Question for the slow losers

[JamieLogical 8,727]

When I have lost weight in the past, I always stuck to a sort of "calorie cycling" model, where I would have really low days and then cheat days where I was really high. That definitely seemed to keep things moving. But post-sleeve, that's not really an option. I have to get pretty creative just to figure out how to get enough calories to sustain my exercise. Cutting back for a "low day" or adding more for a "cheat day" just isn't in the cards, unless I were to do something really crazy, like drink a milkshake or something really bad for me.

I will see what I can do about trying to add in some fruits or vegetables. It'll be tricky, but maybe it will help shake things up a little. Any recommendations for veggies that aren't very filling and would still let me get Protein in at the same time? Also, what do you do about preparing the right amount of veggies or storing the leftovers, since I will obviously be eating very little of them?

[beachgurl84 456]

When I have lost weight in the past, I always stuck to a sort of "calorie cycling" model, where I would have really low days and then cheat days where I was really high. That definitely seemed to keep things moving. But post-sleeve, that's not really an option. I have to get pretty creative just to figure out how to get enough calories to sustain my exercise. Cutting back for a "low day" or adding more for a "cheat day" just isn't in the cards, unless I were to do something really crazy, like drink a milkshake or something really bad for me.

I will see what I can do about trying to add in some fruits or vegetables. It'll be tricky, but maybe it will help shake things up a little. Any recommendations for veggies that aren't very filling and would still let me get Protein in at the same time? Also, what do you do about preparing the right amount of veggies or storing the leftovers, since I will obviously be eating very little of them?

@@JamieLogical

this has become my new favorite side dish.

http://www.food.com/recipe/roasted-asparagus-with-parmesan-304007

easy to make and delicious (if you like asparagus). Only down side is asparagus is a fibrous vegetable so it is pretty filling.

Can I ask you, what do you eat on a regular basis to hit 100g Protein a day? My doctor's program only recommended 60-80 for women and under 1000 cals. I'm usually doing pretty good to get 80 g protein under the calorie limit and trying to keep my carbs around 50-60. I also take a Fiber supplement and I factor in my supplements into MFP plan every day. 15 of my carbs each day come from supplements alone.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Can I ask you, what do you eat on a regular basis to hit 100g Protein a day? My doctor's program only recommended 60-80 for women and under 1000 cals. I'm usually doing pretty good to get 80 g Protein under the calorie limit and trying to keep my carbs around 50-60. I also take a Fiber supplement and I factor in my supplements into MFP plan every day. 15 of my carbs each day come from supplements alone.

I was told by my nutritionist to start aiming for 100 grams of protein a day almost right out of the gate. Of course, it actually took me a few months to work my way up that high. I have two Protein Bars a day (one for Breakfast and one as an evening snack), a reduced fat string cheese for a morning snack, a greek yogurt with some kashi Cereal mixed in for an afternoon snack (only add the Cereal on workout days), and then some sort of meat for lunch and dinner. lunch is usually leftovers from a previous dinner and I try to always eat different meats for both meals (so never chicken twice in the same day or pork twice in the same day). My dinners are usually just the meat from whatever my husband makes. We usually split it in half, he eats his half along with his sides for dinner and I'll have half of my half for dinner and then package the other half of my half up for lunch another day. His sides are almost always grains or starches, though, so that doesn't help me with my vegetable predicament.

So, to sum up, I get just over 65 grams of protein from the items I eat every day and then try to get 15-20 grams each from whatever my lunch and dinner are. On days I have my kashi cereal in my yogurt I get a little extra protein along with the carbs from the cereal to help fuel my workout.

[beachgurl84 456]

So, to sum up, I get just over 65 grams of Protein from the items I eat every day and then try to get 15-20 grams each from whatever my lunch and dinner are. On days I have my kashi cereal in my yogurt I get a little extra Protein along with the carbs from the cereal to help fuel my workout.

