Stinkerbells2ndact

From the world according to eggface blog:
Shelly's Ricotta Bake

8 oz of Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 large Egg, beaten
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup Marinara Sauce
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Mix ricotta cheese, parmesan, beaten egg, seasonings together and place in a oven proof dish. Pour marinara on top and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake it in the oven @ 450 for about 20-25 minutes (best) or nuke it till hot and bubbly. I usually made it first in the oven and heated the leftovers in the microwave.

8 oz of Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 large Egg, beaten
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup Marinara Sauce
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
3 Zucchini sliced long ways
put a layer of the zucchini down Layer the cheeses, sauce and zucchini like making a lasagna. Mix ricotta cheese, parmesan, beaten egg, seasonings together and place in a oven proof dish. Pour marinara on top and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake it in the oven @ 375 for about 35 minutes . I have a foodi also and have made it in that. Very good stuff.

Jennie-O is the most common brand in my area. I generally buy whatever brand the store has, and/or has on sale, and it's all been tasty!

I made it with hot Italian turkey sausage, added both flavor and protein!

Lol. I didn’t name it, but my hubby has been talking to it since the pre-op diet made it noisy. That was “Pouchy” and Post-op it switched to “Tubey.” I’m only a week out, so not sure how long their relationship will last, but seems to be quite chatty between the two of them.

No offense. I'm Irish. I had to break up with potatoes for my health and weight loss.
I'm Southern, and live in an area that was formerly rice fields. I had to break up with rice for my health and weight loss.
I have a little Italian in me and had to break up with Pasta for my health and weight loss.
I'm English and had to break up with sticky toffee pudding along with other sweets for my health and weight loss...
See where I'm going here?
I understand food experience and cooking styles are heavily influence by our heritage. But you CHOSE to have bariatric surgery to change your life and give you a chance to live a long, healthy, new, SKINNY life. And that means, you will have to figure out a different plan for how you eat culturally.
I get around this by using the spices from my heritage in new and exciting ways. Sometimes eaten with completely different foods! I love using Italian bread spice on fish! On Chicken! No need for bread!
I would look at the Proteins of your culture and use the spices and low fat, low sugar, low carb ingredients and Condiments and methods of cooking that are healthy, light, and lean. Create new light, lean versions of your Dominican dishes you used to love! For instance, instead of refried Beans, I make refried pumpkin (lower carb), refried cauliflower/zucchini mash (low carb, lower fat), Mexican cauli rice, chicken instead of pork shoulder, pork loin instead of pork shoulder, turkey to replace ground beef, etc...
Does that help? Above all else, break up with any added sugar and the highest carb foods of your culture and keep the rest.

Seems to be dependent on the team. Small amounts of natural nut butters or avocado (i. e. health fats) are even recommended now during the first four weeks by the nutritionists in my team.
However, they also have no problems with people having full fat cheese or milk. This seems to be way different from the approach that's most touted on here.

On my liquids phase I could have sugar free popsicles, Jello and pudding. I took SF pudding and mixed two scoops of Protein Powder into it. This will bump the Protein up and help satisfy you. I also bought some popsicles molds and used them to make protein popsicles out of Protein Shakes. Just having that helped me. I also had greek yogurt. Dannon Oikos triple zero is good. Just remember to take small spoonfuls and wait between bites. I was taking anywhere between 30 to 60 seconds between spoonfuls.

GUYS HELP. Im one week out of surgery. My stomach is doing well i can do 2 sips of Water in a row and im fine. Im so so tired if liquids . I know i have to stay on liquids for another week. But im dying. Can i move earlier to stage 3? Like mashed foods? Scrambled eggs or cream cheese anything! Im depressed here. I really need help. I cant go on like that for another week !! :’(

Sending you lots of well wishes & good luck!! You’ll do great!

Thanks for all of the well wishes. Had my surgery this morning and all is well and recovering. Been up and walking already. Moderate pain due to incisions and hernia repair, but I feel blessed. Thanks again and I’m sorry for all the other March cancellations. I got in under the wire let me tell you. Hospital now on lockdown.

I’m going in the morning. I’ll be back to posting by this weekend. Hold thoughts for me!

Well, mine is still on for the 24th at this moment just because it’s at an outpatient surgery center and not a hospital but I’m sure this will be a Fluid situation day by day.

I think I have entered what my surgeon called “the tunnel of misery”. I bought so many different broths and Soups so I’d have a variety, and the idea of ANY of them makes me nauseous. I also can just BARELY stand the thought of any of the shakes. And I desperately want all the food my husband is cooking for my family. I know I’ll get through it, and it’s worth it, I just needed to share with people who would get it.

Also, I’m so sorry to the people who are getting canceled. From my perspective, I am terrified right now about developing complications that could send me back to the hospital in the midst of chaos. For example, I developed a little respiratory rattle in the Hospital BC I can’t breathe deeply bc of the pain, and I’m so scared it will develop into pneumonia. Also I feel like while I’m healing my immune system is compromised, so I’m nervous about that too.

