what do I eat?

It's been a little over a year since my lap band op. I have lost seventy pounds, have at least 25 to go. I still find myself at a loss much of the time over what to eat. My surgeon insists on dry, solid, dense protien rich foods. Anyone know where I could get some menu ides???? Also, I find myself craving ice cream lately....total slider food and a binge food for me....help, any suggestions???

A few ideas!
Jean:http://www.jeanslapbandjourney.blogspot.com
or try

http://www.personal-nutrition-guide.com/chicken-tacos.html or

http://www.lap-band-surgery-site.com/weight-loss-surgery-rec ipes.html

Good luck, I know it gets tiring eating the same food.

Thank you very much!

Just go to Eggface's blog. She has thousands of WLS recipes on there!

I've found several great recipes here... and my crockpot is my best friend!

http://pouchfriendly.com/ 

 While we always try new recipes, some of you old pre band favorites and be altered to be quite band and protein friendly - here's a couple of things I do to get my protein in.

Breakfast
1/4 c slow cooked old fashioned oat (yes they can be cooked in the microwave)
1/4 c egg whites
1/4 c water
(optional 1/2 scoop of your favorite protein powder - mine is Isolyze Vanilla Peanut butter)
1 tsp natural no sugar added peanut butter
dash cinnamon
dash of splenda or brown sugar splenda
Depending on how restricted you are or what you can tolerate in the morning, you can increase all the 1/4c up to 1/2 c .
@ 1/4 c cal around 250 - protein is around 23 gr and you get your whole grains and healthy fat from the peanut butter - this is a perfectly balanced breakfast.  (Avoid using a full scoop of protein powder or the oatmeal will get toooooo grainy)

A very quick breakfast option is scrambled egg white or egg beaters with sauted spinach or salsa or other veggie or even a piece of cheese.  Again high high protein values here. But I cannot always tolerate eggs in the morning.  Sometimes I have this for lunch.

Greek yogurt plain or vanilla is a good source of protein and calcium

For lunch I almost nearly have a 4oz grilled chicken and romaine lettuce salad with 2 tb of balsamic dressing or a lite ranch and 1 tbs parm cheese - total about 300 cal and 36gr protein

Afternoon snack I have either a:
PureProtein bar http://www.pureprotein.net/pages/products_bars.aspx with 18 gr protein or 
2 cups of popcorn or
1 organic brown rice cake with 2 tsp peanut butter

Early evening snack (after workout)
I have a protein shake that has about 25gr protein

Dinner
usually 6oz of salmon (350 cal 40 gr protein) poached with 1 tb olive oil
1/2c brown rice w/ 1 tsp olive oil
1/4 c broccoli
(sometimes this is too much to eat - but try to eat all the fish -and the rice has to be very mushy so i make with a little extra water)

Thats about 140 gr protein a day
Calories are around 1500-1700

I will say that nearly every day i have a handful of whole grain tortilla chips and salsa.  Its my vice - its a better choice that what I would have had pre-band and since my diet is pretty low carb I don't feel guilty.
Hope this helps!!

Wow...that sounds like a great way to get enough protein...I sometimes find myself coming a bit short on protein, so will try to incorporate your ideas into my food program.

Thank you this helps alot!!!!! Do you eat the same every day or do you vary it????? How long do you wait after you eat to drink water?

 I alter it somewhat - my carbs are nearly always slow cooked oats; baby food sw potatoes, brown rice, broccoli, spinach or rice cakes and sometimes popcorn.  Yes I will have an occasional dessert, ****tail etc. But when I eat this way 95% of the time, a treat doesn't interfere and Im at a place now that I won't overindulge or go off the "wagon".

My protein sources are always
fish, chicken breast, lean steak, cottage cheese, protein powder, egg whites

My fat sources are always
Olive Oil, peanut/almond/cashew butter or almonds.

Drinking: I try to drink 16-24 oz crystal lite about 20 min before I eat.  If Im having something spicy, I will take a couple tiny sips, otherwise I do wait 30-60 mins after I eat before i drink again otherwise I will puke!

 That last 20-25 lbs. is the hardest to get rid of!  Your surgeon is right.  The foods he recommends are the best for keeping you satiated so that the slider foods have less draw!  I like marinades, which can totally change the flavor of basic protein sources.  I wish I could post a couple of my recipes, but they are on my other computer.  Here's a link to a thread where I posted one recipe that we like:

www.obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband/4349475/cooking-questions /

There are so many great recipe sites online.  Check out Allrecipes.com.  

http://allrecipes.com/

If you click the "Ingredients" tab at the top, you can select ingredients that you want to use, and those that you don't want.  That's really handy when you have certain foods on hand, but not sure what to do with them, and not in the mood to run to the store.

Good luck with that last 25 lbs.  You can do it!

Tami