Struggling with Pre-Op diet..not in the way you think! (long)

[goodlife 3]

I?ll go ahead and apologize now for the length of this post. I?m a very detail oriented person and just can?t figure out how to be brief about anything! Lol

A couple of weeks before my consultation with my surgeon and after I'd been reading and absorbing as much information as I could from both this site and OH, I decided to be proactive and make some changes in preparation for my ?new life? post-op.

I was a huge fan of sweet tea..I have a Sonic right around the corner from my house and I probably had at least 3 Rt. 44 sweet tea's every day. It was really all I drank. I was also a huge fan of cream and real sugar with a little bit of coffee thrown in. I'd drink that all day long at work especially during the winter when it's cold outside. I also knew that my eating schedule needed to change. I?ve never been a Breakfast eater and usually skip lunch as well. coffee was my Breakfast.

I'll be perfectly honest there was a moment of panic at the thought of not being able to have those things anymore but I needed to know that I could get rid of that stuff. I also panicked at the thought of having to drink so much Water because I really just don't like it all that much unless I'm really hot and thirsty and then it has to be ice cold preferable with crushed ice in it.

I?d also learned from all of you that Protein was about to become a big part of my life. So I started trying out different Protein powders and Protein drinks. I started having a shake for breakfast and one for lunch as well to get in the habit of actually having 3 meals per day.

I stopped drinking sweet tea altogether and started using fat free non-dairy Creamer in my coffee with either splenda or equal. To my astonishment, it was very easy to do and I don?t even miss it! The shakes for breakfast and lunch were very tolerable. I also started drinking Water and learned that I really like Crystal Light after all. I?m getting PLENTY of fluids in now.

Two weeks before my consultation I went to my GYN for a yearly checkup (although tbh, it was my first yearly checkup in about 10 years or so.) The following week I had an appointment with my PCP (my first ever as I?d never had a doctor of my own to call ?My PCP?. I loved her and she was great and very supportive of me wanting to have the surgery.) Anyway I had lost 4 lbs since the week before. The following week was my consultation with my surgeon and I was down 11 lbs in that two week period.

The next day I started my surgeon?s prescribed pre-op diet. He has two plans to choose from. One is the ?MyWeight? plan which actually includes boxed food and then the PrescriptFit plan which doesn?t right away. I chose the PrescriptFit powders. They have chocolate, vanilla, and chicken Soup. I can?t stand the vanilla even with the flavored oils that you can add to them. It just has a funky taste to me although there are different vanilla flavored powders that I do like that I will use after surgery.

Anyway, I have to have a minimum of 8 scoops of the powder each day. They say you have to have it even if you?re not hungry. You can have up to 20 scoops per day if you want it. At first it was easy to get in all 8 scoops. After the first week you can add seafood to your diet. That is great for me as I live in the deep south and we eat a lot of seafood. And it?s crawfish season!

So what?s my problem? For the past week or so, there have been several days where I just cannot get in the 8 scoops. When I force myself to have that last shake of the day I?m miserably full. I?m trying to get in all the scoops before I have any ?real? food but that typically means I don?t eat any real food because I?m just not hungry.

Yesterday I only got in 4 scoops.

My other problem is that I?m just really getting sick of these two flavors only?.chocolate shakes and chicken Soup.

Maybe I should cut back on my other Fluid intake (water and water w/crystal light or sugar free koolaid) and see if that leaves me more room for the scoops. The chicken soup is pretty salty and so that makes me thirsty which helps me get so much water in.

I haven?t gotten on a scale since the 31st of March at my surgeon?s office so I?ll be really curious when I go for my pre-op appointment on Wednesday how much more weight I?ve lost. I know I?ve lost some because I can tell in the way my clothes fit.

One concern I have is if I can?t even get it all in now how on earth am I going to do it when I only have a 4 oz. capacity stomach??

[MINI-Me 196]

I'm sory you are having such a difficult time with pre-op. I didn't have a plan like that, but I'm sure I would have had problems too.

Just try to take it one day at a time, or one scoop at a time. You will get through this.

As far as post-op, MOST of us had difficulty getting in our Protein the first weeks or even that first month. It will get easier. Just remember that it is temporary - you will be back to real food shortly.

Best of luck.

[educationrulz 18]

Wow goodlife, that sounds like quite a pre-op diet. It sounds like you're doing really good considering the circumstances. What's in the scoops that you have to take? Like is it high Protein, low carbs? How much longer do you have to go?

IMHO I think you're going to be in good shape for surgery even if you can't get all those scoops in. The amount of weight you've already lost says alot.

[goodlife 3]

It is high protein/low carb.

There are 14g of Protein per scoop and it takes 2 scoops to make a 12 oz. shake.

The chocolate seriously tastes like brownie mix! LOL

The PrescriptFit plan is actually a pretty involved long term plan where you add in different foods each week but maintain your minimum of 8 scoops. Of course for a pre-op diet purpose you never get much beyond phase 2 or 3.

After week 1 of just the scoops (I can also have sugar free popsicles, Jello, etc if I wanted) you go to phase 2 which is the addition of seafood. You can eat all the seafood you want but you must still get in your minimum of 8 scoops. The next week you start phase 3 which is the addition of poultry but again, still getting your minimum of 8 scoops.

That plan allows you two splurge days per week.

So far I've splurged once and went out for Mexican food last weekend but I ate grilled shrimp and grilled veggies so I tried to make a good food choice still although I did have chips and salsa...lol

Earlier today my husband and I did some work in the yard and I worked up a good sweat. We then cleaned up and went shopping at Sam's. I decided today was going to be a splurge day because I was really hungry at that point and said let's go to dinner at Outback tonight. He said great..lets' go. But we came home and unloaded everything we bought and I had a chocolate shake and now I'm full and not sure I feel like going out to dinner anymore! Maybe I'll save splurge night for another night.

HOPEFULLY I have less then two weeks left. I go for my pre-op appointment on Wednesday and I'll schedule my surgery then. They told me it's usually 7-10 days after that and that fits right into my window of opportunity. I'm praying they can get me on the schedule for either the 28, 29, or 30. If I can't have it one of those days I will probably have to push it back to the end of June which I really really don't want to do!