Newby from australia

[Trish1967]

Hi all - so glad I have found this site!!

I have just started my pre op diet of Optifast in preparation for my surgery on the 12 July 16. This site is so great and full of inspiring people and stories. I suppose I'm feeling like everyone else being excited and nervous at the same time. Would love to hear from people who are scheduled around the same time or can offer great ideas on how to be creative with the food through these next few weeks 😄

[KariVSG]

Welcome, Please let me know how your pre-op diet goes. Im nervous about doing it.

[freeme]

Welcome Trish1967. Does your center have you on all optifast or mixing it with a meal? My center put my on liquids like 2 1/2 weeks ahead, thats just how my appointment hit, but I refused to due the optifast. The shakes were smaller than I could get at CVS, if you have that there, its a chain drug store. They had more sugar, calories, and less fiber. So It was doing nothing but giving them extra cash. You're really going to be on liquids the first four weeks. Chicken and beef stock, water, gatorade, sugar free ice pops. There is nothing glamours unfortunately about that. Maybe the 4th week some sugar free apple sauce or plain vanilla yogurt. The greek kind tends to have highest protein and lowest sugar count. Try to plan ahead as far as laundry, housework anything that would require you to bend or lift. You will be tired, sore but also have to walk. It's definitely a journey and one I am sure will be a happy one. I look forward to your updates. Good Luck!

[PleaseSleeveMe]

Hi Trish1967,

I love Love LOVE OptiFast! I first discovered it in 2004 when my mom was going through the one year waiting period/supervised weight loss before her RNY. Out of solidarity, I did the Opti diet with her and I lost 30 lbs in 12 weeks and felt great! We both agreed for many years later that there was something about Opti that just made us feel really good. Even when we weren't trying to lose weight, we would still often drink an Opti for breakfast because we felt it set us up well for the day (and we are not big breakfast eaters).


Now I am 6 days post-op and am using Opti as my post-op protein shake. I like the ready-made chocolate ones for convenience and the vanilla powder ones for taste/variety. FWIW, I found all of the Opti soups to be gross to my taste, so I never had them -- just dissolved a bouillon cube in water with some veggies and made my own low-cal veggie soup (which I can have now, straining out the veggies and just sipping the broth).

Post op I can't have the Opti bars (I am only allowed liquids), but pre-op there's no reason you can't have them (unless your doctor tells you otherwise, of course). I thought the bars tasted pretty terrible, but found that the chocolate bar eaten in small bites, with an immediate chaser of either zero-cal orange soda or zero-cal root beer (both no-no's post op) was actually quite edible. I would down a bar and an orange soda running between classes my senior year of college. The bar, when soda is poured on it in your tummy, has the effect of "expanding" and making you feel quite full!

For the vanilla powder shakes, I take a small blender (Hamilton Beach, about $15 on Amazon), add 4 ice cubes, 8 ounces of water, and the vanilla powder, blend til smooth and voila! A frothy vanilla milkshake. Quite tasty as is, but you can also add in coffee, or a sugar-free flavored syrup, or a few berries to give it a different flavor.

Hope that gives you some ideas to work with! The monotony of Opti can be boring, but think of it as a mental vacation from food: you don't have to think about it -- just do it -- and instead you can focus your mind on something other than food. It gets to be a habit, and a good one!

Good luck!

[Trish1967]

Thanks everyone great ideas. I'm on day 3 of the Optifast programme and so far so good. The challenges I am now facing is that I am quite social with friends who want to do lunch/dinner etc (part of my problem maybe!). I have not told a lot of people I am doing the sleeve so making excuses for not going out and being tempted ��

I am doing the full Optifast programme so have it three times a day - I am being creative with making my own chicken broth and turning that into a soup with various allowable veggies - it's winter here now so that works really well - I quite like the Optifast too and the bars are so great in the morning ! - hope I am still feeling the same in a few days.

I have also decided not to weigh myself - I get a bit fanatical about it and end up weighing myself everyday. I will check in with weight loss when I see my dietician at 4 weeks and 8 weeks.

Love to here how you are are doing in your journeys as well and it is good to talk to people on the other side of the world!

[Theresa2]

1 was on optifast for 3 weeks pregnant surgery. Hated the taste, but did find they went down easier if cold.. Adding cinnamon to the vanilla improved the taste.

[WANAGL]

Welcome!

It's normal to feel anxious/nervous/scared. This is a life changing decision!

I don't have any experience with OptiFast, so I can't speak to that.

You've come to by far the best site for support, no-nonsense suggestions, knowledge, wisdom and experience.

Best of luck as you embark on your journey!