What is your favorite food post RNY
I basically scour a lot of the bariatric cookbooks and blogs online and look for ways to take foods that I really used to love and make them healthier and bariatric friendly to where I am at. Since we will be in this state for the rest of our lives, I've taken on the mindset that we should work on building a healthier relationship of food and still enjoy it, the key being moderation and not eating out of boredom and emotional distress. Food is fuel yes, but it doesn't have to taste cruddy (why should it?)! I had a real passion/love of Indian food, Spanish food and Tex-Mex type stuff, I love flavor and spice. So instead of making a giant plate of nachos covered in chili and tons of cheese, sour cream, etc. I a) reduce my portion to non-gargantuan levels and b) modify the ingredients to still be flavorful and similar but to be acceptable to my current nutritional plan.
Ex. would be the "Quesadilla" I made tonight (scroll down a few posts earlier this evening). I still love food no question, but I'm being reasonable and more importantly, responsible about it now when it comes to portions and really watching what I am adding in to my foods. Eating out was my bane, ordering in was draining our entertainment funds every month pre-op, portions are often out of control and very high calorically when you eat out at restaurants. I still eat out, but now I order off a kid's menu or just stick to very straightforward foods and I eat the protein and veg first and leave the junk out. I stopped ordering in and really have found that I actually enjoy cooking, despite having a very demanding schedule and a 3 year old, that has helped me be more conscious about my food in of itself.
Do you enjoy beans, spices, curry, different types of cheese much? There is SO much you can do with all of those ingredients. You can do things with curry powder and cumin, a little ginger root, etc. and leave out the heavy cream and other heavy ingredients. Italian is easy too! Chicken with a homemade marinara sauce (throw in fresh parsley, oregano and other seasonings) and some grated fresh low fat/fat free parmesan (or full fat if you don't care) over it and bake it minus the pasta (think chicken parm, veal parm, etc.). Or some lovely cut up fresh tomatoes with slices of cheese on them drizzled with a little vinegar. Dip some veggies (carrots/celery) into spicy hummus/garlic hummus (portion out 1-2 tbsp or so, because it is very good!) for a snack. Oh and I do a ton with eggs as well, changing up the veggies and type of cheese I use in my omelets frequently so it doesn't get boring (mushrooms and goat cheese omelets are my favorite!).
Edit:
Book suggestion (I have it on my Kindle app on the iPad): Recipes for life after weight-loss surgery by Margaret Furtado. Has great recipe suggestions and it includes all the nutritional information about the meals.