Pre-Op Diet - End of Week 1, What I Wish I Knew Then...

I just finished my first week of the VSG pre-op diet. I think the only reason I'm having success at

this is because I know this "diet" comes with an expiration date!

Here is what the clinic doesn't tell you: There are VERY little options for liquid protein that are savory. Consuming nothing but liquids for 7 days does funny stuff to your bowels (i.e. you can't trust a fart!). You're not really hungry, but you are craving food like a junkie craves a fix!

By Day 3, I could barely bring myself to consume most of things I had purchased. I do not like sweets!!! Well, that's not entirely true. I do like sweets, but not in a I-Could-Eat-This-Every-Day-All-Day kind of way. I also discovered some of my grocery purchases were TERRIBLE!

That being said, allow me to give you some tips that I wish I had known a week earlier:

Protein Shakes & Water

• Use real milk, not almond milk. For 90 more calories you get 7 more grams of protein. Worth it!

• Buy the blender bottle. Again, worth it!

• Only put in half a scoop of protein powder. The powder is expensive, so using a half-scoop makes it last longer and you can still hit your protein goals.

• DO NOT buy Muscle Milk Brand Coffee House - it has caffeine (oops) and it tastes exactly like how a cattle barn smells.

• Protein water is CRAZY expensive! IsoPure Zero Carb is around $4 a bottle! Buy GenAPro (Amazon or GNC) and make your own protein water. This stuff dissolves like Benefiber or Miralax

Other Sources of Protein

• Drinking protein shakes gets old. Try mixing it with pudding (see my recipes)

• Turn your broth into a protein drink by adding plain gelatin

• Siggis is AMAZING! 15 g of protein in every serving!!! I eat two of these and two 1/2-scoop protein shakes in 1% milk. That gives me 61 g of protein each day.

Miscellaneous

• Whenever you start to crave "real" food, drink broth

• Don't drink store-bought broth from a jug or a can. It's very bland and not at all satisfying

• Check out my recipe section for some broth recipes. I found these to be very satisfying.