istytehcrawk

Ditto that. The wontons themselves freeze well, too (and thaw quickly on the counter), so I like to have at least two packages in the freezer at all times.

I totally forgot I started following this thread out of curiosity back in January. And when I got a notification, I was like... what in the world did I have to contribute?! Turns out, I was just a nosey body!

The wonton lasagnas are the BEST. I use this recipe as a base but make my own sauce (with ground turkey) and use Greek yogurt-based cream cheese instead of ricotta (which I don't like). http://traceysculinaryadventures.com/2013/03/muffin-tin-mini-lasagnas.html
I've made them several times; here's a post with more detail: https://www.bariatricpal.com/profile/332142-istytehcrawk/?status=406246&type=status

Oh, I also really like these crustless Hawaiian pizza bites: https://www.ellaclaireinspired.com/no-crust-pizza-bites/

The wonton lasagnas are the BEST. I use this recipe as a base but make my own sauce (with ground turkey) and use Greek yogurt-based cream cheese instead of ricotta (which I don't like). http://traceysculinaryadventures.com/2013/03/muffin-tin-mini-lasagnas.html
I've made them several times; here's a post with more detail: https://www.bariatricpal.com/profile/332142-istytehcrawk/?status=406246&type=status

I haven't tried freezing them, but I think the lasagnas would be fine. Not so sure that the pizza would hold up, because they fall apart pretty easily.

Four weeks post-op! I can hardly believe it! I'm going to slowly start introducing more types of food over the next few days. Technically I've already been eating "soft foods" since I decided not to puree some of my Soups and such, but now I can add in certain whole fruits and steamed veggies along with Beans that aren't pureed.
The scale finally moved a bit! Down two pounds for a total loss of 21 pounds in the first four weeks. To keep it simple I'll go by the date for a true monthly weigh-in, so that'll be on this Sunday the 17th.
Our pool should be ready for swimming soon and that will really help me get in more activity since walking longer than 15-20 minutes is still difficult for me. I still need to get a handle on my sleep and that might also help ramp up the weight loss - I've been sleeping 3-4 hours a night recently and I use the term "night" loosely since sometimes I can't sleep until after Mr. Green leaves for work! I know that's got my hormones all out of whack so hopefully that will improve very soon as well.
I've been feeling great lately! Very happy and satisfied with my food and my stomach.

Hawaiian pizza is one of my favorite foods, thank you for both recipes! I have to make my own Tomato sauce as well, i dont like store bought.

I've bought a few things, mostly at Goodwill or on clearance for just a few bucks. I also have some items that are hand-me-downs from friends/family members, including a couple who have also had bariatric surgery.

I've bought a few things, mostly at Goodwill or on clearance for just a few bucks. I also have some items that are hand-me-downs from friends/family members, including a couple who have also had bariatric surgery.

I continue to be inspired by all of you ladies!
Happy to report that I bought several tops in a size 18-20 tonight! All of the tops I have been wearing are a 26-28 and they were suddenly looking sloppy and falling off my shoulders. I thought I would be a 22-24 and was excited to realize I am an 18-20!

As long as your supervisor approves the time off request, you have no obligation to work around someone else vacations, etc.

You know, in rereading the OP, you're being kind of gross, considering how easily I can Google your surgeon. And have you considered how she might feel if she Googles herself, or has some sort of Google Alert, and this is what she sees? How many patients does she have named Matt/Matthew? Would it be that hard to narrow down which one of her patients is openly admitting to pleasuring himself to her?

That, right there, is a form of mental sabotage. Trying to make you give up on it is just as bad, if not worse, than... I don't know, substituting high-calorie versions of your healthy foods without you knowing.

I’m just glad in the meantime all these community members will get to read about your “views” and hopefully the next time they scroll past your name, they will just roll their eyes and not give you the time of day, I know I won’t.
The sad thing is, the beginning of this post, we had a respectful conversation about change. And I supported, not agreed, but supported the decision to lock down gender rooms. But, one decision to speak about something you clearly don’t understand may make you a lot of enemies.

If you don't have an intimate understanding of gender identity difference....maybe it's one of those topics you should avoid having big public opinions about. (cause, you know....you come off like an asshat... just like the thin people who think they know everything about being fat)
Again....Free speech does not mean speech free of consequences.

Do you know what you sound like? You sound EXACTLY like the ignorant people who have never struggled with their weight a day in their like...who express THIS loud opinion: "Fat people are just lazy and need to stop eating. They don't need surgery, it's the easy way out. They are in denial about the truth. What they really need to do....is put down the sandwich and candy bar and stop making our insurance rates go up with unnecessary butcher surgery that just makes doctors wealthy. They're just going to eat themselves fat again anyway."
Why be an expert on something you clearly know nothing about? Particularly when your comments are degrading to others, negative, and based on your very limited perspective.

LAST THING, I promise. Because I'm seriously disturbed by some of the blatant disrespect for gender identity in this post. And if there was an angry emoticon, @Syntax_Attack "reputation" would decline in a hurry. Your comments are closed minded and an embarrassment to the community.
If the ladies chose to only post in the gal's only rooms, the men wouldn't have anything to talk about or anyone to talk to. Be careful what you wish for.

