Bariatric Foodie Play with your food
I see a lot of long-termers doing something that bugs me a little bit.
Now I understand that some folks maintain a small pouch capacity. I can understand that.
But I also see a lot of people torturing themselves trying to eat like a new post-op forever. WLS group dynamics being what they are (from my purview), we can’t ever admit to eating decent portions. Noooooo…that would be tantamount to admitting failure in some way!
Well I’m here to bust all that up. I eat. A good deal. Although, inexplicably, my calories tend to trend low (mostly because I’ve gotten very adept at eating a lot of food for not a lot of calories). But I throw down. And I have not gained all my weight back in doing so.
So I thought I’d show you guys a typical breakfast for me, a 3 year post-op. First, I should say my pouch isn’t that different from yours. It didn’t like food early in the morning. But here’s the thing. I didn’t like sweet protein shakes early in the morning. And one of us had to relent. And it wasn’t going to be my brain.
How did I get my pouch to accept food in the morning? Simple. By giving it food in the morning! Conventional wisdom tells us that the metabolism is much better when we take in calories within about an hour of waking up. With my morning schedule that’s actually more like 30 minutes post-wake-up. It took a while of fits and starts but my pouch eventually caught on. I can now eat straight out of bed. I try to use this information for good and not evil.
Anywhoo…a typical breakfast for me looks like the above. I have one slice of wheat toast (the brand I use has 50 calories, 8 net grams of carbs and 4g of protein), with a few sprays of Olivio no-cal spray and a poached egg. On the side is a half cup of unflavored Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon of PB2 and some Splenda mixed in.
So while we’re on the subject, do you all know how to poach an egg? It’s so easy and so much easier on some folks pouches. Here’s how you do it:
Easy, right?
Now…further-outs…vets…whatever you want to call yourself. Don’t let me hear about you not eating breakfast, ya hear?
Nik….Thank you for the instructions on how to poach an egg. I have tried to do this a couple of times with no luck. But I am going to try again. I want to try and create a healthier version of a hollandaise sauce. I have been craving Eggs Benedict, and minus the sauce, it really isn’t a bad choice.
Thanks for posting this! I am almost a year out and I can eat a toast slice with a whole scrambled egg on top for breakfast. I always feel like such a cow, like I am eating way too much. I don't feel so bad now. 🙂
Thanks for your blog! I have it in my Google Reader so I know when you update it. I am awaiting ins. approval for WLS (VSG) and keep a file of some of your "eatings." Thanks again!
Poached eggs are my favorite, when I am in the mood for an egg. Sometimes I have come greek yogurt and cottage cheese with a little SF fruit in it with my egg or a link or two of lite frozen breakfast sausage. I am 2 1/2 years out.
Actually this is more of a favorite dinner than a breakfast, fast and easy to make.
I still prefer my first meal of the day to be a 32g pure protein bar and then follow it with some hot black decaf coffee.
You are so right though, we are NOT supposed to starve ourselves and we won't gain weight by eating "real" meals.
Great post. I hope everyone READS it and takes it in.
That looks yummy!! Silly question but is a poached egg fully cooked?? What is it exactly?
@samiam – I don’t believe any question is silly or stupid or _____ (insert adjective). Yes, a poached egg is fully cooked, although the yolk remains mostly raw (like in a sunny-side up egg). The difference is by cooking it in water you are gently coaxing it to its cooked state so the protein doesn’t toughen up as much as a quicker cooking method. If you don’t like your yolks raw, you can leave the egg in the water for a bit longer and they’ll cook!
Nic I'm 7 yrs out and I still can't have breakfast. I get so sick! I'm up at 5 a.m. and can't eat till 8. I'll oat meal at work since that is where I'm at by then. I do have coffee w/unflavored protein mixed w/1/2milk 1/2 water. Even that makes me feel nauseated but I can't live w/o my coffee. You and Shelly have such great recipes but my printer isnt working and I have no way of taking my desktop into the kitchen…LOL It's hard to run from the room where the computer is to the kitchen then back again. I've wrote some down but I get writers cramp…LOL Can't win for loosing. Thank you anyway for all the hard work you do.
To be honest, I had to train myself to be able to eat breakfast. I started with a teeny cup of greek yogurt in the morning and as soon as my pouch was ok with it, I increased gradually until I got to the amount I needed to be eating to support my morning work out. I did get queasy but I had to sort of work through that. Sorry about your printer! Check your Twitter. You might have the opportunity to score some printed recipes…or something…
I’m so happy to know that I’m not the only one with a grouchy pouch. I have to have warm in the morning. 2 tablespoons espresso powder, 1 tablespoon Stevia in the Raw, Vanilla Premier Protein shake and hot water in a 32 ounce cup. Sometimes I add SF Caramel but that’s usually my afternoon treat.
Poached eggs are the bomb.