What do you eat?

Hi everyone! My surgery was 3/22/04. I have lost 58 pounds (so wish I could say it was more!) and I am feeling oh so much better. I am trying to exercise more and eat wiser things. I wonder a few things...what do you all eat? Does it bring you pleasure to eat it? I ask for this reason...food does not taste the same to me anymore and nothing really brings me pleasure to eat it...I just do because I have to. I wonder if this will pass in time. The one thing I do enjoy is to make my protein shakes with hand blender ...and put in lots of crushed ice and eat with spoon. That is very good to me and I always feel energized afterwards I am lacking of things to actually eat. Yes, I should eat mostly proteins but there is mostly carbs that are ready available. Any suggestions on what a busy mom of 4 can find to eat..that is not too time consuming but tastes ok Thanks! Sue

Hi Sue, You are doing great - concentrate on the way you feel, not on the numbers. I've found that helps the psyche. I'm a single mom of a special needs child, so I understand the "busy mom" completely. There are a few things I keep in my fridge all the time (1) Cottage cheese in the 4 oz serving sizes. Some say they are either sick of cottage cheese or don't like it. Fortunately for me, that's not the case. I typically put some type of fruit in it. (2) Watermelon - it always goes down well and is a great snack (3) cheese - I buy the cheddar in the individual packets so I can just grab a little packet and go with that. My daughter loves the fun shapes too. (4) deli meat - for me it's rare roast beef. I don't do chicken or turkey real well, but have no problem with beef. (5) premade salad - I sometimes throw in some tuna, or I have it on the side of something else. A quick lunch is a slice of roastbeef and a slice of cheese rolled up together, dipped in a spicy horseradish mustard, with a small salad and ff or lf dressing. When my daughter wants to do fast food, and I really don't feel like thinking about what to make I make two stops - one at BK or McD's (she usually wants one of those) and a 2nd stop at either Wendy's (for chili) or TacoBell (for either pinto's & cheese, or a taco salad - don't eat the shell though). Like you, food holds no draw for me - I eat 'cause I have to, and I don't enjoy it anymore. I sometimes mourn the loss of enjoying going to a restaurant, but I'd rather feel as I do about food, then be obsessed with it like before. Take care and keep up the good work. mgm -69

Susan, You are doing just fine, My favorite is a ground turkey with a little of instant mashed potatoes with gravy over it to help with the dryness. It works real well and I can make enough for several days at one time. Red meat doesn't work for me so the ground turkey, I don't have a problem with. Also try cheese and a few crackers, I use Ritz, they taste better than any others. Thats the only bread type stuff I eat. My surgury was 3/15 and I am down 80 lbs as of today. Keep on trying and try to stay away from the shakes if you can, most people seem to do better if they eat real food. Yes it does get better where you appetit comes back, never as before, but it does come back and then you get a little scared. Hang in there!! Have a great day! Marilyn, the bearlady

Hey Susan! My surgury was on 3/29/04 and as of today I'm down 90lbs even. BUT, I haven't been eating worth a crud, so I don't consider that a great thing to have lost that much. Food does not appeal to me at all; doesn't look good, smell good, taste the same, etc. However lately (the past week) I've been really giving the protien thing a lot of effort. I've been eating a lot of Lunchables (takes me a few hours to eat all eight!) and some different things like trying rices and different dairy products like cottage cheese and low-fat milk. Most things come back up on me lately as well, so again, I dread actually having to eat. My kids also dig the fast food, usually the same places your kids eat. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Taco Bell, but have yet to dare. Does the Taco Salad (which was my prior all-time fav!) work okay for you? How much of it can you actually eat? Unlike you, I can't do the shakes at all, wish I could. I also stop by the grocery store in the morning and pick up whatever leftover mac n cheese they have in the deli the day before (only 90cents!) and that works for a few bites as well. I wish you LOTS of luck...and I hope we start liking food again soon, as we'd look pretty bad as skeletons! Have a SUPER day! Kim

