Eggface's 10 Tips for Surviving the Holidays Post Weight Loss Surgery

My 10 Tips for Surviving the Holidays Post Weight Loss Surgery (with a few bonus tips for newer post-ops)

Shelly's Strawberry Cannoli Santas

1. Plan your meals including any holiday snacks or indulgences. If it's not on the day's plan. It shouldn't go in your mouth. One of my post op mantras: Don't trade what you want most, for what you want at the moment.

A few tips and thoughts on Post Weight Loss Surgery Menu Planning

2. Eat protein dense meals. I want to snack less when I've eaten a protein dense breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Protein Packed Grab & Go Breakfast Ideas
More Eggface Bariatric Surgery Friendly Breakfast Recipes and Ideas

3. If possible bring a weight loss surgery friendly dish to a party, that way you are assured of something yummy you can eat. Lots of ideas here and here. Remember even healthier goodies can be overindulged in so stick to your plan for the day and proper portions.

4. Learn to say "No Thank You" when offered non-weight loss surgery friendly items. "Oh Aunt Suzie thank you those look soooo good but I'm saving room for some of that *insert food you can eat* (Ideas: delicious turkey, cheese, veggie...)" and don't feel guilty about saying No. It's not your job to make everyone happy and certainly not at your health's expense.

5. Parties, visitors, phone calls, kids concerts will mess with your schedule. Treat exercise like a VERY IMPORTANT appointment put it on your calendar. Don't break the appointment.

Move every chance you get... take a neighborhood night walk to look at holiday lights. If your weather is not cooperating turn on some music and dance, do some rockin' around the Christmas tree. Here's a simple video that talks about creating a fitness calendar.

Stocking stuffer idea: Buy everyone in your family pedometers or if you already wear an activity tracker, every night chart how many steps each person walked. Give a non-food prize to the highest step taker each month (movie tickets, choice of game on game night, day trip of their choice, etc.)

6. Don't skip the basics. Drink your water and take your vitamins.

7. Don't drink your calories: 80-150 cals per glass wine, 140-200 cals per beer, 150-200 cals each shot, 300-800 cals per mixed drink and that doesn't include any poor eating choices made while feeling a buzz.

8. If you dread the holidays you probably need to rethink them. They shouldn't put you into debt, make you feel awful or anxious, or be something you are forced to do out of obligation. As we lose weight we often find our voice. IT'S OK TO SAY NO to activities and extras that might stress you out. The world won't come to an end if you don't go to that holiday party or event.

9. Take the emphasis off food, booze, material things and onto reconnecting with those you love (put down the smartphone & TALK)

10. Remember that it's a holiDAY not a holiMONTH. Wrap up leftovers, freeze for use in other meals (ham cubes for Bites aka Crustless Quiches or Soups) or give them away (invite some teenage boys or college kids over they will be gone in a blink.) I hate waste but feeling bad for tossing a few baked goods and wasting some money now or co-pays for Dr's from the results of obesity-related health issues later. Not really a choice.

Shelly's Thanksgiving Turkey Day Leftover Bites

If you are newer weight loss surgery post-op, here's a couple especially for you...

11. Party foods unless you are in control of cooking them can have lots of hidden things in them... sauces high in sugars, fatty cooking methods, and could be a ticket to dump city. Best bet: Bring something you can eat. If the holiday get-together is not a potluck (or what is you guys in the Midwest call it... a "pitch-in") then consider eating before the party or be sure to eat something you have eaten before. You don't want to try something new at a party, have it not agree with you and end up feeling sick instead of enjoying your friends and family.

Oodles of Healthy Party Food Recipes and Ideas

12. Eating (in the first few weeks especially) is not something to be done on the fly. Picture this scenario...

You pop a shrimp in your mouth and start to chew chew chew as directed by your bariatric team but Auntie Suzie comes over and starts oohing and ahhing about your weight loss, how good you look, sooooo.... gulp. Down goes a big hunk of shrimp. You start to thank her and talk but soon realize that hunk of shrimp is sitting like a rubber ball and not moving... she still jabbering away and you try and smile but you are in pain, sweating, nauseous... you excuse yourself and make your way to the bathroom and you spend the next few hours praying to the porcelain Gods and swearing you will never eat another shrimp (it wasn't the shrimp's fault.) This is a hard lesson to learn. Trust me.

We're entering some hard months... lots of triggers, foods, family, events, stress, it's TOUGH stuff. Remember: YOU ARE TOUGHER! Hope these tips help you have a great post weight loss surgery celebration! We have so much to celebrate!

Check out my Pinterest Boards for even more holiday ideas.

