Hello all,

I am really at a loss. I have been drinking Protein drinks, tons of Water and eating yogurt. I don't know what to make when it's just for me. It's easier to cook for a larger group than just one very small meal. My family makes meals that include lots of Pasta, rice dishes and non-protein items. When I can't find what I need to eat, I snack small amounts.

I need to make an individual shopping list but I need ideas to help me move forward.

I am questioning myself on how I am going to do this for the rest of my life.

Ideas? Thanks

I don't exclude myself from my family's meals. for example I made spaghetti and meatballs the other night. I simply took out 2 meatballs and while the meat was cooking I threw in some veggies to roast in the oven. The kids were excited that they too had veggies. It worKs. if they are having steak or something I can't have I make do. I'll boil an egg, make a veggie omelet, or some tuna. I just make it work for me. It's a way of life, a new lifestyle change that I'm going to live with the rest of my life.

Something I do is make a meal for me and portion it out and freeze the smaller portions, that way if my family is having something I can't...I just pull something out of the freezer. So much easier than trying to cook two meals.

Also, start cooking for you and having your family adjust some...it will be ok.

Egg tomato and baby spinach on English muffins

Avocado on crackers with low fat cottage cheese a bit of chilli sauce

tuna and broccoli salad with snow peas, cherry tomatoes capsicum Italian dressing

Fajitas 400g beef fat trimmed of salt free bbq sauce tsp. cumin tsp. ground coriander, 1/2 tsp. chilli powder red onion capsicum red, green capsicum tortilla light sour cream, avocado topping and tomato salsa home made. this recipe the family will love also.

Pinterest is a great resource of recipes. It's amazing nowadays, you practically don't even need a physical cookbook to try new ideas. Good luck ????

If you are on Facebook, look up and request to join a group called "Rock's Kitchen". It is a mainly WLS community site that is dedicated to health and wellness, with a wealth of recipes and ideas shared DAILY about what to cook, eat, prepare, freeze....all geared towards healthy living, cooking, and smaller portions! It has been inspirational for me and they are at nearly 10,000 friends now because it is so popular.

I meal prep every week and I utilize a lot of the ideas mentioned above. I also cook for a family, and I rarely eat an entirely separate meal. I too make a lot of meals now that contain meatballs because my family loves anything containing them, and its easy for me to just pick out two and eat them with a side of something else. If my family has spaghetti, I will have two meatballs and a small amount of ricotta. Last week I found a recipe on Pinterest called "meatball sub casserole". It is a base of garlic toast, made using fresh french bread, that has been toasted under the broiler, then placed in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Then you top that with a low fat cream cheese/mayo mix that has italian seasoning in it. Then you top that with meatballs that are already cooked and cut into halves so they lay flat on the bread. Then top with low-sugar marinara sauce, and top that with low-fat mozzarella. Bake in the oven on 350 until the cheese melts and is brown and bubbly. This meal was such a hit that my family fought over who got the leftovers TWO NIGHTS LATER!!!! They wanted it three nights in a row! I did not eat the bread part, I just took some meatball and cheese mixture off of the top. I ate mine with some cottage cheese because it made it taste like lasagna!

Eating properly even with a family CAN BE DONE!!!!! My entire family has improved their eating habits because of my surgery. My husband is not a large man but he lost his excess 20 pounds over these last six months just by way of the environmental changes. I used to cook large breakfasts every weekend morning that we were all off and at home. NO MORE!!! Now we all enjoy fruit smoothies, or yogurt with homemade granola, or Breakfast burritos inside low-carb wraps. It is hard at first because you will feel like your list of "Cant Have" is bigger than the list of "Go Ahead" but you will find in time that the things you used to enjoy, crave, desire, are no longer important to you. You can do this:)

Here's one of my favorite recipes:

Magic Crust Quiche

Ingredients

2 cups 1% Lowfat Milk

1/2 cup All-purpose flour

5 large Eggland’s Best eggs

3 slices Sargento 2% Reduced Fat Pepper Jack cheese slices (cut or torn into small pieces)

3 slices Sargento 2% Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese slices (cut or torn into small pieces)

1/2 cup Sargento Sharp Cheddar 2% Reduced Fat Cheese shreds

7 oz. Grilled chicken tenders diced small

1/4 cup Cooked red bell pepper diced small

1/4 cup Cooked Vidalia or sweet onion diced small

Preheat oven to 350˚. In a blender or NutriBullet, mix eggs, milk and flour until blended, season with salt, pepper or whatever you’d like. Pour into a bowl and add all cheeses, cooked veggies and cooked meat. Stir to combine and then pour into an 8”x8” or 9”x9” square glass dish. Bake for 60 minutes. Let stand 5-10 before serving. You can add whatever cheeses, veggies or meats suit your taste. The small amount of flour firms up the sides and bottom making the “magic crust” while saving tons of calories. The Nutrition Facts are based on recipe above. FYI - the heavier meats, ie. ground beef tend to fall to the bottom. Serving size is approximately 2”x2 1/2”

Nutrition Facts

Servings 12

Per serving:

Calories 120

Protein 12g

Fat 5 g

Cholesterol 92 mg

Sodium 128 mg

Potassium 145 mg

Total Carbohydrate 7 g

Sugars 2 g

Great topic! I am almost 8 weeks out and I'm not sure how I feel about food anymore. I can say my entire family is adapting to healthier choices, in terms of hydration, Snacks, and meals. I'm the one who seems to be having some difficulty. I'm glad I'll be meeting with the therapist tomorrow to vent out my thoughts and feelings and then move on. I'm committed to the change, I just don't like change. It doesn't help I am very much a picky eater.

I don't have issues with food like Pasta and rice, not sure how I feel about bread (I only eat wheat or multigrain). But I am very mindful to incorporate more Protein in my meals than anything else. Some days I have an appetite, other days I don't want to eat at all.

Hydrating is a hit or miss. Definitely a work in progress. Some of the recipes above sound amazing. Thanks for sharing!