My arch nemesis and best friend... food!

Let's face it. I didn't get to be 389 lbs. by eating a healthy diet. I like to blame my condition on salads, but nobody believes me! Some people have weaknesses for sweets, and others for carbohydrates. Other people eat on the run, often grabbing the wrong items, while still others eat at the wrong times of day.

I was a combination of all of the above. And the food that I was choosing to eat and how I was eating it was slowly killing me. I loved my pizza and pasta and craved non-chocolate desserts. I always am running late, so stopping to grab something (almost always not healthy) at a convenience store was a common occurrence. And my late-night snacks would make Dagwood jealous!

When I made the decision to have the gastric bypass, I knew that my poor eating habits would need to change. As I told my surgeon and many others, if I was going to let someone open me up and rearrange my insides, then I was going to take their recommendations for success deadly seriously. What and how I eat is one of the things that I have had to change.

One side effect for many gastric bypass patients is called dumping syndrome. The body is no longer able to easily digest sugar or lots of fat, and the body's reaction can be severe and sustained, with side effects including diarrhea, vomiting, chills, and pain. While I haven't had dumping in a severe form (yet), I really don't want to risk it. So instantly I eliminated foods high in sugar and fat from my diet.

Another major consideration when I plan my diet is the need to intake enough (80 - 100 grams) protein. My stomach is now the size of a small egg, so I am severely restricted as to how much food I can eat before I become full. To give an idea of the volume that I can eat, picture a small tea saucer. That is about the limit of food that I can handle. So when I fill my small plate, I need to have made good high-protein, low-fat choices. Also, foods like rice, pasta, and bread are like sponges. When those foods hit my stomach pouch, they blow up like a puffer fish. So even if I choose to eat those foods, I can only have a few bites of them at most.

One final thing that has impacted my post-surgical eating choices is the texture of my food. Even more than a year since surgery, I still struggle with eating even the most moist chicken, pork, and beef that is not ground. I have had several experiences where the texture of the foods I eat lead to nausea and lower chest pain (my stomach is higher up than it used to be). So I try to avoid many of those foods and focus on other sources of protein. Beans have been a fantastic alternative for me. I make several different chili recipes (including Meri's AWESOME veggie-filled chili), and have become a soup chef, making such recipes as lentil soup, 16 bean soup, southwest chicken tortilla soup, and my latest creation, a Florentine egg drop soup with mini chicken meatballs. My whole family enjoys eating these recipes, and seem to actually look forward to my creations.

I have also learned to regularly eat Greek yogurt. I choose the non-fat plain yogurt, which on the face of it is pretty disgusting. However, if you add a packet of Splenda, it changes the taste dramatically. Then, if you add fresh berries or other fruits and some granola... yum! One plain, non-fat Greek yogurt has 18 grams of protein. Add some granola, and one serving will give me 25% of my target for protein intake!

One of my other pre-surgical struggles was eating on the run. With two kids who have an ever-increasing schedule of extra-curricular activities, and with both Kathleen and I teaching full-time, I am on the run more than ever. I have had to make sure that I don't fall back into my old "convenience store" traps. I am always going to be eating "on the run" to some extent. I do have to plan better now, and I think this is still a struggle for me. As far out as I am from surgery, my "on the go" foods now include select protein shakes and bars, almonds, bananas, and low fat cheese & a few crackers. One reason that this is now a growing issue for me is the feeling of hunger. From the moment I had the surgery until the past couple of months, I felt no feelings of hunger at all. My body would let me know that I needed to eat something when I would get a light headed feeling. So, I would, and still do, plan on eating 5-6 small meals each day. The hunger is back, however, so I need to resist the urge to snack on the wrong items. Protein bars in particular, while filling and high in protein, are also fairly high in sugar and calories. I have scaled back on some of those bars, and tried to add foods that are similarly high in protein and are filling, but are lower in calories and sugar.

 My latest discovery is soy crisps. Soy crisps are similar to mini rice cakes, with great flavors and a crispy crunch. They are loaded with 5-10 grams of protein per serving, and when topped with cottage cheese, make a wonderful lunch with almost 20 grams of protein. Stop & Shop and Shaws carry some varieties, and they are also available online at Amazon. These fill me up, and have allowed me to scale back my intake of protein bars. All good!

Food is always going to be a struggle for me. However, I have learned that I can still enjoy many foods that I have always loved. I am enjoying cooking more than I ever have, and still love the taste of many foods. I just know that there are restrictions on the quantity of the foods I eat.

Food is, and always will be my arch nemesis... and my best friend!