A Little Over a Week In. . .

. . . and feeling pretty good!

One of the things I've noticed from being involved in online forums is that different surgeons have vastly different pre-op and post-op diets. So since I'll be talking about my post-op diet today a bit, I thought I'd give a sense of what my surgeon has me doing.

- 2 days of clear liquid after surgery
- 7 days of full liquids (basically add yogurt, protein drinks, and cream-based soup with no chewable chunks)
-7 days of "mushies" (mashed potatoes, oatmeal/cream of wheat, scrambled eggs, mushed banana)
-7 days of soft foods (cheese, refried beans, baked fish, veggies cooked super-soft, cottage cheese)
-4 weeks of adding in lean meats; after that, I can try nuts etc.



So right now, I'm on my second day of mushies. Yesterday I had half a yogurt, 3 tablespoons of hummus, a wedge of soft Weight Watchers pepper-jack cheese, and about 3/4 cup of pureed chili. Today I've done a protein shake and probably about 5 oz of broccoli cheddar soup with actual chunks of broccoli that I have to chew-- my teeth don't know how to function. I'm actually looking forward to a dinner of scrambled eggs tonight- ha!

So warning-- here comes my neurosis. As a low-carb convert, I am having a really hard time with my post-op diet. It is all carbs until I can start eating veggies and fish next week. I dropped over 30 lbs pre-op following a low-carb diet and I just hate that I'm "losing ground" by eating all of this carby stuff. I realize how crazy this is! I have to eat, and it just so happens that things that can be in liquid/soft form are mostly made up of carbs. I'm trying my best to choose things that are low in sugar, but there's only so much you can do.

I know I'm doing fine, because based on my scale, I've lost 14 lbs since my surgery date. That's 14 lbs in 11 days, largely brought about by the fact that I barely eat anything (yesterday was a LOT for me to eat, comparatively). But I sort of hate that I'm going to have to "detox" again, when I already was through that sugar-craving period.

Still, I'm happy! This was a good decision for me and I can tell it's going to work. Yesterday, a friend who doesn't know about my surgery, commented that she can't get used to my new haircut because every time she looks at me, I look *different*. She said she can't figure out what it is, so it must be my shorter hair. I just laughed and agreed, though I knew on the inside that it's also that my face especially looks different and she's noticing it without realizing it.