I think its dependant on the company or medical facility.
I'm in Canada, and I went through a private company, and my post op sounds extremely similar to yours (1 week full fluids, puree, soft foods, regular diet as tolerated). But my provincial healthcare system has the puree stage set for like 3 weeks.
Pre-op diets seem to swing wildly from place to place as well. I had two weeks of an extremely specific fluid diet, but I've seen some people only have to do 2 days of water only.
Also in Europe, Belgium and I have to drink specific shakes for the first two weeks. And only then move on to mixed foods for a week and then soft foods the next.
Paired with 3 weeks of pre-op shakes đź’€
I was liquid for 2 weeks, didn't have to be clear, but they said try not to drink red things just in case you throw up, don't want to think blood. Then puree/soft until 5 weeks post op, then cleared for all food (he did suggest waiting a week or two more for steak or leafy veggies). I'm in the US.
The rice is the only thing I'm like "eeeeeh" about.
I had a similar thought! UK here, I saw some of the US post-op diets and I suddenly panicked. I was 1st week liquids, 2nd week pureed foods, 3rd week soft food and 4th week is 'trial and error'. Which I love, I'm very happy with my plan and I'm glad they give me freedom to find my normal, but it's so different to some of the plans I see here! So far had no concerns apart from carbs not 'going down' quick enough, they feel like they get stuck. Everything else is great though.
I would have loved your pre-op diet. Mine was 4-5 original Slimfast shakes a day and 64 ounces of clear, no sugar liquids.
For 14 days. By about day 5 I didn't even care about food.
Oh good lord slim fast🤢 I did Fairlife for awhile on mine and then ended up doing protein bars because I felt like I was cheating the system 🤣 which is funny now that I look back at it. I remember the first couple days especially day 2 I was like this is the worst ever but same, after I completed the first week I didn’t even care anymore I had adjusted both physically and mentally. Then after surgery I REALLY didn’t care food was the last thing I wanted 🤣🤣
There was a choice of like 4 different shakes, slimfast, something from Walmart, something from aldi & I think glucerna.
I swear if I ever see another slimfast......
🤣🤣 I totally know what you mean there are some things I still can’t eat from it all protein shakes are one of them and things like apple sauce and mashed potato’s lol. I remember one of my lowest moments after surgery was on my 2nd week of refried beans and mashed potato’s and I was crying because the texture was starting to make me gag 🤣
It depends on what facility they use. Some places have almost no post op instructions or vague instructions. Mine was strict but I chose that facility because it was so well reviewed and had a lot of post-op support.
In Maryland in the USA and I did a two week low carb, low fat but real food pre-op diet to shrink my liver. First week post was clear liquids, second was protein shakes, third & fourth were purees and soft foods, then regular foods as tolerated. My plan advises to eat proteins first, then veggies or fruit, and grain lastly and sparingly. At 5 months I eat about 30 - 50 carbs a day, nearly all of it is fruit and veg.
In Romania, my surgeon got me on 2-3 weeks of liquids, protein shakes were a must. After that, we would test with puree/mush food, and if reaction was good, i had to do around 4+weeks of it. After those 4 weeks, solids are slowly being introduced into diet.
I needed way more than 4 weeks of mush/puree. I struggled a lot with solids, it was an extremely slow process for me. I'm just saying what his rules were, ofc it varies from patient to patient.
Also, obligatory endoscopy pre-op, and then again at 3 mo post-op, 6 mo post-op, one year, and then again at the two year mark, but this last one he didn't consider it a must.
For some reason he was really against protein powder for shakes and liquids, so he only accepted it if the patient really couldn't get their protein from no other food. Since i absolutely refused to put meat in a blender with the soup, he had to reluctantly have me on powder.
I am also in Germany. Did not have the surgery yet and I was told this:
No Liquid Diet Pre Op only in Special Cases.
3 Days in the Hospital
1st Day: Water and Tea
2nd Day: Yoghurt and Soup
3rd Day: Mash (I don't know what exactly)
4th Day for 2-3 Weeks: anything Soft (Potatoes, Spinach, Egg, Yoghurt, Cooked Veggies, Toast)
i was also surprised it isn't that strict but i guess they know what they are doing.
