Update: Pre-Operative Diet Day One

Sunday was my last night of eating solid foods for a while.  When Friday rolled around, I had a hard time choosing where I wanted to go for one of my last meals.  We ended up meeting friends at Chevy's mostly out of convenience.  The meal was good, company was better.  It was so-so, nothing to write home about.  It's very rare for me to actually ENJOY a meal, anyway, since I had the lap-band.  Eating has become more of a necessity than source of enjoyment.

Saturday we had a 40th birthday party to attend at Dave & Buster's.  It's never really been on my short list of places to eat; so I hadn't really considered the meal one of my "last suppers", more about celebrating my cousin's milestone day.  So, I was VERY pleasantly surprised to literally enjoy every second of that meal.  I ordered chicken tortilla soup and a salad they call "The Lawnmower".  It came on a HUGE rectangular plate with lettuce layered on the bottom and vertical layers of colorful goodness on top:  hard boiled eggs, onions, radishes, avocado, tomatoes, peppers (red and green), chicken, bacon bits, blue cheese, etc.  It was YUMMY!!!!  In fact I'd pretty much kill for one now!  Just talking about it has made me hungry!

When Sunday crept up on me, I had to make my least meal a GOOD one.  It just so happened we had to take Fox home to Washington, MO.  So I asked Kevin if we could go to my favorite little mexican joint, Ernesto's.  We kind of quit going there because the man who ran the place (not the owner) was horribly unfriendly.  But we heard that he was gone; so we decided to give it a try again.  First observation, the new guy was uber friendly and pleasant, Carlos.  We ordered our usual guacamole appetizer then for dinner I ordered a shredded chicken flauta and ground beef flauta with all rice.  I swear the heavens opened up and I heard angels sing.  It was DELICIOUS!  Perfect final meal for a while.  All of a sudden I'm typing and this Strawberries & Cream protein shake just isn't cutting it.

Monday I woke up with the "Failure is NOT an option" mentality; so I headed straight to the fridge for my first protein shake.  I should back up.  Last week Kevin and I hit our new Schnucks in search of all things on my "new" diet.  I wanted to stock up before surgery to lessen his stress while I am recovering.  I needed things on the approved items list as well as a good supply of protein shakes.  We managed to find sugar free Jello and puddings, chicken broth cubes and a variety of protein shakes on hand at our store.  No sugar free banana popsicles, however.  I had to settle for Popsicle Sugar Free Tropicals and No Sugar Added Fudgesicles.  The first tropical I tried was Tangerine, didn't care for it.

With regard to the protein shakes, I had to spend some time reading labels.  My guidelines, again, were:

• min. 15-20g of Protein per shake
• <15g of Carbs per serving
• <5g of Fat per serving
• <200 calories per serving
• <3g of Sugar per serving

That really narrows down the list of what you see on the shelves.  I specifically wanted ready made shakes versus the protein.  I've had the mix in the past and really didn't like the taste nor texture.

We ended up finding the EAS AdvantEdge variety in French Vanilla and Chocolate so we got 2-4 pks of each and also decided to try Muscle Milk 100 in vanilla and chocolate, with 1 pack each.  Later in the week, we hit Sam's Club for something else and decided to check out their prices.  It was there that I discovered another brand that met the above criteria, "Premier Protein".  I couldn't help but notice that they were 30g of protein per serving, MUCH more than the other brands.  Remember, I must get a min. of 60g of protein per day now.  Two shakes, voila!!!  Needless to say we grabbed 3 cases, 1 each of Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberries & Cream.  They ran about $18 and some change each for a case of 12.  The other brands in the 4 pks were a little higher in price, I believe.  I hear they are $4.99 each at Target, regular price.

So when I reached in the fridge yesterday morning, I decided to go big and try the Premier Protein brand first due to the significant amount of protein in them.  For breakfast (a late one near lunch time), I had a chocolate flavor.  I was skeptical; but instantly relieved that it was actually good and therefore tolerable.  I wouldn't have to choke them down.  Ya see, I always try to prepare myself for the worst.  Often, I am pleasantly surprised.  Thank you, God!

By afternoon I was starting to feel some hunger come on.  I wasn't sure if it was just me craving the "chewing" part or what....but I managed to resist the urge for solid food which was all around me....things like $55 worth of Girl Scout cookies I just bought from my niece or some refrigerated Reeces' Peanut Butter Cups, etc  Instead I kept reminding myself, "you've got to do this right, Lori!!!"  So I decided to try one of my Sugar Free Tropical Popsicles....I grabbed the one on top.  It happened to be orange, I suspect Tangerine flavor.  I HATED it.  Too sweet for me.  I was never a kid who enjoyed Kool-Aid or anything of that nature; and that's what it tasted like to me, frozen Kool-Aid.  I choked most of it down then ditched the last 1/4 of it.  Blech!  

For dinner I had a vanilla shake (I am determined to have a different flavor/brand every time until I can determine which ones I enjoy the most...for future reference).  Vanilla, too, was good.  Whew!  2 out of 3 isn't bad odds.......

But by around 8 pm I was getting hungry again.  So I decided to warm up some chicken broth (I can't spell bouillion without spell check).  I also had a before bed snack of a No Sugar Added Fudgesicle.  It was good.  In looking back over my instructions, however, I don't see Fudgesicles on the approved list until week 2 POST surgery.  So I guess I won't be having any more of those!!!

Clearly, the broth will be my "go-to" when I feel HUNGRY.  I am also allowed sugar free Jell-O, which I should make.  Lord knows, we have plenty in the pantry now!