I don’t mean to devalue the experience of getting your surgery postponed. I would have been devastated. But there are some pros to it.

Now will someone help me get out of the Tunnel of Misery?

So hard to not pick! Esp. Now that they are getting a little itchy. I don’t see any stitches, but the blobs of glue have semi-lifted and are buggin’!
Good for you for getting your move on. I only managed another couple miles with one small hill before I was d.o.n.e. and my belly has been a little sore this afternoon. Finally get to weigh in tomorrow since it’ll be 1 wk, so that’s exciting/nerve wracking. 😬

That's so great! Sounds like you're set up for success and so glad it's going great!
This place is really helpful. I really wish I'd known about it before my surgery, but so glad I've got it now. You're probably right that it'll have more than enough answers for my nervous nelly brain.
Not exactly hating life, but I'm hungry, which I didn't expect. Maybe it's just mind games. Plus, I am a worrier, so constantly wonder if I'm doing/done something to mess things up. Thankfully, the pain hasn't been too bad and I haven't had any nausea (knock on wood) which would really be a bummer.
Thanks again for asking

I was released from the hospital day 3 post-op and since then I've been walking between 10-20,000 steps a day (I did the same when I had the sleeve). I do get a little tired sometimes, but then I'll go home and have a big rest. FWIW, I was doing 20,000 steps because I was in Paris and did a lot of walking there - I'm sticking closer to the 10,000 mark now that I'm back home. I don't make it to 10,000 everyday, but I feel better getting out in the fresh air moving around that just sitting at home. To be fair, this is in line with what I was doing before surgery, so it's not like I'm pushing myself more than usual. This is usual for me.
However, as other people have said, everyone is different. It's important to listen to your body. If you feel tired or are in pain, then maybe dial it back a bit. If not, keep going!

Thanks for asking the question. I was wondering the same thing. Yesterday, was my first day actually trying to get steps and I only got to 6k.
Does it hurt your incisions? I found I had to wear the binder when I was walking more than just around the house.

Sure, no problem. I'm sure you're doing fine. This is a learning experience for all of us! 😃

Those instructions are for the first 3 weeks after surgery.

My instructions from my doctor were 2 oz of Protein Drink on the hour every hour and 2 oz of an approved liquid every 15 minutes after the top of the hour. That way you can get it all in.

@stinkerbells2ndact- I am also feeling like I prepared a ton but now that I’m here I’m not sure I’m doing it right! My program told me the first priority is 64 oz of Fluid a day (which I have been ALMOST getting) and the second priority is 60-70 Protein, which I have not been getting close to. I could bit that if I HAD just the shakes all day, but I’d really like some variety in here! Plus, I’m confused about how much I should be eating at a time. If my stomach is the size of a thumb, and I should only be eating like 1/4 or 1/2 cup at a time why is it I can drink a whole shake in one sitting with no problem? And should I be limiting myself to the smaller amount even if I can have more? On the other side, I have no hunger at all, so I’m tempted to just do the fluids, like won’t that help me lose faster???? I prepared so much and now I just feel a little lost.

Well, we are about to enter week 3 and congratulations to all of the March surgeries completed so far. Because I started my liquid fast on March 1st, I'm at day 15 and counting.
My surgery is 72 hours away. I do hope for the best and I'm trying to be as even-headed as possible. There is a lot going on in the world right now and I want to be, above all, safe.
So let's all hope for the best and continue to do our due diligence. ❤️

It is so interesting how we all experience things so differently.

I’m day 3 post-op and it is legit work for me to get the daily Fluid requirements. Drinking, even relatively small sips, can often lead to it feeling like my stomach and esophagus spasming. I’ve tried fluids at different temperatures-I think warm works the best, but even that’s not perfect. I’ve tried using hyoscyamine which has been somewhat helpful. But even with that I’m having to be exceedingly mindful of how much I’m drinking. Basically I try to make sure I’m drinking at least 2 Dixie cups of fluid each hour. Usually at first I’m ok but over the course of a couple hours it becomes increasingly uncomfortable.

And in terms of hunger-I have ZERO appetite. I have absolutely no desire to eat or drink. Even seeing my family eat things I’ve historically enjoyed has not tempted me at all. It all just seems so off putting. And as others have experienced it feels like my tastes have changed. I used to genuinely enjoy Protein Shakes, even before I ever started in a weight loss program, but now I find them fairly revolting. I’m drinking them because I have to but it’s not easy.

Anyway just sharing my experience to perhaps provide another data point in the conversation.

Yeah, I spoke too soon (that's karma for you). My last meal of the day was some low fat yogurt with extra Protein and OMG - now I know what dumping syndrome is! I felt horrible for about 5 hours, nauseous, gas (stomach abdominal area was very distended), etc - it wasn't until I was finally able to vomit that I felt better and could actually go to sleep. Even then I had to lie on my back since lying on either side brought back those symptoms (but less). I certainly learned my lesson! I think I'll take it easy and just do liquids today.