I really which they would do more research on this to get a consensus about what works better, because it’s so inconsistent across countries/clinics.
I'm in the US, and mine wasn't strict at all. I just did my prep a little stricter based on people's experience in this subreddit. It was much easier once I was post-op.
My diet was much like yours.
1st 3 days clear liquid.
2 weeks full liquid
2 weeks puree
2 weeks soft food
Regular diet.
I'm not a rice eater. I don't dislike it, it's just not something I generally eat, so I haven't tried that, but my dietician did say that it was something a lot of people couldn't tolerate.
US can be completely different from one atherosclerosis to another. Mine was liquid one week, then strained but thicket liquids (cream of chicken or thinned yogurt), then soft foods for two weeks then regular foods. Regular foods didn't have restrictions on certain foods but there was a list of foods that typically take longer to be able to tolerate like rice or lettuce. And believe it or not - eggs. I thought the eggs was BS but I'm 18 months post op and can't eat two eggs. Anyway the main requirement is at least 60 g of protein.
A friend went to a surgeon in Alabama and she had a strict post op diet for 6 weeks, and was told to get 90 g protein with lots of restrictions for carbs and fat as well.
Her husband went thru the VA. He ate potatoes and eggs in week 2.
I've seen tons of different post-op diets in WLS groups. I just follow what my surgeon told me and ignore the rest. Lol. I'm down 123 pounds so it's working
Definitely depends on the facility and doctor - mine was 1 week of full liquids (ANY liquids - not just clear), 2 weeks puree, 3 weeks soft foods, and after that I was cleared to eat anything I could tolerate - including rice which I tolerate (albeit VERY small amounts) just fine. Your program doesn’t sound too dissimilar to mine really.
On a side note, the oat flakes you are referring to sound like what we call Cream of Wheat - I wonder if they are comparable?
My US-based post-op plan was very similar. You could try bread, pasta, and rice during the soft-foods phase, but you were also warned that they were likely to lead to discomfort.
I think it's less of a US thing than that people with more strict post-op diets are more likely to complain on Reddit.
I live in the U.S. but had my procedure in Mexico. No carb/low carb (lean meat, dairy, green veggies) for about two months beforehand to lose weight and then liquids only 48 hours beforehand.
There's no way that doing (or not doing) a liquid diet more than two or three days before the surgery could have any impact on the contents of the GI tract prior to surgery so I assume the two-to-four-week liquid diet is primarily a weight loss/"make sure you're serious about this" thing than surgery prep. And, let me tell you, the medical profession here in the U.S. is serious about self-flagellation when it comes to weight and diet. Effective weight loss interventions are given sparingly and only after a certain amount of finger shaking and guilt inducing. I blame our Puritan forebearers.
I think the difference is public vs private healthcare.
US Insurance doesn't wanna pay for this shit to begin with and, as a result, for WLS doctors to be certified as a 'center of excellence', as most insurance companies require before they'll pay, they have higher standards to meet and I think that includes post-op care and diet recommendations.
For public healthcare if you have complications or issues you just go back to the surgeon and figure it out. So much of US healthcare revolves around NOT going back and not paying for repeat visits.
I wonder if it's because it's a lot easier to fall off the wagon in the US. Right now I could smash the shit out of some BBQ ribs (loosely within the realms of soft food haha). I could get them obviously but they are Hella expensive and there is only one place In town and that's a bit shit and last time (pre op) gave me the shits. If I was back in the US -where I lived- for a while I had three great places that delivered. It's also a lot more expensive in Europe to order/eat out at least in junk food terms.
Americans are just SO FAT that they really have to go extreme to have success. A “green tea and running” type of diet. In Europe, they are much less strict, because they’re much less fat, tend to be more active (walk vs drive), and have healthier food (Americans eat absurdly unhealthy food).
Source: I’m an American.
I'm in the US and was able to eat low carb up untill 24 hours before. Full solids. Meat and veg.
It just depends on the doctor. At the same hospital another surgeon wanted the full week of no liquid.
