored if it is sugar free, like crystal light, sugar free popsicles, ect.

The hydration is important for a few reasons.
first... it can be far too easy to become dehydrated after wls, so we must focus on getting the water in.
next...it helps carry out the toxins and fatty yuck from our body as we loose weight, and this is important.
and it keeps our kidneys and other organs healthy and happy. If we do not take in enough water, our body will actually hold onto fluids to help save itsself from dehydration, resulting in weight gain from the water retention, and stress on our circulatory system.

Ohhh and the shakes do not count as water... they are nutrition... so a seperate thing entirely.

So there ya have it... the why's.. lol.
Hope this helps.

so how long do you have to be on that diet preop?  How does the optifast taste?  Is it as good as slimfast?

My suregeon has us on optifast for a full month before surgery.  they passed around samples for us to try before we ordered.

I purchased a case of the Slimfast low carb version, to get used to liquid meals. both taste ok to me.
.
I'm only on day 3, but the taste varies to me depending on how much water you use. the instructions say 6 to 12 oz, which is a large range. I seem to like 8 the best. I Iike using the chocolate for hot chocolate. probably not a recommended use, but if you don't use boiling water, it ought to be ok.

I am however, jazzing it up with a new product I found recently: DaVinci's sugar free syrups. they  come in dozens of flavors, but my local Sam's only carries a handful of them. I'd like to find more, the variety is astounding. they are sugar free, fat free and calorie free - just have a tad of sodium listed on the label.

http://www.mydrinkworks.com/DaVinci/Products/Sugar-Free-Flav ored-Syrups

Sharon

Good luck with the pre-op diet.  It was a pain but well worth it.

I haven't read the rest of the posts put I think a lot has do with getting used to your regime.  Good luck and let us know how you are progressing.

Colleen