Comin' Round the Band: Days 1-3 Wrap Up

It's Friday night, 9:19 to be exact, and I have been hungry for three days! OMG you guys! I mean, I knew the liver shrinking diet was not going to be a cake walk (mmm cake...), but being constantly hungry and driving down "fast food row" every day and not stopping in is torture and seriously testing my will - one I didn't even know existed! Well trust me it does and it is fighting like a champ.

If I didn't fill you in on what exactly the liver shrinking diet it, it's a diet designed to force your body into starvation mode, causing your liver to use up it's glycogen stores, which will then cause it to shrink. Because the liver lays right over the stomach, it's a great thing for the surgery; not so much for my confused and empty tummy! I went from eating 2,000+ calories a day to eating less than 600 calories a day. WHAT?!

Here's a basic outline of the diet: 9 oz of protein 3 times a day, 2 servings of fruit, and 2 serving of vegetables (but really I eat about 4-6 servings of veggies since they're only veggies and per my dietitian this is fine). My day pans out like this: 6/6:30 AM 1/4c egg beaters, 1 egg white, 1 slice low fat sharp cheddar cheese, either 2 T salsa or 1/2c cooked yellow bell peppers, and a serving of fruit. Lunch time (around 12/12:30) is either two cups of mixed greens with 3 oz of fabulously cooked boneless/skinless chicken breast with 10-15 sprays of wishbone salad dressing spritzers or it's two lettuce roll ups with 5 ridiculously
thin slices of lunch meat per leaf and 1/2 a slice of low fat sharp cheddar cheese per leaf accompanied by another serving of veggie (like 1 cup raw carrots). Dinner, which is around 7, is 3 oz of chicken breast, 2 servings of veggies like 1/2c steamed broccoli and 1/2c cooked green beans, and 1 serving of fruit like half a large apple or 1/2c mango.

Don't get me wrong, each meal is actually pretty good, and I totally rocked my zucchini and peppers last night, but no meal ever satisfies my hunger. I drink water in between meals since it's supposed to help you feel full, but guess what, it doesn't. By the time I go to bed, which depends on how much homework I have (ps not a diet I recommend doing two weeks before finals!) I'm either so tired because of lack of food and just want to pass out or I'm so hungry that I can't sleep. I did find a little trick to help with that though: broth. One cup of hot, delicious chicken broth kind of tricks my stomach (or is it my brain) that it's full enough to shut up and let me sleep. :D

I have noticed today, however, that even thought I'm hungry it's not bothering me as much. I hope this trend continues so that maybe by surgery day I can be like "yeah I'm hungry but who gives a $@&#!"

On another note, I'm about to go make my self some dinner since I woke up late and didn't eat breakfast until 2:30 this afternoon! Like I said I think lack of food is making me sleepy... but hey sleepy is better than I-want-to-rip-off-every-person's-head-I-see. :D Below are my dinners from Wednesday and Thursday; yummy but small. :D

Stay safe, stay happy, stay hopeful,
Sleepy and Hungry signing off.