Holidays

With my surgery coming up on Tuesday it is of course right before the holidays.  I was wondering if anyone has any recipes of things I could make to eat.  I don't know if I will be on full food by thanksgiving or soft foods.  My other question is sweets.  I bake every year for Christmas and give them away.  I admit I am a taster as I bake.  I am concerned about bot being able to bake.  I can stop the tasting, just don't want to stop my baking.  

Last time I checked, baking doesn't make you gain weight, eating the baked goods does!  If you are someone who can bake without tasting, go for it.  Bake to your hearts content.  I can not bake without tasting.  The smell of cookies baking would trigger me to eat them.

I would not worry about food this year.  You will be eating so little that it won't be a problem.  Make sure you have a protein shake with you. You won't be eating solid food by Thanksgiving.  If you are eating solid food by Christmas, it will be 2-3 ounces of protein, maybe a few green beans....and that's all. Don't bother making a dish you can eat.  It won't be worth the time and effort  you put into it.

I had my surgery five years ago on November 17.  I went through the holidays and never gave food a thought. Eating was not enjoyable. My celebration was enjoying the company of family and friends and not about the food. It was GREAT!  You might start thinking about ways to celebrate without food.

Lol love the cookie monster.  I know I wouldn't be eating solid food by Thanksgiving.  I am ok with that.  I am ok with baking.  I just have always been one to taste the batter to make sure it taste fine.  I am one that bakes and can't stand to have it in the house, lol, I bake to much. 

Thankfully I don't cook thanksgiving.  We go away.  I am actually looking forward to the holidays and being able to not worry about food.  

I've made 8 billion cookies, 2,000 cakes, and so on. I no longer need to taste the batter to see if it tastes right. I know what I put into it. I know what it tasted like last time. I know what it will taste like this time.

My surgery was on New Year's Eve.  That meant I started my pre-op diet (liquid) a few days before Thanksgiving, went through Christmas and New Year's without any solid foods.  My birthday was in January -- I was still in recovery from my surgery.  I survived.  You will find that your concern about food is exactly what led you to need surgery.  You do not need to eat to celebrate a holiday.  

I still bake quite a bit -- in fact, I was just gathering my recipes together for my Christmas cookies list.  I, however, can separate the activity of baking from the activity of eating.  I couldn't have done that the first year of my surgery.  It would have been torturous.  I skipped baking that year.

I say take a break this year, no baking, life will go on, put you first. Your having major surgery & I think you're underestimating how quickly you'll be back up to full speed. Your body needs time to recover, you'll be too busy trying to get in your water, protein, vitamins etc to be concerned with how good baking will be. Another thing to consider is that your taste buds might change after surgery. It doesn't happen to everybody but it does happen. What tastes good now, might taste like crap later. You definitely don't want to be baking then.

When you're much further out from surgery, reconsider the baking, for now, take a break & enjoy the holidays.

I know it's hard to believe but food will just not be that important anymore for you. Especially the first few months when you have no hunger whatsoever. Oh I miss those days. Anyways just focus on making other priorities for the holidays. Keep busy. It's not going to be an easy time adjusting to a new way of life. How about making some holiday keepsakes instead of baking :)

I used to be a baker too. As a rule I do not ever volunteer to make sweets. I have made sweets after surgery and one of the things that helped me was to wear plastic gloves on my hands. I wasn't as tempted to taste things if I didn't feel them stuck to my fingers. 

I would skip baking and cooking this year. Stay focused on what is important right now, and that will be recovering from surgery. Not never, just this year. Even if you are on soft or regular foods you will probably only be able to eat 3 or 4 bites. Don't fret about it. Turkey chopped fine with some gravy is probably about all you'll stomach if you can have that, so I wouldn't worry about making anything. You could make a pumpkin egg custard cup (like a mini pumpkin pie no crust) and add protein powder to it. That would be Thanksgiving-ish and soft.