Starwarsandcupcakes

Hang in there. I didn’t eat a whole lot of veggies at first either. I didn’t eat raw veggies until almost 3 months post op the first time. Even now I still focus more on protein but try to have a more well-rounded diet. Some days are better than others. You’ll get there!

Ended up drinking a Starbucks doubleshot and leaving behind some other stuff after deciding I wasn’t in the mood for citrus fruit. I updated the nutrition info as well.

Woah, woah! Who said you had to eat those things “bland”? Depending on your plan use spices, add a little cheese to your eggs. Blend your cottage cheese with 1tbsp sugar free preserves to make an almost dessert. Add root beer flavored packets to vanilla protein shakes and freeze until it’s a slushy for a root beer float! Make a ricotta bake, is practically lasagna without the noodles or meat!!! So good! Make curried salmon salad using Greek yogurt as the base instead of Mayo. Do the same with tuna. Make some bisque soups! Creamy, filling and full of flavor. It’s not about sacrifice, it’s about using your tool to get the best results possible. You WILL get to where you need to be in time but it won’t happen overnight. I completely get the frustration of not losing when you want to. I’ve also had feeling of anger that I wouldn’t lost the weight and I’d be obese forever. Then again, I’ve had to do the post-op progression stages 3 separate times just last year but GI surgeries follow the same post-op diet. You will get there. Just have patience.

My day’s worth of food at work. I had already drank a protein soup and ate about a 1/3 of the rice dish I packed. The rice dish is made of- duxelles, ground beef, way too much kale, a bag of frozen mix vegetables, a random jar of chicken gravy, half a stick of butter and the remnants of a box of instant rice from the back of the cupboard. The kids and my sister topped theirs with cheese but I wasn’t brave enough to try. I probably won’t the rest of the cucumbers I packed (have eaten 3-4 so far) because one got stuck and gave me the foamies. 😞 Ill post a picture when I get home of what I have left/ate instead as an update. Edit- added a copy of the total count for everything for the day.

Yeah. I saw it on Amazon but I wasn’t paying $8 for 2oz of vanilla salt when I’m going to make my own vanilla extract and have the pods anyway. I’d much rather pay $60 for 48oz of vanilla extract and 8oz of vanilla salt than $180 for all of it. 🤷‍♀️

It’s one of the very few ways I’ll eat kale. Although, some recipes call for spinach, kale is what’s used in the Olive Garden soup so I wanted to stay close to that. I love soup and it’s one of my favorites by far.

I made a version of zuppa toscana for dinner last night. I skipped the bacon and added mushrooms, celery, and red bell peppers. It was so good! I ate all of what I packed for lunch and I’m having leftovers for dinner tonight.

I bought sari wrap skirts from Darn Good Yarn. They come in multiple sizings and are easily traded on their Facebook group. My old xl/plus wrap around me twice now (my highest size was a 24/26 and they fit). My current is the regular as I’m verging on a size 10 and they’re perfect for wearing as dresses and shirts, too (depending on if you get a mini or ankle). Plus, they’re 2 sided so you can wear one side one day and the other the next! These are 3 from my recent purchase.

The only time I get pumpkin seeds is when gutting pumpkins. Im excited for this pumpkin season because I am dying to roast some with the mesquite smoked salt I bought and maybe some chili lime ones with lime fresco salt... In case anyone is wondering about my salt obsession it includes 18 different salts🧂🧂- black truffle salt wild porcini salt vintage merlot salt espresso brava salt lime fresco salt Spanish rosemary salt coarse sea salt pink Himalayan salt Celtic sea salt Hawaiian black lava salt black garlic salt alderwood smoked salt mesquite smoked salt coarse kosher salt maldon sea salt flakes (for cookies!) regular iodized salt Larry’s seasoned salt and accent (which is technically a salt but most people call MSG). If I don’t add salt to just about everything (even bouillon granules) my blood sodium levels end up low so, yay yummy salt for me. 😂 Also, in case that wasn’t enough salt in planning on taking some of the fine pink Himalayan salt and mixing some vanilla beans in with it to use for some baking.

My sister gifted (more like cursed) me with a 2lb bag of sunflower seeds and I already had a stash (like 25+) of 1oz size snack bags! I’ve already made nut free Nutella with some of it. Usually I just eat them as is for a work snack but couldn’t resist the crunchy goodness on salad.

