Helping a Newbie

Hello all!  So I am a newbie and am about 3 months post op from my bypass surgery in May.  I admit that during the summer, particularly the past month or so, I have slacked off on working out and keeping up a food journal.  But I just moved into my own apartment and want to us this change in environment as an opportunity for a new start.  I have what I need to do this right except some information.  I am still a little foggy on how to reap the fullest benefits I can from the surgery.  So here goes.

1.  How many grams of protein, fiber, fat, and carbs are we supposed to aim for in a day?

2.  How do you all do your portions?  I know mine is about six tablespoons, but how do you balance a meal with such limited portions?  Like, how much veggie and meat in one meal and how do you measure meat portions?  It seems hard to measure whole meat in tablespoons. 

3.  As a college student, I work on a tight budget.  Any meal planning tips?  I grocery shop each week so I'm trying to work out how to plan my meals a week at a time.

Okay, so I think that's all for now.  Should give me a good start.  I just really want to do this right.  I think I've been slacking a little because it's still hard for me to think of myself as being anything other than the fat girl.  It's hard to aim for a change that you have a hard time believing in.  

Anyhow, I'd appreciate any help.  Hope everyone is doing well!!  Thanks!!!

Congrats on the new apartment!  How fun is that? I think you'll do really well on your own with your program. No one else to worry about and all you need to buy for is yourself.

I can only go by what MY program was from Dr Gibbs at three months out. I'm sure it's very close to Baker's rules, but maybe someone will hop in and correct anything for you. So, here goes....

I was on 600-700 cals a day. 50% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fat. If you use fitday.com they will show you on the chart your percentage. As far as measuring meat, cut it up before you measure. It's about volume, not weight, so it won't be accurate for the plan if you weigh it. My Nut always said eat your protein first, then carbs if there is food left (of your 6 tbs). The fat that is in your meat, or tiny bit of butter you might put on your veggie, or whatever, will get your fat in without too much worry.

As far as planning meals go, it depends a lot on what you like. I bought (and still eat) sliced roasted turkey spread with whipped LF cream cheese, or wrapped around some string cheese. You can use ham or roast beef, too. It's so thinly sliced that you will most likely not have a problem with it.  A quarter lb of each will last you lots of meals.  Or, you can buy some chicken tenders and season them up, bake them and keep them in the fridge, ready to go. If you like shrimp, a bag of the cooked medium shrimp will last you all month....11  are about 21 grams of protein. You might not be able to eat that many yet, but after you figure that out, just pull what you need out of the freezer bag and let it thaw. I like to dip them into ****tail sauce. Very yummy!

Oatmeal with  some PB2 in it would be a great breakfast. Jeeze, I'm running out of ideas. I'll go back onto my log and see what other ideas I can come up with for you. Hopefully others will chime in and give you some suggestions!

Good luck, keep us posted!

I recall I used to kind of measure meat against the size of my thumb -- I read a book once called The Portion Control Diet which was very interesting, and I believe it said that the top part of your thumb is equivalent to 1/2 tbsp??  Anyway, I'd take a piece of meat the size of my whole thumb and that was my meat for the meal.  I'd have a small spoon of whatever carb, and then a couple green beans or something.  Now (1 year post-op) I've graduated to meat portions closer to 1/2 the size of my palm.  I figure it's about 2-3 oz.  I'm always worried about the protein portion of the meal over anything else. :)

They sell those steam-in-bag things in fairly small sizes; they even have brown rice (it's pretty good).  One of those would last you several meals and be pretty flexible.  Get some chicken and a couple small freezer bags of veggies and you're set for a while.   Speaking of chicken, a bag of those pre-cooked Tyson breast strips would be very easy for you, too, and one bag can stretch a loooooong way for you.

Some possibilities are: 
plain rice with a little chicken and some green beans
an ultra-small portion of chicken fried rice with egg beaters, green peas and a little soy sauce
a mini-casserole with some chicken, broccoli, cream soup, and a little low-fat cheddar cheese (bake in a muffin tin)
a Mexican meal: chicken & rice with some taco seasoning and some pinto beans

Lately I've been doing the frozen breast strips on some of the preshredded lettuce with some black olives, diced tomato, mexican cheese, and some light Caesar vinaigrette.  You could make as little as you want and most of the ingredients, except the lettuce, can keep for a while.

I hope this helps!  Congratulations on your apartment!!!!! :)

Let me know if you need any more ideas; I don't work with beef a lot, it doesn't sit well, which is why all the chicken.  A nice, tender cut of pork will work well as will turkey, and those can be easily substituted into any of the above.

OOH, I just remembered one of my recent breakfast faves: A tbsp or 2 of egg beaters scrambled up with a sprinkling of cheese and a bit of chopped turkey bacon (the pre-cooked kind you'd sprinkle on your salad, sold in little resealable bags -- Kroger has their own brand).  I put this on 1/2 a Flat-Out wrap with a little Miracle Whip... mmmmm!  The bread for the wrap has 5 g of protein on its own, so it's a great protein option for breakfast.  If you can't do bread yet, just do the egg!  Fast and easy.