What's on your menu (Photo Friday) RNYers?
on 7/28/17 11:35 am
Hi everyone! Am I allowed to "play" even though I'm pre-surgery? Love all the fur baby/feathery friends! Wow on the pigeon! Who knew?
QOTD: You can call me Susie T. or Fluffy or Fluffy Chix--whatevs! (I have a low carb keto blog--fluffychixcook.com--that I haven't updated in sooooo long...I'm having issues with left arm lymphedema from cancer treatment, so it's difficult to take the hours to make new recipes/fotos/blog posts without it making my arm swell more and hurt more. That's where Fluffy Chix comes from.)
Accountability: I began "practicing" for eating like a bariatric patient minus the larger quantities, and was told by the doc that I need to up my calories significantly or the WLS might not help me. :( So I'm now up to 700 cals/day aiming for 900-1000 within a couple to 3 weeks). Hoping to "sneak up" on the cals she wants me at each day without alerting my fat cells to the nutritional status change! I gain weight at 1000-1200 cals/day.
B-cottage cheese, Grk yogurt, SF peach Davinci, frozen peaches, Fiber One
L-chopped salad with chicken and low fat feta, triple zero Grk dressing
D-grilled skirt steak, roasted cauliflower, avocado/grape tomatoes
Cals-699; P-68g; F-32g; C-27g net
Welcome! I'm pre-op also, and also "practicing" by eating low-carb high-protein, but I'm not really eating the small quantities a WLS patient would actually eat post op. I am however, getting into the habit of reading the serving sizes and actually weighing and measuring my portions instead of just eating whatever amount until I'm full. I just wasn't sure it was realistic to only eat 1/4 C for a meal at this stage. I'm eating around 1100-1300 calories on average right now. I'm actually losing, but nothing dramatic. I don't meet with the surgeon until August 31st (though I've already started my monthly evaluations required by insurance) so I don't know if he'll expect me to lose a specific amount .
do you have a surgery date yet?
on 7/28/17 1:50 pm
Hey gurl! I hear ya on the quantities. I tried eating the quantities but just couldn't sustain it. I was eating between 500-600 cals and it was a white knuckle ride every day. I was HANGRY and Mr. Fluffy was pretty afraid most days. LOL. I am fairly content on 700 cals of no-frills food, but the surgeon is afraid I will lose the impact and ooomph that surgery brings if I can't get my cals up to 900-1000 cals without gaining. Mostly it's keeping protein and carbs where they're at and only adding fat up to the next calorie level. Not so much really, only about a tablespoon of olive oil and I'd be "there." I too am trying to practice mindfulness, protein forward, no drinking with meals, chewing to oblivion--etc. :D
Congrats on the loss at 1100-1300 cals! That rocks. I hear ya on trying to emulate the quantities without having the restriction! Oy veh! Yay on your surgeon's meeting date! I had my first meeting with her and like her very much. I will start the NUT appointments August 10th-ish. No surgery date--still have to clear things, especially some fluid around my heart--in addition to the usual WLS clearances. They think the fluid around my heart came from cancer treatments. Boo. I suspect if I do qualify, the surgery will be sometime in mid-January because I would be eligible in November and I just don't want to do it over the Christmas/New Year holidays. Too hard for everyone.
Do you have a date?
no date yet, but my required 6 month evaluation will be up mid-december, so I'm also looking at mid-January! I feel the exact same about doing it over the holidays. Too much else going on. We could very well be surgery buddies! It will of course, depend on what specialists my surgeon will want me to visit with, and when I can get THOSE appointments booked. If any of them have long wait times for appointments, that might stretch it out longer. The only health problem I really have is diabetes, and I've been seeing an endocrinologist for years, but he may want me to consult with a cardiologist, etc. I'm hoping for January or February at the latest though, if only because I may as well stay home recovering when there's nothing else to do!
I've also been told that about the calorie intake--our bodies will adjust to the calorie intake, so weight loss won't be as dramatic after surgery. I don't know if that's actually true or not, but I couldn't sustain the small portions and low calories anyway. Like you, I was hangry all the time! True hunger too, not just head hunger. stomach growling, lightheaded, etc, though some of that is probably because my endocrinologist still has me on diabetes meds, so my blood sugars get too low. The plan is to stop all diabetes meds when I start my pre-op liquid diet, then evaluate from there in the weeks/months post op.
HW: 340 SW: 329 Goal: 170
CW: 243
Surgeon: Dr. Kalyana Nandipati (Omaha, NE)
Good to see you and thank you again!
