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Two days ago, I went to see my surgeon for the last time prior to surgery. He gave me a whole packet of information, including the one-week pre surgical diet. It's very restrictive! Here's what's allowed: Meats (beef, pork, chicken and turkey Fish and shellfish (not breaded) Cheese and cottage cheese eggs, nuts, seeds and nut butters (such as peanut butter) Tuna, chicken, or egg salad Luncheon Meats Here's what I CAN'T have: EVERYTHING ELSE Seriously - I can't have anything else This diet is meant to shrink the liver, because it's directly next to the stomach, and it needs to be lifted up in order to gain access to the stomach - kind of like the hood of a car, but sideways. The livers of people with weight issues are usually larger than normal. By eating no sugar or carbs whatsoever, the sugar stores in my liver become depleted, and my liver shrinks as a result. It's also to give me a jump start on weight loss, incorporating and understanding the post-operative diet. Now,.... my wonderful husband, who's also a big guy, and SUPER supportive, has decided to go on this diet with me until surgery. Because he's done super low carb before (although admittedly not THIS low carb!) and he says it's difficult to do alone. And he doesn't want me to feel alone. So he's done it since Friday with me. Because of this, I've been perfect on this diet so far! It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it's an enormous difference for me! Meals and snacks require planning and forethought, and that's a big change for me. So is having REAL FOOD instead of just junk. I was always reaching for a donut or Ding-Dong before whenever I felt a craving. I'm still thinking about them, but I'm not picking them up now. If I feel munchy, I choose a piece of string cheese, some almonds, or some lunch meat. And that staves me off until the next meal. It's amazing how good a salad can look after days with no fruits or vegetables. You would have thought the salad was the Ding-Dong the way I was looking at it tonight as others ate it in front of me, Lol. It's also amazing how much water I'm drinking. I'm not sure how I've done all this time, but I've rarely drank anything during the day. I'm not a huge soda drinker, even when it's available. And we rarely have it around anyway. I am a sucker for sweet tea, though - cold in the day, and hot tea at night. And I LOVE my morning coffee - full of flavored creamer and sugar. So I've gone cold turkey on all of that. And I am SO thirsty all the dang time. My hubby says this is what happens when you deprive your body of the sugars. I also occasionally get a mild headache, which I think is sugar withdrawal. But it's nothing big enough to change my day much. Tomorrow I am in training all day at work for a new computer system. They are catering lunch, and I know it's sandwiches and salads. I know that the meat on one sandwich isn't going to be enough to see me through the afternoon. So I have my breakfast and lunch all packed for tomorrow. Two hard-boiled eggs and some cooked bacon for breakfast. For lunch, several cold cuts and pieces of cheese, along with some cottage cheese, almonds and string cheese. I'll also be drinking water all day again, and I'm hoping the training will be intensive enough to keep me focused and not thinking about food. I've got to say, I feel different already even after only a few days of eating differently. I'm already back in the swing of choosing good foods, and planning ahead. Two of those things were massively successful the one time I had great results in losing weight years ago. I'm going to try to do some yoga this week, too (I have a few DVD's, two of which I've never even tried). I'm looking forward to seeing how much weight I may have lost when I check in on surgery day (I was weighed on my consult day). I'm already on a roll. I'm feeling really positive! And I'm already half-way done with my super low carb diet.

I went for a walk this morning and it felt really nice. I've never been a fast walker and my short legs take short steps. So hitting 5000 was a big deal for me. I was out of breath in the beginning and then realized I wasn't racing anyone. I took my time and enjoyed the fall weather. I'm a graduate student and it helped clear my head for a paper I'm writing. Obviously, not entirely - I still have much work to do. But progress! The journey! All that good stuff. One of the things that I am most excited about is that I have a history of insomnia and have moments of anxiety (like when I am writing papers. Since surgery, I have not taken any medications for either insomnia or anxiety and I am sleeping well. That is a big milestone for me, totally unexpected. I am going to try and weigh myself once a week and will begin taking pictures once a month. This is really exciting - and scary. It's life-changing for all of us. I hope we all achieve our permanent goals!