I know there are a lot of new and soon-to-be sleevers out there and many are wondering if they are ever going to be able to enjoy a Christmas dinner like days gone by. I know it was a concern of mine. So, I though I would post about it.

I am nearly 19 months post sleeve.

Yesterday, I made a turkey with stuffing ... gravy, mashed potatoes, green Beans ... you know the drill. I had about 4 bites of turky (first) then about 4 green beans, 2 bites of stuffing and 2 bites of potatoes. Gravy slathered across everything. I put it on a salad plate and it was about half full. I was one of the last ones to finish eating (guy across from me had 3 platefulls) and I was stuffed. Had ice cream and peanut brittle and a sliver of apple pie about an hour later.

I ate about one fourth of the meal I would have had 2 years ago and didn't attack the refridgerator 4 hours later like I used to do. Didn't even think about it, to be honest with you. Crazy, huh? THAT'S a new behavior.

Oh, I almost forgot ... Breakfast ... I made French toast, sausage and bacon and a double batch of carmel sticky buns. I ate a sausage and some bacon and half a sticky bun with butter. I sent half the sticky buns over to my sisters home, a quarter of the batch to a neighbors home and the rest to my in-laws (Merry Christmas!) I did keep one big one for the kids for today (I'm sure I'll have a bite), but I am better off having those kinds of things out of the house.

It was a great Christmas and no food hangover. I love being sleeved and how it helps me to be accountable for what I put into my mouth.

Our family dinner isn't till Saturday, so I'm nervous about how that will go. But my wife and I had our traditional eggs Benedict brunch. I had 1 instead of 5.

9 1/2 months out. I had a little bit of everything, After 9 /2 months of learning how to eat again it was fabulous to not even want to over indulge. I love my "Tiny Tum"!

PDXman, missed seeing you on the forum lately.

Nine months out. We had homemade lasagna, green salad, garlic bread. There are only a handful of things I don't eat, and salad and white bread are two of them. I had about half a typical serving of the lasagna, but I indulged in my baked goods several times throughout the day, such as Cookies and pumpkin cream cheese muffins. Oh, and chess pie. I enjoyed all of it immensely.

Sent most of the leftovers home with kids. Brought the rest to work today.

I know there are a lot of new and soon-to-be sleevers out there and many are wondering if they are ever going to be able to enjoy a Christmas dinner like days gone by. I know it was a concern of mine. So' date=' I though I would post about it.

I am nearly 19 months post sleeve.

Yesterday, I made a turkey with stuffing ... gravy, mashed potatoes, green Beans ... you know the drill. I had about 4 bites of turky (first) then about 4 green beans, 2 bites of stuffing and 2 bites of potatoes. Gravy slathered across everything. I put it on a salad plate and it was about half full. I was one of the last ones to finish eating (guy across from me had 3 platefulls) and I was stuffed. Had ice cream and peanut brittle and a sliver of apple pie about an hour later.

I ate about one fourth of the meal I would have had 2 years ago and didn't attack the refridgerator 4 hours later like I used to do. Didn't even think about it, to be honest with you. Crazy, huh? THAT'S a new behavior.

Oh, I almost forgot ... Breakfast ... I made French toast, sausage and bacon and a double batch of carmel sticky buns. I ate a sausage and some bacon and half a sticky bun with butter. I sent half the sticky buns over to my sisters home, a quarter of the batch to a neighbors home and the rest to my in-laws (Merry Christmas!) I did keep one big one for the kids for today (I'm sure I'll have a bite), but I am better off having those kinds of things out of the house.

It was a great Christmas and no food hangover. I love being sleeved and how it helps me to be accountable for what I put into my mouth.[/quote']

Happy to hear that at 19 months out you're still doing well and there is hope for the rest of us.

One thing is puzzling me: this saying of a two or three "bites" of this or that. What constitutes a BITE. Are you no longer weighing/measuring food just eyeballing? A bite can be very small or VERY large. Just want to understand everyone's "quantity' when they are saying, "bite".

Only a few posts acutally talk about the portion of food they ate, which makes sense to me not a "bite of this or that".

I'm not sure about everyone else but I still take babyspoon bites...more like half a baby spoon full. I fill up rather quickly so I go slow and take small bites. I still measure my food but that's just me because I hate my old habit of trying to finish my plate if I don't measure...then I will be miserable.

One thing is puzzling me: this saying of a two or three "bites" of this or that. What constitutes a BITE. Are you no longer weighing/measuring food just eyeballing? A bite can be very small or VERY large. Just want to understand everyone's "quantity' when they are saying, "bite".

Only a few posts acutally talk about the portion of food they ate, which makes sense to me not a "bite of this or that".

That's a good point. I have never measured my food, but rather let my stomach tell me my limits. If my bites are too large, I can feel it in my stomach and it is not good. So, my bites now are definitely smaller than they were 2 years ago when a bite was as big as whatever utensil I was using could hold. A fork, spoon ... whatever, would be mounded.

Now, my bite would be about half to three quarters of that. Sometimes, though, depending on the food, even that will be too much. I hope this isn't TMI, but in those cases, I chew very well and will not swallow everything in my mouth. I would rather take two individual swallows and know it will all go down and sit in my stomach comfortably. Yes, the second swallow is a bit gross, but then my next bite is smaller and I learn.

