recommended servings of fruits and veggies?

[arthukd 1]

If banded patients should only eat 1 cup of food at meals and 1/3 should be Protein, 1/3 veggies, and 1/3 starch, should we only be eating the equivalent of 1 cup of veggies/fruit a day?

That doesn't seem like enough. I am horrible at taking a multi vitaman, and I am trying to think of ways to add veggies into my diet. (adding them to fruit smoothies for Breakfast - you can't taste the veggies, V8 juice, and V8 fusion - light)

if you eat more than a 1/3 cup of veggies at a meal are you risking streaching your pouch? The calories aren't a problem b/c most of the veggies have like 10-20 calories per 1/2 cup (green Beans, squash, broccoli, califlower, etc)

I prefer to get my nutrients in by eating veggies but I don't want to stretch my pouch.

I am afraid I have been eating too much even though my calories are on track. It wasn't a problem until my last fill and now I get stuck all the time. I am not sure if it the type of food I am eating or the quantity or both.

I have had a rough 3 weeks going back and forth on liquids b/c I get stuck. I am so sick of liquids! I just want to be able to eat somewhat normal food. I have had so much Soup the past few weeks that I am sure my sodium levels are out of control.

My sister has had the band for 4 years and she had no idea what slimeing was when I was asking her about it. I feel like I may have cause my band to slip but Soup and crackers seem to go down fine, but I have a weird feeling in the back of my throat. I need to go to the doc, but I am just trying to get past tax season (I am a tax accountant)

Sorry the post kind of went off topic, I am just freaking out a little w/ the problems I have had the past 3 weeks.

[BetsyB 9]

My doctor's eating recommendations are quite different from the standard. For starters, we don't add starches back until 75% of our excess weight is lost. I focus on Protein (3-4 oz. per meal) and veggies--and one serving of fruit per day, too, at this point.

Depending on the day and my choices, I am sometimes one veggie shy of the 5-a-day minimum recommended by all the health-promoting agencies. (I've always preferred aiming for the upper limit of 9-10, but my stomach really doesn't have the real estate at this point.)

Some days, I round it out with something like V-8.

I'm not really concerned about stretching out my pouch--- most veggies chomp down to next to nothingness. But I am concerned about getting the wide range of nutrients that being able to eat lots and lots of veggies affords.

I think it's really, REALLY critical that you do whatever you can to develop the habit of taking a good-quality bariatric Multivitamin each day. I don't know about your doctor, but preoperatively, I was required to sign a document that outlined my responsibilities as a patient, and doing this was among the items listed. It's THAT important. And it just isn't all that hard to do.

Edited April 7, 2010 by BetsyB
to rephrase the gibberish portion of my post :)

[arthukd 1]

Thanks for the input Betsy. You always have some great responses.

[Jachut 487]

Its really not enough long term. We need a wide variety of plant foods for optimal health.

Have you tried a green smoothie? Lol, they're disgusting, and cause great hilarity when others see you drinking them, but they're brilliant for getting in what you need. I dont believe in Vitamin pills - they're insurance but they wont replace a balanced diet because you just dont get the subtle chemical symmetries between all the various nutrients and compounds like you do in a fruit or vegetable.

To make a green smoothie - blend a handful of leafy greens (baby spinach, mixed lettuce, silverbeet) with about a cup of Water till its smooth. Then add maybe two different fruits - I like these with grapefruit and orange more so than fruits like banana but its all personal taste. Blend the fruits in. I add a teaspoon of spirulina to mine.

What you get is a pulpy mass that looks a bit like the stuff you clean out from under the lawnmower and tastes similar too. But boy oh boy it'll get those nutrients in and it'll get your bowels working. I have been having one of these first thing in the morning since my naturopath friend put me onto them about six months ago.

Its really barely any calories, (since its just greens and half of each of two fruits) but it gets the good stuff in and then what you eat for your meals is a bonus on top of that.

[BetsyB 9]

You're right--it's not enough long-term. But we're newbies :thumbup:

The green smoothie is a great idea; I will incorporate that.

[Jachut 487]

Some of the theory behind it includes breaking down the cell walls of the foods so that the nutrients which may just wash through your body with all the cellulose are aborbed.

But as a bandster, its provides and easy way to get them in without two hours of chewing. They're hard to drink too - its a slow process, but I couldnt eat that much fruit and veg in a sitting.

[arthukd 1]

This morning was the first time I tried spinach in a smoothie and I couldn't even taste it! I added parsnips too but they wouldn't blend very well, I still found my self having to chew them!

I have put carrots and squash in before but decided I need to do something with all the veggies in my fridge so I branched out today.

I get locally grown veggies delievered every week so I never know what is going to show up!

I think I will try the green smoothie in the morning. I have grapefruit at home too...Do you put the membrane of the grapefruit in or just the juice and plup?

[arthukd 1]

Jachut - I have noticed from other posts you aren't as worried about Protein as we are here in the states, but I was thinking about adding a scoop of unflavored Protein Powder. Have you ever tried that?

[Jachut 487]

I havent tried it, but if it was unflavoured I guess it cant hurt. It would them be a complete meal!

I add the pulp, pith and pips of the fruit too - they all contain valuable nutrients - the pith in citrus particularly is where all the goodness is.

[BetsyB 9]

Yeah, the cell wall thing makes perfect sense. They've shown that steaming veggies makes the nutrients more bioavailable than those in (most) raw veggies for the same reason---the cell wall is softened.

It seems to follow that blending would have the same effect.

I have a boatload of fresh spinach and berries...now I know how I will use them.

[arthukd 1]

Just thought I would share that I made my own version of a green smoothie this morning!

approx 1 cup spinach & 1 cup V8 Splash Diet (only 10 calories)

- a few frozen peach slices, 2 frozen strawberries, 2 tbs frozen blueberries, 1/4 a banana and a packet of fruit punch flavored Protein (it was a sample I got somewhere)

It is actually very tasty!! It looks like Jachut describe, lawnmower clippings but not a bad flavor at all. The fruit punch protein made it a little strong so I had to add some ice to it when I got to work which mellowed it out.

I am a fan!