Persleevering2Goal

When you are pre-op, your stomach is still the full-size or enlarged hungry monster it has always been. It is still insisting on the volume of food it has been used to. This is the period of time where you can change habits that have been holding you back. Making the adjustments now will make the post-op eating rules much easier to comply to. If dinner is KFC, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a couple of biscuits with a dessert later, and a peanut butter sandwich and glass of milk in the middle of the night, here are instant switch-ups you can make.

For example: grilled chicken - 3 ounces is 150 calories and 21 grams of protein, and no carbs. Eat your chicken first - all of it. Then if you are still hungry, eat a big green salad - easy on the dressing. What I do now is rub the dressing around the bowl and then stir my small salad around. Or you can fill your plate with low-starch veggies like tomato, green beans, brussel sprouts, broccoli, even cole slaw. Thoughts of dessert need to be neutralized. You could keep sugar-free popsicles on hand. Eat an apple instead of apple pie...that sort of thing.

This is a great time to learn to not eat starchy foods (they will slow your role) or anything made in a factory. The more control you have over the salt, sugar, and grease beast, the easier this will be. The kitchen is closed after dinner. I have learned that night-time hunger is not an emergency. You can fill that tummy, but non-starch veggies and eating protein first are going to have to be your new best friends. You can do this!

Thank you Miss Mac. I appreciate all of the kind words and words of wisdom.... I know that you understand where I am coming from. It's much easier said than done, of course. I think I really need to just realize that this feeling of emptiness (literal emptiness) is only temporary and once I have my surgery eating such a small portion will not leave me with the same bottomless pit feeling.