I think I have conquered the liquid diet! (for all of you suffering through it)

Hi All,

I am at the end of day 4 of a pre-op 1,200 calorie liquid diet, before I have RNY on Monday, December 16th.  After a week off for Thanksgiving, and a smorgasborg of food for Thanksgiving, I had a Chipotle burrito the size of my head on Sunday night, and began my liquid diet on Monday.  

Monday was extremely painful.  I had a few shakes, they tasted like crap, I craved carbs, I craved savory things...I felt sorry for myself :) And then I thought about the life change I am about to embark on, and how the surgery would be most successful if I am at the lowest possible weight, and how my stomach needs to be smaller and my liver too, in order for my doctor to have an ideal situation.

So, I set about figuring out the best shakes and snacks to get me through this month, really.  I know I am not going to chew in the month of December.  This will, of course, vary by person.  This is just my two cents :)

(And for the record I have lost 7 lbs in 4 days!!!).

1. I can do some sweet shakes but not many.  As far as pre-packaged, I like Believe Mocha Latte.  They come in a 12-pack from bariatriceating.com and are very inconvenient to take to work or to an appointment.

2. For protein powders, I have found that if I make a decaf coffee in my Keurig, and add Inspire Caramel Latte and a shot of sugar-free salted caramel Torani syrup, I feel like it's the coffee I used to drink (with creamer).  You can even add a splash of skim milk to make it look milky.

3. SAVORY SAVORY SAVORY.  I crave salt and all things savory!  I found UNJURY chicken soup flavored protein powder THANK GOD.  It's pretty good.  I bought 3 containers on amazon.com

4. More savory.  I also bought Miner's chicken soup stock (15 calories per cup) on amazon.com - its is hands down my favorite chicken stock.  Then I add a scoop of Isopure pure unflavored protein shake mix.  It mixes even into hot soup (not boiling, but warmer than tepid)

5. Shakes in general.  I bought the shakes book by Bariatric Foodie on amazon.com and it has SAVED MY LIFE!  Sounds dramatic for 4 days in, but her belief is that you don't have to hate your shakes and choke them down, and so she shares recipes and tips and tricks.  For example if you shake up skim milk and a scoop of Inspire Dutch Chocolate protein powder in a container (what I was initially doing) - YUCK.  But she taught me that if you blend it for 2 minutes it's thicker than blending for 1 minute.  And if you add a shot of sugar-free Torani chocolate syrup and 5 ice cubes - you have something DELICIOUS!

So just in case any of you are on a liquid diet, feeling kinda bummed, and choking down your prescribed shakes, maybe this will help you.

Also, sugar-free jello (10 calories), sugar-free pudding (60 calories), 0% Chobani greek yogurt and 2% cottage cheese...well, let's just say they are my new favorite foods.

Good luck all of you and I will continue to lurk on here and learn from you all.  Thanks for all the advice and sharing.  I love to read how people feel a few days after surgery, 2 weeks after, pics, insights, people who are maintaining, etc.  It's helpful beyond what you can know!

:)

You can pump up the savory of theChicken Soup protein with a few drops of picante sauce, too.

I got sick of the sweet stuff pretty early on and the Unjury Chickenn soup with hot sauce saved me!!