FOOD ADVICE!!

Good Afternoon friends!

I was wondering if anyone has tried the frozen atkins meals to ensure high protein?

At the advice of my post op coordinator I had not been tracking calories, carbs or anything other than protein and fluid intake until now...week 4 post op.  I wonder what you all would suggest for daily caloric intake/carb intake or any suggestions for food at this point in my journey.  I was really surprised at how high the calorie/fat/carb count is in high protein foods.

Thanks for the info!!  

Ashley

At 4 weeks, I was in the neighborhood of 60 - 80g protein (the most important number to hit) and probably somewhere around 500 calories per day.

What "high protein foods" are you seeing with high fat or carbs? LOTS of choices where that's not the case: chicken breast, plain lunchmeat, string cheese, tunafish, unsweetened yogurt...

I guess I was thinking of the protein shakes and the atkins frozen meals that are super high in protein, one reason I was hesitant in trying them because of the fat/cal/carb counts :/

Honestly, a frozen meal is going to have WAY more food than you can eat in even several meals at this point. Most of them have veggies or some sort of side, and you should probably be going protein-only at this point. You're likely better off getting something like a pouch of pre-cooked chicken breast instead.

I did have the occasional protein bar (half of one) at that point, with the guideline being that it should have 10g protein per 100 cal. If that guideline (per my surgeon) held, the carb numbers and whatnot were OK. There are very few that fit the rule, though; Quest bars and Think Thin bars are the two I've used, but need to make sure not to rely too heavily on them.

I haven't touched a frozen meal in two years since I got sleeved.  It's poor nutrition and expensive.  You can pay less and get higher quality protein from cooking your own food.  

My suggestion would be that aside from protein shakes, to have as much real and unprocessed food as possible, per your allowed foods from your surgeons guidelines. Grilled chicken, steak, fish, etc. Cheese sticks and greek yogurt are my go-to snack options.

Under 50 grams (carbs) a day is considered "low carb", but under 40 is even better during the losing phase. Some people don't count carbs, I do.

I think I was around 500 cals a day or less at 4 weeks post op. Now at 4 months out I'm between 600-800 calories a day.

I'd recommend staying away from prepared foods and cooking whole, real foods instead.