One problem that can come up after weight loss surgery is cooking for one person. You need to cook healthy meals, but you can only eat tiny portions. And, you can’t take a day, or even a meal, off. You need each healthy meal and snack, and nobody’s going to make it for you.

You may already be used to cooking if you cook for the entire family, but now you might need to cook separate meals for yourself if you no longer eat what they do. On the other hand, you may be learning to cook for the first time, especially if you used to eat out instead of cooking for yourself before weight loss surgery. It’s also possible that your significant other used to be the family chef, but you need to take charge and cook for yourself now to make sure you stick to your weight loss surgery diet.

On top of everything else, you still have the real-life time and money constraints that everyone has. How can you possibly stick to your weight loss surgery diet without getting bored out of your mind, wasting food and money, and spending all of your spare time in the kitchen?

This series of articles will look at some strategies for cooking for one after weight loss surgery. In the first article, we have strategies for approaching the kitchen when you’re cooking for just yourself. The second article has a few helpful recipes. Finally, the third and fourth articles will help you stock your kitchen.

Don’t forget to check out the BariatricPal conversation on this topic for tons of tips from other BariatricPal members. Add your ideas to the mix!

Organization is Key

The more you plan, the better you’ll be able to handle cooking for yourself. This is true whether you’re cooking for one or for the entire family, but when you are cooking for one, nobody else is depending on you to follow through. The dedication needs to come from within.

Use the weekends to prepare what you can. Plan your meals, buy the ingredients, and make some recipes. Then, divide the recipes into single-serving portions, put some in the fridge, and freeze the rest. You can make:

• Soups, using almost any combination of broth, vegetables, and lean proteins such as beans, chicken, turkey, and shrimp.
  
• Stews, chilis, stir-frys, and casseroles.
  
• High-protein muffins.
  

You can also prepare some ingredients to use later in the week. Wash, peel, and chop your veggies and fruits, cook a pot of beans, and cook some chicken, ground turkey, or fish to freeze for quick use later.

Playing with Portions

Portions need to be small on your weight loss surgery diet. You basically have two choices when it comes to cooking. You can make regular-sized recipes, divide them into weight loss surgery-sized portions, and store these portions in individual packets or containers. The benefits are that you get to make more interesting recipes, and you have multiple meals on hand after cooking only once.

Or, you can make small single-serving recipes that you make up or get from someone else. That way, you don’t need to worry about measuring individual portions after you cook the recipe. If you love what you made and eat the whole thing, you don’t need to feel guilty about overeating. But, cooking this way can be a little more effort because you won’t have leftovers.

The best approach is to do a little of each. Make some full-sized dishes to depend on during the week, and fill in the rest of your diet with single-serving meals and snacks.

Don’t Overdo It or Get Intimidated

Unless you’re one of the few people who just loves to cook and has enough time and energy to do so, you’re not going to want to cook a gourmet dish for every single meal and snack. That’s okay. Don’t put pressure on yourself to do so. There are plenty of ways you can cheat on your kitchen time without cheating on your diet or cheating your taste buds.

These are some other ways to catch a break in the kitchen.

• Eat out, drive through, or order in. Really. It’s okay. Whether it’s a side salad with low-fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing and a grilled chicken patty from McDonald’s (150 calories, 22 grams of protein) or half of a Chicken Bella dinner with zucchini and spaghetti squash from Ruby Tuesday (260 calories, 23 grams of protein), you can fit it into your diet. Just stay away from the baby-back ribs, pasta, and burgers and fries that can be over 1,000 calories per order.
  
• Use meal helpers. Heat up a tray of Green Giant Just for One cauliflower and cheese or Italian seasoned broccoli and carrots and serve it with chicken or tuna, or toss tofu with bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables.
  
• Take advantage of easy meal options, like whole grain cereal mixed with Greek yogurt and fruit, canned tuna or salmon with cottage cheese, and low-fat string cheese and baby carrots for a snack.
  
• Frozen meal have preservatives, but the occasional one can help you out by keeping you from eating something far worse out of desperation. Choose ones with lean protein, at least one serving of veggies – unless you’re planning to add your own – and a whole grain or starchy vegetable instead of potatoes or a refined grain. It’s far better to eat an entire low-fat frozen pizza for 290 calories than to order in an 8-slice large pepperoni pizza for 300 calories a slice.
  
• Learn to love leftovers. When you make too much, get excited about saving it and using it another time. Also, get creative with your ingredients. If you eat half a can of tuna for a snack, figure out how you will use the rest in a different way so you don’t get bored and the tuna doesn’t go to waste. For example, you can make a tuna melt with fat-free cheese on a portobello mushroom.
  

Now that you are in the mood and have the right mentality for cooking for one, it’s time to get to the specifics. Stay tuned for the next article, which will have tips for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for one.

I do lots of left overs because I cook for the family. My meals are adapted from what I cook for them. Ex: instead of rice, I have quinoa or a veggie(eggplant or asparragus) with the meat of the day. It takes me a few meals to eat an eggplant so if the boys want fast food one day, I can easyly pick up for them and then I can have from the left overs at home. I always save from the day before to take to lunch the next day. It can be done. It takes some tweaking but I get my healthy eating done. 7 months post op and I still measure. I use a baby bowl. It is what I know I feel comfortable eating so I serve there and then put it in a plate. Same thing when I pack for next day. They take out bowls some times are big and I dont use my eyes or should I say dont trust my eyes to serve my to-go lunch for the next day so I serve it on the baby bowl and then dump it in the regular bowl I am taking to work. It helps me keep portions in check.

I'm single so unless I'm having people over every meal is a meal for one. The freezer is my friend. I am also on a fixed income. I have figured out how to prep, freeze most things. I cannot afford to have items go to waste and take out is rarely more than a once a month treat.

For me, the easiest way to eat healthy is to actually freeze several meals into snack sized baggies. If I don't, I find myself up the creek without the proverbial paddle way too much. I cook several veggies and bag them and as Protein leftovers come about during the week, I add then to the baggies later. Example. I have a dozen baggies right now and only 4 have protein but tonight I know I'll have leftover chicken and I'll add that in. These baggies become the "emergency meals" and they are ready to go when cooking is not possible. Because of the mixed bags, it results in a varied diet without much effort. Otherwise, I gravitate to what I feel like eating rather then what I should eat. I add the fruit fresh. A few blueberries, a strawberry, 1/4 of a banana and so forth. A couple nuts and salad as well but for me these are in only in very small amounts.