I passed the first big test

I performed a wedding at a very nice location tonight, and since it was for the son of good friends from church, I felt obligated to attend the reception.  I was able to have a cucumber with cream cheese and chives as an appetizer - ate the cucumber and cherry tomato off the salad as the field greens didn't look overly appetizing (and I LOVE field greens).

Then came the entree - the biggest friggin' piece of stuffed chicken I have ever seen - lightly breaded and stuffed with some type of spinach cream filling.  Seriously big - I don't know that I ever ate that much in one sitting when I had a full-sized stomach!  Asparagus and mashed potatoes on the plate also.

I was able to scrape off the breading and get to the chicken.  I probably ate a couple ounces of it along with three stalks of the (in my opinion) overcooked asparagus and a couple of forkfuls of the potatoes.  I left about 90% of the chicken on the plate - I would have devoured it a few months ago.

No cake when it came around.

And the pouch survived!!!!  What a fortunately successful test of a mystery meal, but I'm sure the day will come when I will go hungry.

Yea, you passed with an "A" . Cook outs are hard to get through especially when you're being noticed.  The pouch rules.  I working  a new plan for cookouts.  Drinking alot of fluids and hour before even a bowl of egg drop soup.  I'am full when I get to the buffet table and I use saucer plates.  I get the look of "Is he sick or something"  Yes I am.  Sick and tired of being fat. You are brave with the unknowns.  I would have put a thumbsize piece of each on my plate and prayed.
Good luck

Great job! 

We are faced with temptations from time to time and I will admit it can be difficult. I keep reminding myself how much I went through to get where I am today and that I don't need food to be happy, rather my health and quality of life out weights any cake or junk food.

on those days I fell like i want to fall back on bad habits I break out the pictures of the old me and this snaps me back to reality.

Frank

Great job! I am still a few days pre-op, so I don't have the pouch issues just yet. but I sure do feel the temptation. I have been on a liquid diet for for 14 days with 4 more to go and it is safe to say everything looks good and smells good, food I would have turned my nose up at 2 weeks ago I would give a finger to taste(well, maybe just a pinky). Last night was a huge test, we had a block BBQ; burgers, beer, smores, and I was able to visit and enjoy everyones company while just having my protien shake. (I won't go as far as to say ENJOY the protien shake) I an not wait to be able to chew again! This time I make better and SMALLER choices.

I was at a three-day retreat during my liquid pre-op.  It wasn't too bad for me to watch the others eat their meals while I drank my Slim-Fast, because I had my eye on the prize.

But I was sure glad when I could start on purees and taste "real" food again!

I read over your post and the responses you got before deciding to chip in.  At first I thought this might have been a bit much since you had your RNY recently.  I don't mean that you ate too much.  You did fine as far as your portions go.  I would have just wondered if I could have tolerated a cucumber and/or asparagus that soon after surgery.  You should be trying out new foods every couple weeks to see what you can tolerate.

Considering your profession, you will probably find yourself at many events where you will be facing unknown choices with the food selection.  I'd suspect at weddings, you can ask in advance what will be offered due to dietary restrictions and just leave it at that.  You may also want to find out at similar functions if possible.

I'm not sure if I agreee with her advice on this, but Dr Beck suggests planning on eating approximately 25% more than usual at special meals.  You can adjust your caloric intake throughout the day to make up for it and you can go to the function without guilt.  I realize this is advice for when you are more than 6 mos post-op because now you can only eat a small amount until you feel full.

So, you did great.  You can continue to be successful with just a little bit of planning.    Bob

Bob - see the post below for more on the food choices.

Usually I do not go to wedding receptions unless I know the family pretty well.  I'm not an extravert when it comes to social functions like this, plus it saves the family the cost of a plate or two of food!  As an aside, this wedding was delightful in that there were small, simple table tents on the tables announcing that instead of fancy programs and favors, the couple had made a donation in the name of the guests to the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.  What a wonderful gesture!

You are correct in that I have not come to that point yet, but I'm not sure I would want to follow Dr. Beck's advice on planning to eat more at special meals.  But, of course, we'll see how I feel when the time comes.  The experienced vets may have more to say about this.

Brian,
     I would be careful trying new foods while out. If you have a severe dumping episode it could be awkward, to say the least. I assume you have not yet experienced such an event. When you do, it's best to be at home! A shepherd can not tend to his flock, while praying to a porcelain idol.
God Bless,
Nick

Nick and Bob - I do appreciate your comments.  Rest assured that I have no desire to self-inflict anything on myself, especially when an hour away from home!  I did dump (mildly, I assume) one time because of a stupid, stupid choice on my part in a moment of "cranial flatulence", so I have a sense what to expect and am happy to avoid the sensation at all costs.

None of those foods were new.  I had tried asparagus a couple of weeks ago and, with chewing it to the point that it was almost liquefied, its fibrous nature did not cause a problem for me ... and with this asparagus being overcooked rather than al dente, it was almost a better texture for this stage.  I did leave the carrots on the plate, though, as I'm staying away from the highly-sugared veggies.  I didn't eat the spinach cream sauce, wedding cake or field greens, and I passed up a pair of appetizers that had pastry as their bases.  I had to do a little surgical procedure on the chicken, but I ended up with some moist meat that was well tolerated.

I agree with both of you (and everyone else reading this) in that we have to be smart as we are adding foods back into our diets.  Had I felt there would have been an issue, the backup plan was to have excused myself as soon as socially acceptable and found my own dinner somewhere, letting more water be my friend in the meantime.

Well, actually the only new food was the cream cheese, but no dairy product had created an issue to date, so that was an admitted calculated risk that I felt had high probability of success.