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Category: Bariatrics

27Apr

FLATTENING YOUR CURVES – Bariatric Edition

MY COVID 6 POUNDS BE-GONE 5 DAY EATING PLAN!!

Here’s the deal, most of us have been eating TOO MUCH during this time of worry. If we would have known how long this was going to last for, we could have put some concrete plans in place and avoided eating poorly, sleeping poorly, and just generally treating our bodies badly. Don’t even get me started with our alcohol consumption.

Most of us are still in a lockdown phase. Let’s get this eating thing right before we allow these 6 extra pounds to become a part of our bodies for good.

Isolation and quarantine have become a new normal for a lot of us. The more time we spend indoors, the more time we spend at open doors (like the fridge). We snack more often when we work from home. That’s because we have easier access to the kitchen and the pantry.

As more homes double as offices, practicing social distancing from the fridge has become food for thought. Remembering your old routines can help put off the dreaded “quarantine 19 (pounds)”!

Following a schedule as if you are going to your “actual” office, can help to prevent weight gain.

Big changes in life can often “weigh” on us. The freshman 15 is a lesson college students learn when they are left to their own devices. And while adults may not be binging on Mac and Cheese and Ramen noodles, we ARE pushing it to the EXTREME.

But while it’s tempting to “dip into the treat cupboard”, or bake up a storm (I AM GUILTY OF THIS)… it could lead to some regret down the road. Emotions often run high in times of stress, and that can lead to unwanted binging. And with no certainty as to when this will end, there may not be a rush to get that summer body. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t practice “safe snacking”.

We need to find that delicate balance of our “need to feel normal”, without overindulging.

Let’s also start to “move our bodies” and create an exercise plan if we haven’t done that already. Please remember that we are moving our bodies not to lose weight but we are moving our bodies for good mental and physical health. My other favorite expression is: Exercise Consistency ALWAYS Trumps Intensity. I don’t want you beating yourself up for 3 hours. I want you CONSTANTLY doing 20 to 30 minutes of exercise. Your mind and body will thank you. Once you make this a habit, life gets good, really good.

What about the food part? What kind of menu will this consist of? Here goes … This is the plan …

We are going to follow a high fiber diet. This means loads of green stuff. We are going to eat lean protein. We are going to eat small amounts of healthy fat. We are going to repeat 3 days to not get bored with the food but also not to get too darn complicated. This also saves money and food waste.

If you don’t like something on the guidelines, switch it out for something that you do like.

We can drink water, coffee or tea.

We can use artificial sweeteners but just a bit – I prefer stevia or monk fruit.

We are going to exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes a day – preferably 30.

We need to work on our sleep habits and aim for 8 hours a night.

We are going to incorporate a bit of Intermittent Fasting into our daily routine.

Record your weight on day 1 and then again on day 6 in the morning.

Send me your results!!!

Note: Regarding Intermittent Fasting – if my “personal hours” do not work for you due to work etc, then switch them up to suit your lifestyle. I start eating at noon because it fits into my lifestyle. I get my coffee in the morning and then I work out BEFORE I eat. If you prefer to switch this up, perfect. You can always start to eat earlier and do your workout in the afternoon. Remember, there are no hard and fast rules for intermittent fasting. You need to incorporate it in a way that suits your lifestyle.

DAY 1

Coffee with Stevia (1 to 1.5 cups)

Water with a shot of Apple Cider Vinegar

More water….

Intermittent Fasting until Noon

Noon to 5 pm – Homemade Vegetable Soup.

My soup includes 8 cups of veggie stock, cabbage, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts.

I always add hot sauce and a dollop of greek yogurt when I serve it. You can make your veggie soup with whatever vegetables you like. I eat a few bowls of this soup between noon and 5 pm. If I am hungry, I eat more. If I am not hungry, I eat less.

5 to 6 pm – Chicken Salad

My chicken salads include grilled chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, arugula, and I add a yogurt dressing. You can purchase it or you can make it. If I make it I use greek yogurt and a package (Ranch) that I add for flavoring. Another one of my favorite salad dressings is avocado oil with apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper.

8 pm to 9 pm – optional “Sheri’s Shake”

If I am “snacky” I am going to make a shake. My shake consists of greek yogurt, a handful of frozen or fresh berries, stevia for sweetness, and 1/2 a cup of whole milk or almond milk. I make it nice and thick. It is super satisfying.

