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The best food advice I can give



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I just wanted to share something that has really worked for me since being banded. I'm very busy (like most of you, I'm sure) and really don't have time to cook, which usually translates to fast food. But I decided that planning was the key to weight loss, so what I do is plan 7 of my favorite healthy meals each month. I make all of them when I get the chance (usually on Sunday afternoons) and then I portion them out into bandster portions. I use my Suck 'n Seal (can't remember the real name of the machine) and usually get about 8 portions out of each dish. I stick them all in the freezer and for each meal I'll just boil the bags straight from the freezer for about 10 minutes - it's just as good as the day I made it. I have to boil because I hate the taste of reheated meat and boiling doesn't produce that reheated taste. If I'm bringing my lunch to work I'll stick a "frozen dinner" in the fridge the evening before and then it's defrosted the next day. It doesn't keep that freezer taste because the air has been sucked out of them.

When I just want plain moist chicken for salads I'll take a sealed piece of chicken (usually frozen) and boil it right in the bag. It cooks quickly, it tastes good because it's cooked in its own juices, and it's moist.

This process has enabled me to stick to a healthy diet (sans that terrible month of December) and save a lot of time and energy. I just keep salad items, sweet potatoes, and broccoli on hand for side dishes. This way you have a mostly preservative-free collection of dinners. I like to buy frozen dinners as well, but they often have a lot of preservatives that I feel are just making us fatter. I've built up my frozen dinner selection so much that I could probably eat for 2 months without going shopping, plus it's my favorite food. Did I mention this was a budget saver as well?

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I do things like that too -- you definately need to think ahead for weightloss. If you don't you end up going for the destructive foods b/c they are easier, and they are there. When I cook I almost always make extra, or make 2 and put one in the freezer. I don't have a suck & seal like puddin' pie (I'm jealous) but ziplocks do OK. Everynight at dinner time I plan what is for dinner the next night (did I mention my possible obsession with food -- you don't go over 250 lbs without at least a tad of it!) While I'm in the kitchen I take out what is for dinner the next night to defrost. Planning ahead definately enables you to eat better, and once you're cooking, making 2 meatloafs doesn't take any longer than making one so it's a real time saver. All you have to do is make sure you pre buy enough ingredients -- again planning ahead! It sounds like alot of work to be so "organized" ahead of time, but once you start it, it's actually easier than running out to the store all the time etc and SAVES time rather than costing it!

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I love it..!!

What usually happens to me is all that food goes to waste as I eat junk anyway..

I am doing it right now.. I had this huge Soup made to utilize as broth, mushies and hearty Soup and so far I am not following my plan to freeze and heat it and use it..

(the soup is non potatoe and lower carb and low fat)

grr

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Thank you for the ideas! Planning is my biggest downfall. I do plan what's for dinner for most nights of the week, but sometimes things just happen and all bets are off. I don't enjoy cooking much, but do it because I have a family to feed. It's a chore for me! Our big freezer broke (only 2 years old from Sears!!!!) So we have to pay to get it fixed and we've been putting it off. I miss having the extra chicken etc. in there.

I never know what you can cook ahead and freeze, if it'll be good reheated. That's where I stand there scratching my head in wonder! I've printed your ideas, thanks!

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Read your idea when you first posted....

I love this idea. I have one of those suck and seal deal thingys but mine won't seal right. I have been using the same concept though with good tupperware (not the cheapy stuff).

Thanks for sharing your idea!

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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