Week One of Pre-op Diet almost done...

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Entry posted by butterfyeffect · April 26, 2014

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Well, it's been about a week since I voluntarily started my pre-op diet a little early. I was supposed to have started it on Tuesday, but since I have been through carb withdrawal before, and know how miserable I can be, I chose to go start it on Friday, and do the "carb flu" on days when I was working, rather than on my days off. Strange logic, I know but in my mind I'd be busier at work and have less time to think about food. My initial plan was to just start drinking only protein shakes on Friday night when I got to work. (I'm an ER nurse. I work nights. Get used to me referring to things that happened in the late afternoon as "morning" and for things that happened in the early morning to be referred to as "last night")

Anyway, that worked well until one of my co-workers decided to make a Chipotle run... then I altered my plan to just start low carbing for the weekend. Still drinking one or two protein shakes a day, and having one lean and green meal. Did that through Monday night at work, got home Tuesday morning with the best of intentions to have just liquid protein shakes from then on.

So far, I'm ashamed to say that hasn't been happening. I am not cheating in large amounts, or with bad foods. I'd have to say all in all my calories have not been over 700 any day since Tuesday. And my carbs have easily stayed below 40. But I just have absolutely no appetite for the shakes. I can drink one Premier Protein (160 calories, 30g protein, 2g net carbs) in my 12 hours at work, and then I'm just not be able to face another one. But a few soy nuts? Sure, I'll eat those. I can chew them.

So, a brief snapshot of my diet so far this week:

Tuesday:

-1 Isopure Chocolate Splendor Shake made with Almond Milk (160 calories, 21g protein, 11g carbs)

-1 Premier Protein Chocolate Shake

-1 bag of roasted peanuts (240 calories, 9g protein, 4g net carbs)

-1 serving Isopure Chicken Soup (100 calories, 21g protein, 2g carbs)

Wednesday

-1 Isopure Chocolate Shake

-2 hardboiled eggs (180 calories, 0 carbs, 18g protein)

-1 serving Isopure Chicken Soup

-2oz of cheddar cheese cubes (220 calories, 16g protein, 2g carbs)

Thursday

-1 Isopure Chocolate Shake

-1 serving Isopure Protein'd Cheese Sauce over 1/2 cup steamed broccoli and cauliflower (190 calories, 21g protein, 11g carbs)

1 serving Isopure Vanilla mixed into 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (165 calories, 32g protein, 8g carbs)

Friday

-1 serving Isopure Chicken soup

-1 slice of cheese pizza (250 calories, 10g protein, 25g carbs)

-1 Premier Protein Shake

-1/8 cup of soy nuts (65 calories, 6g protein, 1g carbs)

So, as you can see, not stellar. But on the plus side, I've lost over nine pounds in seven days, and I am literally never hungry, at least not for protein shakes. But if you put a slice of pizza in front of me, I'll eat it (as evidenced by Friday's log).

But here's the strange thing that I've noticed. The pizza didn't taste that good. The sauce tasted weirdly acidic, and the crust tasted like cardboard. This was from a pizza place that we've ordered from at work multiple times, so I know what it used to taste like, and it just tasted... different. And then this morning, I went with my husband through the McDonald's drive thru. Now honestly, I don't like McDonald's. I think the last time I ate there was in December, and that was only because it was Sunday, and the Chik-fil-a was closed. But his fries smelled good, so remembering the pizza last night, I tried one. It tasted like salt and grease. Not at all appealing. Unfortunately, both the pizza and the fries still

smelled

good... so the cravings are still there. But if I keep telling myself that the taste isn't the same, I think I can talk myself out of some trigger foods.

One of the negatives of the pre-op diet (aside from the obvious, that it's a

diet

): I have literally no stamina for exercise. I've attempted to go for a run just once since this all started, and I got about halfway through what I usually do, and started feeling like my legs were made of lead. I took the stairs up to the 5th floor of the parking garage when I got out of work last night. Same thing; lead legs. So my cardio has decreased to basically walking the dog, although for some reason, I can tolerate my usual strength-training workouts with no problem. So I don't know what I'm going to do for exercise after my surgery. I guess walking is all that's advised for the first few weeks anyway. But that's been sort of bothering me anyway, because my surgeon said that his patients who have the most success are the ones who exercise the most... but how can I exercise if I have no stamina? I guess as I get lighter, I'll need less stamina to move my body.

Other negatives? A slight headache that doesn't go away (this may be from giving up my one diet coke a day). A sticky feeling in my mouth that only goes away with constantly drinking water. That's about it. It's only two weeks of my life, as I keep reminding myself. I will keep plugging away at it, and hopefully get a little better at it by next week. Only 9 more days to go!