Day 2

Repeat Day 1 – make extra soup and extra grilled chicken to be able to just repeat day one. I hate food waste and I hate complicated menus so let’s keep this simple.

Day 3

Intermittent Fasting until Noon

Noon to 5 pm – Veggie omelet.

Saute your favorite veggies. I use mushrooms, tomatoes, jalapeños. Beat two eggs and add to the veggies. If you don’t like my veggies, add the ones you like the most. You can make a larger omelet and eat on two separate occasions.

5 to 6 pm – Small steak with green beans.

I will use a small filet mignon and cut it in half – the size of your steak will depend on how far post-op you are. The rest of the plate I will fill with green beans and on top of the beans, I add a pat of butter and salt/ pepper.

8 pm to 9 pm – optional “Cottage Berry Whip”.

The recipe I will use is: 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with 1/2 a cup of frozen berries and a touch of stevia and vanilla .. in the food processor and blend well. If you hate cottage cheese, then switch to greek yogurt instead.

Day 4

Repeat Day 3 – make the omelet again, eat it in one or two parts during the day. Take the leftover steak and cook it with your favorite veggie.

Day 5

Intermittent Fasting until Noon

Noon to 5 pm – 5 ounces of salmon with a side of cauliflower rice.

You can bake or grill your salmon. I top mine with salt and pepper and capers before baking or grilling it. The cauliflower rice I prepare in the food processor and then into the pan with a touch of butter, salt, and pepper. It is done in about 5 minutes.

5 to 6 pm – Cauliflower fried rice.

I make extra cauliflower rice at noon and then to it I add peas, carrots, and scrambled eggs. I add a dash of soya sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds for a very pretty dish.

8 pm to 9 pm – optional “Pumpkin Cheesecake Cottage Whip”

Mix 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese with 1/2 a cup of canned pure pumpkin and stevia for more sweetness. Blend all ingredients until they are smooth and chill. You can add a sprinkle of walnuts for a little crunch. If you don’t like cottage cheese, you can switch it for greek yogurt.

5 DAYS AND DONE!! NOW SEND ME YOUR NEW WEIGHT!

Healthy Hugs xoxo

Sheri

About the Author: Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin? Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon: Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

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21Apr

Stretching Meals On A Budget – Bariatric Edition

by Sheri Burke

What a suitable topic for the times we are living. With what’s going on today, we all need to be concerned about the high cost of food and the best ways to stay healthy. Food becomes a very important topic when wanting to protect our health.

When I was in school studying nutrition, it amazed me at how much money a lot of the other students in my class were paying for their food. They were buying “all organic” and only the best “farm fresh eggs. When it came to meat, they were buying local (which I love but cannot always afford).

Not too many other students were taking care of a family of four people. This is where the disconnect was for me. They were A LOT younger than I was and most of them didn’t have kids. They didn’t think anything of visiting a farmers market and dropping 100 bucks on lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, a few liters of bone broth and some fancy kombucha.

My fellow students thought nothing of dropping hundreds of dollars on vitamins and supplements.

I, on the other hand, was always finding ways to scrimp and save. I don’t know how much you spent on groceries last week but my bill was pretty “up there”. Believe me, we are not eating filet mignon and lobster tails. This is just the regular grocery bill with some beer, wine, and cleaning products thrown in.

I put myself to the challenge each week when I visit the grocery store. I wonder if this pandemic will change the way we grocery shop? I used to do groceries about twice a week. Will I go back to my routine or will I stick with once a week for my groceries moving forward? I guess time will tell.

I do find myself taking a bit more time at the grocery store to be sure that I don’t miss anything. I don’t enjoy lining up outside waiting to get into the grocery store and the entire atmosphere inside has changed dramatically. Nobody looks at each other. Masks are being worn and people are irritated and afraid. Last week I had to wait for an hour in line to get to the cash register to pay.

I shop the sales. I glance at the weekly coupons that are sent to my email box and figure out which cuts of meat, chicken, and fish are on sale that week. Once I know that I plan my week of meals “loosely” on what I am going to buy that is on sale.

Last Saturday (that’s my current grocery day), I bought two big packages of chicken legs and thighs, a large package of ground beef, some chicken breasts, and two pork shoulders. On top of the meat, I loaded up on veggies (cherry tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, green beans, jalapeños, mushrooms, carrots, onions and a big bunch of broccoli).

