Not every Bariatric Surgery Clinic prescribes a pre-op diet for their patients - but if you have been told to do one - it's for a bloody good reason.
When you have laparoscopic bariatric surgery, the surgeon needs to move your liver so that they can complete your operation. If like me, you spent a number of years trashing your body, you will have a reasonable amount of visceral fat. This means there is fat around your organs. The PreOp diet aims to shrink this visceral fat, enabling better access and mobility for the surgeon TO OPERATE ON YOU AND NOT NICK YOUR LIVER.
This is reason number one that you should stick to the PreOp diet. It's in the best interests of your organs. In fact, I feel like this is all I really need to say - but will also tell you that you will see other benefits too.
However, no bullshit, doing 2 or 3 or 5 weeks of this is not easy. But unfortunately, you are just going to have to suck that up. Humans can live for (approximately - maybe) 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Reducing your calories down to under 800 for a couple of weeks is not going to be the end of you.
If you can't stick to this, to enable the surgeon a greater chance of success and yourself a better recovery period, what will your discipline be like later when your brain is telling you that you are too tired to exercise, or you can't be bothered putting together a quick but nutritious dinner.
Get real. Our health takes work.
If you really really really want something, your efforts will prove it and your actions will show it.
"Effort is the best indicator of interest." Karen Gaur.
Weight-loss surgery is just the beginning of your new healthy lifestyle. The surgery itself is just a tool. I'm sure you are probably saying in your head that you have heard that before ... blah blah blah but listen up, it's bloody true.
The habits you begin to work on now will be the ones that will be your foundation later.
WLS will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you in the first 6-12 months but after that, your long term success is all on you.
In writing this post, I had even considered doing the PreOp diet, with 2 Meal Replacements and one meal of 100 grams of lean protein and 1-2 cups of vegetables but after talking with our Clinic Director, I realised ... it's actually not up to me to show you that something is possible. I did it already.
It's up to you to show me, no - show YOU, that you do actually want your health to be a priority. So that's the key question ... is it impossible or is it just not a priority?
