Food Before and After Photos

[Starwarsandcupcakes 1,896]

Breakfast from earlier today. It started out as 2 eggs, 6oz sirloin and 2 slices of buttered wheat toast. I almost ate an entire egg and a half slice of toast! I can’t wait to eat more eggs now.

I did end up eating about 2oz of steak for lunch but the texture threw me off so I just ended up throwing the rest away.

[GreenTealael 24,857]

13 hours ago, Dave In Houston said:

dinner tonight was a tiny chili cheese omelet. It was pretty tasty. I ate it all, though I would have been smarter to leave a couple bites. 310 calories by my reckoning.

That looks fabulous !

[Dave In Houston 199]

16 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

That looks fabulous !

It's very kind of you to say so. I've read 30 or 40 pages of this thread, and you folks do some beautiful cooking. If I'd read more before I posted, I'm not sure I would have posted my pedestrian offering.

[Sophie7713 3,238]

On 7/13/2021 at 4:06 PM, Dave In Houston said:

I had surgery about six weeks ago, and I seem to have lost my taste for food, so I'm reading this thread with great interest.

Before surgery, I loved to cook and I loved to eat. Now it seems that the only things I really enjoy are cottage cheese with pineapple and sugar free popsicles. On the good side, including the two-week pre-surgery diet I've lost 39 pounds.

I'm the meal-preparer in our house, and my wife comes back tomorrow night after a three week visit with her family. I need to figure out some things that we can both eat, because I don't want to prepare two separate meal plans.

Dave in Houston, you will regain your love for cooking and food again once you have lost the appropriate weight through each and all important phases needed for your long term success and well being. You will go through grief over some foods and portions you may have once loved, but may find no longer satisfying, digestible or best for your new health adventure. You might find great adventure and rewards in seeing food in a new light - experimenting and trying new recipes. I encourage you to continue on this thread going back to early on posts gaining invaluable information, encouragement and insight on others who have gone before you. I always loved salads before and after surgery but there were a few months salad was not the best choice at that time. 2 ½ years out salads are a staple and enjoyable as they once were but portions resized and evolving ingredients to keep things healthy and exciting! I do cook simpler now - but definitely not bland or unappealing. Some food types and drinks I simply did not re-introduce feeling them not to be the best choices for my nutritional needs and long term value. Congratulations on your journey and new adventure with food. Here is a sampling of new delectables I'm enjoying...

[BigSue 1,320]

4 hours ago, Sophie7713 said:

Dave in Houston, you will regain your love for cooking and food again once you have lost the appropriate weight through each and all important phases needed for your long term success and well being. You will go through grief over some foods and portions you may have once loved, but may find no longer satisfying, digestible or best for your new health adventure. You might find great adventure and rewards in seeing food in a new light - experimenting and trying new recipes. I encourage you to continue on this thread going back to early on posts gaining invaluable information, encouragement and insight on others who have gone before you. I always loved salads before and after surgery but there were a few months salad was not the best choice at that time. 2 ½ years out salads are a staple and enjoyable as they once were but portions resized and evolving ingredients to keep things healthy and exciting! I do cook simpler now - but definitely not bland or unappealing. Some food types and drinks I simply did not re-introduce feeling them not to be the best choices for my nutritional needs and long term value. Congratulations on your journey and new adventure with food. Here is a sampling of new delectables I'm enjoying...

@Sophie7713, Your food looks AMAZING -- both in terms of taste and photography. This is straight-up food porn! I'm a terrible photographer, so my food never looks as good as it tastes. 😀

@Dave In Houston, I am actually enjoying food MORE after surgery than I did before when I could (and did) eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted. I can hardly believe how much my tastes have changed. I used to hate most vegetables and now I love them. One of my favorite Snacks now is Tomato slices with salt and pepper. I would rather eat that than a bag of chips. I used to hate fish and now I like it! I keep discovering healthy foods that I used to hate and now taste good to me. I used to be practically addicted to pizza and now I have very little desire to eat it. I do still have a sweet tooth, but I've found some healthy-ish treats (chia pudding, sugar-free meringues, Protein mug cakes, protein bars) that keep me satisfied without going off-plan. I truly enjoy going on Pinterest and finding new healthy recipes to try that taste amazing, and that I never would have eaten before surgery. It's a big adjustment, especially in the beginning, but it should get much easier once you're back to "regular" food.

