The little things

I believe that the little things add up to big success.  I know this has been true in my professional life, so I’m betting the same will be true as I begin preparing for surgery next month.  Here are some little things I have done to ensure that I’ll be successful once my surgeon’s done his part–the easy part.

My part after the surgery will be the hard part.  To get ready for this, I have been:

• Throwing out all the flour, sugars, rice, pasta, cereal–anything loaded with carbs.  If it’s not in the house, I won’t eat it.  Just trying to remove the temptation.  Doing this has also been cathartic in a way.
• Chewing foods into a paste before swallowing them.  As my dietician said, “If you can’t make it a paste, spit it out.  Your stomach won’t be able to churn it to mash it up so you have to do all the work in your mouth.”
• Trying out the vitamins my dietician gave me at our appointment last week–they’re not awful.
• Slowly weaning myself off caffeine.
• Trying to listen to my belly when it is about 80% full, not 110% full.
• Working hard at not drinking while I eat.
• Attending support group meetings at the hospital.  This has been really helpful as I am learning a lot of behavioral modifications that I have been making and will continue to make once I’ve had surgery.

I also:

• Bought a hardback journal to start documenting food, water, vitamin intake, mood and exercise so that I can take it to my doctor’s appointments.  I also plan to jot down my weight weekly as well as print a photo to go into it each week, starting with the first week of the pre-op diet.
• Bought decaf tea to mix with plain protein powder.
• Bought plain protein powder.
• Bought baby spoons to practice eating smaller bites with.
• Met with my dietician to discuss pre- and post-op eating plans.  She was impressed that I’ve got the water drinking and vitamin supplementation down already.

Next week’s plan is to:

• Per pending doctor’s orders, start the pre-op diet.  Beginning it earlier can’t hurt, and will help me more in the long run, I think.
• Try out different combinations of mushy foods so I can find things I like.
• Restart using MyFitnessPal and getting support from friends there.
• Post the pre- and post-op eating plans up on our refrigerator so I am mindful of them at all times.

I am terrified of surgery, but I’m even more scared to fail afterward.  Hopefully all these little things will add up to make a big difference.