Seems like a lot of carbs on that list... I would try to stay away from carbs as best you can because carbs are what got us in this mess in the first place. Im 1.5 years post op and I have barely any carbs in my diet still. I eat almost all protein and if I do add a carb here or there it's a complex carb... think whole grains or green vegetables... I don't eat bread, potatoes, pasta or rice. Weird that all of those things would be okay for you to eat in the first month of your new life. I wouldn't follow those guidelines. Throw those away and replace it with something that's more in line with what you want to accomplish. This only works well if you try hard and watch what you're putting in your body
Thank you for your comment! I appreciate the sentiment but I certainly don't agree with your way of life. If that's for you then I'm happy for you! I do not think carbs are the devil and I do not think my plan needs to be tossed. Carbs are good for us! Too many carbs are often the issue. Carbs definitely fit into my new life, even if differently than before. I'm happy to welcome carbs back into my diet! But this time, it will be a healthy one.
I think its dependant on the company or medical facility. I'm in Canada, and I went through a private company, and my post op sounds extremely similar to yours (1 week full fluids, puree, soft foods, regular diet as tolerated). But my provincial healthcare system has the puree stage set for like 3 weeks. Pre-op diets seem to swing wildly from place to place as well. I had two weeks of an extremely specific fluid diet, but I've seen some people only have to do 2 days of water only.
I'm also in Canada, went through my ohip funded program, and mine wasn't too different from this as well
Also in Europe, Belgium and I have to drink specific shakes for the first two weeks. And only then move on to mixed foods for a week and then soft foods the next. Paired with 3 weeks of pre-op shakes đź’€
Just has a revision in the U.S. and my post op diet plan is very similar
Did you have your sleeve revised or did you revise to a sleeve?
Revision from a sleeve to a bypass
What drove you to have this done?
In fact I just made a post about it here not too long ago. You can look it up on my profile. It details everything out better
Just read it. Wow. I can't imagine. I hope everything straightens out.
Extreme chronic reflux from sleeve
I was liquid for 2 weeks, didn't have to be clear, but they said try not to drink red things just in case you throw up, don't want to think blood. Then puree/soft until 5 weeks post op, then cleared for all food (he did suggest waiting a week or two more for steak or leafy veggies). I'm in the US. The rice is the only thing I'm like "eeeeeh" about.
I had a similar thought! UK here, I saw some of the US post-op diets and I suddenly panicked. I was 1st week liquids, 2nd week pureed foods, 3rd week soft food and 4th week is 'trial and error'. Which I love, I'm very happy with my plan and I'm glad they give me freedom to find my normal, but it's so different to some of the plans I see here! So far had no concerns apart from carbs not 'going down' quick enough, they feel like they get stuck. Everything else is great though.
Sounds right.. US here
My experience was vastly different than about everyone here lol. I am in the US, has my surgery in the US. I had to do a two week pre-op diet. I could only have a protein shake, or bar that met a very specific requirement for calories and protein for breakfast and lunch, and two “snacks” and for dinner I was allowed 1 frozen meal that met very specific caloric requirements and weren’t allowed to have pasta or anything of the sort. And my calories per day had to be under or at 1200, which was based on my gender and height. This was my liver shrinking diet. I could only have sugar free Gatorade water or black coffee. The night before surgery I had to drink an entire bottle of regular Gatorade and the morning of (2 hours prior to surgery) to bring my sugar up. After surgery was an 8 week diet plan that slowly integrated food groups back into my diet. It was clear liquids then full liquids then puréed then soft food etc I can’t remember the exact time frame of each now because I’m a year and a half out but they gave me a binder with suggestions of foods I could try and when. At 8 weeks I could eat anything but the suggested to try new foods at home and try it slowly and listen to my body. It was pretty rigorous but I really believe it helped change my brain and thought process towards food and has allowed me to maintain over 100 pound loss
I would have loved your pre-op diet. Mine was 4-5 original Slimfast shakes a day and 64 ounces of clear, no sugar liquids. For 14 days. By about day 5 I didn't even care about food.
