So on Monday it will have been two weeks since having my gallbladder removed. I guess the operation itself is called a cholecystectomy (koh-luh-sis-TEK-tuh-me), but that's hard to remember and even harder to spell so forgive me if I just refer to it as gallbladder surgery.
This week I continued to focus on diet and rest, so I thought I'd talk a little bit about my new diet. The plant based whole foods thing hasn't been too difficult to stick with. I'll probably add meat back in, but wanted to really give my system a chance to heal the first couple weeks. I think my stomach shrunk a little bit as I really wasn't all that hungry the first week after the operation, but I'm slowly gaining my appetite back.
Typically I'll eat some kind of cereal for breakfast. I like old-fashioned oatmeal and bite-sized shredded wheat. A little bit of Stevia sprinkled on top makes it taste pretty good. I tried switching to decaf coffee based on the dietary recommendations from my doc, but it just tastes awful to me right now. Haven't had real coffee in two weeks. Might have to break down and try some of the regular just to see if my system can handle it.
I'm a big fan of my NutriBullet, so I'll make myself a NutriBlast for a mid morning snack. I fill the cup with kale and/or spinach, frozen fruit, a few pieces of frozen avocado, a little chia and/or flaxseed, protein powder and water, and blend it until it's smooth. I know, I know, protein powder isn't exactly a whole food. Last week I was making my smoothies without the protein powder, but like I said, my appetite is ramping up, and the extra protein helps the smoothie stick with me longer. Right now I'm using Vega protein powder, so at least I'm sticking with the plant based thing.
For lunch it varies. I've done vegetable soups. I'll add one of those microwaveable pouches of rice to the soup to help it stick with me a little longer. Robin made me a bunch of spaghetti and saved it in individual Tupperware containers. Those were pretty nice, but didn't stick with me quite as long as some of the other things I've been eating. I've made myself some burritos with whole grain rice, beans, and hummus to help them stick together. And I've done peanut butter sandwiches on 100% whole wheat bread. I know I'm supposed to go easy on the fats, but so far the plant based fats like peanut butter and avocado don't seem to be giving me any problems.
I'll do another NutriBlast for a snack in the afternoon, and then I'll eat whatever Robin feels like cooking for dinner. So far I've been replacing the meat with a black bean burger patty, which by the way tastes surprisingly good!
All in all the diet is going well. I'm getting plenty of nutrition, but I take a multi-vitamin I'm able to eat until I'm full on a regular basis and still lose weight. So far I'm down 10 lbs. We'll see where it levels out at.