Now see...I think your refusal to acknowledge and respect these people....is as offensive as you find women who post in the men's room.
World is an interesting place, isn't it?
If you'd like to be educated about them, look up the term genderqueer or non-binary gender identity.
But again...I don't care what Alex does about these rooms.
Ultimately, I think he'd care a lot more about them if they produced LOTS of sales of bariatric products. LOL:)
By the way, have you tried the Flapjacked Mighty Muffins? They're amazing:)

That, right there, is a form of mental sabotage. Trying to make you give up on it is just as bad, if not worse, than... I don't know, substituting high-calorie versions of your healthy foods without you knowing.

I don't know if it's related to surgery directly or just because I wasn't happy with how I was before, but I've been making an effort to be as authentic as possible and not give a **** what people think about my habits/opinions/decisions.

Tomorrow (today) I have my rescheduled post-op visit with the surgeon! I have gone against my word and been weighing myself every day - that obsessive mindset is so hard to shake no matter how much I tell myself not to engage it. My weight has been bouncing around from 323 to 325 for just about 8 or 9 days now, so I'm still in the 17-19 lb range lost since surgery. Of course I would have loved another week of an 8-10 lb loss but so far things just ain't moving. I'm irritated but not concerned... I know it will move, and after tomorrow's appointment I'm going to try my damnedest not to get back on the scale until the 17th for a one-month weigh-in!
I've been much happier since I started taking my Vitamins earlier this week; I'm not exactly sure what could be in them that would boost my mood, but I'm all for it! I'm taking the Bariatric Fusion chewables. So far I like the tropical flavor and don't particularly care for the mixed berry. They are definitely a mouthful, regardless of the flavor! I'm still taking pantoprazole and just started actigall, plus my AD. So I have a very simple twice a day pill routine and I don't have to worry about spacing things or remembering to take pills at various hours, etc. I'm really pleased with this, so far!
Belly pain is minimal, just a few zaps from around the numb area here and there. Bowel movements are easy to pass and regular. Eating has been getting easier as the days go by and to be entirely truthful I think it's because I'm not really following the puree rules. Unless the food is naturally pureed (mashed potatoes, applesauce) I'm either mashing with a fork (banana w/ peanut butter) or just mushing it to bits in my mouth before swallowing (potato Soups, tuna). Maybe the puree texture was what was really messing with my mind. I still can't do the hummus ever since I had the meltdown that set off the eating issues. (Disclaimer: please follow your surgeon's guidelines instead of going off-track like me!)
Possibly because of the added textures from the not-so-pureed foods, I've finally started feeling some feedback from my pouch here and there. I still haven't had any issues with what I'm eating, I seem to tolerate it all fine - but I do think I've been eating too fast because I definitely got some feedback after eating quickly, once yesterday and twice today so I'm going to work on "bariatric etiquette" including putting my fork down between bites and separating food and Water. What I felt was mostly a weird, squeezing sensation (maybe a very low-grade pain) in my pouch with a very loud, overwhelming STOP! signal attached. It almost feels like a vagal response, like the first little bit of fuzz in your brain when you are about to faint. I don't actually faint or anything, though! And I'm still so happy that I haven't (yet) had vomiting, slimes, foamies, nausea, etc. or anything of the sort. I feel very lucky in that regard.
I still don't have any sense of hunger or fullness. I'm eating because I know I should and stopping when my serving is gone. Maybe as I head into week four (can't believe it's been 3 weeks post-op today!!!!) I'll start getting some of those senses.
I have had some cravings for gross, fatty food recently and I think it's because I've been eating a lot of prepared/purchased food, like Beans from Taco Bell and mashed potatoes from Bojangle's. So I'm still keying into that "alone in my car going to drive-throughs" ritual that was such a problem for me. It also may be because I've chosen to reincorporate animal products, particularly cheese, in the soups and such that I've been eating. Because, to be frank, almost all the cravings I've been having are for products either made of or covered with cheese! Crispy melty mozzarella sticks, a Rally's burger dripping with cheese sauce, chicken fried rice from the local Mexican restaurant (which is basically just Spanish rice and grilled chicken with a crapton of queso blanco poured over it), a 5-layer burrito from Taco Bell... all have been on my mind lately. (Dr. Neal Barnard has some really interesting insights on cheese and addiction-like responses in the brain if you want to read more about why eating cheese might be making me crave cheese!)
Right now I'm relying on my tiny pouch, lack of hunger, and a sincere desire NOT to harm myself by eating foods beyond the mushy/soft stage to overcome those cravings, but that stuff won't last forever. So in this last week of puree, I'm going to keep eating the foods that have been working for me, in the interest of calories and Protein - but starting next week in the official soft food stage when I can experiment more, I'll be focusing on building back up a plant-based diet that helps my mind stay away from those types of cravings. Part of that will be planning meals and bulk cooking, and part of it will be rebuilding my cardio ability so that I have more energy for cooking!
Well, I think this post is certainly long enough. One day soon I'll have to copy all this over to a word document so I don't lose any of my post-op journals if BP ever goes kaput!

That, right there, is a form of mental sabotage. Trying to make you give up on it is just as bad, if not worse, than... I don't know, substituting high-calorie versions of your healthy foods without you knowing.

That, right there, is a form of mental sabotage. Trying to make you give up on it is just as bad, if not worse, than... I don't know, substituting high-calorie versions of your healthy foods without you knowing.

I don't know if it's related to surgery directly or just because I wasn't happy with how I was before, but I've been making an effort to be as authentic as possible and not give a **** what people think about my habits/opinions/decisions.