MarvelGirl25

Hi! First off, I'm fairly new here, so if I'm posting in the wrong place, I apologize in advance. Also, VENT WARNING: I'm scheduled to have surgery August 5th and I'm extremely excited! The only thing is, I've been thinking a lot about how much my life is going to change after surgery, especially when it comes to my relationship with food and family. I know mostly everyone here has their own battles with food, but mines start with my culture. To give you a better picture, I grew up in a Peruvian household and still live in one. I also grew up with a lot of other Latinos and Latin food has always been a part of my life. It’s all I know. If I'm not eating Peruvian food, I'm eating Puerto Rican, or some other Latin dish. Food is important to Peruvians... EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, and I can’t stress that enough. Our portions are hugeeeeeee (which is what got me in this mess in the first place) and the food is irresistible. We have a couple hundred different types of dishes (not exaggerating) with such a wide range of ingredients coming from the Andes, the coast (sea), and the jungle. Anyways, I'm getting ready for surgery and I have a regimen to follow. I've been shown examples of portions I will eat after surgery, I've been given ideas to try, and I've been told what I can and cannot eat. A lot of change is on its way. I'm happy I'm taking the steps to a better quality of life, but I feel like I'm getting piece of my heart ripped out my chest!!! When I talk about my food requirements after surgery with my parents, they start crying out of sadness for me! On one hand they are happy for me but on the other they feel bad that I will never be able to eat the same again. It feels like there's a funeral happening in my house. It feels like a part of me is dying, and it feels like a part of my culture is getting stripped away from me . I'm the only overweight person in my family so I can’t relate to anyone. I'm not backing out of my decision or doubting it and my family is very supportive and believe I should still do it. Here are my questions though: 1. Latinos or anyone strongly influenced by your culture: HOW did you cope with losing this part of you? 2. What do you all do at family gatherings, parties, and on holidays while everyone is eating? 3. What do you eat? Recipes are welcomed! I’ve been told to eat yogurt, chicken meatballs, canned soup, and all kinds of food I'm not use to... Have you found a way to make your Latin food healthy? 4. Peruvians or Peruvian food lovers: Can you still eat things like ceviche, aji de gallina, lomo saltado, and anticucho, just minus the rice? Can your stomach handle the spice and seasonings?

Batch two: First two pics is lomo saltado - Peruvian steak stir fry (fiancés plate) The other three are from a second cook out I had where I made carne asada tacos with a homemade tomatillo sauce, avocado sauce, and not in the pic but a red guajillo sauce. Also in the pic is cotija cheese and crema mexicana. I have more pics but I'll leave it at this lol I've also went to a few AMAZING restaurant while I've been away but as usual I'm still always asked if I even liked the food because I can barely fit anything in. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY @Starwarsandcupcakes!!!! ❤️

I finally finished going through the 58 pages of deliciousness I missed and all I can say is WOW 😋 everything looked sooo good! I have pork skewers, an iced skinny chai latte, salads, chilis, sushi, tofu, steak bites, and lots more stuck in my head. Here are a few dishes I made while I been away: First 3 pics are from the summer when we had a cookout. I made rice, chicken wings, a rack of ribs, bbq pork, steak, hot dogs, and two types of macaroni salad with tuna and smoked ham. I still mostly stick to eating just meat and make regular sides for everyone else. (1st pic is fiancés plate) Pan seared salmon salad (my plate and this was an all day meal) Veggie and cheese omelet (my plate and something like this typically gets me full until dinner but I'm picking at it all day) Ground turkey veggie wraps (my plate and remember I finished it all - lighter than what it looks). Oatmeal banana pancakes with sugar free syrup (my plate and get me full until dinner). Shrimp and squash salad and I believe I used trader joes green goddess dressing for this (my plate). Chocolate covered berries I made for a party. Colorful ones were for the kiddies and the bottom for the adults. I covered the bottom ones with coconut, choco chips, and walnuts.

Hi everyone!! OMGGGGG..... UM WOW! I sure missed a tonnnnnnn since the last time I logged in! So sorry for going MIA ... a lot has happened with me in the many months I've been gone but I'm so happy to see some "familiar faces" and to be back. I cant wait to go through EVERY SINGLE POST I missed! I hope you've been well and happy holidays! I truly missed you all! ❤️❤️❤️

I spent the last two weeks cooking for friends but nothing really bariatric friendly. I'll usually take like two bites of whatever I make and always make sure I have some kind of app or side dish that I can eat that way no one notices that I'm not eating what I made them. All pics are the fiancés plate or a friends plate. Featured dishes: Tallarin Verde (Creamy basil & spinach pasta dish) Kimchi fried rice w/ pork Tallarin saltado tipo chifa (Peruvian/Chinese veggie lo mein) Arroz chaufa de mariscos (Peruvian seafood fried rice) Green enchiladas General tso tofu Veggie and pork stir fry The veggie and pork stir fry is an example of what I make for myself while everyone is eating the "regular" dish I made. I usually just alter it in some way or craze on something else I prepared. I still find joy in cooking and watching everyone else eat :)

Thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️ And we don’t have an exact date, we are just hoping for next year. We want to elope so I’m hoping things will be better by then. My vote is on Korea and Armenia lol He doesn’t mind me choosing the destination so we’ll see!

