Die in Diet

Yesterday I went to my first appointment with the dietitcian. It is her job to administer and monitor my Pre-operative diet. Because my BMI is so high I have to undergo a 4 week pre-op diet to prepare my body for surgery. The goal of the diet is to help me shed some weight prior to the surgery. Apparently your liver sits right on top of the stomach. When the surgeon is trying to do my WLS he will need to move around my liver as well as visualize my stomach beneath my liver. The higher your BMI the bigger your liver is. By losing even a small amount of weight you can help shrink your liver and make it easier to preform the surgery.

There are 2 parts to the Pre-op diet. The first stage is a mostly liquid protein diet with 1 small meal per day. This stage lasts from today, Sept 23 until Oct 4th. It should be a full 14 days, but with my surgery date approaching we cut it short by 2 days. This stage consists of 3-4 protein shakes, and 1 small meal per day with 2 small snacks. The goal is to be right around 1000 calories for the day. Low carbs high protein diet. I will write more about the protein shakes in a later entry. It is complicated!

The second phase which will start on Oct 5th and last until the 18th eliminates the small meal and I am just allowed liquid protein shakes. 5-6 per day.

Today was the first day and I think I might die! I am told that today is the worst of it and that it gets easier. I have a horrible headache! I can't have coffee, caffeine or any carbonated liquids. These next few weeks are gonna be hard!