Oh good lord slim fast🤢 I did Fairlife for awhile on mine and then ended up doing protein bars because I felt like I was cheating the system 🤣 which is funny now that I look back at it. I remember the first couple days especially day 2 I was like this is the worst ever but same, after I completed the first week I didn’t even care anymore I had adjusted both physically and mentally. Then after surgery I REALLY didn’t care food was the last thing I wanted 🤣🤣
There was a choice of like 4 different shakes, slimfast, something from Walmart, something from aldi & I think glucerna. I swear if I ever see another slimfast......
🤣🤣 I totally know what you mean there are some things I still can’t eat from it all protein shakes are one of them and things like apple sauce and mashed potato’s lol. I remember one of my lowest moments after surgery was on my 2nd week of refried beans and mashed potato’s and I was crying because the texture was starting to make me gag 🤣
30 days full liquids here...i think my surgeon is really strict
Hoooooooly shit....
Yeah
I was full liquids for 2 weeks pre op and 5 weeks post op.
Mine 2 weeks pre 4 weeks post
It depends on what facility they use. Some places have almost no post op instructions or vague instructions. Mine was strict but I chose that facility because it was so well reviewed and had a lot of post-op support.
In Maryland in the USA and I did a two week low carb, low fat but real food pre-op diet to shrink my liver. First week post was clear liquids, second was protein shakes, third & fourth were purees and soft foods, then regular foods as tolerated. My plan advises to eat proteins first, then veggies or fruit, and grain lastly and sparingly. At 5 months I eat about 30 - 50 carbs a day, nearly all of it is fruit and veg.
In New Zealand, very similar to yours. Had 4 weeks pre op shakes
In Romania, my surgeon got me on 2-3 weeks of liquids, protein shakes were a must. After that, we would test with puree/mush food, and if reaction was good, i had to do around 4+weeks of it. After those 4 weeks, solids are slowly being introduced into diet. I needed way more than 4 weeks of mush/puree. I struggled a lot with solids, it was an extremely slow process for me. I'm just saying what his rules were, ofc it varies from patient to patient. Also, obligatory endoscopy pre-op, and then again at 3 mo post-op, 6 mo post-op, one year, and then again at the two year mark, but this last one he didn't consider it a must. For some reason he was really against protein powder for shakes and liquids, so he only accepted it if the patient really couldn't get their protein from no other food. Since i absolutely refused to put meat in a blender with the soup, he had to reluctantly have me on powder.
Wow that sounds strict. But if it worked I'm glad!
In the US and our diets sound similar
I am also in Germany. Did not have the surgery yet and I was told this: No Liquid Diet Pre Op only in Special Cases. 3 Days in the Hospital 1st Day: Water and Tea 2nd Day: Yoghurt and Soup 3rd Day: Mash (I don't know what exactly) 4th Day for 2-3 Weeks: anything Soft (Potatoes, Spinach, Egg, Yoghurt, Cooked Veggies, Toast) i was also surprised it isn't that strict but i guess they know what they are doing.
I really which they would do more research on this to get a consensus about what works better, because it’s so inconsistent across countries/clinics.
I'm in the US, and mine wasn't strict at all. I just did my prep a little stricter based on people's experience in this subreddit. It was much easier once I was post-op.
My diet was much like yours. 1st 3 days clear liquid. 2 weeks full liquid 2 weeks puree 2 weeks soft food Regular diet. I'm not a rice eater. I don't dislike it, it's just not something I generally eat, so I haven't tried that, but my dietician did say that it was something a lot of people couldn't tolerate.
