People ask me all the time things like "do you eat", " what do you eat", "I hope you ARE eating......right". Insert eyeroll here. Yes, I eat. I loved to eat before surgery and I still love to eat. My eating has just changed for the better. I PLAN better meals and options. PLAN being a keyword. I make better choices and I do not overeat. I have traded in the constant trips to fast food or restaurants for meals at home. I pack my lunch for school EVERY SINGLE DAY. Some days I may eat what is in the lunchroom but only because it is a yummy healthy option or complements what I have brought from home.
I am 3 months/2 weeks postop today. That isn't very far out from surgery but I am able to eat much better than I thought I was going to be able to. I have a lot more options now which means I have to be careful. I can eat the bad stuff but the difference now is it is A LOT less in regard to the portion and A LOT ALOT less in regard to the frequency. I just try to keep a healthy balance. Because I am a "Sleever" I have to keep my protein and nutrients up first and foremost. I start my PLAN there and decide how I am going to get my protein in everyday. I almost always start the day with a protein PACKED smoothie or the Special K Protein cereal. That is it for breakfast right now. Never been a big breakfast person anyway but this really helps get my tummy full but my nutrients in and energy for my day.
During the work week, I pack a boxed lunch. It always looks something like this:
This is my lunch for tomorrow and very likely Tuesday as well (doubt I will eat all of that). The big part of the container is always filled with some sort of fruit and veggies. For tomorrow I have packed fresh sliced peaches, carrot and celery sticks and Edemame (my FAV). The Edemame is the protein. The small container has low fat flavored cheese (Rondele....spelling??). I will dip the celery and carrots in it. The other small part of the container has plain greek yogurt (Fage is my fav) and I have mixed in some low sugar orange marmalade. Another excellent source of protein for me. My appetite is minimal during the work day. I think between drinking coffee and water, having a 10:45 am lunch time and just being busy.....I am not that hungry. Making lunches like that make it very eat for me to graze throughout the day and not have those empty calorie, high fat and high carb snackies all day.
There are days I can get things like this from the lunchroom (lots of protein):
Dinner is harder for me still. Some nites I do great planning and cooking and actually being able to eat what I cooked. I am still figuring out what I can and can't eat that would be more "dinner" foods. I have tried red beans and turkey sausage and I didn't like the way it tasted. Made loaded spaghetti sauce (sauce with TONS of chunky fresh veggies) and it made me sick. I usually just steam some veggies and eat that. This is one of my fav dishes: Low Carb BLT.
I can eat "normal" people food. I just have to do it in very small portions and not very often. This is what I had for the Bama game Saturday nite. This is from my FAV BBQ place called Jim n Nicks. This little plate ended up being 2 separate meals for me. Basically when I eat like this.....I make one plate and graze as I am hungry. This is pulled pork, cole slaw, baked beans. NO bun. I did have a few of thier famous onion rings and 2 of their cheese biscuits throughout the whole day. I drank a lot of water inbetween but didn't exercise. I had football to watch instead!
PS---didn't gain a pound. It is all about portion and balance. One of the best "diet" programs (Weight Watchers) taught me that it is ok to eat like this sometimes. It is not ok all the time and it is not ok to overeat like this. Not ok to overeat ever. Even your most fit, athletic, healthy people splurge sometimes.
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