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?
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