So much of who I am is the mom/cook/entertainer. I am the person who cooks the kid's favorite foods when they come home from college, I am the neighbor who leaves a pot of homemade chicken Soup on your porch when you have the flu, I am the person who drops off a cooked meal for the family that just brought home a new baby. Our home kitchen has a 60" by 60" island with the gas cooktop built in, so that I can talk to family and friends as we prep and cook food together.

After I have surgery, I am thinking that a way to make this possible and part of my life is to still do all those things, but to consider the tastes and bites I eat during party prep (or cooking at a party as I described above) as my meal ..... And then skip over the actual meal part? Sort of become the hostess who is running around prepping and then not really eating the meal (keep in mind our entertaining is very casual and buffet oriented, and not a formal sit-down deal).

I am super creative and outgoing, and I love creating fun dishes and events.....anyone have success adapting similar loves into their lives postop?

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i still entertain and bake for people, i just don't jin them in eating the food and i have a designated taster. We forget that those tastes add up... and often times don't fit into our new eating plans.

Thx, that is encouraging!

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I think that you can do all of this again. You may find that you can do it even better once you detach a bit from the impact that food has on you.

I have always been an avid griller. As a hunter, I learned to prep wild game and bring it to the table for the family to enjoy. It was tremendously satisfying, too. In time, I learned that any of those techniques can easily be translated over to other types of food.

I really began to enjoy not just grilling but the indoor cooking as well. My indoor game isn't as strong as say, my little sister.....who is a freaking wizard.....but it gets the job done. Feeding a teenager who is perpetually hungry and loves real food....not the microwaved, frozen food stuff his mom "cooks" is a not only fun, but needed.

I went through the build up to surgery....diet was much different than before. I cooked very, very little and then not at all during the liquid phase both pre & post. I avoided the kitchen. Stayed on liquids for 4 weeks post and still avoided the kitchen. Went through another month with the soft Proteins and continued to avoid the kitchen.

I remember distinctly that I had a 7 day off period that arrived on my 9th week. My teenager sat down with me and was very candid in his desires over whether or not I'd ever be cooking again. He said he was really worn out with the frozen foods deal. At first I simply laughed but then he drove home the point....he was sick and tired and he wasn't joking.

It snapped me out of it and I went shopping later that morning and loaded up on ribs, pork shoulder, beef brisket and lots of charcoal along with stuff to make homemade bbq sauces and good side dishes.

I grilled everyday of that that 7-day off and it was therapeutic for me.

I was back in the game and happy about it. Happier than ever, in fact.

I could make all the normal stuff I did before....the carb loaded stuff......and simply chose to not eat it. I could cook all sorts of stuff but had the newfound ability to select only what was appropriate for new way of eating.

Amazing.

I now enjoy cooking & grilling more than ever. It is fun, yet it has no power over me....which makes it even more fun.

I think you'll see similar things occur once you have a new view on food and the types that you must have and not have.

we just got finished having a bunch of people over to Celebrate my daughter graduating tomorrow.

I had a blast cooking and serving and enjoying everyone's company. My Dad did the grilling, I did the prep.

I would say maybe the first month or so when you are seriously recovering from surgery you will want to nest in, and I am not really interested in baking yet - but yes, you will still enjoy all of that.

I love playing with food and making new recipes. I think you will also.

and yes to everything @@Dub said above.

I love cooking and entertaining even more now than I did pre-op. I really, truly enjoy finding delicious recipes that use whole foods - learning about herbs and spices - finding creative ways to prepare dishes in a healthier (yet still tasty) way. My family and friends LOVE when I cook for them now, because what I make is both delicious and healthy. Surgery isn't a death sentence for your social life, or for the enjoyment of food. You simply learn to enjoy different foods in different ways.

HUGELY encouraging, thank you for these replies!!!

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I've been a mad cook since I was small (my mom started me out when I was three, no lie). I'm still a mad cook now that I'm sleeved. For me, the love for prepping food for those I love had little or nothing to do with me consuming what I've cooked. That's been true for years. I bake, but over the past couple years I've lost my taste for sweets. I bake it, but I don't eat it, and it's no hardship, because I simply don't like sweets the way I used to - but I still get a charge out of the doing of it.

I stopped tasting while I cook quite some time ago, because even pre-sleeve, I found tasting spoiled my appetite for the meal. Someone else does my tasting, or I rely on instinct, which, by this time in my cooking life, is pretty accurate.

I didn't do much cooking early postop, but I had a rough go early on and I didn't feel like doing much of anything. these days, my cooking is attenuated as we're remodeling the kitchen. Now I'm enjoying more meals out, and feeling the freedom of taking 3/4 of a meal home with me if that's all my sleeve wants. It's amazing how many meals I can get out of one restaurant portion!

Thanks for this thread! I've been worried about this too, especially Christmas. I *LOVE* hosting my family at Christmas and cooking a huge meal for them. This year, I'll be right at 6 months post-op and have been wondering if I should cancel and have someone else host.

You guys give me hope that I can still manage it, even with my new lifestyle!

I cooked for my family 6 days post op and found it fine but what I made sure I did was sit down and eat my soup with them whilst they ate their meal. It distracted me from the fact I wasn't having the same as well as up until then I had been 'eating' when I needed to which wasn't coinciding with their meals so it didn't really feel like I was missing anything by joining them. Before this point I couldn't have cooked though as certain cooking smells were making me feel nauseous.

Not only is @@Dub a handsome devil, he is well spoken too. He really nailed it on the head.

I love cooking so much more that I am less attached to food. It is more art to me than aything. I don't cook for a family, I spend most of my time experimenting with low carb, keto, and paleo recipes. My goal is to replace most things I like with healthy options. It is really fun and taps into my inner scientist.

It is hard to really explain how your relationship with food changes. I would have never believed this would be how i feel.

All you good cooks knock my socks off. I can cook, and sometimes do. But it's just not my thing.

I do excel at ordering healthy takeout.

I cook every night. I've modified family favorites to make them healthier and everyone in my home seems pleased. My struggle is to add new things to the repertoire because bbq chicken breast can get kind of boring. But there are lots of online recipes to give me new ideas.

When it comes to holidays or special occasions, I keep to the tried and true and just keep my portions in check. I think you'll find it all very doable once you get the hang of your new sleeve.