Soul food withdrawal

I am in love with soul food.  I realize that the love affair with fried chicken and macaroni and cheese and all the other stuff must end.

Has anybody found away to incorporate some of their favorite soul food dishes into their new weight loss diet in a way that amenable to this process?

First - I love the word amenable......

Second - I love soul food my damn self - do i eat it from time to time now - YES!!!!!  How long was it before I did, tho?  About a year.

Nowdays I will have greens and cornbread, or the occasional smothered pork chop from my fav resturant (cause I can't make gravy)  I have had mac and cheese and fried chicken - but not a lot

I have found that while my HEAD wants these things - my BODY says differently.  While the lap band reactions to things are different from RNY - depending on your restriction, I would guess that you may find some things don't 'work' for you now that you are banded.  

Imma get off this thread cause I don't want the lap banders thinkin I'm getting out of pocket!!!  I am sure they will have some specific and GREAT advice for you - good luck!!!! 

I don't recommend this for new post ops but .....years ago  Patti Labelle's Lite Cuisine cook book was a start for me food with flavor .... greens and smoked turkey wings I wouldn't have it no other way.

i love those some of these foods as well.  i do my best to not even touch them.  however, it does not always work.  i have to confess i had a spoon of mac and cheese and it was like the old days, great tasting in the mouth, but not good for other parts of my body.  small portions and limitting the occurances might be your best bet.  Good Luck

You can try Valerie Campbell's cookbook. She is a BAF member. It's called Cooking with Soul: Soulful Cuisine Tailored for Gastric Bypass Patients and Those Who Seek a Bit of Soul in Their Low Carb Low Fat Diet .

Hey Sunnshyne,
I agree with Trina and lady who mentioned the Patti Labelle lite cuisine. I am about a year out and I also love soul food, fried chicken, mac & cheese, greens, cornbread, banana pudding etc.  I feel once you are able to incorporate these meals into your food plan (usually a year out or so) you can always make these types of foods differently.   When I am craving fried chicken, I ate only 1 piece because that is all i can ate sometimes cant even finish that - i normally only eat thighs but will eat wings as well.  Oven fried chicken is now my alternative and I use andys hot n spicy chicken breading.  As far as mac & cheese, i normally don't eat alot of it because pasta makes my stomach hurt alot of times - so if i do eat it - it's about a 1/2 cup or a couple of spoonfuls - that has been my experiences - but research online for low-fat soul food cooking - patti labelle's book is excellent i have it myself.  Also I make sugar-free banana pudding which is my favorite and when I made it for thanksgiving last year - no one in my family knew the difference.  Where there's a will there is a way so good luck sweetie and enjoy your journey with the many healthier food options that are out there.

Deejay I LOVE me some SF banana pudding and so does everyone in my house. SPeaking of I may make me some of that this weekend!

Like the others said there are lots of recipes for soul food that are lower in carbs and fat. I just made macaroni and cheese with Dreamfields low carb pasta and hubby couldn't tell the difference.  Good luck!

Like everything else I think that it is based on you and your experience. I'm 9 months out and I have added some things back into my diet for the last 2-3 months---in moderation. I eat the occassinal fried chicken but I find that its too greasy and even though my pouch doesn't mind it it just doesn't taste good to me.  I tried mac & cheese just the other day and had one spoon full of it and didn't like it once again wasn't mypouch but it wasn't good to me.

i've had conversations with banders and I found that I have less restrictions than some of them as far as the thing that would upset my pouch than their band.

I think that after the initial restrictions are off by your surgeon due to healing issues i think its up to you to decise when to begin testing adding these new things to your diet but I wouldn't do it until you've reached goal or every close because those things will definitley stall your progress.