When I got home on Saturday, my food prep started. I prepped burgers for the grill and at the same time, I made a big spaghetti sauce. The spaghetti sauce will be used for a lasagna and a small lasagna without noodles for me. I took advantage of my kitchen time and I put together a big low carb chicken/broccoli casserole that was topped with cheese and baked in the oven.

Right there, I had meals for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We are going to grill the chicken thighs and legs on Tuesday and I will serve them with coleslaw and green beans. The leftover chicken will be used to make a chicken vegetable soup and I may even have enough chicken to turn into burritos for my kids and husband. This rolls us into Thursday and I have two pork shoulders which will hit the slow cooker for 10 hours. There will be enough food to last us well into Saturday and the next food haul.

I cook large portions of food because we don’t have any problem eating leftovers for breakfast and most of the time I don’t eat breakfast as I am intermittent fasting until at least noon. My kids take their lunches to work. They are part of the “essential workers”. Their lunches consist of leftovers or sandwiches and salads.

Now, I always cook meals that include all of us and I rarely make meals “just for me”. If I cook chicken, rice, beans, and salad…. I eat chicken and salad and I choose to stay away from the higher carb foods. That is my personal preference as I try to keep my blood sugars and insulin levels low.

I do not walk into a grocery store and shop just for me. I don’t have the option of buying expensive bone broth and specialty foods. I like to keep it simple and buy whole foods but foods that we ALL can eat. If I want bone broth, I take the bones from the chickens I just cooked and use those to make bone broth.

Occasionally I pick up something that is “just for me”, like carb-free tortillas or dark chocolate.

This doesn’t mean that if you have the money to spend extra on yourself that you shouldn’t do that. This is just the way that I feed my family during these times. This is also the title of my blog today, S T R E T C H I N G your meals. I am a PRO at doing this so I wanted to take you into my kitchen and show you how I do it.

I have fun getting creative and saving money. It’s kind of like my hidden talent. It makes me proud to be able to feed my family on a budget. I think we all should be proud of how hard we work to make sure that our families are well fed.

I hope that you also enjoy food prep and trying new recipes. If there is a good tip that you can share that makes your life easier and less expensive, shoot me an email. I will share it with our closed bariatric group. I think that we need to stick together right now and share any good, healthy ideas that we have.

I send you all optimistic, healthy hugs xo

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin? Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon: Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

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14Apr

Bariatric Re-Gain Basic Plan 101

by Sheri Burke

Let’s talk about a viable solution for regain.

At the bottom of this article, you will find a low-carb menu to download. Read the article first. Understand the rules. It’s easier to follow along when you get the gist 100%.

Regain. It is a very popular topic among my crowd. It’s popular because post-op bariatric clients can relate. Either they fear the regain or they have experienced a regain. When I write about this topic, it gets more clicks than most of my topics.

Another super popular topic is low-carb/ ketogenic plans but I believe that they are extremely popular due to bariatric folks, searching for ways to maintain their weight loss or for those of us who have experienced a regain.

I work very closely with my bariatric clients who have had surgery with our group and there are some common threads that hold this community together. We are all seeking improved health. We all have that goal to get to our ideal weight and then maintain it. There are a few things that work every time. I see it time and time again. What’s the secret?

I call it “going back to the basics”. You know … that place you were BEFORE you started adding back your Starbucks coffee and just a bite of a bagel. That place where you wouldn’t dream of eating candy. The place where you didn’t crave a warm bowl of pasta or a fresh piece of white bread smothered in butter. Remember that place? The examples that I gave above, those are MY flaws. You can replace them with whatever it is that floats YOUR boat.

We are all guilty of getting off track sometimes. It is a part of the journey and the last time I checked, nobody was perfect. It’s not realistic. What is realistic is to have a plan. That plan is to help you get out of the bowl of pasta and into a plate of salad. It needs to be something “doable” because motivation can only take us so far. After that, lifestyle takes over.

If I look around right now, I see a lot of us have lost our way. The anxiety of this pandemic is taking its toll. We are not exercising or eating right. We are not sleeping and our stress levels are THROUGH THE ROOF. May I offer a few suggestions?

TURN OFF THE NEWS AND MAKE SOME RULES AROUND WATCHING IT ON TV (one hour max)
TURN OFF THE SOCIAL MEDIA – don’t allow yourself to slip into the world of FB or IG
STOP WITH THE PANIC – it is out of our control
MAKE SURE TO GET A BIT OF EXERCISE – it works wonders for your mindset
GET BACK ON TRACK WITH YOUR EATING – we ate all the donuts, enough is enough
GET SOME GOOD QUALITY SLEEP – the steps above will help with this.
CHANGE YOUR MINDSET – we are going to be here for a while so let’s settle in and count some blessings.

