Need advice on diet

Hi Everyone, Just letting you know, I am feeling good but pretty tired. Have been back to work (I am almost 3 weeks out now). I am on the "full liquid" diet and am permitted to have fish, turkey, chicken. But am struggling with what to eat. Please give me protein-loaded ideas for easy meals! I can't eat eggs or drink milk due to allergies. But I can handle small amounts of cheese, and eggbeaters. Other than that my tummy doesn't seem overly sensitive. I had lost around 20+ pounds at 2 weeks and now have plateau'd ... is this due to eating too much, or not eating enough - ? I don't seem to be eating enough, I never get 6 small meals in - usually 2 or 3 at the most. Then I am drinking lots of liquids, SF popsicles. Any tips? I need some coaching! Kitty B. RNY 12/13/04 251 / 230

You are doing great and right on schedule/ I lived on sf popsicles for the first 3 months and still have them. I seemed to get most of my fluids in that way. Dont worry about what you are not able to eat now because its still to early.It takes time to take alot in and its such a learning process. It litterly took me months to really learn everything about my pouch. Go day by day and relax. It will all come in time I promise.Do your best and dont worry. Speaking of Plateaus, I have been at one for 5 weeks, but I know it will come off. I am not in a hurry anymore because the time just passes anyway so I am ok. I lost between 80 and 83 lbs and 40 more to go. I only go to the bathroom every 3rd day so that doesnt help lol. You are doing so well and we all go thru all these things and relax,Love,Cindy

Hi Kitty Sounds like you are right on track! As far as food ideas I loved Underwood Chicken Spread. It is in the potted meat aisle of your grocery store and is full of protein! If you can do it with some crackers that is a great meal, or just eat it by itself. It is very soft, and blended, easy to digest. I also did string cheese (it comes in individual snacks sizes) and is a low fat source of good protein. I also carried cheese and peanut butter crackers with me. They are a good thing to munch if you are getting droopy. Can you do yogurt? There are some great low carb low sugar yogurts out there. You can always add unflavored whey protein powder to anything and give it a protein boost. I added it to yogurt, and soups. I also make my protein pancakes every sunday (I add whey protein to bisquick mix, along with my flax seed oil, substitute egg beaters and use carb countdown milk) and instead of sugar free syrup, I use peanut butter and make a little sandwich out of them. Just some ideas! Good luck. Experiment around. Play with your food, go on, it's ok now!! BTW I lost 11 pounds the first week and only 3 the second. It will be an up and down game like that in the beginning, remember your body just got whammied and is trying to figure out how to make it all make sense! Just keep doing what you are doing! And, don't forget your water! Val

Kitty, I am still on mostly full liquids right now ( I was told I could puree my food as long as it would pour out of the blender) but I have been having a few soft foods and doing fine with those. A few of my staple foods include homemade split pea soup with ham. I used lean ham and chicken broth a little white onion and cooked it all until it was pretty mushy, blended it up and put it in those little Glad 4 oz containers. This is good, it stays with you for a long time. I also have refried beans frequently. I usually melt a little bit of cheese on it and it is wonderful. Hope this helps.