Long and short of it?  I survived day one.

Here I am once again, finishing up my "Breakfast" drink at 12:39 pm at LUNCH time.  So I need to work on my scheduling, for sure.

Another little factoid that fascinated me was that in the 4 weeks I've been off carbonated beverages, my ankles have come back.  I have been able to wear cute and strappy sandals once again.  And that makes me HAPPY.

My goal is to blog daily during the pre op and post op processes and diet plans until I am 2 months out and on regular foods.  Then I'll post periodic updates and pics to track my progress (Failure is NOT an option, keep repeating that Lori!!!).

I will be using the photo below as my "BEFORE" pic to track my progress.  I will reference it with side by side pics over the course of my journey.

THANK YOU to everyone who has sent me good vibes and positive messages, who needs a support group when I have you?

T minus one week till surgery!

Where do I begin?  Time seems to have FLOWN past me since the good news that insurance will cover my procedure.

We are home after a wonderful week in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  So now it's time to focus on pre-operative preparations and the like.  I took a mandatory class that the My New Self Bariatric team hosts prior to patient's going under the knife.  It was very well organized and uber informative.  I was seriously impressed with the way they went over EVERYTHING in detail, including what to expect while you're in the hospital.  I don't recall having that depth of knowledge when I went in for my lap band procedure back in 2006.

I walked away from that education session with a little "goody bag" chock full of things I will find helpful post surgery.  Things like a plate that shows you portions and portion sizes, measuring cup, measuring spoons and a nice water bottle to keep track of your liquid intake.

As part of my own "deal", I decided to take one step prior to surgery in an effort to get in the right mind set.  So at the end of July, I gave up carbonated beverages, particularly diet soda.  I've had no such beverage in three weeks (and counting).  The next thing on the list is to tackle sugars, which is pretty much mandatory post surgery unless I want some rather unpleasant side effects.  Yeah, no thanks.

I surprised myself on vacation in that I didn't feel like I over ate; nor did I give in to the temptation/convenience of ordering soda while eating out.  Instead, I stuck with unsweetened iced tea, for that I am proud.  It's the little things, remember?

My official pre-op diet is a 3 day clear liquid diet.  It's purpose is to help shrink the liver; so the surgeon can get to where he needs to be....my stomach.  Pretty amazing to think they do all this laproscopically?!  I was pleasantly surprised by what was included in the list of acceptable items while on said "clear diet".  I can have sugar free Jell-O (never been big on Jell-O but sure I'll be a Jell-O eatin' FOO by the time my pre and post op diets are complete), Sugar Free Popsicles (still on a mission to find Banana Flavored packs versus assorted flavors), Broths, Bouillons and 3-4 protein drinks per day (meals and snack).

Monday night Kevin and I checked out our new Schnucks grocery store at University Commons.  Sadly, there were no sugar free banana Popsicles.  But they did have some of the "approved" ready made protein shake options.  We bought a decent supply of Muscle Milk and EAS AdvantEdge shake flavors to try.  Rumor has it the EAS aren't bad.  We shall see.  Sadly, the one protein shake I learned to like after lap band surgery (BOOST) is not an approved option.  Nor is, Ensure, Ensure +. Glucerna, K2, Slim Fast Optima, Slim Fast or Slim Fast High Protein.  So begins the quest to find which of the following options I can choke down:  Slim Fast Low Carb Diet, EAS AdvantEdge, Muscle Milk Light, Myoplex Light and Atkins Advantage.  Any input is certainly welcome.  I'd love to hear some reviews or simple thumbs up, thumbs down opinions of them.

Guidelines I was given for the protein shakes are as follows:

15-20g of Protein per serving
<15g of Carbs per serving
<5g of Fat per serving
<200 Calories per serving
<3g of Sugar per serving

My surgery is scheduled for Aug. 28th.  I'm still waiting to hear what time exactly.  I will have the luxury of a private room and can expect to be in the hospital for at least one night, possibly two.

My weeks one and two post surgery diet is similar only some items are added into the mix like decaff tea, cream of wheat, grits, sugar free hot cocoa, sugar free pudding and sugar free fudgesicles.

I hope to blog more about the daily or at least weekly experiences as I go through them and while I am recovering.

The plan for this week is to get all my affairs in order (business, etc) and to create another Advanced Directive (since my KS version is null and void given we moved to MO or so I think?) and then relax and enjoy my cousin's 40th birthday bash on Saturday, rest Sunday and Monday will be GO TIME for the 3 day liquid diet.  Thursday is surgery.

I'm not at all nervous about the procedure itself.  Praying for no complications, of course.  But I'll see to it that Kevin knows where all the important docs are just in case the unexpected would happen on the table.  That's just the Lori in me!!!

Sadly, Kevin's employer will not let him off work to accompany me for surgery.  His bosses comment to him was, ""Doesn't she check our calendar before scheduling?".  Never met the guy; but his arrogance made me laugh.  First off, I'm a busy professional myself.  And last I checked my income covered most of our living expenses.  So, no sir, I check MY work calendar to coordinate.  Not yours.  Sorry!  Needless to say, Kevin won't be there.  But, like  the perfect mom and aunt they are, Mom and Abbie will likely be with me that day until Kevin can make his way to the hospital.  I pity those who do not understand my LIFETIME indebtedness to them.  Notice I'm not talking recent years but a LIFETIME.

I plan on taking my laptop so I can pass the time while laid up.  And I look forward to blogging more LIVE accounts of what comes next in this entire journey.

Stay tuned...............