Need Help

[Barbara Pennington]

I've seen lots of good advice here. I'm 8 years out and remember very well those early days. I used EAS Advantage drinks (4 pack was $4.50 at Sam's Club back then). It had a thin consistency and I sipped on it all day at first. Greek Yogurt is high in protein and is thicker. It was hard to find greek yogurt back then but now it's everywhere, just don't get the kind with sugar. Cabot is good. Now I still make protein drinks myself every day or so. I use protein powder bought at Kroger called Genisoy. I get the "natural flavor", which is unflavored. I mix it with almond milk (I'm lactose intolerant) but you can mix it with regular milk. I also mix it with orange juice. It's too early, probably, for you to have juice but I use Simply Orange high pulp (no added sugar) and the pulp provides fiber. It also tastes amazing. A lot of people will tell you not to drink juice and I didn't for the first year but added it in later and haven't had any problems with it. I only use a half cup of juice and 3 little scoops of protein powder. The best thing I bought was a Magic Bullet mixer. I still have the one I got a few days before my surgery and use it almost every day. It has a lid so after you mix it and drink what you can, you can put the lid on and pop it back in the fridge to re-chill. It also crushes ice into your drink. Sipping something with protein all day will get you what you need and get you used to drinking all the water you need. Hang in there, it'll get better.

 

[SueS]

Barbara,
Thank you for the help. I am now getting my protein in and I feel so much better. I was just dragging. I got the Isopure water and started drinking it and doing the protein bars. It sure has made a big difference. I am now on the regular diet. What did you eat when you got to that stage? I have some Lean Cuisine Meals only problem is I can't eat one all at one time so I split it and make two meals out of it. Lot of Wendy's chili and cottage cheese. I fixed a pork loin and ate some of it and it tasted so good and had no problem. So I thought I would warm a piece up and have it again and it made me sick that time. I have ate tuna and it was ok but have tried tilapia at two different places and had problems with it. Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks again
Sue

 

[CALQL84HEALTH]

HI Sue
It seams you are on your way to being healthy. As to the pork loin being okay then the leftover not setting well, This happens from time to time. If you put things in the fridge and notice any kind on solid forming on it make sure to scrape that off. Sometimes your body just isn't ready for meat. The big thing is to make sure you chew until you think you are done then chew a bit longer. Yes I know it sounds weird but it does make a difference. I am a big fan of salmon baked at home. I have yet to find it in a restaurant that doesn't make me feel ill. I think restaurants feel the need to add butter and other fats to the food. I can eat pretty much any kink of lean meat and beans at this point. The only items that still cause me trouble are high fat foods. Christmas at my moms she said she cooked so I could eat and afterward I found she used brown sugar and butter. Yes ma'am, it was a long night. What I am getting at here is be careful to let others prepare your food. Preparation can be the difference between going down and well the opposite.

Best wishes

 

[sue_t]

Stupid question---Do you mix that with water?

 

[Barbara Pennington]

I used a slow cooker to cook meats until they were tender enough to eat. That way my family ate well and I was able to eat a bit of what they had. When I was on regular food I just made dinner for my daughter and ate a little bit of whatever I made. Chicken was easiest (if too dry it helped to simmer in mushroom soup), salmon was really good too. 3 Shrimp when chewed really well would fill me up and was solid protein. I didn't tolerate tuna very well, it seemed really dry and I don't like mayo so I didn't make tuna salad. If you like mayo you can make tuna or egg salad and eat a couple of spoons of it. All natural peanut butter was amazing, so flavorful and a tablespoon would do it for me. Cottage cheese was really good too. I'd pack a lunch for work and take a little baggie with string cheese or cheddar chunks to nibble, an EAS protein drink to sip (very low carbs), a container of cottage cheese, and carrot sticks. That way I had protein to nibble and it reminded me to eat because I'd frequently get caught up in work and forget and since I never got "hungry signals" from my stomach and brain, it was easy to forget. I'm so excited for you. Your path the next few months will be so overwhelmingly exciting. I hope you take the chance to celebrate all your milestones and reward yourself with little treats along the way: a pedicure, a trip to an aquarium, places to get out and be active. It feels wonderful to get to do things, taking your body out for test drives