I have to do the above steps every day. I need to remind myself every single day. I need to NOT allow myself to slip into fear, panic, and anxiety every single day. I need to take each day at a time and to not allow my brain to creep into the future. I am here now. I am healthy. I am blessed. I have my home, my family, my pets, my spirituality. I am going to be okay. We are ALL going to be okay.

Can we talk about food now?

Ahhhh FOOD. Hands up if you are a foodie like me?!!

I think about food and recipes and cooking styles and how fun it is to feed my family and how creative I can be in the kitchen. I cannot draw to save my life but I can cook. That’s my “thing” and I think that a lot of you also love to get your hands dirty in the kitchen. I call it my “happy place” because it allows me to leave the world behind and dive into new recipes and ways to reinvent old dishes.

When I talk to clients about re-gain, I ask them to provide me with a food log. A food log shows us when we mess up. Sure, you can tell me that you are eating a perfect diet but when you start to jot things down and take a hard look at what’s happening, 9 out of 10 times you will tell me exactly what is going wrong. It will be obvious if you make a food log.

….It may be a quick stop on your way to work at the Dunkin Donuts window.

….It may be the fact you haven’t made time to prep your lunch and are suddenly at the mercy of the local restaurant.

….It may be that you are too tired to make dinner when you get home so the drive-thru is a simple option

….It may be all that take-out on the weekends to simplify your life

….It may the snack-attacks you get when watching the newest Netflix series.

I am guilty of everything above. I have to “reel it in” a lot of the time. When I find myself “spiraling”, I take charge and pull it back in.

Enter “my clean eating plan”. What’s that? It is what it sounds like. I get rid of the junk. “Clean” for me means NO JUNK FOOD. It means no processed foods. It means that I am going to go super low on my refined carbs and eat a diet of moderate protein and fat – my carbs come from my veggies and berries. Easy stuff.

I will shop around the exterior of the supermarket and if it comes in a package with a long ingredient list, it’s not getting into my shopping cart.

My shopping list goes something like this:

Lots and Lots of Vegetables
Berries (fresh or frozen)
Meat, Fish, Poultry
Eggs
Greek yogurt and Milk or a Milk substitute like almond or coconut milk (no sugar added)
Coffee Cream
Grass-fed Butter
Excellent Coffee Beans
Olive oil or Avocado oil
A Mixture of Nuts and Seeds (raw and unsalted)

That’s it, folks. That is what is getting into my shopping cart.

Here are some of the emails I am going to get …

Can I have low-carb tortillas?

You can but when I go back to basics, I don’t eat them. I use giant lettuce leaves.

Can I have diet soda?

No, you shouldn’t be drinking soda anyway – it’s one of the bariatric rules.

Can I have cereal?

Most certainly not … boxed cereals are FULL of carbs and sugars.

Can I have peanut butter and cheese?

You can, but only a very small amount.

Can I have keto desserts or low carb desserts?

You can, but I eliminate these when I am getting back on track. They make me crave sweets.

What happens if I don’t like BLANK ___ (insert food here)?

Don’t eat it. I don’t eat things that I don’t like. Now if you don’t like fish and eggs and seafood and chicken, good luck to you. I cannot invent new foods for you.

How much is a serving of vegetables?

If you eat one or two cups of broccoli … this is not important. Eat veg until you are satisfied.

The next step is to take two veggies and combine it with a protein (4 ounces) and create a dish.

Here are some sample dishes.

Chicken vegetable soup
Chicken salad
Baked chicken with broccoli and a side salad
Grilled salmon with cauliflower and a side salad
Steak with green beans and a side salad
Sauteed shrimp with veggies
Omelet with spinach and mushrooms
Hamburger patty with a salad
Greek Yogurt with Berries and almonds

There are so many dishes that you can create with two vegetables and a serving of protein.

If we stick to these very basic rules, the results are tremendous. The weight comes off if we are not at our ideal weight and if we are at our ideal weight, we will maintain that weight.

Eating this way makes so much sense. Plus, if you have blood sugar issues or metabolic issues, you will stabilize your insulin levels. Your energy levels will soar. You will sleep better. You will not be constantly hungry. This is the way we should be eating all of the time. This is the type of “eating lifestyle” that we should aim for.

