Tips from the Tract

Gastric bypass means learning how to do a lot of things differently.

Obviously, you'll learn to eat differently and you'll be dressing differently (to hide imperfections, I promise,) but you'll also need to learn to grocery shop differently!

I can't tell you how much food I waste because I'll only eat what I have a taste for. If I go to the store thinking I'll want X, Y, and Z, then I'd better be prepared to cook it or freeze it for a time when I decide I want it again. It's a chore!

Things I now do:

· Shop one week at a time for meals that require preparation.

· Snack heavily (therefore I try to keep healthy snacks like rice chips or smoked salmon and triscuits.)

· Have the butcher cut a large cut of meat into smaller servings for me. (The price will still be the same, but you can freeze what you want eat.)

These are some quick tips. Meal prep can be helpful, but don't underestimate the fact that your appetite will change and you might not want to eat the same thing, every day, for a week and a half.

Learn how to modify recipes as well. There's nothing wrong with making a single portion, but you have to know how or you'll end up eating chili for two weeks. (This has happened to me.)