Salad?

Lettuce is still difficult for me at almost 2 years out. For the most part, I'm okay with other veggies.

I felt like it would be difficult for some reason, but I did okay. I used spinach instead of lettuce.

Salads can be super high calorie and not a lot of protein bang for your buck. I eat salads now, but I skip the lettuce part and just eat the other stuff!

I know!! I tried to use the dressing sparingly. I had blue cheese, but think I'll add chicken or shrimp next time for added protein.

I have a salad most every day for lunch, and have done so since about a month out. Early on, it was just a couple ounces of leftover meat and another couple ounces of misc salad veg. I usually use chopped spinach instead of lettuce due to its' somewhat better nutritional profile, but lettuce has never bothered me, either - YMMV. I found early on that if I cut back a nominal 3 oz meat serving to 2 oz, I had room for another 2-3 oz of salad veg, as the veg tends to be somewhat sliderish (good slider - high nutrition/low calorie), so as long as your protein needs for the day are being met, that is a very worthwhile trade off. Some may be overly ga-ga over protein, but as with anything else, excess to your body's gets turned into fat, so there is no need to overdo the protein. Today, I use the same 2 oz of meat (protein requirements don't change as we progress, unless one gets into body building,) but the veg component has increased as meal capacity naturally increased - adding in more low caloric density bulk veg over time as capacity increases is a good way to fend off regain in the later years.

I do find it somewhat amusing that some are down on fundamentally nutritious, low calorie foods, like salads or baked potatoes, that can sometimes be loaded up with a lot of high calorie fats when served in restaurants, when those same fats are all the rage in some cherished fad diets of today.

I really thank you for your perspective because I feel the same way about the incredibly high protein and incredibly low carb diet. I think there should be a little more nutritional balance. I?ve argued this with my surgical team and their only answer is ?this is what the surgeon wants?. I am pretty strong headed and have been very forth coming about the modifying of my diet to suit my needs. Honestly I hate a lot of meat and cheese as I don't tolerate it well. I also find high protein diet gets very redundant, and the same tastes just get old and blah. I drink 20-40 grams of my protein a day (depending on my protein intake via food) just so I can add vegetables. It may not be the reccommended way, but there is more than one way to skin a cat!

I started eating salad about 2 months out, using spinach and the softer lettuces like butter lettuce. My favorite salad dressing has always been olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar, so it did not add many calories to my diet. Bleu cheese crumbles are better than the dressing, which contains sugar.

As someone who is mostly vegetarian, it has been difficult to meet my current protein goal of 80g per day, so I don't worry much about it. I eat good carbs at meals. The main reason I am losing weight (other than the fact that my stomach is so small) is that I limit calories to 1000 a day. My labs are good, I have plenty of energy, and I have lost 93 pounds since June.

Awesome! Congrats on your success. Salad worked great and I've been eating one a day since this post! I'm also not the big meat eater so I struggle too. I drink a 1/2 to a whole Isopure drink daily depending on my protein intake, and this usually puts me over 65-70 grams daily. Isopure has 40 grams. Expensive as all heck, but worth it for me.

Salad was one of the foods that was truly painful to eat at 5 months post op. I didn't try it again for a few months later.

Really? It is funny how we're all different. I do really well with it. I'm thankful for that because sometimes I feel so unhealthy eating such little amounts of veggies.