Hello everyone I had the RNY surgery on 1/30 and will be returning to work soon. I have always been horrible with meal planning and prep. Any advice materials or articles I could read would be greatly appreciated. I want to work my hardest to make this a success.

At this stage, you're probably on puree foods? It's quite easy to meal plan as you can barely eat anything. I'd make some batches of soup or whatever you're eating and divide it into tiny portions. Once you move onto proper food, you can check out youtube for millions of ideas. In my experience, It's easy to meal prep following surgery because you always have tons of leftovers. If you live alone, you can basically cook twice a week and have enough food to get you through.

I only shop once a week on Sundays, at the beginning of the week, I have salads and fresh things, by the end of the week, I'm having more vegies which last longer in the fridge. When you cook, make large portions so you can freeze extras. Buy tupperware. I find it helpful to have cans of tuna, beans, tomatos on hand too. Resist the urge to order food in. I'm so proud of the fact that I don't buy lunch every day at work anymore. I have protein bars and tuna in my desk so even if I forget to pack something, there is no excuse! By meal planning, you will know what you're eating and save money!

As someone who is only learning to cook, I find meal planning overwhelming! I just don't know enough good foods or how to put things together in a way that works.

From what I have tried or am trying, try to come up with a bunch of recipes that you know or think are aligned with the program. Print them out and put them on the counter or table. Have some printouts/recipe cards of even the easiest things. (I do post it notes for this sometimes). I think you would also need cards/notes that say "leftovers of whichever you made a big batch of. have a column for "Meal Type" and then a column for each day of the week. This way , you have a column for Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Snack. And now you move your recipe or note/card for "Hard Boiled Egg" to breakfast for Monday,. Have a card for "Hummus and Celery" or whatever it is that you want to eat. That sort of thing. If you make an entree that has 4 servings, have 4 cards for it and spread it out through the week (unless you freeze some of it). Does that make sense?

No, I haven't done this yet but it popped into my head and I am certainly going to try it. This is a very visual way to put together a meal plan for the week or to see how it works and maybe move things around as you need to. I feel like there must be some way to also count grams of protein/carb/fat while doing this but I haven't figured that out yet, though each card could have it listed in the top right corner or each.

Start collecting recipes that are high in protein, low in carbs or modify some that aren't but sound good.

I modified Scotch Eggs for breakfast. I take a hard boiled egg, some ground turkey -- take a handful of it and make a bit of a pancake out of it and then take that and wrap it around the egg so you have what looks like a big meatball but the egg is encased inside. Then roll it around in some parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes if I remember correctly (it's been a while). Amazing breakfast!!

Let me know if the "meal plan" section works. I think I'm going to try this myself.

At this stage, you're probably on puree foods? It's quite easy to meal plan as you can barely eat anything. I'd make some batches of soup or whatever you're eating and divide it into tiny portions. Once you move onto proper food, you can check out youtube for millions of ideas. In my experience, It's easy to meal prep following surgery because you always have tons of leftovers. If you live alone, you can basically cook twice a week and have enough food to get you through.
I only shop once a week on Sundays, at the beginning of the week, I have salads and fresh things, by the end of the week, I'm having more vegies which last longer in the fridge. When you cook, make large portions so you can freeze extras. Buy tupperware. I find it helpful to have cans of tuna, beans, tomatos on hand too. Resist the urge to order food in. I'm so proud of the fact that I don't buy lunch every day at work anymore. I have protein bars and tuna in my desk so even if I forget to pack something, there is no excuse! By meal planning, you will know what you're eating and save money!

I’m looking forward to not having to order I’m as well. These are fantastic ideas and I will be heading to you tube to look into the videos.Thank you so much for the advice.

As someone who is only learning to cook, I find meal planning overwhelming! I just don't know enough good foods or how to put things together in a way that works.
From what I have tried or am trying, try to come up with a bunch of recipes that you know or think are aligned with the program. Print them out and put them on the counter or table. Have some printouts/recipe cards of even the easiest things. (I do post it notes for this sometimes). I think you would also need cards/notes that say "leftovers of whichever you made a big batch of. have a column for "Meal Type" and then a column for each day of the week. This way , you have a column for Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Snack. And now you move your recipe or note/card for "Hard Boiled Egg" to breakfast for Monday,. Have a card for "Hummus and Celery" or whatever it is that you want to eat. That sort of thing. If you make an entree that has 4 servings, have 4 cards for it and spread it out through the week (unless you freeze some of it). Does that make sense?
No, I haven't done this yet but it popped into my head and I am certainly going to try it. This is a very visual way to put together a meal plan for the week or to see how it works and maybe move things around as you need to. I feel like there must be some way to also count grams of protein/carb/fat while doing this but I haven't figured that out yet, though each card could have it listed in the top right corner or each.
Start collecting recipes that are high in protein, low in carbs or modify some that aren't but sound good.
I modified Scotch Eggs for breakfast. I take a hard boiled egg, some ground turkey -- take a handful of it and make a bit of a pancake out of it and then take that and wrap it around the egg so you have what looks like a big meatball but the egg is encased inside. Then roll it around in some parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes if I remember correctly (it's been a while). Amazing breakfast!!
Let me know if the "meal plan" section works. I think I'm going to try this myself.

I love this idea and may give it a go. I have been collecting recipe ideas on Pinterest which is a great place for meal ideas. I just need to put it into work. Thank you very much!!