I just thought if anyone had thoughts or suggestion on meal planing and living alone. I am starting to conclude I should get carry out and just it on it for few days? How does others deal with their daily meals?

I am single, live alone, and have a very small kitchen.

I do cook more now than I did pre-op but still live on a lot of easy things like yogurt, cottage cheese, turkey, tuna, etc.

I have started grilling more vegetables in my toaster oven. Add a Protein to some grilled vegetables and it's a feast!

I rely heavily on homemade high Protein chili and Soups. I make a pot and it last me for almost a week at a time.

Hi there,

I'm single and live alone as well. I've been happy not to cook, because now I can keep my kitchen spotless :-)

You can totally get takeout and live off that for a few days, especially if here is a healthful takeout spot near you that you feel like is upfront and honest about what ingredients they use so you can track it properly.

But something I've been doing well with so far is what @@Inner Surfer Girl said: small, single serve yogurts and cheeses. Hummus singles. Whole foods sells a box of organic grilled chicken cut up. I forget the brand but I portion out 2 oz to bring for lunch at work everyday, and pack that with a yogurt or cottage cheese. It's more expensive than just grilling my own chicken but it's delicious and EASY and I feel like I'll succeed if I make this easy for myself.

It's easy to take your favorite recipes and divide all measurements by whatever to make 1-2 servings, I do it all the time.

Also www.hungry-girl.com has a lot of single serve recipes.

Here are some of mine:

https://ormcbariatric.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/thank-you-to-de/

and here:

https://ormcbariatric.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/high-protein-yummy-great-recipes/

Eating out frequently will give you a lot of sodium, which for me causes dramatic weight fluctuations. When I do eat out, I specify no oil/butter, no bread, potatoes, rice or Pasta. Most places are great at accommodating. Chinese is the easiest to choose a healthful meal. Just, obviously, stay away from breaded or fried things. Choose something with Protein and veggies and request no oil, no cornstarch.

I am married but my hubby doesn't eat with me due to his job. I cook, almost every day for myself. I make enough for two of us and it will usually last for at least two meals.

I try hard not to do takeout because you never know what is in it and I really hate it now. There are a few places like Panera where I can get a half salad with Protein in it or even a cup of Soup.

Noodles and company have awesome buff bowls which are all veggies and protein. My favorite is the Janpanese pan buff bowl with chicken instead of beef. Their beef is too chewy for me.

(By the way, I end up eating less than half an saving the other half for another day), I am also almost 2 years out but ate this quite regularly early on. It would last me 3 or 4 meals.

Mostly I buy a lot of cottage cheese, lunch meat, Greek yogurt, salad fixings.

When I cook, one of my favorites is stir fry with homemade stir fry sauce. This will last me several meals and you can really change this up. No rice of course.

Taco meat - I use this for salads or every once in a while I will try to make an omelet with it. My pouch does not like eggs but I keep on trying because I used to love eggs.

If I could eat eggs, I would eat them once a day.

I have things like full fat cheeses, low fat cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, cooked shrimp, deli meats like turkey, chicken or ham. Fresh mozerrella cheese, tomato and cucumber to make a small caprese salad. YUM!

I know a lot of people eat Beans an legumes, I am alergic but if I could I would.

Ricotta cheese as well. You can make some great 1 person dishes like ricotta bake. Or you can make a chicken breast with marinara top it with a dollop of ricotta. It is delicious and has good protein.

I also keep SF pudding on hand so if I get a craving for sweets, it will usually solve that problem for me.

I found real fruit crisps with no added anything. Apple is my favorite and they make a good crunchy snack.

I keep pistachios on hand and separate into 1 oz. servings for a quick snack while I am not at home and need something.

I also buy Atkins Protein Bars, they have both snack and meal bars. There is one, Peanut Butter pretzel meal bar that I will sometimes use as a meal and it is satisfying and good without all the sugar and decent protein.

