Hard Time with Restricted Diet

I started my 2 weeks liquid/ restricted diet on Monday and it has been HELL! I do really well during the day, but the first night I stopped for Japanese food and then last night I had ice cream and then Cheez-Its. The good new is those were the last things left in my house to tempt me; however, I don't know if I can do this for another 11 days! I will take any ass-chewing, suggestions, information- ANYTHING to get to September 29th! And I know the whole 'you've got to do it- no one can do it for you'/ 'put your mind on something else when you get tempted' / 'keep your eye on the prize'- I know all that- but the last 2 nights I have been truly HUNGRY! HELP!

I totally feel for you. I only had to do one week of full liquids, but it about killed me.  The 3rd day in I just about gave up, food wise and emotionally --  thinking if it was this bad already, what was it going to be like AFTER surgery??  If it wasn't for my husband there to give me a pep talk, I would have blown it.  But don't!!  It is so worth it.  It will keep you healthy and safe during surgery.  I had a weakness on the 4th day and had a small bite of chicken and luckily everything was fine, but I felt so guilty after doing it.  The surgeon even remarked after surgery that I did such a good job sticking to the diet and how much it helped.

You've come this far and it's only days away!  You don't want to ruin it or take a chance of an open surgery.  YOU CAN DO IT!!

Yo Yankee,

I'm on a protein liquid diet also...my surgery is scheduled for 9/30. I started my diet on Tuesday and I've survived the cravings by staying out of the house (visiting relatives, working, doctor's appt) from morning till night. I am sick of protein drinks...some are tasty but others are terrible...I went to 4 different stores to get a variety to see which ones were the best. Which ones are you drinking? I was also told I could have sugar free popsicles and sf jello, which helps. Maybe we can do this together.....

Hey, I'll be there with you soon.  I start my liquid diet this Sat.!  We'll get through it together!

OMG, I so know what you are speaking of.  I"m on day ten of my 14 day liquid diet.  For some reason Cheez it got in the way me and my protein as well.  Got to the point i had to send then out of my home.  I realize this is on of the hardest thing i have had to do in my life.  The first day was agony, then this past monday i was crying because i felt so bad, but now that it is coming to a end i don't even get hungry anymore.  So it does get easier.  Remember why you are doing all of this, for a healthier you.  As hard as this is i'm glad they are asking us to do because i schrinks our liver which in turn makes on surgery go better.  Plus, i think it is a test to see how bad we really want this lifestyle change. I just figure if it going to make the surgery less complicated i'm for it. 
What funny is some of my family members have decided to do the liquid diet with me.  Strange very strange, but i do appreciate the support. 
I promise it does get better, and food will not mean as much to you come next week. 

Lisa

Howdy Y'all,
    This is how I did it....  I just kept thinking about my doctor who said if he gets in there and my liver hasn't shrunk, he had to just close and not do the surgery.  A lot of the whole only shakes thing is to get your liver to shrink, so think about going in there, getting put under, cut open, then... whoops, not good enough.  Closed up and having to try again in another month.

    I don't mean to be grosse, but that's what kept me going.  Also, I had a Sugar Free Chocolate Fudge Popsickle before I ate anything I was craving.  The week before surgery I couldn't have the chocolate; so instead, I had SF Strawberry Popsickles.  They weren't as good, but they took a while to eat and by the time I was done, I was usually better.

     I hope this helped a bit.

Hang in there!  God Bless you!!

Maranathas

Our nutrionist told us that if the Dr. got in there and found any kind of undigested food that should not be there that they would close us up and cancel the surgery.  Tnat and the fact that we had to go in after one week on the diet and get weighed and have a pre-op check up was enough to keep me on the straight and narrow. 
Good luck and try harder drink lots of water put your favorite crystal light in it it all helps.  You will live even though you are not sure now.
Judy

hELLO! BOY, can I ever relate. I was on the liquid diet for one month. I did everything I could to find something to sink my teeth into. Finally decided to make Knox Blox with sugar free jello and pure geletin. that really helped. The two weeks before the surgery were the worst. AFter the surgery, your appetite will be much different, so it's not nearly as difficult.  Once you have to switch to clear liquids, for me it was 3 days before the surgery, I bought the clear liquid drinks from GNC that are 40gm. of protein. That helps so much! It's called Isopure. After the surgery, I still drink it daily, because I too got tired of the powdered protein. Are you trying all the different kinds of low fat cream soups that are legal? They help too. Simply drinking broth inbetween "meals" was a good pick me up. don't give up! It gets SOOOO much better!
Carole

Just wanted to thank all of you for chiming in with your advice. As of today I have lost 7 lbs on the diet. I switched to the EAS pre-made shakes and bought some Isopure from GNC- that helped a lot. The hardest part was getting the formula together that allowed me 90-100 grams of protein, 1300 calories and under 100 grams of carbs- that was the hard part b/c I was done 'eating' by 4 or 4:30 every afternoon. I had to skip the cream soups b/c there were too many carbs and not enough protein. So I just do the 3 shakes/day and Isopure in between. I have my SF 60-cal pudding and carb control yougurt for sustinence. I will be soooooo glad when these 2 weeks are over! Thanks again to you all!