Sure, cake happens – but when it happens too often, we need to go back to the basics and take control over it.

Here is a menu that I put together a few months ago which is just a simple low-carb eating plan.

Download it and use it and watch the scale and SMILE. It works every single time.

DOWNLOAD THE SAMPLE MENU HERE.

Don’t get fancy – get back to the basics.

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin? Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon: Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

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6Apr

Immune System Boosting Foods – Bariatric Edition

by Sheri Burke

Immune System Boosting Foods – Bariatric Edition

We are going through a rough time right now. So many things are out of our control. I want to focus on something we can control. I am experiencing increased anxiety, restless nights, poor food choices. The blog I write today, I write for myself and also for all of you reading it. We are all in this together. We need to take care of ourselves as we don’t know how long we will be in this situation.

Enter …. The Immune System …

Our immune system is a complicated system of cells and organs. It’s not a major muscle group that we can feed food and nutrients to and then watch it grow strong. To improve our immune system, we need to be eating a healthy, balanced diet and consuming all the nutrients we require to stay healthy.

We can seriously reduce our risk of getting sick if we stick to eating a diet that nourishes our immune system. There are no “magic foods” but there ARE foods that are high in nutrients that we require to stay healthy. Search for foods that are full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. We want to eat foods that contain vitamin C, vitamin D, selenium, zinc, and probiotics. These nutrients behave differently and they help increase the activity of white blood cells, decreasing inflammation.

The foods which I include in my “immune system boosting” plan:

Homemade Bone Broth
Kefir
Sweet potatoes
Green Tea
Ginger
Garlic
Olive Oil
Avocado Oil
Greek Yogurt
Nuts and Seeds
Chickpeas
Ground Flaxseed
Avocado
Eggs
Salmon
Tuna
Berries
Broccoli
Red/ Orange Peppers
Cauliflower
Mushrooms
Spinach

Here is a sample week (Monday to Friday) of immune-boosting foods and menus.

Monday

Breakfast

2 scrambled eggs with sautéed mushrooms and spinach

Lunch

Cauliflower rice with salmon and a slice of avocado

Dinner

Grilled chicken with broccoli and a side salad

Tuesday

Breakfast

Greek Yogurt topped with nuts, seeds, and blueberries

Lunch

Cauliflower rice topped with chickpeas, kale and cherry tomatoes, topped with olive oil/ lemon juice

Dinner

Pan-fried salmon with Asian Veggies, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers. Top with Kimchi

Wednesday

Breakfast

Low Carb toast with a boiled egg and a teaspoon of peanut butter

Lunch

Chunky mixed veggie soup made with bone broth. Top with shredded chicken.

Dinner

Left-over soup and a 1/4 sweet potato

Thursday

Breakfast

Chia overnight pudding topped with unsweetened coconut

Lunch

Lentil and veggie soup, top with seeds, and lemon juice

Dinner

Omelet with sautéed veggies

Friday

Breakfast

Greek Yogurt with crushed nuts and seeds, top with papaya

Lunch

Small steak and green beans

Dinner

Leftover Steak salad topped with olive oil and squeeze of lemon

I want you to think of “food as medicine”. You need to feed your body the right foods to stay healthy and strong. Keep your immune system on track. Stay away from processed and refined foods and sugars. Eat your way around the “outside of the supermarket”. Don’t be tempted to buy the pre-made stuff.

We are in this together and we will come out of this together – healthy. We need a healthy body to support a healthy mind.

Hugs xo

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin? Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon: Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

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28Mar

Don’t Restrict, Replace – Bariatric Edition

by Sheri Burke

I think that restriction sucks. It’s so hard to spend our lives restricting everything.

Don’t eat unhealthy fat. Don’t eat unhealthy carbs. Don’t eat too much sugar. Don’t drink alcohol.

Don’t Don’t Don’t. I am tired of all the things we are not supposed to do. I am tired of constantly restricting everything. There has to be some sort of “happy medium”. I don’t think that severely restricting even works. Sure, it works in the beginning because we are motivated and eager to make the right changes but as time goes on, our motivation starts to leave the building and we start to allow those foods back into our lives.

What happens then? Well, we are eating the restricted foods and feeling guilty about it because they are on the “no go” list.

Instead of restricting food, let’s talk about healthy replacement food ideas!

