I look at your daily meals and Snacks and do not see many if any fruits. I know they should be in small amounts, but I do not see any in most of your diets. Please explain. I would love apples but I am too close to surgery date as of now.

thanks

Judy

my diet lets you have apples and bananas but its much further down the road after surgery.

While fruit is healthy, many (not all) plans don't allow it during the Weight Loss stage because of the high sugar/carb count. I dont have enough room for it! I am still at about a 2oz capacity, so I tend to go for the Protein.

I eat bananas, strawberries, rasberries, watermelon, pineapples and blueberries. Don't really care for apples and oranges that much any more. I will use them in smoothies.

Almost every day, I have a little fruit for a snack. Not much, but a few berries or melon chunks, 1/2 of an apple, 1/2 of an orange, a mandarin, etc. My PCP recommended adding a little fruit to bring up my potassium levels without going on supplements, she said they can be tough on the tummy. I particularly like it on the way home from the gym since sometimes I feel a little woozy when I finish exercising. My calories and Protein are on track and carbs don't seem to impact me in a huge way, so I consider it part of eating in a balanced way.

For a while, I could only have one serving per day, either applesauce or canned peaches. At three months I was more able to eat raw fruit. Now, I am 17 months out. When I make a smoothie I will be liberal with berries, but cautious with bananas. Most days, I will eat one piece of fresh fruit or the berries.

Last week I read A Pound of Cure by Dr. Matthew Weiner. He is a bariatric surgeon and recommends that once we are several months out and hit an arduosly long stall of several weeks, a person's diet could be adjusted by eliminating processed sugars (white sugar, corn syrup, powdered sugar, molasses, etc) and artificial sweeteners including Stevia (which I have mentiond many times is my one vice in this whole process). He also recommended eliminating wheat and grain products, but I am already there a long time ago.

He implies that since sugar from fruit is natural, the body processes it differently than processed sugar and should be embraced months out from surgery.

Based on his theories in the book, starting on Friday morning I eliminated Peanut Butter, milk, cheese and sweetener (I was up to 30 a day) from my diet. I added more greens and veggies, and made a huge bean salad with cuke, tomato, mushrooms, green pepper, celery and salsa added to mix in with spinach and greens cold salad. I have also had a pear and an apple each day and either apricots or cherries at bedtime. I am also drinking 80-100 ounces of Water in between all that.

I was skeptical, since the scale has not moved for months in spite of my best efforts and an aggressive exercise program. I should not be surprised that my bowels are moving properly like crazy without laxatives, stool softeners and prune juice. But from Friday morning to Monday morning, I have lost three pounds. When I get to 135, I will be recommended for a panni.

Although I was checking in ok on water, Protein, carbs, and calories, my Fiber was very low. These adjustments certainly add fiber and reduce fat (I lovvvvvvve cheese and could eat it all day). My one year labs were excellent except that my bad cholesterol was off the charts. I have a doctor visit and blood labs coming up on June 23rd I think.....well it's that week anyway. I am hoping that this added fiber add reduced fat will help. I am still not off of my blood pressure meds. Even though I have have good numbers at the doctors office, he will not take me off of my blood pressure med cocktail until I get my cholesterol down. I can see his point since I already had a stroke when I was heavier.

If that visit goes well, I will keep eating fruit and Beans and greens.

I'm just starting to read "A Pound of Cure" and Dr. Weiner makes a lot of sense.

Starting my 8 th week out from surgery and now get to add 1/2 C of fruit once a day. It's strawberry season so I am looking forward to adding that to my breakfast.

I was allowed no-sugar added peaches and pears, and banana when I started soft foods. I still try to have at least one serving of those a day in addition to the fruit in my yogurt. My NUT encourages vegetables and fruit.