Starwarsandcupcakes

If you’re on synthroid make sure to take them at separate times as the synthroid causes a reaction that makes the pantoprazole ineffective so it needs about 4hrs of spacing between the 2.

Today I packed the almonds, the jerky, and the pineapple from last night. Pepper stuffed with chopped jalapeños, salsa, and lightlife veggie crumbles (I cooked the whole pepper with 1/3 cup crumbles, 1/2 cup salsa, and a jalapeño and topped with 2 slices of pepper Jack. Only packed a half with a cup spinach topped with almonds and cranberries and roasted red pepper dressing). Then we have soup, a protein shake, a boss cookie, peatos, and not pictured is my smoothie with handful each spinach and kale, a cup frozen mixed berries, 10oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a scoop lemonade flavored Syntrax protein powder. We’ll see if the pineapple, jerky, and almonds get eaten. 😂

Well thank you! If I don’t plan for work then I don’t eat because vending machines are too expensive to eat out of.

Another work day, another photo of packed meals! The red blender bottle is home to 6oz organic soy milk, 4oz unsweetened almond milk, 1 fistful each spinach and kale, 1 cup mango chunks and a scoop syntrax matrix orange creme protein powder. Then we have in the blue container a boca chik’n patty with a cup roasted asparagus and 5 cherry tomatoes in 1tsp homemade garlic olive oil (just garlic powder, roasted garlic salt from Amazon, and olive oil left to sit on the counter). Then we have my protein shake for coffee (GNC Girl Scout chocolate peanut butter cookie flavored! 🤤), a packet of beef bouillon, a packet of tomato soup (I ❤️ soup!!), beef jerky, an orange, a 100 calorie pack of dark chocolate almonds (delish!), apple chips, a pineapple in 100% juice cup, and finally some sriracha sunrise hippeas snacks (it’s 200 calories but they’re sooooo good!). I’m betting the pineapple will make it to another lunch along with either the almonds or beef jerky. We’ll see how hungry I get tonight. 😂

I had to get a new badge at work and when he pulled up my profile he said, “girl you need new photos. Want to do that while you’re here?” Felt good to get new photos on something I wear every shift that looks like me.

Found some Camembert on sale while picking up more kale and spinach today so had that for dinner with garlic olive oil crostini, 1/3 a croissant and snow peas. The one piece of cheese is from the kids trying it and they aren’t a fan so more for me 😋 Ended up eating a total of 5 crostini, about one whole wedge of Camembert, the 1/3 croissant, and 3 total snow peas. I’m still working on the raw veggies not blended thing. Getting there though! Also, I may have impulse bought several hydroponic systems over the last month and finally started germinating seeds in 2 of them today! Growing cherry tomatoes, Genovese and Thai basil, thyme, curly parsley, big daddy peppers, pak Choi, curled cress, red fire lettuce, dwarf kale, Chinese cabbage (2 kinds), baby leaf mustard greens, arugula, spinach, Swiss chard, and I think Chinese lettuce. Waiting on another aerogarden 🤷‍♀️ to arrive Thursday to grow some salad greens and move the herbs from the one they’re in now. No one seems as excited about my recent adventure as I do! 😂

The method I’ve been using for pickles for a while now and can’t remember where I learned it but- Slice cucumbers (I use English cucumbers) and place in a large bowl. Heavily salt with your choice of salt (I’ve used pickling, pink Himalayan, and kosher before) and let sit for 20 minutes. Lightly rinse and drain. Stuff those bad boys as tightly as you can into a jar (I always use quart size canning jars). Mix together equal parts your choice of vinegar (I’ve used apple cider, rice wine, balsamic, and white vinegar or a mixture) and water, any sugar to add sweetness and help preserve (I haven’t used a substitute so unsure how that would be but I have used only a tablespoon before and they were good), and any seasonings you want to add. Microwave (or heat) until the sugar dissolves and then pour over the cucumbers. I usually let mine lacto-ferment the counter overnight before refrigerating. As long as the brine is over the pickles they won’t go bad because of the acid and sugar. The longer they sit the better they taste but you can really eat them at any stage (I have sneaky kid hands that try to eat them while they’re still salting!). The longest pickles have ever lasted in my house was a week but that’s because they get devoured by then. The batch I made yesterday was salted in pink Himalayan salt and the brine was straight apple cider vinegar (no water… they’re very bright and sour this go around), sugar, a giant pinch of pink Himalayan salt, cracked black pepper, ground mustard, and celery seed. To answer your other question duxelles is classically a mixture of mushrooms, onions, shallots, butter and herbs reduced to a paste like consistency. It’s great on toast, in omelettes, and used in beef Wellington preparation. Also great in mixed with whipped cream cheese or goat cheese and used on bagel thins or to dip vegetables in!

Been busy meal prepping today. Duxelles for omelettes, meatless no bean “meat” chili (made with TVP), salsa chicken, put another 2lbs of chicken in teriyaki marinade for tomorrow, roasted vegetables, ham and cheese egg muffins, and started salting some cucumbers for quick pickles. Had some of the chili for dinner and it’s SO good!

