Starwarsandcupcakes

Wasn’t feeling the greatest yesterday or this morning so this was my breakfast- miso soup, chai latte, and black tea with lemon juice. The other day though I made danmuji (Korean pickled daikon radish) The daikon is from my grocery shopping this past week that I didn’t share.

Nutritional yeast (adds an aged cheese flavor) chia seed pudding (make with a protein shake to add protein) Ground flax seed (use in oatmeal or make flax crackers ) hemp seeds (also a good source of protein) psyllium husk powder (what benefiber is made from) can be mixed into muffins, pancakes, or crackers. A little goes a long way! Cocoa powder

Made Asian style foods for dinner- teriyaki rice noodles, marinated mushrooms, miso soup, general Tso’s tofu, eomuk with those TikTok diy tteokbokki (they’re ok but I’ll buy the real thing from now on), pomegranate seeds, rice, and cucumber slices.

? when it comes to foodstuffs I call it a stockpile. ? And with kids it doesn’t always last as long as I’d like!

My advice- get an ekg done by your primary doctor or even urgent care. You heart feeling like it’s thumping out of your chest is called palpitations and could be a sign of something else. Better to be safe than sorry. (This suggestion is bias in that I work with cardiac patients and would rather you be safe.)

I approve of soup for breakfast!

The lentil stew I made for my work lunches this week. 1tbsp oil. 1 onion, 4-6 stalks celery, 2 large carrots 2 yellow bell peppers- all diced. garlic minced (measure with your heart). Cumin, ground coriander, curry powder, ground turmeric, pepper, bay leaf, 2 cups red lentils, 4-6 cups broth. Salt to taste. Add oil to large pot over medium high heat. Add diced veggies and sauté 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes. Add spices and cook another 2 minutes. Add lentils and stir to coat with spices. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook about 15-20 minutes.

I can’t stand eating the same thing all the time. I just get too bored.

Hunger for most eventually returns but it could be about a year out. Use the time where you aren’t hungry to really focus on staying on your plan to lose the most you can. As for taste I completely get it. After my VSG there was a time the only things I could drink aside from warm liquids was grape Powerade zero. Once you’re into more soft and solid things it be a great time to experiment with spices. They’ll add tons of flavor without adding much in the way of calories. Curried salmon salad and the flavored tuna packets are great soft foods to try.

Y’all, today was a good day! I made a red lentil stew (I’ll post a picture of that when I pack) for my lunches, made the stuffed peppers for tomorrow’s dinner, and made shrimp fajitas for dinner. ….And then I baked… I haven’t baked much since my dad died as it was one of the things that connected me to him. We always talked about new recipes, ones he missed that I’d make him, and just the overall joy of how food brought us closer as people. Then, today, it dawned on me that I’m not doing his memory justice if I stopped doing what I loved which is feeding people. So I did want any (in)sane person would do and made 15 and 1/2 dozen cookies, chocolate filled crescent rolls, and a double batch of chocolate peanut butter fudge. I’ll have excited coworkers for sure.

I bought toddler silverware when I was first post op. It made meals seem easier and I was able to spend more time enjoying it over just a couple of bigger bites. And I agree it’s likely a stall. Just keep going and it’ll get easier as time goes on.

Meals the past week or so. I think I’m gonna give up on the lotus root for a bit as it’s never as soft as I want and the glaze it’s really glaze-y. And those meatball looking things are really squid balls. The sheet pan pancakes have become a staple with various mix-ins (these were pumpkin spice latte ones).

@sillykitty, I just checked my local Aldi ad and both the grapes and cherry tomatoes (organic) I bought were cheaper at the stores I go them at. The peppers would’ve been cheaper but only by a penny. Every once in a while I also find great produce deals on Amazon Fresh. I wish prices weren’t so variable when it came to meat/dairy/produce across the US. On that Aldi note though, if I ever visit the UK I’m shopping at Tesco because they price match Aldi prices in their stores.

Honestly I’m the same. That or soup!

Speaking of grocery shopping- This week sales were items I usually buy a lot of so I spent $138US instead of my ideal budget of $110. I saved $144US with sales, multiple pickup order promos (4 pickup orders saved me an extra $20!), and coupons. The chef boyardee is purely for when kids need fed and I have low functioning days. Oh, the meal plan for this week (which I dated for tomorrow ?‍♀️) And my kids have already eaten 1/2 a container of grapes, 4 apples and a mandarin orange. ?

Man, am I ever jealous of some of your food prices. $.25 cucumbers and $1/lb jalapeños?! Cheapest cucumbers around here are $.69 and jalapeños are $1.50/lb minimum. $.25 cucumbers would save me almost $5 a week! (We eat A LOT of cucumbers around here.) I know for me it’s more economical to shop and make meals at home. With 4 kids, 2 of them teenagers, eating out is expensive and not as nutritious most of the time. Sure, my kids still eat junk food but when an average McDonald’s kids meal is $3.50, it adds up quick.

My dad always use to tell me history quotes growing up. The one that comes to mind for this is “Failing to plan is a plan to fail.” Personally, when I don’t have structured meal plans I go off the walls and end up just eating junk or protein bars and shakes all day (more junk).

Did my weekly shopping- this time for the entire family. Came to $89US (not pictured is 2 12oz s of Gatorade zero and the 2 hidden boxes of cereal behind the first 2) after rebates. I practice buy ahead method for groceries. Also, the meal plan for the week along with tonight’s dinner (I ate it all.)

Also, hi fellow ADHDer! I drink an insane amount of coffee/caffeine daily, although, I’ve cut down recently because it was making me sleepy instead of helping me focus. Also, which kind of cup are we taking? The right or left because the left is actually about 2.5 standard cups of coffee. I drink one (or 2 if I’m working) of those a day about half filled with coffee and then the rest is a protein shake.

I second this! Ones I’ve found work great are premier protein, equate (Walmart brand), muscle milk zero (NOT the regular ones!), Atkins brand, and quest. I find the plant based ones in coffee tend to be kind of gritty and some other brands (I’m looking at you regular muscle milk!) actually clump when poured in hot coffee.

Ones I’ve tried and liked- GNC lean bars Atkins bars (but be careful with the sugar alcohols), Bariatricpal bars (specifically the mint chocolate one), Protein One bars as they’re 90-100 calories and 10g of protein (can find at grocery stores near the other protein/granola bars), nature valley protein bars (these do have 6-8g of sugar but also provide fiber (usually from nuts/peanuts) and 10g of protein for around 180-200 calories depending on variety) l. I mostly buy these for my kids but I also eat them on occasion. Ones that are meh- pure protein bars, zone bars (too much sugar and weird texture), quest bars (the crunchy ones are good though!), power crunch (they have a kind of waxy outer coating to me).

Sub and build your own salad night! My plate is the one in the bottom left it was A LOT of tortilla and that whole wrap was a whopping 660 calories! I obviously ate less than half because, tortilla.

I believe it’s an additional 4 on top of the required 6.

Dinner last night and tonight. Last night- chili cheese veggie dog sans bun (kids had theirs) and rainbow produce Tonight’s dinner- roasted chicken thigh, plain rice, and creamed spinach

Guys- Valtrex is a RX medicine in the US used to treat shingles along with chickenpox and herpes outbreaks. And shingles can happen more than once, along with chickenpox. That being said, I personally would reschedule surgery. It’s a major surgery and your body is already working hard to fight an infection. The last thing you want is to stress your body more with surgical inflammation and pain. And shingles is contagious until all pustules have scabbed over so you’d be putting others as risk during your travel and surgery.