Ohhhhh myyyyyyy goshhhhhh! This is the best thing I have EVER seen! 😂😂😂😂😍😍😍😍😍 I freaking love it! This is definitely going to be my new background on my computer lol Thank you!!! I’m truly amazed!

LOL! Thank you!!!❤️❤️❤️ And it happened on Christmas eve. I must have forgotten to mention it lol Im still trying to get use to saying fiancé instead of boyfriend.

Late dinner featuring fiancé’s plate: Seco de carne de res aka cilantro beef stew. Ate one piece of beef and half a potato and I was stuffed. Tried getting fancy with the plating but I think it looks like I was trying too hard lol

I NEED this soup in my life! It looks sooooo good 😩🤤🤤🤤

Ive been eating the same old food everyday. Featured: Shrimp tostadas topped with homemade pico, queso fresco, avocado, black beans, lettuce and crema centro americana Scrambed tofu wrap

That Char Sui and Bao looks amazinggggggg! You killed it! And you awoken my cravings lol I haven't had Char Sui in years and Bao since right before surgery. I will admit though that I'm not familiar with making the dough for bao. What's the difference between the Chinese style and Filipino? Also, I think we were best friends or even sisters in another life because my dream has also been to own a cafe with a focus on Latin American pastries and lunch (roast meat sandwiches, empanadas, etc) But you're right, its a ton of work. Both my uncle and cousin own their own restaurants and they practically live there. Maybe one day when we are both up for it we can co-own!

Food from the past few days and weekend: * Veggie and Turkey hot dog omelette w/ keto toast (finally got my hands on some!) * More Pho *Chocolate chia seed pudding *Oven roasted chicken, salad and mashed potatoes *Steak, Mac and cheese, and sautéed mushrooms and onions (This was a fail. Went out to Longhorns for the first time since surgery, took two bites of steak and was full. Went home to eat the rest and threw it up. I didn’t even bother with the Mac and cheese, my bf ate that) *Ole extreme wellness Turkey and fat free cheese wrap (Thank you @GreenTealael for the recommendation and @ms.sss for helping me find them!) * 1/2 of a grilled chicken blt sandwich on keto bread Side note: I obviously did not finish each plate. I usually over serve myself, take a couple bites, and give it to my bf or save it to eat the next day. I tend to have a lot of leftovers 😕

Cambodian! She learned to make it from her bf who is Lao and he learned from his Vietnamese friend. It was some of the best Pho I've ever had ❤️ I'm looking forward to next month. They will be coming over again and we will be making Korean BBQ. I'm currently looking for a table grill on Amazon.

One of my friends came over yesterday and cooked me Pho 🍜 So much Pho that I will be eating it for a few days, and I couldn’t be happier! 😩 This one is beef and meatball. I later went back and topped it with siracha, roasted garlic, and hoisin sauce.

WOWWWWWWWW! That came out absolutely perfect!! Seriously! You can really tell the meat is super soft, and that skin .... my mouth is watering just thinking about it 🤤🤤 Using pineapple on the pork reminds me of Cuban style pernil where they use sour oranges. I need to try making one this way! Was it sweet? But you're right, its a ton of work just because you have to keep an eye on it. I believe the last time I made one I through it in the oven covered for 7 hours and then uncovered for about 3 so I can only Imagine what 19 hours did to it ❤️ Cant wait to see how the estofado de res comes out!

Vday dinner was Korean food. I definitely indulged! Apps were Korean chicken wings and pork and veggie dumplings and my dish was braised pork belly. I wish I remembered to take an after pic. I was able to eat 3 wings, 3 dumplings, and one piece of pork belly. Ate more when I got home.

And more perfection!! Everyone is making me so hungry this morning :(

Perfection! 😍😍😍😍

Chicken breast + lots of hot sauce with maduros aka yellow plaintains. Chicken and plaintains were both made in the air fryer.

Thank you! Can’t wait to try it 😩 and it’s chicken breast in the air fryer

Been craving rice so I decided to try something different and made cilantro lime “rice” with the Trader Joe’s chickpea and lentil risoni. Tasted great!

Wow! I’ve never even heard of a cream cheese walnut banana bread.... it looks soooo good! 🤤🤤🤤 can you share the recipe please 🙏🏼

Omg thank you thank you thank you! So I’m not able to order via Walmart or Amazon, it’s showing out of stock and not sure if it will be back but when I clicked your instacart link and entered my zip code it showed that one of my local grocery stores, Price Rite sells it. I’m going this weekend!

I’ve been trying to find these wraps ever since I saw you post about them and I can’t seem to get them anywhere I went to Walmart and target and they were all out. I also saw this YouTube video on low carb Keto wraps and one of the wraps that were tested were these and they did the best as far as keeping you in ketosis. Minute 8:33 is where she tests the Ole brand I also went on the hunt for more keto bread from aldi and it was wiped out. I went to 3 Aldi’s ...