Speaking of peanut butter. I have used a tablespoon of peanut butter with an apple and that has been a quick Breakfast or lunch for me. I peel my apples still. I have a hard time with them otherwise.

Lastly I would just say I cook a lot of soups, stews, chilis, for myself. They go down well and you can eat on them for some time. More importantly you can control what goes in it.

I always cooked but had to change the way I cook. I started by going onto Pinterest and finding recipes that I could quickly change to make them bariartric friendly. Also there are already a lot of good Bariatric friendly recipes.

As a Bariatric patient you have to be one with leftovers LOL. I even bought a food vacumn system that I would separate meals into for me, seal them and freeze them. When I wanted something I would just boil the pouch in Water and I had a great portion for myself. I also would do this with restaurant left overs like Benihana. Love to go there and just eat the protein and veggies. I would come home with a lot of leftovers and in the beginning they would last 3 or 4 meals.

The others have written so much about meal planning that I'll just add that there are several cookbooks geared to bariatric patients. The one that I bought six-ish years ago (and never used) is Eating Well after Weight Loss Surgery. I mention the title only because I recall that it broke recipes out for the different surgical procedures. So many "regular" recipes are well-suited.

Sitting in a restaurant or ordering out is great. Then there is my belief that planning and cooking for myself and occasional guests says that I'm a capable, competent adult. Seeing my refrigerator blooming with produce and other good things tells me that a real person lives here; a fridge with little more than condiments on the door shelves is sad to me. I'm a fan of leftovers when I make a batch of favorite dishes. I'm a fan of a one-time meal of something I've tossed in the oven or broiler or pan. My cooking ranges from life-long dishes to improvisation to either following closely or loosely a recipe for more exotic fare, such as South Asian or North African. Cooking is a creative endeavor; some of the improvisations are merely edible, thus, never repeated. Only once did an improv prove to be fodder for the garbage can. It's an adventure. Above all, cooking is a component of my reigning over my program.

One of my life goals is to live like a Parisian and be able to whip up something simple, delicious, nutritious, and elegant just because I am worth it. I am getting closer to that ideal!

Nearly everything I cook is in one pan or on the grill. I do nearly a weeks worth of cooked meat on the grill (I eat it 3-4 ounces at a time). So it is possible, just requires changing the recipes.

I LOVE my crockpot. I have a couple of high Protein soup recipes with Beans so double protein that I make and freeze. I do Chili and faux chik fil a chicken tortilla soup (without the tortillas). I have bought a bunch of just over 1 c. gladware type containers and I fill my freezer. I take out one each morning for lunch and put it in my insulated lunch bag and it usually is mostly thawed by lunch. I plan to try out some other recipes come fall. I love that I can start them either afterwork at night and let them cook until morning or start them in the morning and they are done when I get home at night.

pam

I bought a tiny crock pot at walmart for under $10. It has been great for cooking small meals.

I bought a tiny crock pot at walmart for under $10. It has been great for cooking small meals.

Can you, please, post the link to the one you bought? I would LOVE to find a small one.

probably one of the most difficult things to adjust to is cooking for myself. After my husband died I was lost and just ate lean cuisines or take out. it made me gain weight. I have been working on getting myself back on track. for Breakfast I have low fat corned beef hash with a egg on top, sometimes high Protein oatmeal. I do not eat much bread at all. I also make homemade soups and chili. . problem I have is eating it until it's gone. I also grill or bake chicken thighs and make vegetables. I will cook for my kids on Sundays often and then I can make a big meal like I was used to.a lifetime of cooking big meals is difficult for weight management and just plain hard to break that habit. I am getting better with time though. Everyone's ideas were great .

I've started following Egg Face http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ and she often posts how she makes something like chicken breast and then uses it different ways.

The days of meal planning are gone, thank goodness. When my husband and I have smoked salmon, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, Protein shakes, fruit, salad mixings, fresh vegetables, and Proteins on hand, we eat as we like. Sleeved together, we enjoy eating differently but eating together. A good store bought rotisserie chicken is priceless, for several meals.

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