What are you eating?? Help!!!

You are just too kind. Yeah your right, I just need to be happy where I'm at. I am trying. So in saying that. Your chicken salad was to die for. Please e-mail it to me. Yummy Susan

Hey Donna, I'm no expert here, and unlike you... I can pretty much eat anything I drink one protein drink per day ****asionally 2) and then the rest of the day I eat and snack on anything with protein, not too fatty. In the AM I have either Kashi hot cereal with milk or eggs (scrambled/poached) sometimes with a couple strips of extra crispy bacon. For lunch I eat deli meat (rarely with bread, just the meat), crab cake, chicken or egg salad with low fat wheat thins, or a small salad usually with grilled chicken on it. Dinner could be almost anything that I make for the family, adjusted a bit for me: MOIST steak, 1/2 lean hamburger, 1/2 slice of meat loaf, broiled or grilled fish (salmon, tilipia, mahi mahi), shrimp, chili (using ground turkey), pot roast cooked until it's falling apart in the crock pot. For snacks, I'm with Lois and Nat... I love CHEESE. I also snack on jerky (I was worried about it too, but once I tried it, it went down easy) and soy crisps. Not a lot, just once or twice a day. I also love the Slim Bear ice cream desserts with no sugar added... that's my guilty pleasure! And every once in a while I'll whip up a batch of good ole' sugar free/fat free pudding with a little protein powder added. The key factor for me when eating meat is that the meat can NOT be dry, but moist and maybe a little less than medium done. Anything with a light sauce usually works well. My only "getting sick" issues were when I tried to eat pork chop/pork roast/steak which was very lean but dry... or when I tried to take ONE MORE BITE! I also try to incorporate some fresh fruits and veggies each day between the protein, like apple slices, grapes, strawberries, blueberries on my cereal, small salad, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers in vinegar. Hope that helps! My resolution starting this weekend is to get out and move more. Thursday night is my last class for my MBA, plus my hubby is getting around more on his own, so I'm getting the focus back on ME! I've lost that a little the past couple of months and I believe the weight loss shows it! NO, you are not anexoric!! Love ya Tammy

Hey Tammy, you know, I think part of my problem with meat is that before surgery I was a total 'well done' person!! I mean I cooked the crap out of it. And now I try to eat it the same well done way and maybe that's too well done for me!! I don't know. But I like your suggestions, and you are doing great Tammy. (BY the way, have you seen that cute picture of us on my profile -- I hope it's still there, I messed around with it a bit!!). Take care of yourself, be good to yourself, and love to you!! donna

I'm glad I read all the way through the posts before replying, so I don't repeat anything you've already been told. Donna, I understand about well done, but you may well have trouble with anything that's a bit dry. Try cooking something in liquid instead of just baking or grilling or even frying. One of the things I did when I first started introducing meat back into my diet was cooking it slowly in liquid like cream soup, gravy, even canned tomatoes or salsa. I pretty much would cook the meat until it was falling apart and then it was more edible. I would start with a bite or two and wait to see how it was feeling before I would eat more. BTW, you are looking wonderful!!!

Hi Gail, I like the picture!! Very nice. Thanks for the tips on eating dry! I love salsa, and I might add that to some meat. That doesn't sound as belchy to me as it might to some other folks!! See you in Richmond? I think I heard/read you were going?? love donna

Hi Donna, I was thinking about you on the way home today, and something occurred to me... First, you may be right about the dryness. I was always a chicken breast meat girl, and now I have to stick to the dark meat for the moisture. Second, my sister, 13 YEARS post-op, can't do beef and especially ground beef very well... says it just sits in her stomach for an eternity. She now cooks with ground turkey as well as the vegetarian soy crumbles (looks and supposidly tastes like beef) as a substitute for ground beef in recipies. She has no trouble with that, and when it's mixed into something with a sauce, you aren't going to notice much difference. And there's the added benefit, when you are on maintenance, of the lower fat content. Another thing, based on a comment you made about the taco salad, came to my mind. Make sure your stomach is EMPTY before you try to put meat in it. I think I speak for all of us when I say that meat takes longer to digest than anything else, and if your stomach has other foods/drinks to contend with, the meat's gotta go! Good luck and I'm looking forward to seeing you Boogie Weekend! And, yep, I DID see that cute picture! Tammy I have got to update my picture on here so it's a RECENT picture!!

Hey, Sweetie! What do I eat... well... here goes... Pre-B (usually on the way to the gym): Protein shake (30-35 grams) B (at work): Two hard boiled eggs or two deviled eggs (my fav) or deli meat and cheese rolled up L (at work): Tuna salad or chicken salad or deli meat/cheese or something leftover (I do well with meats but I'm like Tammy - stuff has to be moist so marinades, sauces, gravies work wonders and most these days aren't high in fat and not that high in calories given how much of it I/we eat.) S (at work): Protein shake (30-35 grams) S2 (at home): Piece of cheese or some nuts or some cantaloupe/strawberries D: Protein of some sort w/ vegie on the side S: Protein shake (30-35 grams) Good luck to ya, hon! Kathy

Hi Kathy - I have gotten so many good ideas, and have decided that I am not anexoric!! Maybe just in a rut. I see you have lots of protein shakes (as I do). Have you ever been told that we should (at this stage) not be relying on them as much?? Like Nat said, if I'm not getting protein any other way, go for the shakes -- which I do. But like today, I was out, so I stopped at Wendys and got a taco salad and some chili for dressing. But when I got home I made a protein drink and then didn't want the salad, and still haven't had it. Hopefully I'll have it for dinner. Thanks for the menu Kathy! love donna

Dr. Moazzez believes in protein shakes for life. I trust him so I'll stick with that. I think he suggests two but since I do exercise fairly hard I think 3 is good for me. I have them in addition to meals but never as a substitute for a meal. I do 3 shakes and 3 meals every day and once in a while an extra snack (piece of cheese or some nuts - nothing big). I'm working on rounding out my meals more by adding in more good healthy complex carbs. When Rich and I went to the OH conference the one doctor was talking about shakes and how they differ from what is called "meal replacements". Shakes if made with water and are about 30 grams of protein are probably about 90-110 calories or so. Meals are usually more calorically than that (let's say 300 calories or so) and contain some carbs and some fats both of which our bodies need. There are packed meal replacements... one the doctor had in hand was Muscle Milk or something that have about 300-400 cals that were from protein, carbs and fat. Kathy