The Hour-by-Hour Post-Op Schedule

Just before surgery, in my nutrition training class, we were given an hour-by-hour schedule of when to eat and when to drink and when to have snacks. I started following this schedule and tweaked it a bit as I developed my own routines and habits... but essentially it's the same basic outline that I use today, 2 years later. 


Right after surgery we don't feel hunger and it's very difficult to schedule food and water and get everything in that we need to. It can be overwhelming to watch the clock to calculate the 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after a meal... and only eat for 30 minutes. Then to figure out when to take vitamins and blah, blah, blah. 


So this type of schedule helps us get into a routine with food. 


8:00 - 8:30 -- Breakfast (meals take no more than 30 minutes to eat)
9:00 - 10:00 -- Water - 8oz. 
10:00 - 11:00 -- Snack (protein shake) 
11:30 - 12:30 -- Water - 8oz 
1:00 - 1:30 -- Lunch 
2:00 - 2:30 -- Water 8oz. 
3:00 - 4:00 -- Snack (protein shake) 
4:30 - 5:30 -- Water - 8oz 
6:00 - 6:30 -- Dinner 
7:00 - 8:00 -- Water - 8oz 
8:30 - 9:00 -- Snack (protein shake) 
9:30 - 10:30 -- Water 8oz. 


Eventually I added my vitamins into the routine. This is the schedule I follow today: 


7:00 a.m. --- Breakfast #1 (usually a protein drink) -- Calcium +D 
8:30 a.m. --- Water 
10:00 a.m. -- Breakfast #2 -- Morning dose of vitamins
11:00 a.m. -- Water 
1:00 p.m. --- Lunch -- Calcium +D 
2:30 p.m. --- Water 
4:30 p.m. --- Snack -- Calcium +D 
5:00 p.m. --- Water 
7:30 p.m. --- Dinner -- Calcium +D 
8:30 p.m. --- Water 
11:00 p.m. -- Bedtime (no food) -- Evening dose of vitamins


So if everything is scheduled and needs to happen at a specific time... it's easier to remember.