Hello BariBrothers, BariSisters, BariFamilies, and general lovers of healthy, good food. My name is Smye and I live on a small farm in the Pacific Northwest.

WHO IS SMYE?

I've always been a big guy. I hit 100 pounds when I was 4-years-old, was 200 pounds before I turned 10, and was bumping 300 on my 13th birthday. I grew up in a fast-food home, 2 of every 3 meals were eaten in the car and I continued to 'grow.'

After college I decided to turn my life around (despite hating the clichéd phrase) and started my farm with the goal of raising 80% of my own calories. Over the course of a year, my partner and I started a large garden, built a green house and started raising ducks, chickens & goats.

Three years later, I was far healthier, felt better, and felt grounded - yet I continued to grow. Whenever friends would come to stay with us, helping me haul hay, split wood for the woodstove or process a goat, they would all inevitably ask the same question "I don't get it dude, why are you still fat? You work hard, eat well, and still you're huge." I'd smile, shrug, and wish I could figure it out myself.

Turns out I was just eating too much of all the right things.

When I hit 415 in January 2015, with the help of my doctor and an enormous amount of research, I decided it was time to pursue bariatric surgery - that dreaded procedure for the 'weak' I'd kept in the back of my mind for 15 years.

On February 12, 2015 I had a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy and I couldn't be happier about it. Between beginning the pre-op diet and the end of April, I lost 91 pounds. I had more energy than I'd had in years, fit into clothes I haven't worn since high school, and found myself better able to navigate the socio-political mazes of life.

Let me be clear, however, this has not been easy. Bariatric surgery is never the easy way out, nor is it for those who are weak. I'm sure I'll post specifics at a later date, but I want you to understand that my choice to have surgery, and my success in the meantime, were not in any way simple, straightforward, or comfortable. This has been FAR harder than any diet I've tried in the past, and it's going to be a lifelong effort to keep the success I've got, let alone losing the 100 remaining pounds I need to shed. But wow, has it been worth it.

WHAT IS BARI-DELICIOUS?

First, some background: During both my pre- and post-op appointments with my nutritionist, I was horrified by the suggested things I could eat once I was back to 'regular foods.' The suggestions I received were flavorless, full of preservatives & junk, and/or otherwise reminiscent of the American 'instafoods' that are, in my opinion, a large part of the original obesity problem I faced, that many of us face. I reached out to other bariatric patients, both on the web an in-person, and while several folks had one or two recipes for decent food, the majority offered me bland, uninteresting junk. Even those with a recipe or two had only those options and were struggling even then.

So what is Bari-Delicious? Bari-Delicious is a space for me to share with you some of the real, whole foods I've been enjoying lately without hurting my sleeve or deviating from the dietary guidelines provided by my NUT (who is excellent, by the way and has been super supportive, despite my complaints above). Not only am I losing weight, I'm loving every meal as much as, or more than, pre-op.

I've spent the last 7 years accommodating good foods to meet my partner's corn, dairy, and gluten allergies without losing any of the flavor or texture with 80% of all ingredients sourced from my own small farm, so it wasn't a huge jump to make these recipes low carb, high Protein and, above all, delicious.

There's no need for food to be tasteless, uninteresting or questionable in it's contents. If there's something you'd like to see that's not here, please email me here and I'll do my best. I also make sure to try everything myself and feed it to my executive chef neighbor before I post it to make sure I'm only sharing excellent food with you.

Whatever happens, my promise to you is that the blog will be a place where REAL FOOD, REAL WEIGHT LOSS and REAL DELICIOUS happen.

Edited May 12, 201511 yr by Smye

@@proudgrammy, Holy cow, what a story! Thank you so much for your willingness to be vulnerable and share your story with us! You're doing amazing work and your life is astounding. Keep us posted on your continued success and have a blast in Alaska, I'm super jealous! My partner and I are coming up on 7 years though, so I suppose there's plenty of time for us. And thank you for the support & congratulations, both here and elsewhere - I'm thrilled you're here.

@@wascott

thank YOU for your nice words

21 lbs down!!!

you still have 5 weeks before WLS

keep kickin' assssss

i know you will now and PO

good luck with WLS

speedy, healthy recovery

@@LeeRN

you "linked" up fine, good job

you are doing great

33 lbs lost!!!!

you say you are a private person

confidence is one of the many things that go up, while your weight goes down!!!!

you WILL see the difference on the scale, and inches, smaller clothing

keep up the good work, i know you will

good luck

@@Smye

yes, life is good

can't believe its been over 3 years since WLS

I "think" i see a cruise for you and partner in the near future to Alaska!!!

hopefully before your 25 anniversary LOL

if you get a minute send me a post card to "Sleeveland" USA attn: Kathy

i'm another sleever in your fan club for your blog

thank YOU for sharing all your recipes of "life"

you've made a hhhhhuge "dent" in your weight loss story

101 lbs gone, gone and gone

don't look at me, i didn't take them

sad thought i'll be seeing "less and less" of you

keep up the great job!!!!