I totally agree. The Optifast pre-op is disgusting. I did two weeks and after four days thought I was going to die, starving, starving, starving. I was literally climbing the walls. But after the first week it was OK. The result was a beautifully shrunk liver which my surgeon was wrapt with. Persevere because it will make the op a lot easier. Mind you I did bust out twice over that time but if you do just go right back to it. Just a word of warning, I could not drink the Optifast shakes after the op - way too sweet. So don't stock up too much as your tastebuds may change. Good luck. I remember Caloundra well - lived there for a few months before moving to Brisbane. Can't beat the Sunshine Coast

IT does get better. I thought day 1-4 were the toughest on the pre-op (for me, full liquids - protein shakes, tomato soup, broth, popsicles) - although my dietitian allowed thinned, strained pea soup and that saved me!! but the first few days of the pre-op are the hardest and then it just "clicks" - it is totally worth it so keep it up!

My husband and I are on our 6th day of a 10 day pre op! We are using the bariatric advantage meal replacement shakes 27 grams protein. They come in all favors. We have tried banana, vanilla, strawberry and orange cream. They all taste really good with unsweetened almond milk.
The first two days were really rough but after that it gets a lot easier. We also bought sugar free Popsicles tropical favors and they help a lot too! I hope you have better luck with these suggestions.

check with your Doctor, My Doctor allowed 2 cups of raw veggies a day to meet the bodies natural need to chew and it helps with the hunger also. You can not use any kind of dip but let me tell you they saved me during the pre-op diet. It is worth a call to your Doctor! Good luck and God Bless

You know what? When I was on a very strict diet and only eating about 500-800 per day, I decided to go to bed earlier than I normally do because the temptation to eat was so great in the evening when I had down time. I will probably revert to this when I have my sleeve for the first month or two. It works! Then you won't feel guilty. I also discovered that eating sugar free jello was a great alternative since it is just water and flavored gelatin. So I would eat one or two cups of this as well. Also, I made simple smoothies with just ice, fresh strawberries, and truvia as a snack as well. All solutions were more water based so I didn't have any guilt.

My doctor did not require specific shakes. Call you doctor and see if you can switch shakes.

Also, chewing sugarless gum helped me, but some doctors don't allow it. Call your doctor to make sure.

Call your dr & see if you can switch shakes. Good luck to you!

I love the Optifast shakes, in fact I just got some more from my doctor this week. Here is what I do - mix in Fat free/sugar free jellos and puddings with them. My favorite is banana cream pudding in the vanilla (I only use vanilla). I added orange jello (dreamsicle), white chocolate pudding and cherry jello (think cherry cheesecake). Make up your own, I even had some of my friends drinking them.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks for all the hints everyone. I am allowed some veges and fruit but I might need to get a little inventive like tempered suggested. Im not sure we have all of those things you add Shelli, here in Australia. I know we have sugar free jelly. I'll have to have a look.
I'm now two days down and I think I'll do some spring cleaning for the rest of the week to keep myself from thinking about a nice big juicy steak....... night all...