Once your surgery is done your diet will be high protein, low carbs/fats. Making changes now is a really smart thing to do and by changing to fresh, lean cuts of meat/poultry/fish and vegtables, you are helping your kids to be eating healthier as well. If you add starches (bread, pasta, rice, etc) back into your diet post op, it should be whole grain versions. Frankly at 3.5 years out, I eat very little in the way of those things. There's just not enough room once the protein is in. My main carb is Wheat Thins because of the fiber.

You might also want to start really paying attention to what a serving is. I was amazed to see a serving was 8 Wheat Thins for example! I still weigh/measure/count everything just to be sure I am having just one serving. And this is really important for carbs as they just don't give that "full feeling" that protein does.

The other thing I found post op is that preprocessed foods really don't fit into my food plan well. I rate food by how many calories compared to protein and most preprocessed food has high calories but not enough protein to make it worth eating. I now make my own soup to boost the protein and keep the calories and fat low. I eat a lot of broiled or grilled meats and a little vegtable for most dinners and salad with 4 ounces of meat on it for lunch. Again, fresh stuff we cook ourselves.

And lastely, but really very important is the water. I still struggle to get all my water in each day, I simply forget to drink it. So get yourself in the habit (if you aren't already) of drinking at least 64 ounces per day. It is so important to the weight loss process.

Hang in there and good luck with everything Jamie. This is a great tool and honestly, the very best thing I have ever done for myself.

Pat

pitgirl28 wrote: »

Hey everyone ... new to the group My name is Jamie and I'm a single mom to 4 children... I have struggled my entire life with being over weight and I've had enough! I will be having a VSG in either June/July and am starting to change my eating habits but I don't even know where to start! HELP!

I'm glad you are here to calculate your protein needs multiply your current weight times 0.3. Unless your Dr. has a plan you can use MFP enter your weight and select a two pound loss plan, this will set up a good goal for you.

A week or so before surgery you can modify your diet plan to make your body ready for the fasting surgery creates.

Start reading labels and choose higher proteins.
Fish, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, skinless chicken breast, quinoa, nuts, and other meats.

I'm super picky too. I stick with chicken/turkey, beef and pork. If I am making hamburger helper for my daughter, i pull out a few ounces of the ground beef for me to eat plain or with melted cheese. I use my crockpot a ton to cook roasts. I have found that Dannon 2x protein greek yogurt is a real help too. Look at labels and google high protein foods. You'll find stuff that works for you!