I need to regroup

I am on day 4 of 14 pre-op diet.  I think I need to regroup and figure out a better plan.  I am always more hungry in the evening.  I judicially save calories for evenings whenever I have dieted in the past (oh so successfully, right?  Ha, not).  On the pre-op diet I can have up to 870 calories, made up of 3-4 shakes and a low carb meal (which they suggest a frozen meal such as Lean Cuisine).  I asked and was told if I have calories to spare I can have a salad.  I want to save my frozen meal until evening/dinner time.  But, stupidly, I also want to save a shake..."just in case" I am starving before bed.  Consequently, here it is 4:30 and I've had a coffee, one shake, and water today.  I am kind of past being hungry but I think I have given myself the headache I currently have.  I am very inclined towards headaches and migraines anyway.  So...I suppose this was bad planning.  Learn something new every day.  Twice this week I had the frozen meal for lunch and then more shake and salad in the evening, I was okay for the most part but hungry late in the evening.  I probably need to stop trying to horde my calories for later in the day. I need a better overall plan.  Anyone else have this issue?  How did you deal with it?  I am assuming once I get back to some real food it will be easier because I won't only be eating shakes that go right through you AND I will have the glory of the restriction.  Sigh...thoughts appreciated.

My program had a rule of no more than 6 hours between meals.  I'd suggest spreading your meals out a little more evenly to keep you more satisfied.

I actually find that if I am late for a meal, I get hungry again quickly, and it is actually harder to maintain my plan. I time-shifted my meals to be later in the day because I always get hungriest in the evenings.    So I try to eat at 10AM, 3PM and 7PM. It works for me.

best wishes,

Carol

I am 3months out and I remember the preop diet like yesterday lol. I would just recommend planning your meals(and Shakes) at the same time all through out the day, every day. So for example, breakfast at 8am, snack 10am, lunch 12pm, snack 3pm, dinner 6pm,or whatever times work best for you, and if you still have something left maybe a snack after dinner if you are absolutely starving. When I say eat I mean your shakes and everything you are supposed to be doing. Do this every day at the same times even if you aren't hungry at that moment it will keep you from having that starved feeling later and keep you from overeating or cheating. I eat my meals at certain times now and it helps tremendously and would be great for you to start practicing before surgery! The pre op diet is NOT easy and I feel your pain! Just remember that this whole hell is worth the outcome after. Good luck and I hope you find what works best for you!

Do you drink enough water?, that might help, besides you gotta drink enough water anyway everyday. I'm still working on it. It's a good idea to spread your meals thru out your day so you're not starving at night. I remember the pre-op diet & I couldn't have any food, only liquids for 20 days so I feel your pain. Do you drink thick or thin protein shakes? I found the thicker ones filled me up for a longer period of time than the thinner ones., ditto for thicker soups. Good luck you'll be on the losers bench in no time!

I eat every 3-4 hours. I'm on the all liquid 14-day pre-op diet. I get hungriest at lunchtime, and drink a 40g protein Isopure drink, whereas I have a 20g protein Muscle Milk in the morning and at night. I'm surprised they told you Lean Cuisine is low carb. When I first met with my doctor and told them I ate those for lunch everyday, they told me that was the #1 thing I was doing wrong. Those dishes are usually a small amount of protein over pasta or rice. You easily can get 20-35g of carbs and less than 10g of protein in those meals. I know they're easy, but you're probably better off eating some lean white meat, fish, eggs, etc., especially if you find you're hungry all the time. Maybe you might want to try spacing out your meals a bit, that way you don't allow yourself to ever get too hungry to the point that you get a headache/feel ill. Best of luck! Food isn't always the enemy - it's fuel for your body.

have a shake for breakfast and lunch and mid afternoon snack. Have lean protein and non starchy vegetables or salad  with meat on it for dinner and the fourth shake at bedtime.

spacing out your meals will serve you better.

GL

Thank you all for the input, I totally appreciate it. I guess I misspoke about the low carb frozen meal, I meant that the overall total carbs for the day are low and supposed to help with the liver shrinking issue.  I am definitely going to work hard on not feeling like I need to horde calories for late in the day. I probably create my intense evening hunger because I save too many for evening. Vicious cycle.  I am going to spread them evenly over the day like you guys suggested, and shift them a bit later like Carol talked about.  I think today will go better. Extra challenge today being home and not work. 

One of the things they taught us is when you are feeling hungry at night you should stop and think about your hunger.  A lot of unnecessary eating happens at night.  I did my preop diet a few weeks ago and struggled with hunger at night, but I don't think it was real hunger.  I just really wanted to eat stuff at night.  I was getting plenty of calories and protein through my shakes and veggies.  After surgery, I still get it a little but it is getting easier to quiet.  Good luck with your diet and surgery!

I ended up eating my meal at lunch.  I just seemed to do better.  When I tried to keep it for dinner, it was much harder for me.