Are you (or were you) an emotional eater before bariatric surgery? You weren't alone...many people turn to food when undergoing tough times, a crazy week, stressful situations or emotional times. Food has a bizarre way of making us feel better whilst not fixing the situation (and I don't mean carrot sticks and celery, rather is often the not so healthy stuff...). I don't know about you but somehow when emotional or stressed, digging into a big bowl of Nutella doused vanilla ice cream loaded with nuts somehow feels comforting (well at least at the time)... After surgery, turning to food isn't usually a viable option anymore and some people can really feel this loss. I've seen many patients in clinic who feel...
Bliss balls make a delicious healthy snack. There's many versions, this version has added protein powder to make these a higher protein bliss ball. It also has chia seeds for added fibre and calcium. Each ball has around 8-10g protein. We've used 2 of the protein powders on our store to make these balls, you can buy them individually or as a pack and save, they are: Cyborg BCAA Enhanced WPI 100% Whey Protein Isolate Boomers Whey Protein Isolate 2 Pack: Cyborg + Boomers Makes about 25 balls Ingredients 2 cups dates (I used 1 cup Medjool and 1 cup dried dates) 1¼ cups raw nuts of choice (I used a mix of almonds, walnuts, pecans) 2½ scoops Chocolate protein powder...
Quinoa is an amazing nutritious grain from South America. It's a great source of dietary fibre, higher in protein than other grains and a source of many nutrients including iron. You can substitute it for rice or cous cous as sides for stir-fries, curries, casseroles or use it in place of oats for a porridge or as I've done below, add it to salad. This salad is suitable for those on the Full Solid Phase after surgery and is also vegan and gluten free diet. I've included a few good sources of plant-based iron including the quinoa, baby spinach, raisins and pumpkin seeds as well as sources of vitamin to to aid absorption e.g. the lemon juice and the fresh tomatoes and...
Can you think of all the times you achieved something before surgery? It may have been that you finished school or a course, won some sort of competition or event, or you got promoted at work. Likely, 9 out of 10 times the reward involved a celebration with food whether it was going out to dinner, having cake or getting a box of chocolates. For some reason food seems to be both an essential for life but also a reward for achievement. But then you have bariatric surgery and food just isn’t the same anymore. Eating out isn’t what it used to be in that you can’t really eat much and have to be selective of your food...
At this time of the year, many make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight. While deciding to do something is nice, we all know what can happen to resolutions a couple of weeks down the track… After having bariatric surgery you generally are losing weight and while this is great, there’s a lot to think about in the post surgery ‘after life’ so to speak. After surgery, it is difficult to eat much and so you need to be choosy about your food choices to get the nutrients you need each day. You should also start exercising (if able to) to maintain muscle mass and improve cardiovascular health. Not getting adequate nutrition can affect not only your weight loss and long-term...
