Dr. Pupkovas Pre-surgery diet..

What was everyone else's diet like that had Dr. Pupkova for a Surgeon? If anyone can remember what they were eating like a layout of what they were eating would be great. I am finding it hard to keep on the diet believe it or not...I am still learning what is good to eat and what is not. I have been eating ground turkey with lettuce and cheese...and just ground turkey...plus scrambled eggs...I am just still not portioning them out either...because I have no idea how much protein I am getting either...I have looked through the book to find some of them and well of course everything is not the same as your eating. so how do you know how much you are getting in protein when you are eating food? The diet is 2 meals a day with one shake as a meal...I have been doing that. I get in my one shake a day and the 2 meals. I am not sure if I am doing it right though and I  know I am choosing wrong foods at times. Like tonight....I LOVE CEREAL...ITS MY THING. I am used to eating cereal everday at least twice a day. I am finding it hard to give up  my cereal snack attack LOL.

Hi Denise,

I'm not remembering all the statistics of the pre-surg diet with Dr. P... BUT I do have a suggestion for helping you get "on track" with the portioning and understanding protein and such.

First - get yourself a little notebook of some kind that you can use as a food journal.  Make yourself 2 or 3 columns  (2 cols:  fat / protein  or 3 cols:  cals/fat/protein).  (personally, I like 3, even though at this point post-surg we're not supposed to be paying attention to the calorie part of this)

Second, get yourself a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons.  Keep them in the forefront as you're preparing your food.  You can also get a set of those Glad reusable containers (they're premeasured... 1/2 C and 1C containers with lids).  Get used to measuring things as you portion them out, which will help you train your eye for post-surg and the future.  I'm carrying empties of those containers with me right now if I'm out without taking my own food, so I can "measure" things in a restaurant, because I know I'm not a good judge and will lie to myself if I have the opportunity.

If you went through PATS, the nutritionist went over how to read the nutrition labels on food, but that doesn't help for the foods that don't come labeled, which is where I find it the toughest. 

BUT... use something like Daily Plate (www.livestrong.com, click on The Daily Plate - it's free) to find the protein and fat (and cal) content of the things you're considering eating.  There are thousands upon thousands of items there (brand names, store brands, etc.), so chances are you'll find something!  Is it a "component" dish like a casserole you've made?  You can calculate the nutrition of the casserole based on the components you've used, then divvy it up into appropriate portions (hint - stored in those Glad containers for easy pre-measured access!). 

So - some ideas of things that are good in that pre-surg time:  substitute egg beaters for whole eggs (you'll never know the difference), whole grain brown rice for white rice, ground beef is fine (and may be lower in fat than the turkey) IF you look for the 90/10 or 95/5 type (the number refers to meat vs fat, so 95/5 is 5% fat).  Look for lots of veggies, but find healthy (non deep fried) ways of cooking them (steam them, sautee them in a little olive oil, roast them in the oven, toss them on the grill).  Greek yogurt (Oikos is creamy, Fage is a little more like a ricotta cheese in texture) is fat free, low in calories, and high in protein... add it to some healthy choice chicken soup or stir it with fruit!  Chop some cucumbers and onions and mix it with the greek yogurt for a tzatziki sauce that's wonderful!  Grill a lean steak... lots and lots of ideas!

You'll get there. Just an adjustment!

Karen

Well..the cereal will have to go, at least for a time.  It's carbs...and you don't want to add them back in to early.  Way to easy to slip into old habits that way.

As far as how much protein you are getting...read the nutritional labels.  I believe most eggs are 6-7gm for a large egg.  Ground turkey....most poultry and meats have between 6-8gm of protein per ounce cooked.  The barix bible has it in there.  Get used to referring to that book.  There's a reason they call it the bible.  Because you live breathe and sleep with that book.  Read and reread it :)

As far as right now...just get used to eating every few hours...stay away from sugar, carbs if you can, caffeine etc

Hi--I didn't really have too much of a pre surgery diet--I went on liquids for two days before surgery but after PATs I tried to eat as much like a post op as possible.  Try to schedule your meals and try to hit your protein anliquids goals.  Follow the Barix Bible--it is a big help!!! Good luck!!

Laura

I live and die by nutrition labels and a food scale... I'd suggest you take time to really learn how to correctly read a food nutritional informational label and measure everything.  Especially after surgery you'll notice that what you think is a decent amount of food is actually less then what your body thinks.. you'll feel full so quickly that your perception gets skewed...  so it's important for getting all your protein in to know exactly what 3 oz. of chicken or turkey, etc. looks like.  I used to think I had eaten enough protein when in actuality I was only consuming about half of what I thought.  I'm 3.5 years post op and still use my food scale and read labels everyday.... no better time to start then now!  Good luck!

It's been two years, but as I recall, Dr. P didn't have a pre-surgery diet.  She just insisted you not gain weight from consultation to your surgery date.  I had a pretty healthy eating plan in the months I waited for my surgery date and actually lost about 9 pounds 

My pre surgery diet was liquids! EEEK.  If she didn't make you do it I wouldn't jump on that band wagon on my own.


However, I have to agree with everyone that measuring is the best way to track what you are actually eating.  It's best to pre measure or use contaniers where you know how much fits in them especially for time constraints.

I love livestrong.com too there are some other sites that you can use depending on what you eat regularly some sites are better than others. ( I personally found that everytime I had to find the nut info for an unlisted food, google pointed me to the daily plate ( livestrong.com) so i just went ahead and cut out the middle man.)

I remember being told no breads, potatoes or pasta and thought OMG end of world but I find that I am doing good without them I occassionally eat mashies (rarely) and dreamfields pasta.

I didn't have to diet. I just ate whatever I wanted and gained 7lbs. Bad bad idea. I second using a food scale, I'm only 5 months out but it really helps with portions.