If you’re getting ready to have bariatric surgery, and your surgeon has ordered a pre-op liquid diet, you may be feeling apprehensive about it. After all, if you had the discipline to follow such a strict diet, you might not be needing to have bariatric surgery.
Fear not! It’s not as bad as you think. After a very rocky first week, I’m doing fine now. So here are the survival tips that have worked for me. I hope you find something that will work for you!
1. Have some friends that you can complain to as often as you need to. This is the most important thing. Seriously. I thought I’d only be griping for a day or two, but it turned out to be more like a week. If you don’t have any friends that you feel comfortable griping to, shoot me an email at chauceriangirl(at)gmail(dot)com, and gripe away! And I’m giving a shout-out here to the incomparable Izzybella and to Elle for never complaining to me about griping too much. They are the bestest!
2. Sugar-free Jell-O is your friend. I have tried both the Jell-O brand and the Hunt’s snack packs, and I vastly prefer the Jell-O. They have more flavours available in the pre-made little cups, which is nice. Initially I tried having a cup of Jell-O halfway between time for the next shake, but when I switched to having a cup immediately after my shake, I found that I stayed satisfied for longer.
3. My doctor’s office said I can have one cup of broth a day, but no more than that due to the high sodium count. And I have high blood pressure already, so I definitely have to watch my sodium. After you’ve been feasting on sweet shakes, sweet sugar-free Jell-O, etc., you get in the mood for something savoury. I like having it either when I get home from work or before bed. It’s like a meal. And it is really satisfying.
4. Get a shaker bottle. I found one for $6 at a kitchen & bathroom themed store, and it works great. And get a couple, even, because yesterday I left mine at work and had to try to stir my dinner shake into submission. It would have been nice to have one at home, too.
5. Keep a couple of extra shake packets with you. I’d been bringing just the 4 I needed during the day, and the day I accidentally made chocolate lemonade meant I had one less shake. That was an extremely hungry day, and it could have been avoided if I’d had the foresight to have an extra packet of shake powder with me.
6. Stay hydrated. Drink a lot. Yeah, you’ll pee a lot, and it’s annoying, but it’s really, really important to stay hydrated. If you get tired of water, get some of those flavour packets. I found some Ocean Spray On the Go packets the other day, and got some cran-grape flavour. I actually dumped a packet of it into a large iced tea, and it tasted seriously good. Of course, you don’t want to drink too much tea or coffee, as they’re diuretics, but a bit every now and again won’t hurt you unless your doctor has ordered you to get off of them completely. Always follow your doctor’s orders!
If you’ve done this, and have any additional suggestions, please leave a comment. There’s always something to learn!
EDITED TO ADD:
7. Stay away from the mall if you can, especially at Christmas time. I went to Grapevine Mills last night, and wow–was it hard. There was a pretzel stand right where I came in, sending waves of aroma my way, but I nobly resisted. Then they were offering free samples at the gelato stand. I said no, thank you, and kept walking. I passed by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory where I always buy a truffle. Made it past the nut stand where they had those amazing cinnamon covered nuts. Then I see my exit, and make a beeline for it, only to get to the Mrs. Fields cookie shop where they were baking brownies. I thought I was gonna die. I lowered my head and ploughed on, and when I got to my car I ate my last sugar-free Jell-O I had with me. Since I didn’t have a spoon, I ate it with my fingers, laughing at the complete silliness of the situation.
