Friday, January 3, 2014

Free foods, and good to go

For these two weeks before surgery, if the three meal replacements and one "real food" meal don't satisfy me, I can choose from a list of "free foods." It has things I'd expect: herbs and spices, and a bunch of veggies, among other things. 

The first night, I snacked on some raw carrots. The second day, I sliced up grape tomatoes with fat-free dressing (which I can have in limited amounts). But since I'm not a great fan of fat-free salad dressing and since it's winter, I decided to make a veggie soup for when I'm hungry.  

I sprayed the bottom of my pot with Pam and then sauteed onions and garlic, adding some low-sodium chicken broth (another "free food") when the Pam ran out. I added chopped celery and carrots, a bunch of chicken broth, herbs (parsley, basil and thyme), chopped pepper and summer squash, fresh spinach and finally a can of tomatoes. It's been lovely the past few days, as New England has been in a cold snap (it's 3 degrees as I type), to have warm soup to eat.

I'll tell you that I'm generally not one to believe that eating veggies fills me up. It's like telling me to drink water when I'm hungry — that's never worked for me. But the soup really has helped, and as I'm mostly eating shakes, bars and frozen dinners, it's really wonderful to eat something homemade. 

It's a matter of perspective, I think. Normally I'd turn up my nose at a cup of half-caf coffee — but after my first day of no caffeine, I decided weaning was the way to go. I add less than a tablespoon of fat-free half and half (which I confess isn't on my list of approved foods), and I'm good to go. Notice I didn't say "happy" or "content" — because that would be a lie. Normally, I love my caffeine, and I use a liberal amount of cream in my coffee. But I'll take "good to go." It moves me forward, and that's what this is all about.

3 comments:

  1. It amazes me how when I'm truly mindful about what I'm eating (and not eating) that a banana is one of the most delicious things. Although after my cleanse last year I couldn't get back to coffee fast enough, I've learned that good to go is often just enough.

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  2. Why do you have to keep a special diet leading up to surgery?

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    1. The pre-surgery diet goal is to lose a little weight. Apparently the first place you lose weight is your liver — and they have to hold up the liver to work on the stomach. Therefore, a slightly smaller liver makes the surgeon's job a little easier.

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