Ok that doesn't sound too different from me. I usually have a Protein shake a day. Either an Isopoure w/40 grams or Criosport with 32 grams. Sometimes, if I have a sweet craving I'll have a GNC lean mint layer cake with 25 grams. But never more than one a day. On heavy workout days I'll usually have a Protein Bar as well. Other than that I have stocked up on baby bel cheeses and my husband loves them for Snacks too. I'm right there with you on not enjoying the hubby's sides because they are usually potato something. I do a greek yogurt for Breakfast, cream in my coffee, and some kind of meat for dinner. Oh, and usually like tuna salad or chicken salad for lunch. I just looked back through MFP diary and it looks like I usually get around 80. If my calories for the day allow it, I'll usually have a vegetable at some point during the day. I hate to admit it but grazing is a weakness of mine. So I try to keep only things on hand that won't hinder me if I don't catch myself. And I struggle to get fluids because I'm just sick of Water, lol.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Luckily, grazing isn't an issue for me and wasn't pre-op either. My main problems pre-op were bingeing and very large meals. I'm very good about just eating on a schedule, and since I eat 6 times a day, I'm never hungry. I think the first step in trying to increase my fruit/veg intake will be to replace my morning string cheese with something else. I'll only lose 8 grams of Protein and if I manage to add some hummus or Peanut Butter with whatever fruit/veg I eat, then I wouldn't even lose that much. I'll also talk to my husband about making more veggies as sides for his dinners so I could maybe steal some of them.

[beachgurl84 456]

Have you tried making ranch dip with plain Greek yogurt? Get the ranch powder and instead of mixing it with sour cream or mayo, use plain Greek yogurt. The ratios aren't quite the same so you have to play with the flavor, but just like your hummus or PB it's something great to eat with veggies without sacrificing Protein.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Have you tried making ranch dip with plain Greek yogurt? Get the ranch powder and instead of mixing it with sour cream or mayo, use plain Greek yogurt. The ratios aren't quite the same so you have to play with the flavor, but just like your hummus or PB it's something great to eat with veggies without sacrificing Protein.

I will give the greek yogurt dip a shot. Probably won't use the ranch powder, since that has a lot of sodium in it, but maybe some dill dip with fresh dill, lemon juice, and garlic? That sounds like it would be pretty good!

[Sunshine_Gal 68]

@@beachgurl84 Do you track your fat grams too, if so what are they at?

[Kindle 8,667]

I was eating veggies from the time I started soft foods, so I can't quite remember which ones were more or less filling. I do remember a lot of spinach (I almost always added spinach to my eggs), cauliflower (pureed cauliflower as a replacement for mashed potatoes is super yummy), artichokes (yes, WITH hollandaise sauce), tomatoes (a slice topped with crab salad was an especial favorite) and red peppers stuffed with seasoned burger and shredded zucchini. Other veggies like green Beans, asparagus, spaghetti squash and broccoli came a little later. As for portions, I used frozen veggies when possible and just pulled out however much I wanted. As for the fresh veggies, yes, I did have some waste, but like you said, maybe you can incorporate some of your veggies as your husband's sides so you won't have to throw them out. Once I could tolerate raw veggies broccoli, carrots, cucumbers and cauliflower dipped in ranch dressing or other veggie dip became staple Snacks for me. I never worried about fat content, so I just used regular ranch out of the bottle.

As for fruit, I added peaches, mangos and bananas to my Protein smoothies almost right away. I waited 3 months before I started adding strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc. because of the seeds. I also eat apples with Peanut Butter as a snack at least 3 times/week. Over the summer, frozen pineapple chunk were a refreshing snack. Turns out oranges freeze really well too. A client gave me a huge fruit box for christmas with tangerines, oranges and grapefruit. I ate the grapefruit (1/2 for breakfast) and I peeled, sectioned and froze the tangerines and oranges and they are still just as fresh as the day I received them.

The other thing that has really helped me cut down on waste since I am single and eat such tiny portions is my vacuum sealer. Now I can buy or cook in bulk and just vacuum seal and freeze individual portions that last as long as I need them to. I basically have my own home cooked frozen TV dinners available at all times.

Even though we had the same surgeon, I was given a Protein goal of 60g. This was always pretty easy to meet, and I probably get closer to 80g (with the help of a huge protein smoothie and Protein Bar most days). 100 would be tougher to hit.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Kindle

[JamieLogical 8,727]

@@Kindle Was Lucia your nutritionist? She's said 100 grams over and over again the whole time. Even in my most resent correspondence about my 6 month follow-up, the first thing she asked was whether I was getting my 100 grams of Protein.