I know it’s not easy to diet and I know that diets don’t work but what we should be striving for is a sustainable way of eating that gives us the nutrients we require while maintaining our weight or losing a few lbs. Most of the people who read my blogs are not trying to gain weight. So for today’s purpose, I am talking about weight loss and improved health.

Post-op clients always text or call me with the following question.

“Sheri, can I have ____ food”? If “said food” is not the best option (potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, corn, etc.), I will tell them the following: “look, you CAN have _____ but SHOULD you have it”? I feel terrible restricting them from having their favorite potatoes and gravy!

My new plan moving forward is going to be to offer suggestions to “replace” their favorite foods with better options. Do you know what I do when I want to eat potatoes and gravy? I mash up cauliflower or carrots and top those with gravy. Sometimes I will put gravy on my Brussel sprouts. I know that the potatoes will make me crave more potatoes. I know that for me carbs lead me to more carbs. It is a slippery slope for me.

If it’s Christmas or Thanksgiving or some special event – EAT THAT FOOD THAT YOU LOVE. But if it’s just a regular Tuesday, then step away from the mashed potatoes or cookies or cakes. This is the time to replace your beloved foods with something that is in line with your goals.

Some of my favorite replacements …..

I swap regular pasta for low carb options such as “miracle noodles” – you can find them on Amazon. There are many different types of low carb and no carb kinds of pasta on the market today. Try one of them and see for yourself. I top them with the spaghetti sauce that I make at home or I serve them in homemade Pho or soup.

I do love mashed potatoes …. Instead of feeling sad for myself, I make myself a little bowl of mashed cauliflower and top it with butter, salt, and pepper. This is a perfect replacement for my potatoes and it takes about 5 minutes to prepare them beside whatever dish I am preparing for dinner in my household.

Cookies – who doesn’t love cookies? When I am feeling deprived of the yumminess of cookies, I will prepare some homemade peanut butter cookies. It takes me less than 10 minutes to prepare them and 10 minutes to bake them. I use peanut butter with no sugar added (one cup), sugar substitute (one cup) and one egg. Mix the ingredients and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let them cool and enjoy!

Ice-Cream. Who doesn’t love ice-cream? Ice-cream hates me. It makes me FAT. If I look at ice-cream, I gain 10 pounds. I also have tummy troubles when I eat ice-cream. Instead of never eating ice-cream again, I make sorbet in my food processor. Frozen fruit to the RESCUE!! Get your favorite fruit, freeze and blend until in a food processor or a heavy-duty blender.

Tortillas! There are tons of low carb options for tortillas today. I don’t even miss tortillas anymore because when I first stopped eating them a few years ago, I replaced them with big lettuce leaves. Now when I do occasionally eat a tortilla, I miss the crunch of the lettuce leaves. Having said that, there are TONS of low carb tortilla options on the market today. There weren’t any good options a few years ago.

Lettuce leaves again are my replacement for hamburger buns. I am now so used to the crunchy lettuce bun that I don’t even miss the regular ones any longer.

Pho! Do you know what Pho is? It’s a delicious Vietnamese soup. The base is a gorgeous beef or chicken broth and it is filled with rice noodles, beef or chicken, and sprouts. When I go out for Pho, I order it with meat or chicken and sprouts. I ask my server to “skip the noodles and put mushrooms in mine”. If I make it at home, I use “miracle noodles” or “low carb noodle options”.

Who misses bread? I stopped eating it back a few years ago but sometimes I truly miss a good slice or two of bread. I have some low carb bread in my freezer. It’s expensive and the taste is “so so” but it is still a replacement. I also replace my regular bread with “chaffles”. If you don’t know what a chaffle is, it’s a small waffle made out of 1/2 a cup of mozzarella cheese and one egg. You take a baby waffle iron and split your egg/ cheese mixture into two and make yourself two chaffles. You can use those instead of using regular bread for a sandwich.

Coke, who misses coke? Or any soft drink for that matter. If I get a real hankering for sodas, I drink water. It works. Next time you are craving your favorite soda, drink a glass of water and watch the craving disappear. If I give in to the craving and drink the soda, it wakes up my “soda beast”. All I can think about is getting MORE soda, plus it makes me even thirstier. If the water doesn’t hit the spot (and it does 99% of the time), I will break out my soda stream and make some soda water and add a touch of sugar-free crystal light flavoring to my soda water. This replacement works every time.

