14 Days - Shaken not stirred

 Drinking of optifast shakes have begun!  The lovely receptionist at the bariatric clinic suggested I buy the chocolate flavoured shakes as she said that the overall feedback has been the chocolate is better than the vanilla.  So I purchased 3 boxes of chocolate and one box of vanilla.  I left for work with my two packages of shake powder in hand.  The directions state mix the powder with 300mls of cold water and drink within 15 minutes.  I proceeded with the directions and began to drink my shake.  Now is where shaken not stirred would come into play.  The powder doesn't dissolve too well in the water and it leaves lots of chunks.  I will need to figure out how to make the shakes at work so they are smoother.  Now on any given day I am not a fan of chocolate, milk shakes, or anything that has a texture of a pudding.  This of course is now turning into a bad day for me.  The flavour of the chocolate shake is not fabulous but I could handle it.  It's the darn texture...I tried the slow sipping way....nope not good.  I tried the gulp it quick method that didn't work so well for me either. You are supposed to drink it within the first 15 minutes of preparing it but I just couldn't get it down that quick, trust me I tried.  The longer you leave the shake the thicker it becomes much to my chagrin.  My poor coworkers had to put up with my watering eyes and very quiet gags, but I have to say they were all great encouragers.  It was like having your own cheerleading squad.  I finally got the shake finished and was extremely full!  I drank that shake at 5:50am and at 11:30am when I went to the lunchroom I was still full but had to drink my second one.  This time I tried the distraction method,  I finished the shake in about 20 minutes and only gagged a few times.  Distraction works pretty good, just kept talking with people and drinking and it was gone before I could think about it too much.  Now it's supper time and the smell of  lasagna and garlic bread are filling my house and nostrils.  Shake number three is for dinner.  This time I put it in the blender with a few ice cubes.  It is definitely smoother and very cold.  Two much better qualities than room temperature and chunky.  I am at the 10 minute mark and have just over half left to drink.  I keep telling myself that I can do this and that there is only 13 more days of shakes then the surgery.  Let's just say I am thanking the good Lord that it is only 14 days of shakes.  So it is 3 down and 53 shakes to go.  Now I have read my paperwork from the clinic again and with the shakes I can have water, broth, black tea and black coffee. Now I am not sure when I will have these because I am stuffed after I drink the shakes.  Tomorrow I will try a vanilla shake and see how they are.  The paperwork from the clinic says I can mix half a crystal light with the vanilla shake so maybe if I mix a berry crystal light it will taste like a smoothie.  I am really counting on that!  In the meantime I will continue to sound like the little engine that could! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can! The reality is that I have no choice so someway, somehow I have to make it work.  It's about looking at the big picture right now just to get me through the next 13 days.  Charles R. Swindoll said "life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react."  So I will make this trying experience work for me!  At the 20 minute mark and I have about 1/4 of the glass left to go.  I am going to close my eyes and imagine that I am drinking a fabulous Cosmopolitan that is "shaken not stirred"!!!
Steph
P.s.  Just finished at around the 25 minute mark!  Yahoo!