Gastric Bypass Part 2 day 3

So, I made tuna salad by smushing a small can of water-packed tuna, drained, with about 1/4 cup of plain yogurt mixed with 1 teaspoon of regular mayo and a couple squirts of prepared mustard, and seasoned liberally with dill. I let it sit overnight in the fridge, to allow the flavors to mix.
I blended about 1/2 cup of home-made salsa (tomatoes, green and chili peppers, garlic) until it was a red paste. No seeds or pepper skins to get stuck in the pouch!
I also made a pot of bean soup by mixing one can of refried beans with 2 cups of my duck broth, and about 1/4 cup of salsa. I then put this into a large ice cube tray that makes long, cylindrical cubes to go into water bottles (IKEA product) and froze it. It was amazingly easy to get it out of the tray the next day, by running some warm water over the sides and pushing the cylinders of soup out with the handle of a wooden spoon. I bagged those up and put them back in the freezer.
So, I'm set for meals for awhile, at 1 Tablespoon per meal. For breakfast, I've been having a bit of scrambled egg with a bit of cottage cheese and a plop of the salsa. Lunch is bean soup.

Let's face it: the protein drinks, which are 8 oz of almond milk or buttermilk/ice 50/50 mixed with a scoop of vanilla or chocolate protein powder, or about 10 to 12 oz of duck broth mixed with unflavored protein powder, are the REAL meals. The little meals are just dress rehearsals for life. I think I'm doing well with them. I take at least 15 minutes to eat a tablespoon of food, I've never gotten sick or had dumping syndrome or pain of any kind related to my little meals. OR the protein drinks. Or the other liquids. Knock on wood.

I enjoy eating my little meals with Mike. I've been reading some blogs, and there seems to be this theory that you can't eat meals with your family immediately after a gastric bypass, which puzzles me. I ALWAYS eat my little meals while Mike is eating his - whatever it is and however much it is. It doesn't bother me. It makes me feel good. When Patti and Jeff came over, on post-op day 3, and helped Mike stuff dates I was sitting right there with them, sipping my clear liquids while they all shared a pizza and popped occasional dates into their mouths. Again, that made me feel happy and participatory, and no one thought anything about it at all. Why should I banish myself to a solitary corner and sip miserably on my protein drink or spoon my hilariously small meal?? Why should anyone feel guilty that they are eating differently than I am, in my presence?? Don't make things needlessly difficult.

Some things that I think have made it MUCH easier for me than what appears to be the norm:

• Good quality whey protein powder with 27 grams of protein per serving, from Costco.
• Good quality whey protein powder, unflavored, with 21 grams of protein per serving. I'm using Unjury, which my surgeon stocks and which I can also order online. 
• Gummi adult complete multivitamins, again from Costco. 
• Making my own broth. That was a real winner. Mixed with the unflavored protein powder, it makes a delicious evening sippable comfort food. 
• Having a wonderful employer who provides excellent health insurance, paid time off to supplement my state disability payments, and supportive co-workers and supervisors. It has been FANTASTIC to have the ability to stay home and recover. Afternoon naps FTW. 
• Having a wonderful surgeon, who has made Bariatrics her life's work, and offers support classes and even plastic surgery, and life-long follow up on labs, etc. I'm glad she's younger than me. Honestly, reading some of the blogs, I have to ask "Why did you go to a general surgeon for this??" But I've gotten spoiled, and I should be more understanding. I live in California. Things are more progressive here. 

Protein powder is expensive. But it's well worth it, and when you think of it as replacing a meal, it is NOT expensive. Don't screw around with anything that has less than 20 grams of WHEY protein per serving. That's when you start losing your mind, adding up all the little bits of protein you're getting in to try to reach the magic 60 - 80 gms per day. I don't have to do that. I just have to remember to have 3 protein powder enhanced liquids per day. Drinking the rest of my target is getting easier every day. Knowing the approximate volume of my favorite tea cup and my soup mug, and my portable drink container is helpful, too. One hot tea sipped, one container sipped, and my protein drinks in -- 60 ounces liquids. I drink water, too. If my pee is light yellow, I don't worry. No need for charts and graphs.
And I got on the scale for the first time this morning, because I don't feel compelled to jump on/off the scale. I had surgery, for the love of the Gods. I trust that I will lose weight if I follow my surgeon's instructions. Perhaps the scale will become more important in a few weeks, but for right now, I'm just happy to be mobile and relatively pain-free.