Today is Day 26 of the pre-surgical Optifast diet.  Holy shit.

If you had asked me 26 days ago that I would be capable of going 26 days without eating food I would have thought it were an impossible task that I was likely incapable of.  The truth of the matter is I thought I would totally flake out and have a few cheats along the journey but aside from one accidental spoon taste of sauce when I was cooking spaghetti sauce for my family I have managed to make it here to-day freaking 16.  I feel invincible.  When I think that the good majority of people who do the Optifast diet only have to do it for two weeks it astounds me that I have managed to make it nearly four weeks so far.  I am a bloody rock star!!

So far depending on the scale and what type of mood it is in I have lost about 20-23 pounds so far during the Optifast phase which is awesome considering the fact that it’s only been 26 days!  I feel really happy to say that (even though Optifast isn’t about the weight loss but rather the liver fixin) because I had a horrible start out of the gate with Optifast.  It took me about 11 days of near starvation before I finally realized that I was allergic to the preservative in the vanilla Optifast and needed to stop it but so far with the chocolate I have managed to survive.  The saving grace for me was going against the advice of everyone and NOT blending the drinks!  The easiest way has been just 6 ice cubes, lots of cold water, chocolate optifast, and shake shake shake!! Optifast has been a hard swift kick in the ass for me and some days I have managed just 1 or 2 shakes plus broth and sugar-free jello but on other days I’ve been able to get three of them down and those have been the days that I feel the best.  My goal for the next three days is to get 3 shakes in a day for the next 3 days leading up to surgery so that I am all rejuvenated and full of calories going into my surgery!  Game on!!

Since I last blogged about my experiences I have visited the hospital and had my pre-operative assessment where I was poked and prodded and visited by three Christmas spirits…ummm I mean visited with the pharmacist, nurse, and anesthetist. I have to say the highlight of the 3.5 hour hospital visit was the wonderful test for MRSA that included arm pit, groin, and nasal swabs plus a swab down through the old butt crack.  Lovely!  Once the pre-op assessment was over I felt like this was finally it!  A year of waiting was finally coming to an end and in 4 days it is finally my turn at last!

Just got back from a trip to Costco where I picked up the last of my vitamins and some Premier Protein shakes!  Stocked the fridge with some post-surgery essentials like soups, applesauce, and greek yogurt and am now getting ready to make some dinner for the family!

Here is what my post-surgical vitamin is going to look like! Just adding this at the end in case anyone is interested!

Breakfast – 1 BA ADEK Multivitamin (this pill has no iron in it) & BA 500mg Chocolate Calcium with D3

Lunch -  1 BA ADEK Multivitamin (this pill has no iron in it) & BA 500mg Chocolate Calcium with D3

Dinner – 2 FeraMAX Polysaccharide-Iron Complex or 2 Proferrin Heme Iron Supplement.

I plan to take my B12 via a once monthly injection from my doctor.