Chocolate – who loves chocolate? I see a lot of hands up lol. When I see chocolate, my heart skips a beat but I KNOW that it raises my blood sugars and puts me into a tailspin! If I eat chocolate, I want more chocolate and it starts me on a sugar binge. Dark Chocolate to the rescue! An excellent quality dark chocolate fills that gap. I eat just a few squares and it allows me to get my chocolate fix without eating too much sugar.

The examples above are just a few of the changes I have made over the years. Instead of cutting your favorite foods out of your life and restricting yourself, try to find a suitable replacement. With time, you may even find that you prefer your replacement over the food you once missed so much.

If you have some food replacements that you use that helps you along your healthy eating journey, share them with us.

Together we are stronger!

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin? Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon: Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

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25Mar

Super Easy Sugar Free Snacking – Bariatric Edition

by Sheri Burke

Who needs a snack right now? Man o Man, I need a snack – like a few times a day right now.

What’s a girl to do? I tell you what, I have caught my hand reaching for the Frito Lays a few times a day. ENOUGH is ENOUGH.

I have everything in my house right now to prepare for my snack-attacks and today I am going to get prepared. What happens when I am not prepared and I feel like snacking? Popcorn happens, chips happen, cookies happen. When eating those processed snack foods, I feel MORE hungry and it sets off a chain of events. I call it the “Screw-Its”. I start to “not care” about my diet as much. The carbs creep in, my blood sugar creeps up, my insulin levels creep up, cortisol levels creep up. I don’t feel like exercising and my sleep patterns are a mess.

What a disaster.

Here’s what I am going to do and I want to share this with you because you may just be in the same situation right now as I am. Heck, we are all pretty much feeling the same way. I am not special or different. There are a few of us who eat less when faced with a stressful situation. Most of us eat more (stress eaters) and the choices we make are not the right ones.

Enter my snack plan! Here is what is on my homemade sugar-free snack menu today.

Sugar-free gummy bears
Sugar-free popsicles
Peanut butter cookies
Frozen protein balls
Chick-Pea snackers
Sheri’s sugar-free smoothie

Ya, I know. There are a gazillion other snacks that we can make but for today – and just for today – I am going to make these in my kitchen and I am going to share the recipes with you. These are not fancy or complicated recipes. They are just super simple ideas that will not send you all over town looking for weird or difficult to find ingredients.

Let’s get started!

SUGAR-FREE GUMMY BEARS

Ingredients:

1 package Sugar-free jello
2 packages Gelatin
1 cup Hot water
Stevia for extra sweetness

I take the sugar-free jello and two packets of gelatin and place them in the blender.

Add 1 cup of hot water and blend.
Pour into gummy bear molds
Set in the fridge for two hours

Enjoy!

+now, if you don’t have gummy bear molds or you don’t want to order them on amazon, just take a deep dish (like a pie plate) and pour the mixture into the plate to set – cut the finished product into tiny squares. They don’t have to be in “bear shapes”.

SUGAR-FREE POPSICLES

Ingredients:

1 package sugar-free jello
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup milk or almond milk
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
Frozen or fresh fruit of your choice

I mix everything together in the blender and then pour into popsicle molds. Let sit and set for a few hours and enjoy!

SUGAR-FREE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar-free peanut butter
1 cup sugar alternative
1 egg

I mix all ingredients and space out on a cookie sheet, flatten with a fork.

Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes.

Allow sufficient time to cool

NO COOK PROTEIN BALLS

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of your favorite nuts/ seeds
1/2 cup frozen berries or cherries
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 tbsp sugar substitute
Optional 2 teaspoons chia seeds
Optional 2 tbsp protein powder
Optional grated coconut to top with

Mix everything in a food processor. Roll into balls. Roll in grated coconut. Store in the fridge.

SHERI’S SUGAR-FREE SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:

1/2 cup frozen berries
1 teaspoon natural peanut butter
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1.5 cups almond or coconut milk (can also use regular milk)

Mix everything. You can add sugar substitute to make it sweeter. It makes 2 huge cups.

CHICKPEA SNACKERS

Ingredients:

1 large can of drained chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil

Season with salt/ pepper/ and all your faves!

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes shaking halfway through. Make sure they are crispy before taking out of the oven.

You need to eat these the same day as day two they are no longer crisp.

Snack smart my friends – take some time and some healthy ingredients and make yourself some snacks to feel great about.

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin? Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon: Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

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FLATTENING YOUR CURVES – Bariatric Edition

DAY 1

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