Recipes and general help?????

HEEElppp!!! First off I am new to this page...HEllo...one week postop(rny open) and i am in very dark place and scared what the future means for eating, eating normally, eating tastey things...frustrated my life brought me to surgery and i am in shock I actuallly had to have my organs rerouted to be healthy.Not handling all this well, not anywhere near a support group. Thank God for the O.H...anyways a double loaded question... 1) I heard this was the forum that had a book I could buy that has tons of recipes for post op and beyonds, pls. tell me,....... I've never had a fruit smoothie, don't know at which stage I could have one, never spent much time in the kitchen so pls. telll me of 'this magic book' 2)Is there a book for W.L.S people that are having a really hard time dealing with it and scared to hell and need help guiding them??? I don't get to the computer much, especially now and as lovely as all these forums are I would make myself insane trying to find out all the ways peoples have learned to be happy from the whole process and what the best foods are. I wish i had a group near me, i seem to be the first in my area but in the meantime I need to read to calm my raging mind. 3) finally when will i be able to take normal pills again??I take an anti depressant. crushing it and trying to flu**** down with crystal ight is hooorrrbble.The bitter tastes fills my mouth and I cry cuz I feel I am being punished for just trying to be healthy. All advice is welcome and needed. Jennifer P.s. not motivated to exercise yet, i know i will be walking when i do but just can't right now, too low. Anyways I walk around my backyard once or twice a day(70x70ft) just to keep the circulation going. When did others start really moving. I was not walking anymore at 355 just because I found it too difficult and don't see gettting out onto our local sidewalk for awhile.

Bless your little heart! You'll be alright, Pumpkin. Just don't panic. You are so new and it is hard to adjust and wrap your mind around all of this. Susan Maria has a book (www.bariatriceating.com) that is great with lots of recipes. You can also get alot off of this board. I have used tons of the ones from this page and really like most of them. Don't worry yourself about eating. It will come as you get further out. The main thing to remember is to get in lots of protein. Do you do the shakes? Try a few out and see if there are some you enjoy. The Protein Delite ones are fabulous. On my profile I have a list of my favorite foods and how I ate at first. The pills - I don't know. Alot of people say that they can, eventually, take regular pills. I KNOW how disgusting grinding them up and swallowing them is. Maybe try it in unsweetened applesauce or with cottage cheese or yogurt. Something that will disguise the taste more. You WILL feel more like exercising after awhile. You will start feeling so much energy as the excess weight comes off. There will be no stopping you! Please don't get discouraged. There are so many people here who can help. Just ask a question - you'll get something useful. Have a wonderful weekend! Linda -208 (I started at 353...YOU can do this!)

thankyou..I needed that. I have not got into the protein drinks yet because I did not know I was allowed. At this point I am having 3 1/2 cps of soup a day cuz I don't like cream of wheat as my breakfast choice! 1 week post op. Jennifer

Jennifer i hope you dont mind but i sent you a private email of my Journal since my surgery. I hope it can help you in some way. It has feelings of being way down to flyin highhhhh. Its quite a rollercoaster ride for the first 6 weeks. Hope my journal will be helpful. Good luck. Sheryll in Oklahoma.

