Food boredom......any ideas please?

[frankie152 5]

Hi I am 5 weeks post op in the UK and on soft, crispy, mushy stage, but I find that I am eating the same thing everyday!!??....

Weetabix, Soup, Crispbread with Pate and Shepherds Pie..........can anyone help with some more ideas please? Thank you :-) ????????

[Teachamy 1,042]

I'm sure many people will offer you suggestions, but I need to share some advice with you. (The best advice I received throughout my weight loss journey, in fact.) I was complaining about food boredom to my nutritionist. Same thing, day in, day out, blah, blah BOREDOM! Her advice was not what I expected. She said, "Food is not entertainment." I know we have all heard the cliche, "eat to live, don't live to eat", but until she said this to me, I never really internalized a new way of thinking about food. She also added, "Talk to all the normal weight people you know. You will find they continually eat the same things." She was right.

It is normal to get bored in the early stages, but as you get used to your new way of life, try to remember that you are eating to nourish yourself and lose weight. Food is no longer entertainment.

Best,

Amy

[woo woo 872]

eggs and cottage cheese are good for this stage (not necessarily together)

Edited April 3, 2015 by woo woo

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

Slowly try to integrate new spices to your routine meals, but maybe avoid the spicy-hot ones for now. And Teachamy is absolutely SPLENDID about telling us what food should mean to us....I wish I would have though about that sooner in my life!

[liannatx 897]

I really like the chicken salad, tuna salad, and cottage cheese. I have one of those 3 almost everday for lunch. I haven't tried a scrambled egg yet, but I know that most people find them very yummy at this stage. I am allowed baked fish on mushie stage, and we cooked some Tilipia with lemon pepper... it might just be my favorite so far. It was so good! I find the Protein heavy foods are much more filling and satisfying, I try to avoid anything with many carbs.

[frankie152 5]

I'm sure many people will offer you suggestions, but I need to share some advice with you. (The best advice I received throughout my weight loss journey, in fact.) I was complaining about food boredom to my nutritionist. Same thing, day in, day out, blah, blah BOREDOM! Her advice was not what I expected. She said, "Food is not entertainment." I know we have all heard the cliche, "eat to live, don't live to eat", but until she said this to me, I never really internalized a new way of thinking about food. She also added, "Talk to all the normal weight people you know. You will find they continually eat the same things." She was right.

It is normal to get bored in the early stages, but as you get used to your new way of life, try to remember that you are eating to nourish yourself and lose weight. Food is no longer entertainment.

Best,

Amy

Thank you so much for your response......great advice. I was told at the outset that when food is your crutch you will need to find something else, I guess I just never realised how much of a crutch it was.

[frankie152 5]

I really like the chicken salad, tuna salad, and cottage cheese. I have one of those 3 almost everday for lunch. I haven't tried a scrambled egg yet, but I know that most people find them very yummy at this stage. I am allowed baked fish on mushie stage, and we cooked some Tilipia with lemon pepper... it might just be my favorite so far. It was so good! I find the Protein heavy foods are much more filling and satisfying, I try to avoid anything with many carbs.

Thank you for your response and your ideas ????????

[Wannabeskinnie 59]

There is a great website with all kinds of ideas by stage..the world according to eggface ..and Pinterest has lots of ideas too if you search bariatric recipes

[Lester Burnham 15]

I was complaining about food boredom to my nutritionist. Same thing, day in, day out, blah, blah BOREDOM! Her advice was not what I expected. She said, "Food is not entertainment.......... She also added, "Talk to all the normal weight people you know. You will find they continually eat the same things."

What a BITCH you should have given her a slap. See this is why I dislike the vast majority of nutritionalists; their total lack of empathy. So food isn't a pleasure is it? Tell that to every human since the dawn of history, and ask her why EVERY culture worldwide has developed a cuisine.

By the same rationale sex is purely functional too, ask her if she enjoys that or is it missionary every time?

And "normal people"?? Go take a jump. I bet she has a face like an old boot.

