How To Make Opti-Fast Chicken Soup More Palatable

Being on Opti-Fast for my pre-op diet has been somewhat rough.  I started out not minding the chicken soup mix, but that quickly got old and yucky.  I didn't have a lot of choices for my meals, and unfortunately I had to eat one soup per day.

I've been experimenting to try to make the soup more palatable.  I would highly recommend making sure you get your water very hot--warm chicken soup is way worse than hot soup.  Here are some flavoring suggestions:

• Lowry's seasoned salt & pepper along with chili powder, then I went crazy with the cumin.  I figure you can never have too much cumin!
• Soy sauce & ginger (and maybe some red pepper flakes if you like spice)
• Curry powder & ginger
• Garlic powder & onion powder
• Bacon & onion seasoning

I find that I'm better off with really fragrant spices--it helps disguise the taste!  You really almost can't go wrong with seasonings.  I tried to pick things that "went" with chicken.  I think the curry & the cumin mixes did the best for me.

I will be sooooooo glad when I am past the pre-op diet!

Sugar-Free Popsicles Rock My World!

I had to run to the store today for some things for my son and I was glancing at my shopping list for my post-op food in case there was anything I could go ahead and buy.  I mentioned casually to my husband that there really wasn't much I could stock up on--if I bought sugar-free popsicles, there's no way they would last until my surgery.  I meant my son would eat them all, but my husband asked if there was any reason I couldn't eat sugar-free popsicles right now.  I think they should be fine--no sugar, no carbs... they have 15 calories each.

So as long as I don't go crazy with them... I think they should be fine.

And let me just say that eating a popsicle makes me so happy.  I'm so tired of the same food over and over.  This helps me just a little bit!  Yay!

Pre-Op Testing Appointment

So one of the hurdles you have to jump through prior to bariatric surgery is a pre-op appointment.  There are different requirements depending on insurance and on your surgeon.  My appointment went like this...

First, I met with someone who got my information and i.d.--if I had been using insurance that would have been part of it too.

Part two was to meet with the pre-op nurse.  We went through what I need to do the night before and the morning of surgery.  She talked a little about the recovery room and what the overnight and release would be like.

Part three was to have my ekg, blood work and urine sample.  I'm a total ninny when it comes to needles so the build up to that was not so awesome, but overall things went very smoothly.

Part four was to meet with the hospital dietitian.  We really just went over the information that my surgeon's office had already given me.  I didn't really learn anything new here.

Part five was a chest x-ray.

Then we had a bit of time to kill before I had to see a physician at another clinic to get my surgical clearance.  Luckily they were able to see me a little early.

And...  that's it.  I'm cleared for the surgery!  No more hurdles.  Now I just stay on the pre-op diet and count down the days until my surgery!

Pre-Op Diet Continues

I meant to post something briefly yesterday (day four of the diet), but I was tired so I skipped it.

But what I wanted to say was that things got easier yesterday.  I woke up feeling pretty good.  I went through the day with no headaches and no hunger.  I did feel a little bit queasy last night before bed, so I'm not sure what was up with that.

I had my pre-op testing appointment today, but I will talk about that tomorrow.  So far today has been good.  I'm actually feeling very slightly hungry right now, but I'm also late eating my protein bar.  So I will go ahead and log so I can eat!