Pre-op diet before surgery and to stop snacking at night

Hi

My surgery team has asked me to start my 1000 cal. diet before surgery to see if i'm motivated.  I am a night eater.  So I started my 6 small meals High in protein and hydrate, hydrate. I allow myself to have some popcorn before bed. the first couple of nights where not bad. But, the third night i was so mad at myself i laid in bed Crying I was so hungry or just wanted to eat. Because I knew I could. that stinken thinken.  What did you do to stick with the pre-diet before surgery?  How did you stay on the lower cal. diet before surgery? and the night-time snacking?  Any help would be great!

Keep a drink with you at all times! Get a big water bottle and a bunch of sugar-free/calorie-free options like Mio, Crystal Light, and SF Kool Aid. You may be dehydrated-- not actually hungry-- and getting used to lots of fluid is a good habit to get into pre-op.

I agree with Debi79 to carry plenty of water with you and have Crystal Light type products available to give you flavor.  I would also recommend eating smaller meals throughout the day.  It is wise for them to require you to do this pre-op to show that you are committed to working the program.

It is better for me to have a protein snack at night (low fat string cheese and5 or 6 wheat thins is about 100 calories).

Honestly, popcorn would set me up for wanting more carbs.....not all calories are equal and snarky carbs make me want more snacks carbs.

Then, I brush, floss, gargle to have a really fresh mouth .... I turn off the lights and close the kitchen.

After that, it is water only.

I'm a night time snacker too. The days I am successful are when I make a plan for the day whi*****ludes my snacks for the evening such as:  chocolate protein bar,  1 oz of nuts, 1 oz of cheddar cheese with 4-5 saltines, sugar free Popsicles, no sugar added fudgsickles, peanut butter on 4-5 saltines. So I pick 2 of these and spread it out over the evening. And after that I drink crystal light and or flavored teas. Good luck!

Night snacking is/was a big problem for me and something I knew would be one of the first things I had to address.  I'm 4 months into my 6 month pre-surgery program, and here's what has worked recently for me:

--Like you mentioned, I went to bed super grumpy several times. It was just a reality.  I was mad that I couldn't have whatever goodie was in the pantry/go out for an ice cream/etc., and I know I was not always pleasant about it!  Sometimes I just had to go upstairs and go to bed to get away from the downstairs/kitchen.  Wake up the next day, and it's over, and over the past few weeks, I think a feeling of accomplishment is taking over some of those feelings of deprivation.  The urgency/anxiety/mood swing feelings have subsided over the past couple of months, and I really am having success with this issue. It's getting better. It will get better for you, too!

--I have looked for sugar free Popsicle and identified the stores with the best selection.  Maybe later I won't be so liberal with them, but for now, I'm allowing it to be a little flavor and icy crunch in the evening.

--I have my water with me all the time.  I try to drink at least 2 40 oz bottles/day, so in the evening sometimes I might still be trying to finish the 2nd one.  If so, I spend my time drinking, maybe adding some crystal light to it. 

--Sometimes I have activities at night and don't get home until late in the evening.  On those nights when I'm still wide awake so late, I do have something before bed - a cheesestick and a few bites of chicken or something similar. It's not a carb snack - it's protein to deal with the hunger I'm feeling after a really long day.

Hoping these habits are setting me up for success later. 1000 sounds pretty low for the pre-op learning time. That seems like a pretty high test of motivation and like it could set you up to feel like you're failing before you even get started.  But that said, it's not far off from what I'm trying to do.  I seem to land around 1300 for a day - a drastic difference from what had to be 3000+ per day before I started tracking everything.  Big changes for all of us, I guess!