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How do you cope with cooking for your family especially while only on liquids? I've just started the process & am nervous about when it's time to go on liquids. I don't have a surgery date yet. How will I cook for my family & then just sit & drink my dinner? Please tell me how you handled this?

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This was not a problem for me. I, like you, thought this was going to be a terrible situation.

Not so much.

Because I have not been hungry. I have heard and read where people have head hunger and that it is pretty tough.

I cook for them and move on. It doesn't bother me not one single bit. Don't set yourself up for failure. BE STRONG!!! ;)

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Thanks abetterme4.2! I'm setting myself up, aren't I? Altho, I meant pre-surgery liquid diet? I'm hoping after surgery, I won't care what I'm cooking but before surgery....you know, when I'll be hungry & then get to drink a Protein Drink or Water instead of chomping down on real food? I'll have to be on liquids for a week & then Clear Liquids the day prior to surgery. Wish we had the $$$ to tell them to go out to dinner each night! Haha!

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It is very very hard presurgery and I would cook and then leave the room for that time period. After being sleeved, doesn't bother me one bit.

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Thanks abetterme4.2! I'm setting myself up' date=' aren't I? Altho, I meant pre-surgery liquid diet? I'm hoping after surgery, I won't care what I'm cooking but before surgery....you know, when I'll be hungry & then get to drink a Protein drink or Water instead of chomping down on real food? I'll have to be on liquids for a week & then clear liquids the day prior to surgery. Wish we had the to tell them to go out to dinner each night! Haha! [/quote']

OOOOHHH....

Pre-op sucked butt. Lol

Honestly, 2 of my kids decided to "support" me and drank Protein shakes at dinner with me. Otherwise, they ate regular meals (at school, breakfast) thank goodness they were at school. If they wanted legitimate dinners, my husband would take them out so I wouldn't be subjected to it. Lmao.

In the evenings I could have a salad with a lean Protein. I would get a huge salad from Jason's deli with protein. I mean I loaded that sucker up with spinach, lettuce, egg whites...veggies I never even heard of.

And at one point, I wanted to punch my husband in the face. I didn't act on it, just told him I wanted to and he left me alone for a little bit. :)

Again, post-op, it hasn't bothered me one bit. We just went on a short spring break vacation and we ate out for dinner at super fabulous restaurants and I wasn't tempted at all. They ate, I may have opted for Soup (their appetizer) and eat a couple of bites and I was done. It's definitely cheaper. :)

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I thought the same way and them I started telling myself "KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE" I had surgery on 2/19 I have cooked almost every night and yes I want to sample but I keep saying to myself is this bite worth it??? Then I tell myself nope and move on. I hope you find something that helps you get thru it. The weight loss for be is so much more important than a bite or drink of anything there is out there. :}

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Thanks ladies! I just knew it was going to be a problem. So I suppose those Protein Drinks don't make you feel full (pre-surgery liquid diet)? Ohhhhh mannn....I'm in B.I.G. trouble!!! :unsure:

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I crockpot. This way it's cooked, they can eat and I sit in the other room. Lately I'm ok with sitting with them talking.

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How do you cope with cooking for your family especially while only on liquids? I've just started the process & am nervous about when it's time to go on liquids. I don't have a surgery date yet. How will I cook for my family & then just sit & drink my dinner? Please tell me how you handled this?

Will power is like a muscle the more you use it the stronger it gets...

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For me it was mind over matter. I knew dinner time would not be the only temptation. The week of my pre op liquid diet the cupcakes made the rounds during a meeting and stopped right in front of me - for an hour and a half! The next day I resisted a free boxed lunch from Panera during a seminar. Each morning as I packed my kiddos lunches I used a napkin to wipe the smudges of PB&J off my fingers instead of my mouth. Don't get me wrong. It was hard. I nearly cried on taco night. But I just kept telling myself that the pre op diet was a test to see if I could hack it with the eating plan post op. I vowed not to fail. I am tired of failing when it comes to my weight.

The Sunday prior to surgery I made about a months worth of meals for my family and froze them. While my hubs gets the meals ready and the family eats I'm going for a walk. But honestly, I'm 3 days post op and could care less about food at this point. Remember that the pre op liquid diet is harder than post op. If it gets too hard while making dinner us there someone else who could cook a few meals for your family?

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I crockpot. This way it's cooked, they can eat and I sit in the other room. Lately I'm ok with sitting with them talking.

Now that's a good idea! Thanks!

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Will power is like a muscle the more you use it the stronger it gets...

Well, if I had ANY will power, I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place, so that's a dead muscle to me! :(

I do like you're reasoning tho.

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I cried everyday! Haha jk but it was tough preop. You just get through it and remember why you're doing it. Soon it will be a distant memory.

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I am worried about the same thing....dinner is when we sit and talk about our day, etc. that's just gonna have to change for a couple of weeks.

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Anniemay it doesn't have to change. I bring my Protein Shake to the dinner table and now I'm starting to have a little food with my family. If I can't have what they're eating I just have something that is leftover. Dinner time is precious time for us, I wouldn't change that because I can't eat what they are. Just my thought.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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