I have been craving chili cheese ALL the things the last week. Working nights means I usually don’t stop for fast food on the days I worked but today I stayed up to have a chili cheese burrito, a beef burrito, and cheese fiesta potatoes from Taco Bell. They left the rice out of my been burrito so I’ve only taken a bite from that and 2 (maybe it was 3?) for the chili cheese burrito I added extra ground beef to. Didn’t even touch the potatoes. In a past life I’d have eaten it all and then more. Today though restriction kicked in HARD and I’m SO ready for bed now. 😴

Breakfast from earlier today. It started out as 2 eggs, 6oz sirloin and 2 slices of buttered wheat toast. I almost ate an entire egg and a half slice of toast! I can’t wait to eat more eggs now. I did end up eating about 2oz of steak for lunch but the texture threw me off so I just ended up throwing the rest away.

It’s been awhile since I’ve tried actual bread and since the kids wanted subs I went with a Reuben on multigrain. 3 bites and 2 small French fries and I’m absolutely full.

A bariatric surgeon I watched on YouTube once referred to the first 6 weeks as “the buyer’s remorse stage”where you wonder if it was worth the pain, discomfort, and the gradual shift back to puréed and soft foods. I agree with the suggestions above. See if you can tolerate icy liquids. Soon you’ll be able to have coffee and it’ll be amazing but most importantly right now you want to avoid any strain on those internal sutures. Try to rest as much as possible and walk if you can, even short distances help. Maybe pick up a hobby that you’ve long forgotten or find a new one to help distract you from food for the time being.

It’s called simple truth. It’s a natural/organic Kroger brand. But if you can find Amy’s Margherita pizza it’s pretty much the same thing. I think I’ll try and make it at home with some oven roasted cherry tomatoes, creme fraiche basil and mozzarella so shouldn’t be too hard.

Had this Frozen pizza for dinner tonight. The before was the serving on the back of the box…. What I ate was clearly NOT the serving size. 😂 I’m gonna take a nap and then maybe eat the rest before meal prepping while everyone sleeps so I can get back to my night shift schedule.

They way mine was set up was 6 months with my first visit being with the surgeon to discuss everything and then everything in between. I saw the surgeon or his NP at every visit for the next 6 months. In between I saw the dietitian, a cardiologist (with additional testing that I now see every 6 months for a congenital heart defect I never knew about!), a pulmonologist (with additional testing and eventual clearance), a physical therapist (for clearance), a psychologist (for clearance), and had to attend at least one support group meeting before being cleared for surgery. At my initial appointment with my surgeon we went over diet history, the kinds of surgery and which one I’d prefer and what he suggested, my weight and health history, and any questions I may have.

I had at one point recently looked into the pathway to becoming a dietitian- requires a master’s (in 2024 this goes into effect) with a learning major in nutrition science (a bachelors is okay before that), an internship, passing the testing, registering with your state, and continuing education for continued registration. But definitely check if they call themselves a nutritionist, some states have their own licenses for being a nutritionist but others don’t regulate at all. Same for different countries, some use the term dietitian and nutritionist interchangeably.

It’s pretty good! I do think it depends on how sweet your variety of apple is though. Today’s smoothie is 2 cups of kale, a small Granny Smith apple, 1/2 cup celery, a cup unsweetened almond milk, a scoop Syntrax Matrix orange cream protein powder, a half cup water and a cup of ice. It tastes faintly of an orange creamsicle but looks more like a milkshake with green sprinkles in it. 😂

I think it depends on how far out from your original surgery you had your revision. For me, my revision was 8 months after my sleeve due to GERD that was causing intractable hiccups. Because I was still in the weight loss phase I continued to lose pretty steadily until the end of February this year (14 months from my sleeve surgery) when I hit 155lbs which is where I’m maintaining now.

So many online recipes for smoothies call for bananas and it makes me sad. Like, I’d love to eat a banana again and not potentially die. 🤷‍♀️ Anyway, this one is a small Granny Smith apple, 2 cups chopped kale, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 scoops of a protein powder vitamin mix, and about 1/2 cup of water. I definitely need to buy more frozen fruits like pineapple and mangoes for some variety.

Another day of packing my meals. 1/2 cup Napa almond chicken salad, 1/2 cup bell peppers, protein shake for coffee, Greek yogurt, chicken Caesar salad, 1 cup frozen blueberries, onion soup packet, a beef stick (fingers crossed it sits well), and a pack of kodiak cakes granola bars (they’re so good!)

Made this copycat Panera Napa almond chicken salad for dinner. I replaced the regular Mayo with light but used everything thing else in it. I served mine with 1/2 cup chicken salad, 1/2 cup packed salad greens and 1/3 cup grapes. Had about 1/4 cup chicken salad and 1/4 cup grapes left.

Technically speaking they would be the same except a bariatric soft would focus more on proteins than just general calories. This would include easy to chew foods that are also easily digestible. This list will give you an idea of what to include and stay away from. Keep in mind though that actual liquids are ok with soft foods, especially after hernia repair.

My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach tonight. Vegan taco meat (homemade from TVP) with onions and bell peppers on a la banderita carb counter tortilla that I didn’t even take a bite of. 😂🤷‍♀️ Had I eaten it all it would’ve been 170 calories and 17g of protein but I’m guessing I ate closer to 50ish calories.

Glad I could help at least give you some ideas. I know there was a while after surgery that I struggled to eat variety and it got boring. Actually writing out meals helped so much when I felt lost and it was amazing what I could come up with after thinking about all the things I could eat and different ways to use them.

I’m not exactly sure of your requirements as I was only on protein shakes, broth, cucumbers and celery for 2 weeks but I’ve been putting together a meal plan for my sister and thought I’d share some of the things from it. Apologies for the numerous photos.