One Down, One to Go...

Interesting little fact...as I talk with people about my surgery they share tales of family or friends that have also had weight loss surgery. There is a common theme in everyone's story. The pre-surgery diet is the worst part. I certainly hope so, CUZ THIS STINKS! BTW, I do hate protein shakes.

As I explained before, the goal of the pre-surgery diet is to lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks to prepare your body for the procedure. Being a chronic, unsuccessful dieter I really stressed about not making that goal. My prescribed diet plan consists of 3-4 high-protein "shakes"' and a low calorie dinner each day with raw, fresh veggies for snacking. I thought the hard part was going to be feeling hungry, NOT A PROBLEM THERE!  I constantly feel like throwing up. I have no appetite. My head hurts. I'm exhausted. I feel pretty all-over crummy most of the time. If I do actually get hungry a small container of applesauce, grape tomatoes or cucumber slices take off the edge. Anything to avoid the dreaded protein shake. The first day it took me 2 hours to finish one shake, I could barely get 2 in each day.

So, after 5 days of my  2 week day diet I had lost 11 pounds! 5 days? 11 pounds? 9 days to go? 

Guess I need to start loving the protein shakes. The fruit flavored ones make me gag, or shiver. Yes, that is blended with ice; no, it doesn't taste like an Orange Julius. The vanilla ones from Costco are tolerable, only takes me about an hour to choke one down. The plain chocolate ones are flat nasty. I have 2 cases of them (silly me thought chocolate was the way to go). I did discover that adding 1/2 of a small banana, 1/2 cup water and then whipping up in the blender makes the chocolate taste way better. This morning I mixed one with fresh raspberries...not so good, back to bananas tomorrow.  It doesn't help that I'm lactose intolerant and all the high protein shakes contain milk.

Dinner has been easier than I thought. Mainly just meat and fresh veggies. We've had pork chops & spinach salad, macaroni and cheese & cucumbers, spaghetti & green salad, and salmon & asparagus. I've cut out breads, potatoes and rice already...still working on the pasta. Also getting in the habit of cutting food into small pieces, chewing slowly, putting my fork down between bites, no beverage with meals and using a smaller plate.

A big challenge is still all the junk food at work. We have an unending supply of cookies, donuts, pastries, and candy all strategicly placed where you can't avoid them. Used to love it, now not so much. And Halloween, the candy-fest, is next week...