Post Weight Loss Surgery Menus: A day in my pouch

A day in my pouch is a series of blog posts (I try and post them every few days) to show what a typical daily menu looks like in my post weight loss surgery world. My menu yesterday...

Breakfast: I wanted to get an outside walk in before the weather changed. We're in for a few days of rain so I hear. I might have to walk the mall this week or dance. I mixed up my blender bottle with a Celebrate Vitamins Vanilla Cake Batter ENS Protein Shake and took off. For those of you that aren't familiar with ENS it stands for Essential Nutrient System. Each shake contains a high potency multivitamin, 500 mg of calcium citrate, 4 grams of fiber, and 25 grams of whey isolate protein in each serving. I wish these had been around when I was a new post-op. I mixed it with 1/2 milk, 1/2 water for even more protein.

Lunch: Found these super cute Wholly Guacamole mini cups at the supermarket and I thought they'd be great in one of my bento box lunches. I love the portion control size because I can go a little crazy with guacamole. FYI: They come in classic and spicy and I found them in the refrigerator case near fresh salsa.

I didn't make a bento this time (the box comes with 4 so one of them will end up in one) just ate it with some cooked shrimp.

Dinner: Tweaked a Pecan Chicken recipe I found in a magazine. It was sort of like a "Fried" Chicken with out the batter or frying. It will be in my rotation for sure. I loved it and it was so easy. I served it with one of those Bird's Eye Steamfresh Microwave bags of Green Beans. Nuked in the last 7 minutes of chicken cooking time.

Shelly's Pecan Crusted Chicken

1 1/4 pounds of Chicken Breast Tenders
2 Tablespoons Spicy Brown Mustard (Gulden's type)
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 cup crushed Pecans
sprinkle of Salt
a few twists of Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 350. On a coated paper plate (easy clean up) blend together the mustard and honey. Toss the pecans in a mini food processor (or if you need to take your aggressions out crush in a Ziploc with a heavy jar) and pulse until the nuts are finely chopped. Pour the chopped pecans on another paper plate.

Dredge chicken first in mustard/honey mixture and coat on both sides then into chopped pecans, both sides. Place coated chicken into Pyrex baking dish that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray and sprinkle each chicken breast with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear.

The leftovers are lunch today with a Caprese Salad (Tomatoes, Basil, Mozzarella)

Snacks: Too much coffee and I finally got around to digging through my ObesityHelp Conference swag. I had a hunk of one of these Premier Nutrition Chocolate Mint Protein Crisp Bars. These are totally Girl Scout Thin Mints. Yum. So when the little whippersnappers come around hawking their cookies buy a box, donate it and eat one of these or try one of my Girl Scout Cookie Protein Shake recipes that replicate the famous cookie flavors.

More Days in my pouch.

Life After Weight Loss Surgery Q & A - Dealing with Family and Friends

One post-op's thoughts on life after weight loss surgery. Question #3...

Question: What did you do about friends and family that said things like "Are you sure you want to risk dying?" and "Can't you just lose it on your own?" when you told them you were going to have weight loss surgery?

Answer: "Are you sure you want to risk dying?" Well hmmm isn't that what I'm doing now. A slow suicide by knife and fork. "Can't you just lose it on your own?" This is on my own... it's my guts getting rerouted, my lifestyle changes being made, my healthy eating choices, my exercising, my LIFELONG battle with obesity that NEVER ends even when I reached goal. I consider weight loss surgery to be a head start. The MAJOR change I needed to physically be able to get active again and eliminate the illnesses (Severe Sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, severe GERD) that were killing me.

A lot of friends and family comments are out of lack of knowledge and fear about weight loss surgery and what life will be like after (for you and for them.) EVERYONE claims they know SOMEONE who died, gained it all back, can't eat anything anymore. If you care about their opinion... take them to your bariatric surgeons support group. They can ask questions and hopefully put their fears to ease.  Let them meet REAL people who have had surgery. Send them over to my blog. Hi! Show them the real stats on complication and mortality rates of bariatric surgical procedures. They are in-line with complication and mortality rates of pretty much every type of surgery performed. 

If you don't care about their opinion... Ask them for the phone # of this mystery person who gained all their weight back so you can chat with them ;) $5 it's a "friend of a friend at work's second cousin's hairstylist" and they won't be able to get you that info.

Sometimes it is a little jealousy. In my San Diego State University (Go Aztecs) Psychology 101 class it was called "leveling the playing field." Everyone likes to be on the same level and when something like weight loss, new jobs, new relationships, happen we like to drag people back down to our perceived level. It's the nasty side of human nature. You get comments like "Oh you are having THAT surgery, yeah but you won't ever be able to eat XYZ again" or "Yeah you will lose weight but you will have all that skin."

