Poll question...FOOD NETWORK

Actually it is the ingenuity and variety that I discovered on Food Network that has influenced my reason for wanting a DS v RNY!! Within the past couple of years, I've taken a moderate interest and talent for cooking and cultivated it to a huge interest and accelerated talent. These pre-op days I make well-rounded healthy meals and never overeat anymore (though, I know post-op my servings will be smaller, which is the point of WLS to me) ... I make things such as baked salmon with a creamy mustard sauce and crab mousse cakes and peanut butter chicken and shrimp in red pepper pesto sauce -- all my own recipes and perfectly "legal" by pretty much everyone's post-op dietary standards. So it's not the actual recipes I see while watching pudge porn that I emulate, it's the ideas that pop into my head as a result of them!! I enjoy the personalities and styles of Jamie Oliver and Rachael Ray and Tyler Florence and Paula Deen (although her stuff is the most like a heart attack waiting to happen). I don't salivate or have to eat myself nuts as a result of watching these shows but that has a lot to do with the fact that I've been training myself for post-op for months. It actually reminds me of my mom ... She was a waitress her entire life and always said that being around all that food made her not want to eat -- which I always thought was a ridiculous statement. She came home at night and ate her only meal of the day -- usually chicken and salad -- and was a size 4/6. But now I understand ... The more food I watch and the bigger the portions (like those gross 5-lb burgers and 12egg omelets and eat-a-thons), the less I want to be a glutton!! Good to cya, K-Man {{{HUGS}}}

I'm still pre-op ****il the 27th yippy) and I watch the food network all the time. I have to admit it's not for the food but for the eye candy. Tyler Florence is such a hottie and they just keep giving him more shows first it was 'food 911' then 'Tyler's ultimate', and now he's on 'how to boil water'. I'll tell you life can't get any better and I know some of you girls out there agree with me. My husband like Rachel Ray and I have a feeling it's for the same reason I like Tyler's shows. I started to watch the 'low carb and loving it' guy but I found he just plain annoys me. I don't know why I think it's his personality. To be honest with ya'll I can do the exact same thing he's doing just add heavy cream, soy bean flower, and splenda to everything and you have your own low carb show. I was really disappointed too because I thought I'd get some great ideas from him. I guess you can't win them all. Great question K-man!

Same here Ms. Taylor, That "Low Carb and Lovin' It" Guy has very low charisma. He just does the same things over and over. No big news there. Where as Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, make "simple" a thing of beauty. I would like to have her as a friend. Dx

HI K-man & wife! I must say that unwrapped and iron chef are our favs here. Working in a food factory myself, i have become obsessed with food factories and what makes them tick you all might have seen my factory on there a time or two Have a great day! heather

Yes, I do watch it more than before. My favorites are Good Eats and 30 Minute Meals, but I also like Unwrapped a lot -- it just doesn't do it for me like the cooking shows. I think its somewhat like when I cook a large meal for guests, I feel like I've eaten and am not hungry when I finish cooking (and I don't "taste" as I cook), and somehow watching food prepared on the Food Channel has the same effect. I wind up less hungry rather than more hungry.

OMG I'm addicted to the Food Network!! I watch it constantly. My favorite shows are 30 Minute Meal, Iron Chef, Good Eats and Unwrapped. I think I need a 12 step program. I don't remember watching it this much pre-op. Sandra post op - 12/19/03 -109 lbs

Yep... my husband is a chef, and he's always been addicted to the channel. I couldn'****ch it at first - it seemed everyone was doing shows with ingredients that turned my stomach (I've never been an Iron Chef fan). However, after a few weeks, I began to watch it with a more analytical eye, trying to decide what I could eat (eventually), what I could fix and have with some modification, and what was just out of the ballpark (but still might look good). 30 minute meals (although her giggling sometimes is annoying.. we walk around saying EVOO all the time), barefoot contessa, unwrapped, good eats, paula deen, occasionally Emeril (the DH's fave), and yes, Martha Stewart. I probably do watch it more now - its kind of like another "class" for me. Hope you had a good day at work... Melissa

Yep.. Me too. Love them all. I love to cook more now than ever. I look and and think about food all the time still.. yet differently than before. Erica

I loved the food network before surgery - Unwrapped, Good Eats and 30 minute meals are my favorites. While I was home after surgery I found calori commando and that's pretty interesting. It's given me some good ideas on how to improve recipies (less fat and calories and sugar!)

I adore the Food Network!!!! I have watched it avidly for the past 2 years. They have many many recipes that are just outstanding. HECK, there is nothing wrong with watching TV! We have to eat! Might as well prepare nice, healthy meals! Since I no longer eat many processed/boxed foods, I find that cooking shows offer many wonderful recipes and tips on how to create healthy meals from scratch. I highly recommend the Food Network! Of course, the UNWRAPPED series tends to make me want to lick the television screen.. especially when they are showing the old junk food favorites of mine! LOL When they are showing how jelly beans are made, I simply switch to Animal Planet! LOL Hugs, Kathie in Hawaii..