Jumping on the salad train. 🚂 Spinach, Campari tomatoes, black pepper smoked salmon, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and what you can’t really see is the balsamic vinegar or the Hawaiian black lava salt. The Hawaiian black lava salt smells of floral pineapple and vanilla but has a smoky taste. What I managed to eat was around 195 calories. The salmon sat pretty heavy but man was it tasty. Also, someone remind me next time that a tbsp of sunflower seeds is more than enough. 😂 Also, I was gonna save the rest for later but my daughter’s cat sat on it before I could put it away. 😒

I have literally posted egg McMuffins and donuts from a local bakery on here. 😂 I can cook fancy if I want to but lately I’m mostly just lazy about it.

The first time I noticed mine I actually made an appointment with my doctor because I felt a “lump” that hadn’t been there before. 🤦‍♀️ I hadn’t ever had a protruding collarbone so I had NO clue.

I’m gonna sound like a terrible WLS patient with this but- ice cream, baked lays chips, rye chip gardettos, or everything pretzels dipped in cream cheese. However, I’ve had 3 intestinal surgeries in a year (dec 2019-dec 2020; VSG, RNY for GERD, and a small bowel resection losing 3ft of small intestines) and I find that some days I’m pretty short on calories to keep me in maintenance and I’ve usually already hit protein goals (100g+ daily) so good quality ice cream it is.

Campbell’s well yes sipping soups (no chunks to strain!) thinned a bit were lifesavers for me even though I like broth. Also, try a no sugar added sorbet or frozen yogurt. FYI- pudding and jello are on the full liquid diet (along with things like milkshakes for non-WLS patients) because they have a tendency to become liquid if left out at room temperature which makes them easier to digest and swallow (important for those with dysphagia [trouble swallowing]).

Most days it’s probably Diet Pepsi (which you can pry from my cold, dead hands!), coffee with a protein shake as creamer or a smoothie. If I’m working it’s usually coffee and protein shake that I drink in between sips of protein beef bouillon. On the rare occasion I’ll eat something first like a protein bar, pickled vegetables, or dinner (I work nights).

Maybe it just loses its frenchness and becomes onion soup. But I did end up going to Olive Garden with the kids for dinner and was able to eat a pretty good sized plate of salad AND a whole bowl of zuppa tuscana soup before being full. So it definitely had to have been the melted cheese because I can do cheese unmelted just fine. 🤷‍♀️

Also, I’d you haven’t seen this episode of hellthyjunkfood, Julia goes a little into the science of how they’re made and why they might actually taste like beef without being beef.

I get them in the frozen burger section of my Kroger but with with the other veggie options at Walmart. 🤷‍♀️ I bought some last week (along with the ribeye) because they were free after coupon, rebate and on your next order coupon. 😂. I like free/cheap food. 🤷‍♀️😂

They’re okay. I like the incogmeato burgers more though I think. Or is it the other way around? 🤔 Either way they’re much better than the veggie sausage patties and I do like them better than most veggie burgers. Don’t overcook them though or they’ll end up dry. I actually have a coupon for a free package from some sample box so thanks for the reminder to use it before it expires.

I love red lentils Green ones? Not so much. If red ones are cooked long enough they break down into this gloriously smooth texture akin to those of red bean paste without the sugar. The green ones I don’t have that luck with; they always taste overly starchy. My last shopping trip I bought a bag of red lentils to make this- https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-lentil-soup/ I’m excited but I have to use the ribeye I bought from the butcher first before it goes bad.

Went out to lunch with my sister for the first time eating at a restaurant since my VSG in Dec 2019 (had revision in Aug 2020 and a bowel resection in Dec 2020), so I was over ambitious to say the least. This is an after picture. I stole 3 small French fries from her and ate a bite of bacon off the salad. I think the melted cheese is what did me in. Next time I’ll order without the cheese. 😂🙃

I haven’t found that to be an issue especially if I push the smaller piece(s) to the inside and then pinch the larger piece around the outside but don’t knead it in. I find that makes it too tough. I then usually let it rest for about 20 minutes (called benching) before final shaping and rising. Also, I use a bench scraper or a sharp knife as actual pinching ruins the gluten structure in the dough and can make your final product tough.

I find that my kitchen scale is amazing for portioning dough. I weigh the total in grams and then divide by the portions I want. That way they all come out even and bake (mostly) evenly. I do the same with muffins using a cookie/ice cream scoop.

It does get easier. Protein from meat can be a funny thing. Some days are amazing getting it in and others I stick to things like tofu, cottage cheese, yogurt and protein soups when shakes seem too sweet. Just do the best you can for now. Does your surgeon have you on an acid reducer? If not that might be an option in helping you feel better. However if you’re on one, see about lowering the dose to see if that helps relieve symptoms as gastric bypass can cause acid reflux due to low stomach acid.