Hi Kim, I have had no problems with Taco Bell's Taco Salad. I add the salsa that comes with it, but leave out the red crunchy chips they put with it. I can eat about half of it comfortably, but none of the shell. If you can do beef ok, then you can probably do TacoBell ok. I've also had taco's, but I order them soft (supreme) and eat the insides with a fork, leaving the tortilla alone. One soft taco supreme w/o the tortilla will fill me up. When I've tried the hard taco supreme (my pre-op fav) it's been ok too, but that's with the shell, and I only can eat half of it. I've opted to go soft instead and cut out the tortilla - it might not be much better, but it works for me and it helps me feel like I am eating normal. mgm -69

Susan, I am still not that big on food either. I pretty much eat the same things day after day and still have a hard time with getting in enough protien. I tend to eat beef jerkey, cheese, lunch meat, I can do beef like steak very well but gound beef just does not agree and neither does chicken. I eat raw fish or sashimi, and any type of seafood goes down well. I just recently got over a craving for sushi, one california roll lasted 3 days. I had surgery on 3/29 and am down 62lb as of today. Leslie

Thanks for all of your replies! I am glad I found my way back here! I have made it my homepage so I will be reminded to check it and post replies and such I am going to try to make a real effort, using a timer to eat real meals...sticking to the rule of being done within 15 mins to 30 mins and no more grazing. I will also try to not letting myself drink for hour or so after eating for that is one thing I have just not stuck to very well since surgery...I like to drink with my meals You all had many good suggestions and I will work on having some of these foods in the house! As for the protein drinks...I know it is a controversal issue for some but really they are the one thing that bring me pleasure that I really look forward to having, not to be indulgant but because I feel so energized afterwards, clear of mind etc. I put omega 3 in them, vitamins etc Do most of you try to stay away from carbs? Seems they are the evil thing I must rid my life of...for too much carbs leads to cravings for me Thanks again! Sue

i do love my king crab leg (yep, one leg). it's pricey, but so worth it... and still much less than i used to spend on food. i can eat the whole leg - dipped in butter (yum) and nothing with it. it is VERY filling... just the right amount. i have had taco bell... i've had the crunchy taco supreme - i did eat the shell... i ate about half of the taco. i also had (a different meal) an order of beans (i had them leave off the onions)... i was able to eat about half of that. i LOVE edamame (boiled soybean pods). beef jerky, cheese, pork rinds (sometimes they make me sick) i have 2 protein drinks a day - one in the morning and one at night... i have learned to love them... but not the pre-made ones... they are terrible. deb open RNY 3/5/04 -77

Wow...you guys are all doing great! I too have lost a little taste for some foods but I crave a chicken salad that I make. I got the recipe from this website. It has celery, grapes, walnuts and the packed chicken in it w/mayo free or salad dressing free. I can eat more than it appears most of you can. I can eat about 8 ozs now...not that I want to but I do. I know I don't get enough water in so I really have to work on that. I do want to graze a lot but again I think that is more to not enough water and maybe too many carbs.....I really need to work on that. Best of luck to you all! Lap RNY 3/18/04 -49 lbs

Hey! I am not a shake drinker either and the thought of having to drink another thick shake makes me want to puke! Anyway, I went by GNC the other day to see if they had any type of pill or liquid form of protein in there that I had not tried because I have started losing my hair, and they had these fruit drinks - like kool-aid or something. Non-carbonated, sugar free and every one they had was 20 oz and contained either 40 or 42 oz of protein!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!! And they were all pretty good - gormet compared to the shakes! My favorites were the ISOPURE orange and the ISOPURE apple melon (florescent green colored!) It took me a few hours to drink it all, but man! that knocks out more than half of what you have to get into you in one day. I try to drink at least one and 1/2 a day. Then whatever food I take in gets all my daily protein goal in! YEA! You should all try them. Remember, they are not orange-aids, but the orange one was really good to me! Hope this helps. As for food, I feel like you all do too. When we go out to eat, I don't have any cravings for anything. I'll eat a biteor two of my hubby's, bite or two of my kids'........etc......even when that time of the month comes along, I would rather eat 2 Doritoes or 4-5 baked Lays chips or a few peanuts than eat a Reese's cup or a few Hersey's kisses. Isn't that weird? Any of you other girls getting that? I am down 83 pounds now, so I guess giving up the chocolate was a good thing! Best of luck to ya, and we'll help you however we can. Kim