[WishMeSmaller 1,270]

6 hours ago, Dave In Houston said:

It's very kind of you to say so. I've read 30 or 40 pages of this thread, and you folks do some beautiful cooking. If I'd read more before I posted, I'm not sure I would have posted my pedestrian offering.

Your food looked delicious! Please keep sharing! 😋😊

[LouLouM 70]

Hello everyone. New here and waiting for gastric sleeve surgery to be approved by insurance. Meanwhile, I like to visit this thread for inspiration. I do have a question for GreenTealael: how do you cook your smoked chicken breast (I have a stove top smoker and can't seem to find a good method for cooking boneless chicken breast) and your beautiful tofu??? Thank you!

[GreenTealael 24,857]

13 hours ago, Dave In Houston said:

It's very kind of you to say so. I've read 30 or 40 pages of this thread, and you folks do some beautiful cooking. If I'd read more before I posted, I'm not sure I would have posted my pedestrian offering.

Please do continue to post! Your posts could inspire many people.

Rest assured I don’t cook “beautifully” for myself most of the time. I plate my family’s food extremely different from what I toss in my bowl. Also It’s summer so I’m not cooking anything that takes longer that 10 minutes 😂

Edited July 15, 2021 by GreenTealael

[GreenTealael 24,857]

6 hours ago, LoulouM said:

Hello everyone. New here and waiting for gastric sleeve surgery to be approved by insurance. Meanwhile, I like to visit this thread for inspiration. I do have a question for GreenTealael: how do you cook your smoked chicken breast (I have a stove top smoker and can't seem to find a good method for cooking boneless chicken breast) and your beautiful tofu??? Thank you!

Hi new friend ✋🏽

I can’t remember making smoked chicken but there was dry rubbed and bbq in a post or two.

I barely ever cook chicken because I hate the cleanup (sanitize everything 🙄) but when I did it was oven baked (drumsticks) or pan fried (breast/boneless thighs)

But now thanks to Airfryers I just season and let the machine do the work, flipping it half way through the cycle.

Same for the tofu - I season and cook and about 75% of the way through I add the sauce/drizzle. Airfryers really are handy. I hope that helps ❤️

Edited July 15, 2021 by GreenTealael

[GreenTealael 24,857]

Black-bean quesadilla made with low carb tortilla (before and after)

[Dave In Houston 199]

Tonight's dinner: Tenderloin steak, sautéed baby bellas, mashed potatoes with Blue cheese, green salad. I ate it all, and one extra bite of potatoes while I was putting them away.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Dave In Houston

[Arabesque 6,470]

1 hour ago, Dave In Houston said:

Tonight's dinner: Tenderloin steak, sautéed baby bellas, mashed potatoes with Blue cheese, green salad. I ate it all, and one extra bite of potatoes while I was putting them away.

Looks pretty delicious to me @Dave In Houston. I cook fairly simply too but that’s because I can’t eat spicy food, & I struggle with Pasta, rice, potato, etc. Ain’t nothing wrong with simple cooking. 😁

[GreenTealael 24,857]

dinner out and I choose a salad so I could have cheesecake too 😜 (both from the skinny/low carb menu. The salad is 210 and the cheesecake is 590 cals but I didn’t finish either

[Starwarsandcupcakes 1,896]

I have been craving chili cheese ALL the things the last week. Working nights means I usually don’t stop for fast food on the days I worked but today I stayed up to have a chili cheese burrito, a beef burrito, and cheese fiesta potatoes from Taco Bell. They left the rice out of my been burrito so I’ve only taken a bite from that and 2 (maybe it was 3?) for the chili cheese burrito I added extra ground beef to. Didn’t even touch the potatoes.

In a past life I’d have eaten it all and then more. Today though restriction kicked in HARD and I’m SO ready for bed now. 😴

[Dave In Houston 199]

Red Beans and sausage with rice. Camellia Beans has a recipe for Instant Pot on their web page. The sausage is a delicious chicken and apple smoked sausage I get at Sam's Club. Each link 4-ounce link has only 4.5 grams of fat.

You can't tell from this photo, but this is my tiny little bowl with 4.5 ounces of beans and 2 ounces of rice. I ate it all.