[Miss Mac 6,261]

At five weeks, I was just a few days into eating cooked regular foods as tolerated. But, since your doctor has you on a slower transition, you should just roll with it. I am surprised that you seem to be eating mostly carbs. Even at the mushy stage, you can eat regular food, just cook it to softness and then run it through the blender a bit to break it down. On soft mushy foods, I was eating yogurt (protein), scrambled eggs (protein), refried Beans with cheese and a little sour cream (protein), beef stew run through the blender (protein), moist chicken meat (protein), moist ground beef or turkey (protein) and steamed fish (protein). Let the blender be your friend. For every 1/2 cup of Protein, I was to eat two tablespoons of veggies.

One of my biggest issues with food was changing my habits developed around food. I loved sweet rolls, muffins, pancakes, etc. for Breakfast as soon as I opened my eyes - sweets with a cup of sweet tea. Now I have eggs for Breakfast, but one day it's a fried egg, one day it is boiled, maybe another day it is a small cheese omelet with sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms and ham, and today I am eating deviled eggs.

lunch was frequently an hour after breakfast. Now I make a point to drink at least two bottles of Water before I eat anything else, and then it is a snack. Today I had a gherkin and an ounce of cheese. Some days the snack is 1/2 an apple with a tablespoon of Peanut Butter. A couple of days a week, my snack is 1/3 cup yogurt with some berries. See, it is not the same every day. lunch is now early afternoon, and I am starting to eat more tuna salad and other cold salads and vary the ingredients. My late afternoon snack might be a little dark chocolate with a handful of almonds. In my soft phase, yogurt was my go-to. I could put a little sugar-free jam in it to give it a little flavor.

Supper was any soft meat I wanted plus a couple of spoonfuls of mashed veggies. My favorite was/is green Beans because they are not starchy. My bedtime snack, if I have to have one, is usually oatmeal with stewed apples, or 1/2 banana and peanut butter....there are so many things you can do.

Meals cannot be the highlight of my day anymore. I have to be creative and find interesting things to do that don't involve mindless munching on popcorn or chips. Bariatric surgery changes your life. You need to think differently to feel differently and get healthy. This gets better as you graduate through the various phases because your options open up.

No, I do not eat Pasta anymore. Last night for dinner, I had two meatballs with spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese, and a few green beans. I have had pizza a couple of times and just use a fork to pull the goodies off the crust. There is no flavor in regular crust anyway. It's just a plate you can eat. Dessert will be a peach, not peach pie. Put on your thinking cap and get creative. Drink Water, sip, sip, sip until your eyeballs float. You can do this!

[Teachamy 1,042]

I was complaining about food boredom to my nutritionist. Same thing, day in, day out, blah, blah BOREDOM! Her advice was not what I expected. She said, "Food is not entertainment.......... She also added, "Talk to all the normal weight people you know. You will find they continually eat the same things."

What a b***h you should have given her a slap. See this is why I dislike the vast majority of nutritionalists; their total lack of empathy. So food isn't a pleasure is it? Tell that to every human since the dawn of history, and ask her why EVERY culture worldwide has developed a cuisine.

By the same rationale sex is purely functional too, ask her if she enjoys that or is it missionary every time?

And "normal people"?? Go take a jump. I bet she has a face like an old boot.

She did not say "normal" people, she said, "normal weight" people, as in those with a healthy BMI. This woman is not a bariatric nutritionist, nor is she condescending. She is a certified Diabetes Educator, a registered dietician, and I have worked with her for 13 years.

Of course she recognizes that food is pleasurable. She also recognizes that many obese people rely on that, and focus more on the pleasure than the nutrition. She shows complete empathy, knows me well, and knew at the time that I needed to change my thinking about food. Food is not entertainment, it is not a reward, and only on occasion is it a treat.

It seems you have had some negative experiences with your bariatric team. I recommend finding someone who doesn't offend you. I have found great support and I have a healthy life and a healthy weight.