Robyn Owens-Miille

Take some Vick's VapoRub for under your nose. No cadaver smells!

I always have a Quest bar, a single serve baggy of beef jerky and crystal light in my purse.

I cook up stuff on the weekend- turkey meatballs, boil eggs, cook meats in the crock pot, make egg face's protein bites, granola, etc,

You can always buy many healthy items pre-made. They are just going to cost you a bit more.

My surgeon said it's all about not tearing open your suture lines. He about had a stroke when I said i was making my own soups and blending them mostly smooth (this was 9 days post-op). He said very sternly "they must be completely smooth, no lumps at all." I just said, "yes, sir" and kept on doing what I was doing.

Now, that being said, there is someone on one of the other boards that had a leak develop at 3 weeks post-op, possibly because of too much too fast.

Just be careful... at the first hint of pain, stop. Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew.

So lighten up the calories in that hamburger- make it with 1/2 very lean ground turkey, add some finely chopped veggies to it, etc to make it seem just as filling but have less calories and fat. Play with your food and figure out how to convince your body that you're getting the volume without all the calories. The more you can break this food addiction now, the better you will do post-op.

I'm a volume girl (or was) so I understand. I'm glad I didn't have to wait the 6 months (I did my surgery privately) because I think I would have gone crazy. The 9 day cold-turkey, protein shake & sugar free liquids only diet was a b*tch. But, I made it and now I'm on the other side.

Good luck to you.