Work Lunch and Snacks for the very difficult

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octhawk
octhawk Posts: 51 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all

I'm looking for some healthy lunch / snacks ideas that I can take to work.
I have alot of food issues though:

1. I'm allerigic to chlorophyll (I know, it's not common), so I don't eat greens or tea

2. I'm very food intolerant and get massive stomach aches from the following:
2a. nuts or seeds
2b. Fiber - so I avoid most fruits and veggies esp. if they are raw
2c. Whole grains - Basically if it's not white bread, I can't eat it
2d. Meats - I have trouble with meat in any sort of decent quanity
2e. I love hummus, but it hates me
2f. Soft cheese. Hard cheese is fine - though the dr told me to find low lactose cheeses, which most hard cheeses are

3. Dr also wants me to stay away from white bread / crackers & potatoes and keep a low sugar diet.

I have the most problems going over my daily sugar or fat intake for the day. Most my food enties are string chese, hard boiled eggs and jolly ranchers.

Any suggestions? I'm floundering here

Replies

  • LucyBzz
    LucyBzz Posts: 47 Member
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    you need to see a nutritionist to get some real advice

    One thing that comes to mind is vegetable soups - you say that you avoid most fruits & veggies due to fibre but well boiled vegetables are recommended by doctors for people who need to eat a low fibre diet medically. Carrot & coriander, pumpkin etc
    Tofu & fish - eg tuna
    Canned fruit is low fibre
    Can you eat yogurt? Many low-lactose people can!
  • octhawk
    octhawk Posts: 51 Member
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    Thanks Lucy

    I can eat yogart sometimes and other times, it effects me awfully, and I can't figure out what makes it okay sometimes, so I keep it as an "at home" food.

    Broiled / cooked / or blended fruit / veggies doesn't seem to help with the stomach pains.

    I actually love fruit, but have become scarded of it. I didn't know canned was better - I'll try it!

    I hate soup, but it may be a good idea. I'll try that too. (I also hate eggs, but I eat them all the time - Having a stomach that doesn't tolerate anything makes it impossible to eliminate foods simply because I don't like them! I just sometimes forget about them so thanks!)

    I've been thinking of going to a nutritionist, but haven't been sure if it would help, when I've essentially eliminated all 5 food groups!

    Thanks for the suggestions
  • mboyce11
    mboyce11 Posts: 2
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    I know you asked for food suggestions, but have you seen a GI doctor for the stomach issues? Maybe you have a form of colitis that could be helped with medicine?
  • lmann72
    lmann72 Posts: 82 Member
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    So what did you eat before you started MFP?
  • JoanaMHill
    JoanaMHill Posts: 265 Member
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    Uh yeah, go to a specialist. If what you claim is true, I'm pretty sure you're magical or something. They could write a best-selling book about you. The Person Who Couldn't Eat Anything.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Asking for advice on here seems reckless. Ask your doctor what you should eat. Ask for a referral to a GI doctor rather than a nutritionist. Once physical ailments have been identified / ruled out then you could start working with a nutritionist.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Uh yeah, go to a specialist. If what you claim is true, I'm pretty sure you're magical or something. They could write a best-selling book about you. The Person Who Couldn't Eat Anything.

    I realize your flip answer is likely due to ignorance, but there are indeed people who can't eat anything. Or at least, nothing you could buy at a typical grocery store or farmer's market. There is nothing magical about it, and while it's unlikely a best selling book will written about them, many do have their cases written up in medical journals.

    Eosinophilic disorders, mitochondrial complex, motility disorders, disorders of the immune system, among other things can cause one to not be able to properly digest food.

    But you are correct that she needs to see a doctor. The OP's problem could be stomach ulcers, which can cause pain when most anything is eaten, though since she mentions a doctor I would assume that would have already been checked. It could be something serious or something easily treatable.
  • apparations
    apparations Posts: 264 Member
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    You should contact a registered dietician or get a referral to one from your doctor. They can create a meal plan and work with you on a continuous basis to tweak it and find out what works best for you. There are a lot of people who have complicated therapeutic diets and it is usually due to underlying medical conditions. It will likely require a fair bit of time to get it right.
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
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    Oh, bumping to see where THIS goes.
  • JoanaMHill
    JoanaMHill Posts: 265 Member
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    No it's not ignorance. I'm well aware of the problems that can cause intolerance or difficulty digesting, considering they've been trying for ten years to figure out what's wrong with my own stomach (so far all they can see is I produce too much stomach acid, but no particular cause). But she is saying she can't eat basically anything, with nothing from her doctor other than"eat less sugar." I find it unlikely she's actually been diagnosed with anything, and until she is, it could be serious or it could be cured with a placebo.
  • octhawk
    octhawk Posts: 51 Member
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    Thanks all

    I've been to the GI and at first they decided that it was IBS. They gave me the low fodmap diet to follow, but I was still having issues, so they suggested the BRAT (banna, rice, applesauce and toast -though I've see it say tea instead of toast often - when I learned of it, I was told toast and I did toast) diet. The idea is that your stomach will calm down on BRAT and then, you slowly add foods back in, testing to see which cause issues.

    Now the drs are guessing UC or chrons, but it takes awhile to get all the tests set-up, approved and scheduled, so we don't know if this theory is correct yet. In time, I will, but until then, I'm looking for ideas.

    They have confimered that there is scarring in the colon.

    They have also confirmed that I have NASH (liver problems) and I had had gallstones, but am now gallbladder-free. Because of this I avoid fried foods and red meats - though I find that avoiding meat all together is much easier.

    I haven't always had this problem and it happened slowly over time, so I was able to ignore it for long time and have had terrible eatting habits of pizza, bugers, fries and soda. I prob used to have pizza once a week and a fast-food burger 1-2 times per week. I avoid them all now. I used to love soda! I actually used to say that the most important part of lunch was the coca-cola.

    I don't eat nothing and I'll eat more at home than at work (like the yogart from the first responder's answer). I also love boca burgers on occasion - they don't bother me too much, so when ever I go out with friends, I make sure that I suggest a resturant with boca. Drinking food is always easier, so Lucy's idea of soup was great and I'll try it. I know I can eat/drink filtered fruit juices, though I save those for when solid food is bothering my stomach too much and drink water most the time. I eat a lot of cheese, which spikes my daily fat content. I can go through a package of string cheese in a week. I like hard candy because it dissolves and is basically liquid by the time it hits the stomach, but I avoid other candies such as chocolate. Hard boilded eggs have become a new staple. Some days, I eat protien bars or protien shakes. I also really like red roasted potatoes. I love burnt corn (not flour) tortillas, but I can't burn tortillas at work. I'm also obsessed with salt, though I'm usually under the daily salt intake per the plan I'm on.

    I was just looking for ideas that I hadn't thought of until the GI figures out what's wrong with me and (hopefully) is able to fix it. I know lots of people have small snacks they carry to work with them and was hoping to learn from them. Yes, I know of their snacks aren't what I would eat, but they may have one snack idea and if I encounter 5 people with one snack, I have 5 snacks!

    Thanks for your help

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