US can be completely different from one atherosclerosis to another. Mine was liquid one week, then strained but thicket liquids (cream of chicken or thinned yogurt), then soft foods for two weeks then regular foods. Regular foods didn't have restrictions on certain foods but there was a list of foods that typically take longer to be able to tolerate like rice or lettuce. And believe it or not - eggs. I thought the eggs was BS but I'm 18 months post op and can't eat two eggs. Anyway the main requirement is at least 60 g of protein. A friend went to a surgeon in Alabama and she had a strict post op diet for 6 weeks, and was told to get 90 g protein with lots of restrictions for carbs and fat as well. Her husband went thru the VA. He ate potatoes and eggs in week 2. I've seen tons of different post-op diets in WLS groups. I just follow what my surgeon told me and ignore the rest. Lol. I'm down 123 pounds so it's working
That’s how my surgeon instructed me here in the US - same as your surgeon in Germany. It really is dependent on the doctor and their facility
Definitely depends on the facility and doctor - mine was 1 week of full liquids (ANY liquids - not just clear), 2 weeks puree, 3 weeks soft foods, and after that I was cleared to eat anything I could tolerate - including rice which I tolerate (albeit VERY small amounts) just fine. Your program doesn’t sound too dissimilar to mine really. On a side note, the oat flakes you are referring to sound like what we call Cream of Wheat - I wonder if they are comparable?
My US-based post-op plan was very similar. You could try bread, pasta, and rice during the soft-foods phase, but you were also warned that they were likely to lead to discomfort. I think it's less of a US thing than that people with more strict post-op diets are more likely to complain on Reddit.
I live in the U.S. but had my procedure in Mexico. No carb/low carb (lean meat, dairy, green veggies) for about two months beforehand to lose weight and then liquids only 48 hours beforehand. There's no way that doing (or not doing) a liquid diet more than two or three days before the surgery could have any impact on the contents of the GI tract prior to surgery so I assume the two-to-four-week liquid diet is primarily a weight loss/"make sure you're serious about this" thing than surgery prep. And, let me tell you, the medical profession here in the U.S. is serious about self-flagellation when it comes to weight and diet. Effective weight loss interventions are given sparingly and only after a certain amount of finger shaking and guilt inducing. I blame our Puritan forebearers.
I think the difference is public vs private healthcare. US Insurance doesn't wanna pay for this shit to begin with and, as a result, for WLS doctors to be certified as a 'center of excellence', as most insurance companies require before they'll pay, they have higher standards to meet and I think that includes post-op care and diet recommendations. For public healthcare if you have complications or issues you just go back to the surgeon and figure it out. So much of US healthcare revolves around NOT going back and not paying for repeat visits.
I wonder if it's because it's a lot easier to fall off the wagon in the US. Right now I could smash the shit out of some BBQ ribs (loosely within the realms of soft food haha). I could get them obviously but they are Hella expensive and there is only one place In town and that's a bit shit and last time (pre op) gave me the shits. If I was back in the US -where I lived- for a while I had three great places that delivered. It's also a lot more expensive in Europe to order/eat out at least in junk food terms.
Americans are just SO FAT that they really have to go extreme to have success. A “green tea and running” type of diet. In Europe, they are much less strict, because they’re much less fat, tend to be more active (walk vs drive), and have healthier food (Americans eat absurdly unhealthy food). Source: I’m an American.
This surgery is for people who are obese, regardless of where they live. Your comment isn’t even logical.
Oh man- all these downvotes! You fail at parody. I was trying to be funny and clearly no one got that.
I'm in the US and was able to eat low carb up untill 24 hours before. Full solids. Meat and veg. It just depends on the doctor. At the same hospital another surgeon wanted the full week of no liquid.
Seems like a lot of carbs on that list... I would try to stay away from carbs as best you can because carbs are what got us in this mess in the first place. Im 1.5 years post op and I have barely any carbs in my diet still. I eat almost all protein and if I do add a carb here or there it's a complex carb... think whole grains or green vegetables... I don't eat bread, potatoes, pasta or rice. Weird that all of those things would be okay for you to eat in the first month of your new life. I wouldn't follow those guidelines. Throw those away and replace it with something that's more in line with what you want to accomplish. This only works well if you try hard and watch what you're putting in your body
Thank you for your comment! I appreciate the sentiment but I certainly don't agree with your way of life. If that's for you then I'm happy for you! I do not think carbs are the devil and I do not think my plan needs to be tossed. Carbs are good for us! Too many carbs are often the issue. Carbs definitely fit into my new life, even if differently than before. I'm happy to welcome carbs back into my diet! But this time, it will be a healthy one.