I think the bottom line is to start by taking bites smaller than we used to, chew it well and don't rush to take the next bite. Evaluate how you are feeling after each bite and join in the conversation at the table. There was 20 people at my table yesterday and only a couple knew I had surgery. Everyone else didn't even notice my eating and I didn't give it a second thought.

Another reason for my post was to give hope that this is not a permanent thing, this pureed food and restrictions. Everyone will be able to enjoy their holidays and be able to eat food again. Myself ... I felt like I was never going to eat anywhere near "normal" again, but that was just my self-sabotaging mind attempting to hijack my happiness.

Crazy people are like that ...

Never weighed my food as I can never get anywhere near the recommended amount by my NUT! My stomach tells me when I'm full Who wants to measure food on Xmas day anyways?

2 months post op! My Christmas dinner, which I couldn't finish!

One thing is puzzling me: this saying of a two or three "bites" of this or that. What constitutes a BITE. Are you no longer weighing/measuring food just eyeballing? A bite can be very small or VERY large. Just want to understand everyone's "quantity' when they are saying' date=' "bite".

Only a few posts acutally talk about the portion of food they ate, which makes sense to me not a "bite of this or that".[/quote']

I still weigh and measure food all the time. But it's a hard thing to do at Christmas dinner with 25 people. That's one of those times when I have to rely on good judgement.

2 months post op! My Christmas dinner' date=' which I couldn't finish![/quote']

I'm 7 weeks post op today and had about the same as you. And like you didn't finish it. I did however thoroughly enjoy at and was surprised to ding I didn't feel as if I was missing out. Loving the sleeve. (Oh I did however overdo it with the trifle today and my word I felt I'll, forgot what I was doing and ate too much and too fast) oops.

2 months post op! My Christmas dinner' date=' which I couldn't finish![/quote']

Looks about the same as mine but had more turkey than veggies!!

That's a good point. I have never measured my food, but rather let my stomach tell me my limits. If my bites are too large, I can feel it in my stomach and it is not good. So, my bites now are definitely smaller than they were 2 years ago when a bite was as big as whatever utensil I was using could hold. A fork, spoon ... whatever, would be mounded.

Now, my bite would be about half to three quarters of that. Sometimes, though, depending on the food, even that will be too much. I hope this isn't TMI, but in those cases, I chew very well and will not swallow everything in my mouth. I would rather take two individual swallows and know it will all go down and sit in my stomach comfortably. Yes, the second swallow is a bit gross, but then my next bite is smaller and I learn.

I think the bottom line is to start by taking bites smaller than we used to, chew it well and don't rush to take the next bite. Evaluate how you are feeling after each bite and join in the conversation at the table. There was 20 people at my table yesterday and only a couple knew I had surgery. Everyone else didn't even notice my eating and I didn't give it a second thought.

Another reason for my post was to give hope that this is not a permanent thing, this pureed food and restrictions. Everyone will be able to enjoy their holidays and be able to eat food again. Myself ... I felt like I was never going to eat anywhere near "normal" again, but that was just my self-sabotaging mind attempting to hijack my happiness.

Crazy people are like that ...

Well Said!

One thing is puzzling me: this saying of a two or three "bites" of this or that. What constitutes a BITE. Are you no longer weighing/measuring food just eyeballing? A bite can be very small or VERY large. Just want to understand everyone's "quantity' when they are saying, "bite".

Only a few posts acutally talk about the portion of food they ate, which makes sense to me not a "bite of this or that".

I never measured my food, I'm not that dilligent, I have never been that strict with myself because then it would be work not a lifestyle change, also I didn't want to make this journey nit picking every thing I ate. My bites are measured about a teaspoonful or a little less or a little more depending on what I am eating. Usually by the 3rd bite I get that tight feeling and I stop that is my warning signal. The only rule I have about eating is Protein first, through shakes or meat/eggs, then some veggies, and once in a while a treat here and there, and to be honest since the surgery I don't even crave too much sweets anymore so I don't feel like I am denying myself. I got this surgery so I can eat what I want just not alot of it and it has been working fantasticly!

Great topic

I'm in charge of cooking so I got to plan everything out and make it VSG friendly

Christmas Eve I made a noodlesless lasagna. Used eggplant for the layers and layered with sauce, ricotta, cheese and ground turkey. It was great and was a cross between eggplant parm and lasagna. I made shrimp scampi with it (didn't use real butter- margarine instead, lemon, a splash of wine. I only had a tiny bit of both. For dessert I made pumpkin yogurt panna cotta. Awesome, healthy and good amounts of Protein. And no sugar in it (made with stevia)

Christmas Day we had Turkey, I made a small think of stuffing (I didn't really want it but my mother did) so I made it from scratch, used whole wheat bread and added ground turkey. I made a Rachael Ray version of 'stuffin muffins'. She basically put the stuffing in a cupcake pan. Perfect serving size! (I only had a tiny tiny taste of it, but still perfect servings for my guests- maybe they won't overeat if I portion it out for them too lol) also made roasted sweet potatoes and brussle sprouts with balsamic vinegar. I only ate a few sprout halves. And For dessert- skinny cheesecake with strawberries. Low carb, no crust and made in a cupcake pan so perfect portions.

The food was well received also, healthy and great. Ill attach a few pics of my Christmas Eve dinner. I forgot to take pics of the Christmas Day stuff lol.