The new curse of my life - protein!

First the good news - the surgery worked. My appetite is next to nothing. I think of things I want to eat and then, when it's in front of me, I have to force myself to eat it. The surgeon told me that there's some hormone (the name of which escapes me - I'll look into it) that is "base lined" by this surgery. Meaning hunger pangs become non-existent. I won't lie - there are things I crave - like tacos ( I want to punch that little tapper head eating the new revolutionary square-bottomed taco shell on the commercial.) But I'd bet bottom dollar that if I got one bite of a taco I'd be ready to chunk the rest of it in the trash.
Now the bad news - with the aforementioned decrease in appetite it becomes quite a chore to get in the 97 grams of protein I'm supposed to have daily. The same supernatural phenomenon that first fell out of the sky during the liquid diet now repeats itself. I'm having to force myself to EAT MORE. You have to understand, this is the universe upside down. This is lions and lambs lying together. This is Israelis and Palestinians in a group hug. This is George Bush making a complete sentence. Me? Not able to eat enough?? This is the same "me" that - along with 4 other high school buddies - was once asked to switch from chicken to catfish at an all-you can eat joint because we'd eaten all of their chicken. This is the same "me" who once thought of a bucket of chicken wings and a pitcher of suds as a light lunch. The same "me" who decided that cold/leftover pizza was a complete breakfast because it represented each of the four basic food groups. You get the idea...
My diet now includes basically protein and beans (much to my bride's chagrin) No cooked green veggies until we're 6 weeks out from surgery. It's hard to pack in enough meat and beans to make 97 grams of protein when you're really not all that hungry. But, like I've said, it's a small price to pay when looking at the big picture.
Now along comes football season. Let's see - next to no food and no adult beverages drastically alter my concept of a good tailgate. Again, a small price to pay. It's probably best I'll have a clear head to learn this new offense Paul Johnson's brought to town. If you have any questions ask me...and bring a taco to sec. 206 dammit........