Cooking Post-Op - Brainstorming for presentation to WLS group.

I've been going to my local weight loss surgery support group for the last year(ish) and, tonight, I'm leading the group meeting and giving a presentation on "Cooking Post-Op." I'm typing up my notes now, because I'm good at procrastinating like that.

I'm nervous and excited! I'll be talking about things like why cooking is important, how my cooking had to change, how to cook for a "mixed" family, and how to evaluate and modify recipes.

Does anything else cross your mind that I should address?

Good luck!

I personally cook or remove my portion FIRST, so when I am cooking something that will have pasta in it I make the dish, remove mine and then add the pasta for the rest. When I make a chicken or other meat I just do not have the sides the others can have (or want) there is actually no reason we have to cook two totally separate meals.

One thing I saw early on is make sure (as you can tolerate them) season your foods to your liking, this is all you will eat so make sure it is yummy for you, we do not have to hate foods we just need to limit what is not good for us personally, so in order to not feel deprived make it good.

Thanks! I do the same thing with removing my portion first. Or keeping things separate entirely and letting people combine as they desire.

My husband and I are savages that eat standing up in the kitchen over the sink, so I don't feel like I have a lot of useful information to impart, but I will say that the crock pot/instant pot is fantastic. We use a variety of sauces with chicken, beef or pork and then I can just have some meat and husband can make a wrap or make a side or whatever. It's super easy to weigh on the kitchen scale and it takes out a lot of guesswork.

Jen

I like bullet lists, especially when I'm doing powerpoints. So here's a list of what I'd probably throw in-- in no particular order:

• WLS friendly cooking methods (bake, slow cook, sous vide = good, frying = bad)
• Unconventional protein sources -- different types of meat (lamb, turkey, buffalo, etc.), how to make tofu, etc.
• How to read recipe labels to ensure your food is WLS-friendly (esp evaluating protein/carbs)
• The importance of seasoning, since it adds ZERO calories
• Meal prep/planning basics, how to keep food safe when you're storing several days' worth in the fridge
• Teach a couple of really simple "don't have time to cook" formulas, like sheet pan dinners (protein, bag of frozen veggies, drizzle of oil, sprinkle with seasoning)

I'm guessing your meeting is in progress/over already, but a topic I would be interested in is cooking at the holidays. For example, do most people bring a WLS-friendly dish to gatherings to make sure there is at least one option?

The only thing that popped into my head was plate sizing. We are so used to a full plate that it is hard to judge how much to get. Smaller plates are one way of tricking our minds and avoid overeating ... or at least avoid wasting food. Smaller forks and spoons encourage smaller bites as well.

I hope that was helpful .... for a 4 year old post that somehow ended op at the top.

This is not a 4 year old post. It was started on 9/10/18. Gwen had VSG in 2014 so perhaps that's the date causing your confusion when you look at the info after her name.