So, today marks Day 5 of my diet; my "diet" consisting of the protein shakes, fluids, pureed and soft foods I will be able to eat the first month post-op. Although I just started Monday, I've decided to weigh myself on Fridays, since my surgery will be on a Friday. That will give us a chance to see how much I've lost before I actually go to the chop shop.
Step 1, I've totally eliminated caffeinated beverages from my diet. This has been tricky, and I've found myself dozing off at work a few times, desperate for a fix before too many people caught me. But, yesterday seemed better, so I'm hoping I'm taking a turn for the better.
I've also eliminated soda's and sugary juices from my diet. This one has been a little easier for me - although I enjoy them, I've usually found it easy to get by without them.
I've purchased a 1.5 liter bottle for water and have been working on ensuring that I drink at least one of those a day. While I've never had a problem drinking water, the difference is that I must work on not waiting till I'm thirsty and then chugging it. With my new stomach, waiting till I'm thirsty will mean it is too late because I will no longer be able to chug it back down to eliminate the thirst. For this reason, one of the complications I face post-op is dehydration. So, I've been diligently practicing drinking the water in sips throughout the day. Doing this day one severely worsened my ability to drink, as I kept forgetting. But, each day has gotten a little better and yesterday, I actually found that I was able to drink more than the bottle throughout the day.
Another issue I'm having to work on is no drinking 30 minutes before and after a meal. If a meal is supposed to last 30 minutes, then than equals 90 minutes I can not drink, 3 times a day. This one is killing me. Despite my sipping throughout the day, I find these 90 minutes to be unbearable. My mouth goes so dry that I can actually tuck my lips up over my teeth and they'll stay that way.
Patience is a virtue.
I'm so excited to have found a fix for the nasty protein powder I bought. The Isopure Low Carb Dutch Chocolate tasted like crap, and it was gritty. Whenever I tried to drink it, I could hear it crunching between my teeth. I tried numerous things, but was never happy with it.
Till now.
I had a Yoplait 100 Calorie Whipped Vanilla Cupcake Flavored Yogurt in my fridge. So, I scooped that into my bullet blender, filled the cup with Sugar Free Soy Milk (4 oz) and added that. Scooped in my two scoops of Whey Protein Powder and added 5 ice cubes. The result is a thick chocolate shake that is far superior than the Protein Powder mixed just with milk, or any of the other things I had tried. One glass of that is also very filling. After surgery, I assume I won't be able to drink but a couple of sips of the stuff before I'm full, but it packs 64 grams of protein (which meets the minimum for the day!) and 334 calories.
Only found the nerve to try the beef and gravy baby food and found it thoroughly disgusting. There must be a way to enhance it to make it edible, but I'm so traumatized by the two bites that I took that I haven't had the courage to mess around with it again. However, I tried it cold (since you can not heat it in the microwave), and I'm worried that may have been a factor. I'm considering putting it into a bowl with a bit of beef broth, salt and pepper to see if I can get that down. Ugh...poor babies....
My main source of food thus far has been the Publix meat salads. The Turkey Club Salad is phenomenal, but will probably not be edible for a while because of the bacon bits in it. I'll need to ask my surgeon. Tuna Salad and Chicken Breast Salad (the one with celery in it) are probably my favorites. Chicken Tarragon came highly recommended, but while it tastes good, I don't find myself looking forward to eating it. The same can be said for the Chicken Breast Salad with dressing. Today, I'll try the Egg Salad.
Sometimes, I just munch on cold cuts, like Smoked Honey Turkey. It's actually quite satisfying.
For my treats, when I'm craving something other than pure meat all the time, I've taken to snacking on a few almonds, sugar free jello, sugar free pudding or a spoon full of JIF Reduced Fat Peanut Butter. The Peanut Butter is a tricky one - one spoonful is fine, but more than that can quickly put you over your fat content for the day (even though it is Reduced.)
So, where does this put me? Well, I forgot to weigh myself the day I started, but I last weighed myself at 425 lbs about a week ago. This morning, I weighed in at 417; a weight loss of 8 lbs, and I haven't even had the surgery yet.
So, I'm feeling confident I can do this. Not only can I lose the weight on my own, but this surgery will finally give me the boost I need to finally beat my plateau of 300 lbs.
And I can't freaking wait!
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