Monthly Archives: January 2019

Eight days ago I had my last cup of coffee. I had never been a coffee drinker prior to bariatric surgery but somehow got sucked in to the hype. I’m pretty sure my love for coffee was discovered when I had H Pylori and couldn’t keep any food down but coffee went down smooth for some reason.

Why am I did I quit coffee one might ask? Well for several reasons actually. I was using coffee as a meal replacement for one but also I have been having some stomach issues that aren’t being helped by coffee.

But the main reason is pretty simple. As bariatric patients we aren’t suppose to be drinking coffee. As delicious as coffee is it can wreak some having on our little tummies. It can increase stomach acids, irritate the lining of our stomachs and actually prohibit the absorption of the vitamins and minerals we need as bariatric patients.

Was it easy giving up coffee? Ummm heck no. You don’t realize how dependant you get on coffee. How you go into auto pilot and start the coffee machine before doing anything else in the morning. I have to say day 1 was a walk in the park. Day 2 and 3 a slight but manageable headache kicked in. Day 4-5 I seemed to be ok but extremely tired. And days 6-7 were the worse, I was craving coffee so bad and become a little bit of a cranky monster.

So here’s to hoping I can stay off coffee now and find a better alternative.

I often get asked how I stick to a bariatric lifestyle. For me it was really simple because of my love of cooking. I started finding alternatives to most if not all most of my favourite foods. I also didn’t focus on what I couldn’t eat anymore. There is such a variety of food out there that there really isn’t a reason for me to stray back to my old habits. Of course I am human and I will get the cravings for fast food just like anyone else, but most of the time the smell of the fast food is enough to stop me from actually eating it.

Last night I got in the kitchen to set myself up for a successful week. After three years of meal planning I’ve realized most of the time I like to prepare my meals when I am about to eat them but my snacks I seem to really scramble to find something if I am not organized. This week I prepared some zucchini cake, banana foster overnight oats, mocha donuts and chocolate cheesecake puddings. And guess what all of these recipes are bariatric friendly. So I can have my cake and eat it after all lol.

So if you’ve just started your journey and are struggling because of the foods you can no longer eat, I encourage you to find a bariatric meal plan or find a youtube channel to inspire you. If you don’t like to cook team up with a fellow bariatric patient and split the cost of ingredients. But I can tell you for sure that this lifestyle is completely doable and you can succeed.

Anyone that knows me knows I have a love of reading. So this month I decided to participate in not 1 but 2 online book studies. One of the books is a lighter read and I’m honestly having trouble staying focused. But the second book, well it is not only keeping my attention but also making me think really hard.

You see the book I’m reading is about our mindset not only our mindset but our mindset as bariatric patients and how it affects pretty much everything in our life. As if that isn’t enough the author wants you to think about your past, present and future. She wants you to dig deep and figure out who are now. Who you were when you started gaining weight. She wants you to relive some moments that most of us probably want to put in a box lock it up and throw away the key. She wants us to speak to the little girl that was teased for being fat. How that little girl felt and how it translated into the rest of the years leading up to the present. But the most touching thing she has said so far is to write a thank you note to the past you thanking them for being there for you, for getting you through the hard times and the good and telling her she did everything she could have.

You see this part has definitely hit a chord with me. Because as much as we look back and think about being teased and harassed over our weight, nothing comes even close to the thoughts that the past me was telling me. There was no one meaner to me then myself. Sure little Johnny could call me whatever name he wanted to on that particular day but what little Johnny doesn’t know is that anything he could tell me I was already thinking and then some. So my assignment is to write “my story” and I have tried to start writing my story quite a few times in the past week. But honestly it’s going to take some time. So in the mean time I will keep reading my book, watching my live facebook videos in the book study group and hope that one day the words can just flow freely and I can thank that little girl that was me.

I know it’s only the second day in the new year. I also know a lot of people have made resolutions to be healthier, tighten the budget and eat and home or simply to cook more. Before you go and get yourself overwhelmed with all the information available, I want to share with you how simple it can be to meal prep.

Today I got in the kitchen and set myself up for the next few days. I made some hard boiled eggs, a yogurt treat and I cooked a ham. I can already hear some of you saying. I can already here you saying, wait a minute if that’s all she cooked how can she be ready for the next few days? Let me explain. I am not a traditional meal preper. I don’t spend a whole day or hours on end in the kitchen. From a previous meal prep session I already had some frozen leftovers, frozen baked oatmeal, frozen protein balls and frozen protein cookies. If your making something that freezes well make 2 batches. It won’t take you anymore time but might save you when your in a pinch on a busy morning or something happens to throw off the schedule. The ham I cooked will last me quite a few meals for me and the family. I can make western omelettes, home made lunchables, quiche etc. The boiled eggs can become devilled eggs or an egg salad or I can just grab one and start snacking.

Other things I keep on hand for an easy meal plan prep session is beef jerky, cheese, yogurt, pork rinds. What I am trying to tell you is it can be simple to eat healthy and meal prep. So if your embarking on a healthier eating lifestyle or trying to trim the budget. Keep it simple. Chances are you will stick to it if it’s easy.