The head hunger is strong

It's very "grainy" and has a bad after taste. Blech. But I do like mixing things with it. The puree's that makes sense. I read the center's manual last night again and was feeling bad for not pre-making puree's before I started opti because I certainly can't cook a roast or chicken now or I'd eat it but it said to make them before surgery and freeze for readily available. You have at least made me feel better that I didn't do that.

I did buy a bunch of Premier Protein because I like it now and got the flavours in the states you can't get here. I figured it would be easy to re-sell online if my tastes change too much and I can't stomach it as people might want something different here to try.

It's now day 5, and although I'm not really physically hungry, I'd give my eye teeth for something to chew on, at least for me the people at work are supportive, although I keep looking at all the buns on the kitchen counter....Jello is not a great substitute for chew food, last night I kept thinking a piece of celery couldn't hurt?

It's true how strong the need to actually eat something is eh? When I looked up the nutrition info on a skinless boneless chicken breast I was like well it's half the fat, calories and no sugar so it is actually better than the shake! But I'm trying to stay away from it in case it causes me to want to eat more. It is on my brain though!

In Hamilton we are allowed to eat celery, green peppers and lettuce while on OPTI. As far as purée stage I have no idea. I'm hoping my body will tell me.

I keep telling myself it's not like I'm going to be able to eat anything afterwards for a while, so this is good preparation for the liquid diet stage.

Ugh!! I'd kill for some lettuce and celery. Could make a little "salad".

If you like tea I discovered apple cinnamon herbal tea with a few splendas. I've never had it before but got one at Tim Hortons today and it was soooo good that I grabbed a box at Walmart. A little something different and felt like a treat.

Congrats on making it to day 4. I know 3 weeks is a long time; I had 3 weeks too. I tried to look at one day at a time.

For me, I found the head hunger was worse when it was almost time for my next Opti. My brain was just sending images of foods to make me go eat it. It wasn't sending me imaged of opti because it was used to all of the other things. Once I ate my opti, the head hunger died down for a few hours.

I crocheted or stitched plastic canvas while watching netflix, or played video games to distract myself.

I relied heavily on Youtube during Opti; I watched people who've gone through weight loss surgery from start to finish and watching them change from pre op to post op throughout their journeys really helped me a lot. I learned a lot too.

Whenever head hunger hit, I also focused on how good and how much healthier I was going to feel as the weight came off. I visualized the scales going down, shopping for smaller sizes, so much that it felt real. I planned an overnight bike camping trip right down to all of the things I'd need to buy for it, when still at my heaviest weight and unable to walk for 10 minutes never mind haul gear for 60 km on my bike. That really helped me a lot and kept me motivated.

The actual bike camping trip was amazing when I was able to do it last summer. I even had enough energy to go swimming after the long bike ride and setting up my tent. When I first planned it on Opti, I couldn't even climb the stairs without needing my asthma rescue inhaler.

You've got this. You can do it.

I'm generally not hungry when thinking of chicken I just have really, really convinced myself that it would be a perfectly good substitute so I'm day dreaming of it lol. I too am trying to think just about getting through that day.

I haven'****ched youtube, I might take a look at some!

Congrats on the bike trip, that's amazing!! I am a traveller and I cannot wait to do things like zip lining, scuba and hikes that I've avoided due to weight worries. Keeping focus on that is what will help me through the bumps in the road.

I am pre-op but I wanted to suggest trying some Metamucil. I asked the dietitian at TWH and she said it would be fine to take while I am on the pre-op diet. However, you should ask your clinic if you can have it.

Good luck and hang in there - you've got this!