Milk thistle tea also helps detox the liver. It is not only overweight people that have fatty livers, btw.
For those who are not required to be on a liquid diet, some foods that kept me going preop (and not all in one day): Jumbo grilled shrimp with lots of zucchini, grilled fish with broccoli steamed in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, soup with egg in it, dressing made of balsamic vinegar and spices to go with any raw veggies, roasted chicken with a drop of gravy and two little potatoes, grilled steak with the fat cut away and a side of greens, baby carrots for when I was ravenous and felt I had the worst munchies, a few turkey pepperettes, and sushi (once). I had rye bread on one day with my chicken breast, topped it with organic greens and tomatoes and a slice of high quality cheese. A little bit of Montreal Streak Spice makes all meat and veggies very tasty. Lost 12 pounds in 7 days. I also ate non fat gelato a few times in the first few days (it's usually non fat anyway so the flavour is there) when I was having a sweet tooth meltdown. I figured it wasn't much more calories than the sugar free pops which tasted like chemicals (very hard on the liver), and it was much better than really caving in to the high calorie sweets. I think if one of your weaknesses is a sweet/carb tooth then you will lose weight as soon as you curb those carbs. Note: I was not told to go on a liquid diet and am so relieved as it seems so harsh. There seems to be a big difference between doctors but mine is one of the best in my country, people fly from coast to coast to have him do their surgery (He's done in 20 minutes) and very on top of the latest developments so I was very impressed at his willingness to make changes to his previous pre-op requirements as new info arises. Post op I understand the need for liquid diets because of the healing process, but to hear pre-op people taking sleeping pills and weeping, feeling dizzy and unable to function, severely depressed, bashing themselves, breaking down and eating junk, all because they are following an extreme diet is alarming. But who would ever fight back? And who on earth would defend a heavy person's right to eat? ANyhow, I think that by training yourself to think about positive choices rather than Forbidden Foods, you start to move from a negative mindset (restriction! Not allowed! Bad! Evil fatty! Weak!) to a positive mindset (quality! delicious! Worthy of my heathy happy self! Loving choice!). Of course, detractors will disagree and surely a diet of chemicals and powders and vanilla/chocolate flavoured liquids that has you weeping and tormented makes all the sense in the world. Some may see it as proof of your future commitment. If you have a doctor that forces you to do this to qualify, that is one thing, and good luck/hang in there, but if you are given the choice to make decent choices and stick to low carb, you will be much happier and may lose a lot of weight in a positive way as well. For those who say the doctors always know what's best, your health is also your responsibility. You are your only advocate. DO what you have to but always think things through. If someone tells you to do things that make you ill, does it matter what their credentials are? I once had a doctor tell me I should drink alcohol like everyone else does if I'm having trouble getting to sleep. Did I? No. I had another doctor give me a severe ear infection by sticking the ear scope from my infected ear into my good ear. So, think about everything you are told to do and take good care of yourself.