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To the weight loss surgery patient slider foods are the bane of good intentions and ignorance often causing dumping syndrome, weight loss plateaus, and eventually weight gain. Slider foods, to weight loss surgery patients, are soft simple processed carbohydrates of little or no nutritional value that slide right through the surgical stomach pouch without providing nutrition or satiation. The most innocent of slider foods are saltine crackers, often eaten with warm tea or other beverages, to soothe the stomach in illness or while recovering from surgery. Understanding Slider Foods The most commonly consumed slider foods include pretzels, crackers (saltines, graham, Ritz, etc.) filled cracker snacks such as Ritz Bits, popcorn, cheese snacks (Cheetos) or cheese crackers, tortilla chips with salsa, potato chips, sugar-free cookies, cakes, and candy. You will notice these slider foods are often salty and cause dry mouth so they must be ingested with liquid to be palatable. This is how they become slider foods. They are also, most often, void of nutritional value. For weight loss surgery patients the process of digestion is different than those who have not undergone gastric surgery. When slider foods are consumed they go into the stomach pouch and exit directly into the jejunum where the simple carbohydrate slurry is quickly absorbed and stored by the body. There is little thermic effect in the digestion of simple carbohydrates like there is in the digestion of protein so little metabolic energy is expended. In most cases patients in the phase of weight loss who eat slider foods will experience a weight loss plateau and possibly the setback of weight gain. And sadly, they will begin to believe their surgical stomach pouch is not functioning properly because they never feel fullness or restriction like they experience when eating protein. The very nature of the surgical gastric pouch is to cause feelings of tightness or restriction when one has eaten enough food. However, when soft simple carbohydrates are eaten this tightness or restriction does not result and one can continue to eat, unmeasured, copious amounts of non-nutritional food without ever feeling uncomfortable. Many patients turn to slider foods for this very reason. They do not like the discomfort that results when the pouch is full from eating a measured portion of lean animal or dairy protein without liquids. Yet it is this very restriction that is the desired result of the surgery. The discomfort is intended to signal the cessation of eating. Remembering the "Protein First" rule is crucial to weight management with bariatric surgery. Gastric bypass, gastric banding (lap-band) and gastric sleeve patients are instructed to follow a high protein diet to facilitate healing and promote weight loss. Bariatric centers advise what is commonly known among weight loss surgery patients as the "Four Rules" the most important of which is "Protein First." That means of all nutrients (protein, veggies, complex carbohydrates, then fat and alcohol) the patient is required to eat protein first. Protein is not always the most comfortable food choice for weight loss surgery patients who feel restriction after eating a very small amount of food. However, for the surgical tool to work correctly a diet rich in protein and low in simple carbohydrate slider foods must be observed. The high protein diet must be followed even after healthy body weight has been achieved in order to maintain a healthy weight and avoid weight regain.

Well this weekend has been a blast thus far. My man was able to take off Saturday and Sunday so I wanted to find something to do! Tried getting a room at the beach - FAIL Tried getting a room at the mountains - FAIL So I tracked down a rental place at one of the lakes near by and YAY found a place renting out kayaks $35.00 for the day sounded awesome to me. Went kayaking with my boyfriend (who cant swim and was FREAKING OUT! - even with a life vest) and we were out about 5 hours. We stop at a cove got out and swam it was fun. I even made him "practice" capsizing his boat in case it happened in deep water so he wouldn't freak out. All was fun an awesome UNTIL *MY* boat capsized - into the water I went. Now I had just shown my boyfriend how to get back in his boat at least 5 times and when it was in the middle of the lake.... I figured out HEY maybe I shoulda saved some energy in case I fell out of my boat. And on top of all that my boat knocked me in the head when I fell out. So now Ive got a huge goosegg. Well long story short I tied my boat to my boyfriends and swam 3/4 mile to a dock so that the rescue could come get me. Then went to eat at redlobster cause after being stranded I was FAMISHED. Can home and passed the hell OUT! Today woke up needed to go shoe shopping. So went looked -nothing too great. So i decided to take a walk into DOTS my favorite clothing stores (its been about a yr since I went shopping). Just to look around and see what size I am now. So I went and tried on some 1X clothes in the plus size section. And they fit pretty nice. My boyfriend pointed out a shirt (XL) and told to try it on. I said it was too small. He said a 1X and an XL is the same thing. I said its not. So he googled it and turns out he was right. So I tried on the XL and IT FIT! So I ventured to the other size of the store.. BIG MISTAKE ...it was like a kid in the candy shop. I bought 70.00 worth of XL clothes lol So doing good - amazing weekend. Glad for the small things in life.

Just read this on tumblr by someone called runsleepygirl: "Even when the scale doesn’t change, the image in the mirror looks the same, when you feel like all of your efforts are for nothing, they’re not. Slowly, your body changes day by day. Your goals creep up on you until one day you look at an old progress picture and realize your words have become actions, your hopes have become reality and it was all worth it." i love that

My husband made these wonderfully spiced sausages. If you're sick of bland food, this adds some nice flavor without being too hot. Ingredients 1 lb ground chicken 1/4 c cilantro 1 tsp chopped mint 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice 1 tbsp Thai Red curry paste 1 tbsp Asian fish sauce 2 garlic cloves finely diced 2 tsp minced ginger 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 1/8 tsp black pepper Method 1. Mix all ingredients together. It will be a bit sticky. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes for all flavors to meld. 2. Heat a saucepan until hot, pour in a tablespoon of oil and spread it around. 3. Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, put 1 oz sized dollops of the mixture about 2-3 inches apart. Smash them down into circles 4. In 2-3 minutes when the bottoms are brown, carefully turn over and cook for another 2-3 minutes. 5. You can either cook them all and freeze them in a ziplock baggie, or cook just what you need for meals. 6. These are very soft and they were easy for us to eat. 2 patties contain 16 gms of protein.

sounds like a great time.. shopping is such fun when you can find cute things in smaller sizes... another great reason to lose weight and get healthy....

You sound depressed. Talk to someone about it, like your PCP. Consider some counseling. Basically you have two choices: accept the current situation, or change it. (remember, accepting something doesn't mean you have to like it.) This process requires a good chunk of patience, both before and after. Good Luck!

Way to go...

Glad everything is going so well for you. You are almost there. Congrats on all the weight loss before surgery.