Facilitator: Stephanie Wagner, MS, RDN

Stephanie Wagner is a dietitian who has spent the last 8 years working with bariatric surgery patients, and has developed a support website and recipe book specific for patients who have had weight loss surgery.

Steph began by discussing how we frequently manage many areas of our lives well, but don’t do a good job managing our “food life” well.  She gave us some tips on grocery shopping, such as Wednesdays being the best shopping day.  There are more deals, double coupons, and stores will be out of less food, since grocery stores do their restocking on Tuesday nights. She told us that she does her shopping for large bulk items once a month at Sam’s or Costco. Then once a week, she uses Walmart’s Pick up Service, where she can order the week’s food online and pick it up Wednesday morning. As a busy mom, this saves her time trying to shop with children.  It doesn’t make any difference what your system for shopping is – she just recommends you find one that works for you and stick to it. 

She spoke about making small portions for after surgery and cooking for one. 

  • She uses a silicone muffin pan to make individual mini meatloaves, egg & ham breakfast muffins. Even chili is something she puts into the muffin pan and freezes them. Once they are frozen, she can easily remove them and put them in a gallon freezer bag and they are good for 6 months. 
  • She uses a cookie scoop to make small meatballs
  • She uses kitchen shears to cut up meat into bit size pieces – it cooks faster and is ready for small portions
  • She uses ¾ cup size food storage containers made by Elacra to prepare food for the day,
  • And she uses a covered baker to make crock pot meals only much more quickly in the microwave. 
  • She uses rotisserie chicken to make a lot of meals using chicken

Some suggestions for converting old family recipes into healthier versions: 

  • Use fat free Parmesan cheese in place of breadcrumbs when making meatloaf or meatballs – 1 cup of grated cheese equals 1 cup of breadcrumbs
  • Use fat free yogurt in place of sour cream
  • There are many ways to convert recipes you love without tasting the difference

Stephanie also has written a cookbook that is available on her website or on Amazon called “Best Fork Forward.”

Her website, which includes a blog, recipes,  meal planning and coaching is www.foodcoach.me.  You can try the website free for 2 weeks, or join for $10 a month.  With the membership, there is a series of educational courses, including a Back on Track course with videos to assist you getting back on track if you are struggling with any weight regain.  Some of the other courses available are:

  • Reading nutritional labels
  • Gastric Sleeve 101
  • Gastric Bypass 101
  • Lap Band 101
  • Pantry clean out challenge
  • Top 10 reasons for weight regain
  • The Dos and Don’ts of Protein
  • Surviving Holidays
  • Food Addiction
  • Stress Eating
  • 6 ways to overcome feeling hungry

Stephanie will be coming back for our August 1 meeting at 5:30 pm, so if you missed her this time around, mark it on your calendar and don’t miss this one!