Day 2 of 7: Colonoscopy Prep., Vegan Style

 It seems these days that nothing is out of bounds when it comes to documenting one's experience of anything. Doesn't seem to matter how trivial or important that experience is so long as it is either recorded and published via a video or a still picture or a carefully crafted written work. Everything is fair game. In the spirit of that no-limits approach and nothing-is-too-boring approach, I will be documenting my experience. It's not just any experience, mind you. It's the experience of a vegan/plant centered person and it's mine! I will be writing for the full seven days about what is working and what isn't. I hope you will follow along and maybe at the same time, I can provide some useful information. 

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I woke up way too early this morning. I am very anxious and already feeling a little ill from nerves and not eating enough. My tendency is to experience stress a little belatedly, after the fact. Right now though, I am in the thick of it and experiencing it in real time. I am worried about eating too much and having a hard time with the colon prep regimen. It's a real concern. During the day I normally only drink about 16-20 ounces of water. (I am not including coffee or "water" from fruits and vegetables here.) I am very nervous about the 64 ounces of Gatorade that I will need to drink. To cope, I am trying to visualize how happy I will be when the doctor tells me that my colon is as clean as a whistle! Trying, trying.

My hardest meal right now is breakfast. Normally, I eat my meal over the course of several hours. Generally I have some toast (varied grains) with flax on top, a warm grain dish with almond milk and raisins, and then a banana smoothie with brown rice protein powder. I may have some nuts in there too at some point. This is over the course of the morning as I mentioned and I eat lunch at 11AM. With a low fiber diet, I am at a bit of a loss for breakfast. The white bread toast with almond butter and smoothie with protein isn't cutting it. Not sure yet what to do. Should have bought those frozen waffles. Sigh:(

Today (Thursday) I will be trying some things that I hope will help with my hunger and blood sugar control. I was a little low yesterday which I think was contributing to some discomfort. I was also hungry fairly often so I may have to step this up a bit.

1. I will be eating a bit more and earlier, before getting hungry. (Testing of course to see where I am.) Better to stay ahead of the curve. I didn't try a cream-of-white rice with cinnamon idea but I think I may do that for Friday.

2. I am going to add a little more protein powder to my smoothie today. It's brown rice protein powder with no fiber so I think this should be OK.

3. Today I am also making some seitan. Yesterday's post mentioned eating this protein to help with satiety. It's also possible that I just might eat the tofu I have open. Feeling a little lazy I guess.

4. From my experience yesterday, I would say that if you can, have some prepared food on hand. Mashed potatoes, well cooked green beans and carrots, sweet potato, carrot and squash soup, and smoothies have all come in handy so far. I also have pumpkin muffins made with white flour frozen and ready to go. I would also suggest some crackers or pretzels and a very good gluten free bread, if it has permissible ingredients. 

I don't have to go anywhere today so I am going to relax but stay busy as much as possible. I have already started to clean my bathroom. Why not? Apparently, I will be spending some time in there...

Any comments  or suggestions?

libbyfife@ymail.com