Do you still like to cook and interact with food now that you are either on the other side, or are seriously knuckling down to your pre-surgery diets? Do you try new recipes and like/love cooking still (if you ever did)? Or do you seek to just "getterdone", you know, get in, get out, get on with your life? Gimme the straight skinny on how and what/why you put food down your pie hole now that you're gellin' like fellon!

Inquiring minds and all...

I love to cook! I missed my calling as a chef. I wanted to go to culinary school and my parents talked me out of it. It's my one major regret in life. So I still absolutely love cooking and experimenting. Being post-op hasn't changed my passion for trying new things, helping teach cooking classes or hosting dinner parties. It has changed some of the things I cook and what things I'm actually eating after I cook them.

That hasn't changed too much though. I used to rarely eat what I baked. When you see how much butter and sugar goes into something, you lose your appetite (or at least I did)! Now when I cook, I'm similar. I'll make a great meal and just focus on the protein first.

For example, last night I made my husband a meatball sub. It was this huge sub roll, slathered in cheese, tomato sauce and meatballs. It was a beauty. I served myself 4 meatballs (tiny ones) and that was my meal.

Ok, y'all I found these and wanted to share them. You probably already know about them, but they look like one more "necessity" I will need to find a place for in my tiny kitchen. I added them to my Christmas wish list. LOL! *snort* Good times!

These are glass divided bowls with covers.

These are 2.5oz silicone storage wells to freeze small portions and they have lids!

(These aren't "my" links btw, just normal links to Amazon products.)

When my kids were young and still at home. I let my kids pick just one thing that they hated. My son picked TOMATOES and my daughter picked BEANS!!! They didn't have to eat them ever!! Otherwise, they had to eat what I fixed for dinner. Funny thing is now they love what they hated while they were young!! Good thing they loved to eat, must have got this from their DAD. LOL We both had to get WLS. HA HA

Before my surgery, I bought lunch every single day and probably grabbed takeout or fast food a couple of nights a week. Now that I have to be good, I'm cooking more often and meal prepping and doing a lot of things I never really did before. For example, now I plan out my meals, look up recipes and then go to the supermarket once a week. Before, I'd get the urge to cook something and have to make multiple trips to the supermarket during the week just to pick something up.

I have a whole new relationship with food. I do feel a bit obsessed though. Like I'll find myself googling recipes or watching cooking shows. I've also had to adapt a lot of my previous recipes to be lower carb (you know, zucchini spiralised pasta, cauliflower as rice, lettuce leaves as burger buns) and I'm always thinking about healthy ways to have my old favourite meals. It is definitely an obsession.

Sometimes I do worry because I shouldn't think about food so much. Every night I have 2 pieces of dark chocolate (this is my last vice, I've given up milk chocolate - not to mention alcohol, caffeine, most carbs and dairy) and it is literally the happiest time of the day. I wish I could flip a switch and not obsess over food. :-(

On ‎2017‎-‎11‎-‎07 at 9:47 PM, Kat410 said:

I love to cook and am a pretty darn good cook. I kept that sort of stuff "out of my space" so to speak during the pre-op diet and the post op liquid/pureed stage. But shortly after that went back to hosting dinner & cocktail parties.

I have found it oddly satisfying to cook and not eat. Somehow cooking satisfies a big part of what is no longer satisfied by eating. Part of it is creative, doing something that people love, creating a great environment and experience for people.

A few weeks ago I hosted a birthday party for a friend and cooked for 20 people in my NYC apartment. I made sautéed jumbo shrimp with blacked corn and jalapenos, carnitas, lime crema, home made pico, a grits casserole, roasted cumin heirloom carrots, a variety of aps - the whole thing was about 10 hours of cooking and prepping with two friends.

When it was meal time, I made a teeny tiny plate of Protein, ate half of it and had no regrets.

This is where I hope I am able to end up. I love cooking and it's very much a creative outlet for me. I also teach others to cook and do a lot of recipe sharing. I *know* that my relationship to food has to change, will change, and has already begun to change. I just hope that post op, someday, I will still get joy out of cooking. Maybe I'm naïve.

On 11/19/2017 at 3:38 PM, MrsGamgee said:

This is where I hope I am able to end up. I love cooking and it's very much a creative outlet for me. I also teach others to cook and do a lot of recipe sharing. I *know* that my relationship to food has to change, will change, and has already begun to change. I just hope that post op, someday, I will still get joy out of cooking. Maybe I'm naïve.

Honestly? Me too! I really look forward to the day where I am not fighting a constant battle with thinking about food, but when I can still take joy when I do cook, in cooking for those I love!! If you're naive, then I am too!

I'm so happy, this has touched a chord with all of you, and that so many have participated in this thread! I hope we can keep the discussion going!!!

