What sort of foods are you eating?

mschristmas

Hi guys! I am 18 months post op and I have lost about 110 pounds. I still have my struggles both psychologically and with actual food choices. I have decided that I am in a serious rut! I tend to eat the same things over and over. I use protein bars to supplement my protein intake, I am pretty sure I will throw up if I ever drink another protein shake.

I am hoping to get ideas and/or suggestions from my fellow (old & new) VSGers. I do have a few unique challenges that add to my repetitive diet:
*I am busy! I work Full Time, I'm a Student & I'm a Mom.
*I pick up my kids during my lunch hour so I can't really sit and eat a normal lunch, but I can eat at my desk sometimes (just not everyday)
*I am picky. Really picky. I am open to trying new things but I tend to stick with what I know.
*I get too many carbs/sugars in my diet but I DO NOT do artificial sweeteners anymore. I would love suggestions on alternatives or ways to cut back on my carbs without turning to artificial sweeteners.


Give me any and all suggestions you have, but especially anything "easy" or already prepped, including favorite restaurant finds.


Thanks!!!

ChelleDJM

Hello! I am only about 4 weeks out, but my sister also has wls a couple years ago. I know a favorite restaurant of hers is Qdoba. She gets the combo where you can do 2 things and she makes 2 meals out of it (a mini naked burrito with no rice, and then she may do tacos too). For lunches to bring with you, how about meat, cheese, and veggie roll-ups? You can do whatever you want there - sweet bell pepper rolled with pepper jack and turkey - cucumber with cream cheese and ham, etc. Boiled eggs, turkey jerky, string cheese, turkey pepperoni...just a few ideas. When I was mega cutting back on carbs pre-op, these we my normal things.

Thaeda

Wish I could help... but I am only 2.5 months out and I tend to eat the same things over and over...... meat/cheese rollups, cut up chicken, leftover hamburger, egss, eggs, eggs. LOL I am sure you will get some good ideas from other folks, though.

hurricanelena

Here are a few things that have worked for me in the past few months. However my salt intake is REALLY high so I will be re-evaluating:

1. Canned fish. I can take or leave typical Tuna (even the flavored packets) but I love Bumble Bee Smoked Salmon Fillets In Oil and Ruegen Peppered Smoked Herring Fillets. I usually pair it with a few crackers, my favorites being Fiber Rich Plus Crispbread with Sunflower Seeds (1 serving has 50 cal, 12 gram carb/7 gram fiber and 3 protein). They are so dense that they are almost a meal by themselves.

2. Edamame in general, but specifically: Cruncha ma-me Edamame Veggie Snack, Onion and Chive

3. Beef/turkey jerky of varying descriptions

4. Laughing Cow cheese wedges with the crackers above

5. Turkey pepperoni microwaved for 1 min, feta cheese and a dollop of something sweet on each "sandwhich"

5. For protein 'shakes', Syntrax Nectar (100 cal/23 gram protein) and GNC Preformance AMP in Fruit Punch (90ish cal/20gr protein) are all like juice rather than a traditional milky shake. I drink them all the time.

6. I'm not sure if you have one by you, but we have a Florida chain called Tijuana Flats. Their black bean side is about 4oz, tasty and cheap (I usually convince a co-worker to get it as a side on their larger meal for free then give it to me). I've also found one hard beef taco/no cheese is only about 250 cal.

7. A site that comes up a lot is http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/. After some discussion with my nutritionist about the repitiveness of my diet, I'm going to try her mini egg quiches and mini meatloafs. They seem like something you could make en mass on a quieter day, and the whole family could eat.

8. I don't particularly like the 'milky' shakes, but I will mix up a thick one with a Tablespoon of pudding mix (I use sugar free personally but any would work) and either make popsicles or frozen yogurt/ice cream. Or I just take one of the ready mix ones and freeze it, let it thaw partialy and eat it with a spoon. I make mine with unsweetened Almond Milk as I am lactose intolerant (always have been, surgery just exasperated it).

9. Roasted chickpeas in whatever flavor you liked to make/buy. I haven't tried any store brought ones.

10. Costco (and mabye Sam's and BJ's as well) sell Sabra Hummus singles. There were enough in the package that I really got sick of eating them when I was in my mushy food stage.

Hope these help!

Mangopickle

Chinese Moo goo gai pan -no rice. Drain off the cup of gravy, you don't need the cornstarch or salt. I call ahead and pick up. Good for 2 meals at 330 cals each. I usually pull over to the tree line near the restaurant and pour off all that sauce. All of the non fried non sweet meat stir frys work for me. Again, you must drain off that sauce! Captain D's child grilled fish fingers with green beans and slaw, Wendy's chili, chick fil a side salad with 1/4 packet of dressing(seriously, the dressing is 300 cals!!) Wendy's Asian salad(their sweet chili dressing is only 50 cals). P3 protein packs. I cook on the weekend so I have food I can shove in Tupperware during the week. Easy for me that I like cold leftovers. This weekend I made cabbage chickpea dumplings, mung idli and sambar, cutlass bean dal, chili yellow squash, gluten free bread , chick pea crepes and Farinata and Tom Ka soup. We had leftover roast chicken and deli meat in the fridge already. To answer your question, I eat everything except wheat, rice and potato.

DJRonnieLINY

I work full time with a two hour communte, have three teenage children, volunteer coach Varsity Lacrosse and youth lacrosse and travel with two children on Lacrosse Travel teams so I understand time constraints. There are days that I heavily use protein bars so I can avoid any "fast food - time constraint triggers". Don't fear the bar and at 18 months out I wouldn't worry about protein bar calories as you are most likely tracking everything on MFP. As long as your daily intake and burn balance you will maintain weight. For weight loss your intake needs to be less than burn.

I log everything I eat between 5 and 10 am as breakfast even if it's spaced out. I try to get a good amount of calories in the morning to fuel me for the day. Usually I grab a bar (various brands, flavors and calorie amounts to avoid a rut) at 5:30 during the drive. Some days I add a traditional breakfast food or fruit once I get to work. I also have a morning coffee.

Lunch time normally consists of 6oz protein and 2 oz vegetable. Various types of chicken tend to show up a lot as does BBQ pulled prok. I often save weighed portions from dinner for lunches a day or two later. We go out to dinner quite often and the portion sizes at our favorite spot are huge so I get two to three meals out of one dinner. This is where the BBQ pork comes in. - the portion is a bowl with about 24oz. (at $17.99 this is a winner!!). My wife also makes it in the slow cooker every two weeks, so I useually have some around.

Most days, especially during lacrosse season, I grab a bar as an afternoon snack so I have fule for exercise.

Dinner is also 6oz protein, 2 oz vegetable. Beef, Chicken, Pork, Fish - we mix it up a lot. There are a few ground beef dishes we make that mixes up the flavors and stores well for later lunches. You will see Broccoli, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes and Asparagus are frequently on the menu.

Hope that helps.