summerset

All of this low-carb/keto/whatever stuff might be marketed as "healthy" and/or "good for weight loss" but all of these snacks and treats still contain calories (and usually a truckload of various chemicals), a lot of the time not even significantly less calories than the original stuff while having to pay triple the price. I personally think these kinds of foods (the ones trying to mimic something else while claiming to be healthier) are usually a rip-off. Of course there are exceptions and depending on the reason it can make sense to buy the mimicking thing, e. g. buying soy or almond milk or lactose free milk when one is lactose intolerant even though the substitutes are more expensive.

SoFish

Sandwich with black bean patties, sate sauce, onion and cucumber on whole wheat roll:

Sandwich with fake salmon, green pesto, onion and cucumber on whole wheat roll:

WLS or not - the body is still in a (large) calorie deficit, hence this drive to eat. It's normal, especially in the liquid phase. After that it varies a lot what people are experiencing when it comes to hunger, cravings and that weird drive to eat. Another turning point in experiencing this drive to eat is when you get closer to a normal weight/body fat percentage. The leaner you get, the more your body most likely will rebel against a calorie deficit. It's also normal to "miss food". You don't even need a problematic attitude towards food to miss it. Put any normal weight person on a post-WLS diet and it makes them think about "FOOD" all the time. It's the brain's normal reaction to a severe calorie deficit.

That's what the ignore function is for. Unfortunately one can see quite a few posts anyway because other users keep quoting them.

Thank you.

How did you insert the smaller, clickable picture?

Rest of the black bean spaghetti with the last two eggs, red onion, green pesto.

Maybe with time you will. Though what people consider healthy or not depends on the diet one is following. It takes patience and you seem to put yourself under a lot of pressure. Accept where you are now (at the beginning, having cravings and only old favorites, experiencing the double whammy of food deprivation and being fat) and be curious about where you will be going.

Rice with furikake, eggs (I cooked a batch of six the day before), wakame salad and edamame beans.

There is no reason to be. One can lose more weight outside of that infamous "honeymoon phase".

Black bean pasta, boiled egg, carrots and green cabbage in lemony sate sauce. Not pretty, but tasty.

Even more frustrating, lol. The ones I saw at a German ALDI looked different from the Explore ones. However, it's been awhile. Maybe something changed.

OMG, yes! Same with people who used to smoke!

Meh, I want the same ALDI/Trader Joe's assortment in Germany's ALDI markets. Neither ALDI Nord nor ALDI Süd have decent bean pasta. The one one can get at ALDI Süd was like 🤢, exactly as the other brands I tried, never seen them at ALDI Nord. What I've seen from the website is that the brand in the US is a different one. Doesn't seem to be only a different name because the pasta also looks different. Maybe Explore has a deal with ALDI in the US.

Had to think about this again:

It's normal. There doesn't need to be a specific reason. Cravings are normal and to be expected. Few people seem to not experience cravings for certain foods, at least early out of surgery, the rest experiences them. In the end even with WLS the psychological side effects of restriction are quite similar to every other calorie/macro/food restricted regimen, at least when it comes to cravings: they will be there. Also diet fatigue is a thing, usually later out. You need to get used to cravings and ride them out (at least to an extend that will allow you to reach your weight goals) and that's exactly as unpleasant as it sounds in the beginning.

No, it's more chewy but I like that a lot. In fact I prefer bean pasta over regular. However, I only like the Explore brand, the rest can take a hike. I have no idea what Explore is doing differently, but they know their bean pasta for sure.

Second portion of this is for lunch tomorrow. The other two portions of plain noodles - I guess I will fry green cabbage again and carrots and maybe some frozen wok vegetable mix and mix everything with a lemony sate sauce I have at home.

There is a lot of discussion on carbs - especially on how to avoid them.

We didn't get told to eat a specific amount of calories, grams of fat or carbohydrates. There was a minimum on protein and fluid intake though. Is there a specific reason you doubt the advise of your dietitian?

Green cabbage, brown mushrooms, shiitake, Italian spice mix with sage, Mühlenhack, tomato sauce, cashewsan over black bean spaghetti.

Me, too. 😨

Only that this tool is the game changer. However, it doesn't matter anyway if patients choose to tell or not. With WLS being nothing exotic anymore people will draw their own conclusions when a colleague, friend or family member starts to lose truckloads of weight fast after a short period of absence without showing obvious signs of being very sick. A colleague of mine (other department of the hospital, but one we work very close with) started losing large amounts of weight after a short period of absence, she works usual hours and doesn't appear sick. People congratulate her on her weight loss, however, one of my colleagues who works in the same department as I do recently asked: "Do you think she had some kind of weight loss surgery?" I shrugged and said: "Yeah, maybe" because I don't know (and I won't ask) but I'd guess that she had indeed some kind of WLS. You can't really keep it a secret, at least not nowadays. And there is no reason to keep it one anyway. WLS is nothing to be ashamed of.