Food Choices

I think I'm making good food choices, but when I put it into fit day it looks horrible! It shows I have eaten a total of 745 calories, 54 Fat, 17 Carb, 42 Protein Can some of your experts review what I've eaten so far today and tell me if they were good choices and if you have any recommendations on what I should eat for the rest of the day..... Thanks!! Herbal Tea - decafinnated 2 Eggs (scrambled) 2 Slices of Cheese 1 Tblspn Ketchup 28 ounces of Water 3 ounces Chicken 1 Avocado 1 Tblspn Light Mayo Any of your advise would be appreciated! Best Regards, Tammy

Hi Tammy I think you should ask Bette (Lap Band) for advice because she is right person to give you advice than me as open RNY . Hugs Kathy K

Hi, Tammy! I have an appointment to get to, so I don't have too much time for a reply right now, but the thing that sticks out in your list is the avocado. Believe it or not, a serving of avocado is not the whole avocado, it's 1/8! Does anyone really eat only 1/8 at a time? Although the fat in avocado is a good fat, that's probably a large chunk of your calories and fat so far today. Try eating only 1/4 or 1/2 a day, but be sure to put lemon or lime juice on the remaining part and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap to try to keep it from turning brown. Since you're in the puree stage, a good source of protein is either cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. Either can be "doctored" in many ways...either savory or sweet. Some examples of things to add to ricotta: Tomato sauce and shredded low-fat mozzarella (makes a noodle-less lasagna when heated) SF pudding mix and a little bit of milk (I especially liked butterscotch flavor) SF jam or preserves Crystal Light Splenda and cinnamon And adding unflavored protein powder ups the protein in anything...solid or fluid. Hope this helps, Debby

Thanks for the great ideas Debby! I will go and get some ricotta cheese and experiment - the noodle-less lasagna is right up my alley! It does help - I appreciate it! Best Regards, Tammy

Hi, Tammy! Another good, soft protein source that I forgot to mention earlier is fat-free refried beans. Some brands are chunky, but Old El Paso is very smooth. I'd add some garlic powder and cumin, put shredded low-fat cheddar cheese on top and heat it in the microwave. All that was missing was the tortilla chips. It's something I still have sometimes, but now I use it as a dip for soy chips, so I get protein from the beans, the cheese and the chips. If you are interested in trying new recipes, a good cookbook is "Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery" by Patt Levine and Michele Bontempo-Saray. One of them was lapbanded (I don't remember which) and for each recipe they indicate for which stage of the diet it's appropriate (texture-wise). Also, many foods that are more solid than what you can now have can be pureed with a liquid in a blender or food processor. Some of the liquids you can use include fat-free broth, fat-free gravy and low-fat salad dressing (some fat-free dressings are high in carbs, so can be a poorer choice than the low-fat version). Debby

Debby -The noodleless lasagna was GREAT!! I used a 1/4 cup of each ingredient and put it in the oven until the mozzerella bubbled on top - YUMMM! I also loved refried beans so I'll give that a try too. I actually bought that book for Patty for Christmas - I'll have to borrow it from her! Thanks again for the ideas. Warm Regards, Tammy P.S. I've now gained 2 pounds but I'm not going to stress about it - there is no way I can be eating enough to gain - I know I'll see a loss soon!

Tammy- I'm a little confused here - Do you think you ate too many or too little calories? The Avocado is a pretty good choice, because it's an excellent source of Omega-3 fatty acid, also, it's the only source of fruit/vegetables you had. I'm not banded yet so I'm not sure about this, but I understand it is harder to tolerate fruits/veges, especially at first. If you can tolerate them, veges high in beta carotene like winter squash, carrots, broccoli would add vitamins, fiber and phyto chemicals (good for prevention of cancer and heart disease) that you don't get in protein foods. Otherwise, it looks like you got a whole lot of protein and minerals without eating too many calories, which is great.