Hi Jennifer! I am a bit over 6 months out and I remember being 1-2 weeks out and being scared and frustrated too. It seemed like every commercial I saw was for a fast food place or restaurant and that I would never get off of my liquids. It will get better. It takes time for your body to adjust to the changes, and unfortunately our emotions get caught up in this web too. I did start to feel "mentally" better once I was able to eat what I considered more normal foods...soups, puddings, etc. It made it seem like there was an end in sight...because 2 weeks of clear liquids was a killer for me. Perhaps once you are able to start progressing to eating more solid foods, some of your feelings of "what for the future" will subside. Once I was able to have pureed foods, I thought it was heaven and I didn't even care that I was blending tuna salad or a cheeseburger. Now I eat pretty much normally, of course no sugar and low fat, but the sugar free choices available are pretty good...even Dairy Queen and Rita's have SF items for treats. We are in the process of planning for Disney, and I realized last night that I won't have to worry about planning around any food needs for me, because at this point I just know how and what to eat, and I don't really have to obsess about it and plan it as much as I used to. You'll get to this point too, it just takes some time. As for pills, my dr's rule is nothing bigger than an M & M...so I break most pills in half or in quarters and take them with something flavored to kill the bitterness. Eating...did your surgeon give you any guidelines as for post-op food progressions? There are lots of websites loaded with recipes, ideas, and products you can order...bariatriceating and vitalady are 2 you might want to try. Exercise...took me forever to get into it. Even walking seemed just so hard. Take your time, even just walking inside your house is important. I would walk in place while watching tv or walk laps through the rooms because I didn't want to be out in the neighborhood walking so slowly. As you heal and begin to lose you'll be amazed at how much better you feel and how much you want to do. Best of luck to you on your journey...it takes time and patience and perseverence, and it isn't always easy, but it does get easier as time goes on and you see the changes in your body and start to feel better. Christine 257.5/185

Jennifer, Please dont get discouraged!! You are doing wonderfully hun!!! I remember feeling the same way as you! Everyone on the board was so rosey and happy and all I could think was "WTH did I do to myself?????" That feeling will go away soon though and so will the depression. I am 6 months out now and I am feeling much better. Lots of people feel like you are feeling now! It will get easier and easier for you. I promise! I agree that the pill crushing is one of the most horrible parts. I tried dissolving them in tea, mixing them in applesauce all kinda stuff! I finally started eating them in my sf pudding. This tasted the best to me. Toward the end I just gulped them down in like a spoonfull of pudding cause I was sick of both the pudding and the crushed pills. This will be over soon. I cant think for the life of me when I could start eating real food and swallowing pills. It was at my second Post op appt though. I had open rny also. As far as exercise just walk around the yard or even around the house until you feel better. At 1 week out I pretty much slept all the time so I wasnt doing much walking either. When I had to get up to go pee I would stay up and walk a little bit then go back and rest. You had major surgery and that does a lot to your body. It will be better soon. Do not overdo it. Walk as much as you feel comfy but not too far alone. Also if possible make sure someone is around when you shower. The first showers I felt myself getting very dizzy very fast and you certainly dont want to passout when no one can help you. If you get very dizzy in the shower just sit on the edge for a few minutes even if you are sudsy. You will get through all this yucky stuff soon! Hugsssssssssssss, Dawn

Greetings from Fort Hood, TX! I'm another Army wife- just thought I'd say that off the bat. I'm now almost 7 months out, down 110# but I remember that place you're in. My husband and kid actually took me to Chuck E Cheese the day after I came home (so day 3 of my new life). Honestly, your dr shouldn't have a prob with protein drinks as long as you've passed your leak test (which you have done otherwise you wouldn't be on soups!). So what I suggest is to go to www.bariatriceating.com (that's Susan Maria's site) and order a bunch of her sample packs of protein, so that you can find a few that might tempt you more than others. There is nothing worse than buying a whole bunch of protein powder only to find you can't stand the taste.....and realize that what you like in the first 3 months may be different than what you like at 6 months. As far as eating goes, I can only tell you my experience. I love food, always have and probably always will. I find that MOST of my cravings for junk are actually gone- I used to be the world's biggest choco freak and now don't even like the thought of it much (except for Gol-D-Lite melted choc on a sf almond biscotti). I eat some fruits, lots of veggies, have a hard time with turkey (because it tends to be drier than most meats) but LOVE chicken tenderloins- they are perfectly juicy all on their own. So for now, take it slow and easy- find things you like. Different flavored soups, even pureed soups (like the beef vegetable noodle ones are pretty good even pureed). As far as the pill question- at 6 months my dr said I was okay to try gel caps, especially ones made for bariatric patients. I am unsure of any anti depressents that are in these caps, but I am willing to bet if you are on a CR it would be more difficult to find. Some of those meds come in liqids, but a lot will burn grooves in your tongue....my only other thought woukd be to try masking it in applesauce instead of crystal light. Applesauce (SF or NSA) is usually a good cover for my crushed pills. If you need me, I'm always around.