Making pie crust today for thanksgiving -2 pumpkin, apple, lemon merengue, coconut cream, maybe blueberry.

Tomorrow is pie day, 1 apple, 1 pumpkin. Damn kids (haha also known as the loves of my life) demand my pies. Today was for prepping the turkey with dry brine, cranberry sauce and broth.

Ok, gotta ask...is dry brine a rub?

No pies here. But I am making low carb tiramisu that owe Mr. Fluffy for his birthday. So we will have that on Tday with my sis and BIL. (We're old people now, so won't have any of the kids around.) Made dressing yesterday with sis. Today am making Daddy's meatballs and sauce for friends Christmas presents with my pagnotta bread.

On ‎11‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 4:38 PM, MrsGamgee said:

This is where I hope I am able to end up. I love cooking and it's very much a creative outlet for me. I also teach others to cook and do a lot of recipe sharing. I *know* that my relationship to food has to change, will change, and has already begun to change. I just hope that post op, someday, I will still get joy out of cooking. Maybe I'm naïve.

We are all different, but truthfully I now like cooking more than eating. Now that we're into cooler weather, I love making savory stews and dishes. I just end up bringing a lot of it to the office and giving away to my staff to keep them fed and happy.

The one thing I can't keep around the house is bread - bread is my weakness, I will sell my soul to the devil for a crusty baguette with French butter, or a beautiful piece of brioche toasted with some high end preserves, a buttery croissant (which requires no topping of any kind).... yes, this is the work of the devil!

I also am now just hating going out to restaurants. I eat 1/8th of what I order, I am single so the leftovers literally last for DAYS UPON DAYS and then I end up splitting the freaking check with my friends even though I had no alcohol, I did not partake in any appetizers and I gave half my food away. Unbelievably irritating. We need to invent some kind of post-bariatric restaurant etiquette for going out with our friends.

Is it wrong to post about food here? I hope I can still make my families' favorites post-surgery, even if i get only a bite?

I had a cousin who was "plump", became a super-slim professional chef.

@FluffyChix Maybe a rub, LOL, but for me, just an amply sprinkling of salt. Somewhere online, I found what works for me in all salting circumstances: 3.5g salt per pound of meat, from burgers to dry brining. I'm backing down now because my thin/fit (damn him -- he is behind me in my avatar but you cant see because I am so fat - sigh) husband's got high BP.

@Kat410 I've seen some abysmal check behavior at group tables. Just request a separate check -- I do it now even tho I'm pre-surgery!

Edited November 21, 20178 yr by Apple203

@Apple203 Nothing is wrong we have to stop labeling ourselves as good or bad, wrong or on-program - this sets up feeling bad about ourselves and food. I hope to get to the point where I don't fear food. I plan to eat great food and leave the not great food alone - no oreos, etc. Skip the fries, heck I already really don't care for fast food. Mostly nutritious food, and 10% of anything I really want - no franken food.

Tomorrow is turkey day which means I get a whole normal sized piece of pie (if I want). I'll skip my nuts tomorrow (and I skipped them today), so I can handle the extra calories. This is how I roll. Holidays and birthdays I get dessert. (Totally having 2 cookies on Christmas!).

My 17 year old made pumpkin pies today, so I'll try her baking.

As for check etiquette.. I'd get a separate check. So far I've rarely ordered more than $5 at a restaurant. Water and a cup of soup just doesn't cost much! (I still tip the normal amount though.)

I am a baker to the core. I LOVE to bake, especially if I get to try new recipes that are outside the norm. For Christmas, I made a cranberry curd tart with a gingersnap crust and I've been experimenting baking with lavender and tea lately. I'm nearly a year post op.

The difference between my pre-surgery baking and now is that I give almost all of what I bake away. I take it to work or to social gatherings, or give it to my parents. I'll have one TINY piece of whatever I've made, and I savor it knowing that it's all I'll have. Before surgery I would have inhaled it and kept it all to myself.

On 11/7/2017 at 12:41 PM, FluffyChix said:

Do you still like to cook and interact with food now that you are either on the other side, or are seriously knuckling down to your pre-surgery diets? Do you try new recipes and like/love cooking still (if you ever did)? Or do you seek to just "getterdone", you know, get in, get out, get on with your life? Gimme the straight skinny on how and what/why you put food down your pie hole now that you're gellin' like fellon!

Inquiring minds and all...

I'm just starting my journey (first appointment next week) but I'm really hoping I don't lose the joy of preparing food. I really enjoy cooking a big spread on the BBQ and smoker and having a bunch of people over and entertaining. I have already started to adapt some of the things I cook so that I have things like smoked salmon and chicken rather than just brisket and bratwurst.