Hello! Warning this will be a little long.

My husband and I love the fall holidays and I am looking for advice on new traditions.

There are lots of creative people on here, so I thought I would get your opinions.

We have lots of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas movies. We read a book together in October. Halloween Tree this year. We do a lot of other Halloween/fall stuff like corn mazes, crafts and pumpkins.

Thanksgiving- we normally do snack foods, make popcorn in the fireplace, play games/puzzles all day and start our Christmas movies. Next day we go get our tree.

We have done a potluck dinner a couple of times. We round up other people who don't have somewhere to go. Though this year I haven't found any others who don't have a place to go, which is a good thing really.

Christmas - this is probably the most difficult one. We do Chinese food take out on Christmas Eve. We do taco cups for Christmas dinner. Odd but it is our thing.

My husband feels like we can't or shouldn't do these things because of my surgery and food reintegration difficulties. I'm six months out now and my diet is mainly Protein drinks, cheese and Protein Bars. My doctor isn't worried about it. It just takes longer for some people.

Also I think he often feels bad eating food that I can't or won't. Which I can understand. He also thinks buying snack foods just for him is a waste.

What we can't do

We don't have our family near by and don't do holiday travel. We have a dog that can't be left alone for long periods or boarded.

You should be able to eat things like cheese, ham roll ups, lunchmeat......can you make a nice cheese, veggie and meat plate that you guys can snack on?

As for taco cups.....I eat them all the time with hubby. I simply make a salad out of it for me and give hubby is favorite taco shell which is a boat.

My favorite holiday treats are cheese, shrimp, veggies with ranch dip.....

Chinese food even after 2 years post op dont do it for me unless it is a stir fry with lovely fresh veggies (no rice) - that is about the only chinese food that actually satisfies me. If i try the fried stuff or even a bite or two of rice, it does not keep me satisfied and i end up having to have a snack anyway so i usually will avoid it. Plus...take out, you never know what they put in their food.

I like to go to places like Stir Crazy and then i hit their market bar so i put what i want in my stir frys.....YUM. I am making me crave stir fry now. LOL.

You have been on Protein drinks, bars for a very long time. I know doctors are different by mine would be all over my rear for that......I still have to drink one Protein shake every morning for Breakfast and i only use a Protein Bar if i have to grab something while i am running out the door.

Are you struggling with real food?

I feel like a lot of your traditions, you could probably still do with just a little modification.

Halloween stuff all sounds good as long as you have the energy to do these things.

On Thanksgiving, you can still do the snack food, but just make sure you have some cheese cubes and things that you can snack on. You can still play games and watch Christmas movies, and get your tree the way you normally would. Maybe you could make a garland with the popcorn this year instead of eating it, or mix it with some Peanut Butter and feed it to the birds. Also maybe look up some recipes that could be enjoyed by both you and your husband (I love theworldaccordingtoeggface.com for recipe ideas).

Christmas Eve, go get your Chinese food, with egg drop or wonton Soup for you. The taco cups might be a bit more challenging, but I would still make them and maybe just eat what you can from them.

Maybe you could add some activities like visiting Christmas light displays, holiday bazaars, etc. There are lots of fun things to do that don't involve food. Let us know what you come up with!

I agree with everyone else, you should be able to adapt most of what you are already doing.

One of the things I like when it gets colder is warm drinks. I love Harney & Sons hot cinnamon spice tea (they have it in decaf) and ProtiDiet hot chocolate.

Instead of baking holiday Cookies you could make ornaments. I like the idea of making birdseed ornaments, too.

I love going to candlelight Christmas Eve service and plan to find a performance of Handel's Messiah this year to attend (hopefully). I'd really like to find a song-a-long version.

@@Caribear I love the popcorn garland idea I bet the birds would love it to. I too like the egg face blog. Lots of good recipes.

@@Djmohr You do give great feedback. I like the roll ups idea. Stir fry is pretty yummy!

Yes, I am having problems with eating real food. At my 3 month my surgeon told me that it just takes longer for some people. My nerve damage from an accident also plays into things because the nerves that control part of my GI system often get confused and just don't quite work 'normally'. So it may be a longer process for me.

Dr also said to make sure I am getting enough Protein and to take it slowly. Wednesday I have my 6 month check up and will be asking him a lot of questions.

When trying new foods I eat small amounts of the new food, chew really well, take small bites, etc etc and most things feel like I have a roto-rooter going through. I even tried low sugar baby food just to get my system used to veggies. Still had the same problems.

It isn't dumping just really unpleasant. I have been able to slowly work my way up to eating a little frozen to microwaved carrots.

Hello! Warning this will be a little long.

My husband and I love the fall holidays and I am looking for advice on new traditions.

There are lots of creative people on here, so I thought I would get your opinions.

We have lots of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas movies. We read a book together in October. Halloween Tree this year. We do a lot of other Halloween/fall stuff like corn mazes, crafts and pumpkins.

Thanksgiving- we normally do snack foods, make popcorn in the fireplace, play games/puzzles all day and start our Christmas movies. Next day we go get our tree.

We have done a potluck dinner a couple of times. We round up other people who don't have somewhere to go. Though this year I haven't found any others who don't have a place to go, which is a good thing really.

Christmas - this is probably the most difficult one. We do Chinese food take out on Christmas Eve. We do taco cups for Christmas dinner. Odd but it is our thing.

My husband feels like we can't or shouldn't do these things because of my surgery and food reintegration difficulties. I'm six months out now and my diet is mainly Protein drinks, cheese and protein bars. My doctor isn't worried about it. It just takes longer for some people.

Also I think he often feels bad eating food that I can't or won't. Which I can understand. He also thinks buying snack foods just for him is a waste.

What we can't do

We don't have our family near by and don't do holiday travel. We have a dog that can't be left alone for long periods or boarded.

I don't really have anything to add - everyone else pretty much covered it...

But seriously - I want to move in with you. I love love love the fall holidays - but my family is only fun when I force them to be lol

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