Okay, I'm more than meeting my Protein and Fluid requirements and will be starting to transition off the soft food stage. I know to avoid bread, Pasta, and other high carb foods. But, I'm curious about alternatives. What's your take on things like low carb tortillas? Is low carb pasta a thing? What's your favorite noodle alternative? And do you think it's a slippery slope, so it's just best to avoid these products?

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Almonds are also terrible for the environment since it takes over a gallon of water to grow just ONE almond.

@@smg ... what an AWESOME list.

Thank you!

Quick question regarding the almond milk. I'm 5 weeks post op, and not dealing well with milk. Not sure if this will be a permanent lactose intolerance or something that will improve with time. I considered almond milk, but soy milk has so much more Protein that I went with that. How did you decide on almond instead of soy?

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@smg - great list, do you have a problem with Stevia? That is my favorite sweetener by far.

Rice => Quinoa Totally with you. If you have not looked into this complete protein grain, you really should (and while you are at it, look up Chia seeds).

I'd add plain greek yogurt as a sub for sour cream.

Also look at playing with spices. You can often get rid of the "I feel deprived" head hunger with the right spice (at least I can). Ginger is mandatory with every fish dish.

Be very careful with all nuts. Very easy to go over calorie count.

And Beans (the musical fruit) - I make my own refried beans (using black beans) using coconut oil and salsa. Lots of Protein, and flavor.

Quick question regarding the almond milk. I'm 5 weeks post op, and not dealing well with milk. Not sure if this will be a permanent lactose intolerance or something that will improve with time. I considered almond milk, but soy milk has so much more Protein that I went with that. How did you decide on almond instead of soy?

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I use almond over soy because of all the hormonal issues with soy.

Almond milk is great, I just wish there was a better way to grow almonds. I feel so guilty every time I use an almond product.

@@smg - great list, do you have a problem with Stevia? That is my favorite sweetener by far.

Rice => Quinoa Totally with you. If you have not looked into this complete protein grain, you really should (and while you are at it, look up Chia seeds).

I'd add plain greek yogurt as a sub for sour cream.

Also look at playing with spices. You can often get rid of the "I feel deprived" head hunger with the right spice (at least I can). Ginger is mandatory with every fish dish.

Be very careful with all nuts. Very easy to go over calorie count.

And Beans (the musical fruit) - I make my own refried beans (using black beans) using coconut oil and salsa. Lots of protein, and flavor.

Great recommendations! Personally, I *try* to stay away from anything with sweeteners, including stevia. I say *try* because it's near impossible to completely cut them out unless you literally never eat out or only eat raw whole foods. I do, however, grow stevia in my garden and add whole leaves to my smoothies or juices quite often. I do try to stay away from the stevia powders though as they are highly processed. The other reason I try to stay away from foods with added sweeteners (natural or artificial) is that, for me, it just makes me crave it even more. Then I find myself saying things like "Well, I guess just one cookie won't hurt"....and I'm doing everything I can to steer clear of that as we all know what happens next!!!

Sugar is a natural food. Most of the white sugar we have today comes from beets. If you eat a bunch of beets, your body will certainly thank you for it, but when that sugar is extracted and ingested without all of the other nutrients and fibers of the original food (in this case -- beets), it can cause a lot of the issues we see today. Same concept with fruit juice. If you separate the juice from the Fiber, you're basically drinking sugar Water (regardless of the Vitamins and nutrients in the juice). If you're in the mood for a "juice" that's sweet, I would opt for a smoothie because when the fruit is blended you're keeping the fiber with the juice so you get the complete food.

So I guess the answer would be yes and no, I do and I don't have a problem with Stevia...just depends on what form it's in. When given the option, I will use the whole stevia leaves from the plant itself. These plants are easy to grow on a windowsill just like other herbs also, so they're great to have around...and if you're craving something sweet...you could just eat a leaf by itself...it's like candy!

Almonds are also terrible for the environment since it takes over a gallon of Water to grow just ONE almond.

Then get cashew milk or coconut milk...or drink regular milk if you desire. I have 3 almond trees in my back yard in Las Vegas and I water them the exact same as my african sumac trees and pomegranate trees and palm trees and I get almonds every year. I don't use any more water for my food-producing trees than I do for my non food-producing trees.

Perhaps it's different in a commercial environment? If we're going to blame the food itself for environmental issues (and not the farming practices) then I guess we should blame the California drought on avocados and not the avocado farmers and stop eating them too?

Some other interesting facts about how much water it takes to produce foods:

- >5 gallons for a head of broccoli

- ~5 gallons for a single walnut

- 3 1/2 gallons for a head of iceberg lettuce

- ~3 gallons for a single tomato

- Just under a gallon for a single pistachio

As you can see, a single almond uses less water than a lot of other, more popular produce. That being said, I don't think we can blame the actual food but rather focus on the over-commercialization and farming practices...just my 2 cents

Edited June 16, 201610 yr by smg

@@cseidman I use cashew milk (tastes better than almond to me) because it has much lower calories and carbs than soy milk. I also don't like the taste of soy milk! I can meet my protein targets without soy milk or dairy milk.

If you haven't, you might want to try low calorie, low carb, high protein, lactose free dairy milk (common brands are Fair Life and CarbMaster). The lactose-free aspect helps most people tolerate it who otherwise have issues with dairy.

@@cseidman I use cashew milk (tastes better than almond to me) because it has much lower calories and carbs than soy milk. I also don't like the taste of soy milk! I can meet my Protein targets without soy milk or dairy milk.

If you haven't, you might want to try low calorie, low carb, high protein, lactose free dairy milk (common brands are Fair Life and CarbMaster). The lactose-free aspect helps most people tolerate it who otherwise have issues with dairy.

Thank you for the recommendation. I'll definitely give it a try. So far I haven't had any problems with cheese or yogurt, but I just can't do milk!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Spaghetti squash is a good imitation noodle.

I don't know how to copy the comment relevant to my response yet - so this is about feeling sluggish without your vegetables. Me too!!! I added Amazing Grass - it is supposed to have the nutrition of 7 servings of vegetables and only has 30 calories. Mix it in Water with Crystal Light lemonade and pour in liquid B12 - shake up and drink away. Has worked like a charm the last few weeks.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Cauliflower riced and spaghetti squash are great. I don't care for zucchini noodles but haven't tried yellow squash ones yet. Looking forward to having reason to try!

I have used romaine lettuce leaves for taco shells or wraps for tuna/chicken salad.

Sent from my SM-G730V using the BariatricPal App

I have used romaine lettuce leaves for taco shells or wraps for tuna/chicken salad.

Sent from my SM-G730V using the BariatricPal App

Ooh, I like the taco idea. Haven't tried ground beef yet, but I can now, so that's going on the list for later this week.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I use ground turkey instead of beef.

Sent from my SM-G730V using the BariatricPal App