Again... send them over to my blog or Pinterest page to see what food is possible after surgery. It is pretty darn tasty. Some foods you may not eat again. They may not agree with you, your Dr. may advise against them or in my case I choose not to eat a few foods.

Now excess skin is a reality and it's not pretty. Any time you lose 100+ pounds whether with surgical assistance or not you will have some skin issues. Make peace with it or make plans for getting rid of it. They can always donate to your plastic surgery fund if they are soooo concerned about your excess skin issues.

Sometimes friends and family come around when they see the health benefits and AWESOME changes in you BUT sometimes they don't. To those that don't... people come in and out of your life for a reason. New supportive friends are out there.

Find a Support Group
Come to an Event

What others are saying about this on my Facebook page.

Best wishes to you in your journey.

Question #1
Question #2

Post Weight Loss Surgery Menus: A day in my pouch

A day in my pouch is a series of blog posts (I try and post them every few days) to show what a typical daily menu looks like in my post weight loss surgery world. My menu yesterday...

Breakfast:  I was in the mood for pancakes and these are great because leftovers can be frozen between slices of wax paper or kept in the fridge a day or 2 and reheated (nuke 25 seconds) for breakfast during the week. Surprising good cold too. Leftovers usually get some SF jam, almond or peanut butter smeared on them, wrapped in foil and they become a great breakfast-on-the-go. Makes the rest of my week easy.

Shelly's Butterscotch Crunch Ricotta Pancakes

1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Butterscotch Instant Pudding Mix, dry
1 Egg
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Torani Syrup (any flavor SF Vanilla, Caramel, etc.)
3 Tablespoons Multigrain Pancake Mix
1/4 cup Grape Nuts Cereal

Mix all ingredients (except cereal) together till well combined. I use whole milk ricotta, if you use part skim, drain it for an hour or so first. Spray pan with non-stick spray. Cook on low till golden, top with a sprinkle of Grape Nuts, flip, pat flat, cook till done. Serve each pancake with a drizzle of warm Sugar Free Maple Syrup, SF Jam or Marmalade or Fruit. Makes 4 small pancakes or 8 silver dollar size.

More Pancakes
More Grab and Go Breakfast Ideas

Lunch: The contents of my bento box lunch.

Pink Box (top left):  Turkey and Muenster Cheese Cold Cut Roll-up a few Peanuts 
Green Box (top right): Cucumber Slices (my crackers) 
Blue Box (bottom left): Red and Green Pepper Strips 
Orange Box (bottom right): Shelly's Greek Yogurt Hummus Dip (just equal parts Greek Yogurt and Roasted Garlic Hummus)

I love this dip. All the taste of Hummus but lighter in calories, fat and oodles more protein. It's great with steamed asparagus too.

More Bento Box lunches, FAQ's and an Online Source for them

Dinner: A bowl of my Chinese New Year Soup (Quickie Version) and Egg Foo Young Bites. This is one of my Mum and I's favorite chilly day meals. Cooking it makes the house smell amazing and it's so warm and comforting. Leftovers reheat great so today's lunch is easy peasy.

The Egg Foo Young Bites (really any of my Bites) make a great accompaniment for soup but they would be perfect as a weight loss surgery friendly holiday appetizer for a party.

More Eggface Bites (aka Mini Crustless Quiches)

Snacks: A little No Sugar Added Cocoa with a splash of Sugar Free Salted Caramel Torani Syrup and a squirt of Homemade No Sugar Added Chocolate Whipped Cream.

Shelly's Homemade No Sugar Added Chocolate Whipped Cream

1 cup Whipping Cream
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Vanilla Torani Syrup
2 Tablespoons Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Whisk till well combined. Fill whipping cream to the fill line of the whipper. Screw on the top. Insert the CO2 cartridge till it empties, unscrew that. Put the nozzle on, shake a few times and squirt away. It makes a ton, store it in the fridge for up to 10 days just give it another few shakes before squirting.

I broke out my Knitted Turkey Bottle Topper Mum made me. I've decorated for Fall a bit in the house because it's been crazy summer weather the past few days high 80's so Mr. Turkey is about the only way I feel like it's Fall. I heard the weather is going to change and we'll be in the 60's soon. I'm looking forward to it. I want to pull my sweaters out of the closet and make more soups. Remind me I said I wanted chilly weather when I'm shivering and using these suckers like they are out of style.

More Days in my pouch.