Seems weird she would tell you only to get 60 grams and constantly harp on me getting 100. I can't even wrap my head around how you could have room for all the fruits and veggies you are listing. I could eat maybe half an apple with some Peanut Butter, but that would only be 4 grams of Protein. I can't imagine "wasting" one of my times eating for the day on only 4g of protein. That would mean having to make up for it somewhere else in my day and I really don't know how I could do that.

I'm going to try the greek yogurt dip with peppers and zucchini in place of my string cheese, since I will only lose out on a few grams of protein if I do that. And I will try to get my hubby eating some veggies with his dinners so I can swipe some, though I can't imagine doing more than a bite or two.

[Kindle 8,667]

@@JamieLogical I don't think it was Lucia. Cant remember her name...Maybe Miranda? Anyways, I was sent with a big folder with step by step post op instructions and in all of the stages, they listed all kinds of veggies and fruit to include in addition to the Protein requirements. The new nut obviously has a different theory. The 60 g Protein guideline is pretty easy to meet, so that does leave me plenty of room for other stuff. I get 30-40g protein from my daily smoothie and 15-20g from the Protein Bar I have most mornings, so thats 45-60g right there, leaving me plenty of freedom to eat other things besides protein. I do shoot for protein with most of my meals and Snacks, but I don't limit myself to only protein. For example, I made a curry stir fry yesterday with green Beans, carrots, bamboo shoots, onions, mushrooms, asparagus, chicken and tofu. I froze individual portions so I got about 12 meals out of it.

And as for how much I can eat, I by no means can eat a whole apple. Even at 15 months post I can finish about 1/4 apple and probably 1-2 tablespoons peanut in one sitting. I slice the rest of it, throw it in a baggy with a splash of lime juice and it keeps great for days.

Its obvious there are a hundred different opinions about postop guidelines. I'm not saying my way is right, I'm just throwing it out there as something that worked for me. You should just stick with what you are comfortable with and what works for YOU.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Kindle

[beachgurl84 456]

@@Sunshine_Gal

I use myfitnesspal so my fat grams are automatically tracked, but I don't necessarily watch them in everything I eat. I try to keep my fat less than 3% of my calories but that doesn't always work. And I haven't seen any correlation between the amount of fat grams I eat and weight loss. I see more with calories & carbs than fat. I'm actually about to drop my calories back down to 800 to see if that gets me out of this slump. Seems like every 10 pounds I lose I hit a stall and this one has been going for 11 days.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Well, I tried my veggies and greek yogurt dill dip in place of my morning snack just now and I think I might die. I had red and yellow peppers and some zucchini and my stomach is like "OH NO YOU DON'T!" I managed to eat about half of what I had packed, but I'm paying for it right now. Guess I'm going to need to ease into this!

[Sunshine_Gal 68]

@@JamieLogical Maybe something that will work later for you??? Had you eaten these raw veggies before? Or any raw veggies (if you stated this above, forgive me I don't remember who said what). Perhaps other raw veggies or was it the dip itself, I suppose that's a hard one to distinguish between when you feel icky. So sorry, that's not a nice way to start the day, hoping it passes quickly for you.

I must say this whole process is such an eye opener, I didn't realize it would be so involved or take so much thought just to get by each day with my food. I'm not complaining just saying my eyes weren't completely wide open when I started this journey. We never know exactly what we are in for until we're walking the walk are we.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

@@JamieLogical Maybe something that will work later for you??? Had you eaten these raw veggies before? Or any raw veggies (if you stated this above, forgive me I don't remember who said what). Perhaps other raw veggies or was it the dip itself, I suppose that's a hard one to distinguish between when you feel icky. So sorry, that's not a nice way to start the day, hoping it passes quickly for you.

I must say this whole process is such an eye opener, I didn't realize it would be so involved or take so much thought just to get by each day with my food. I'm not complaining just saying my eyes weren't completely wide open when I started this journey. We never know exactly what we are in for until we're walking the walk are we.

It was my first attempt at raw veggies post-op. I had eaten SOME cooked veggies without issue, though not very much. I think it was probably too much to try all at once.I will rethink my plan for tomorrow morning's snack, though I do ultimately want to get to where I can eat more raw veggies. I don't think it was the dip, though I couldn't say 100%. I haven't had any issue with greek yogurt (I eat it daily) or garlic or lemon juice before this. Don't know that I've had much dill post-op, so that *might* have been the problem? I really think it was just the fibrous texture of the raw veggies that my stomach was struggling with.