Wednesday’s meeting with the dietician went well. She praised the food choices I’ve been making and had suggestions on how to improve. Here are the paraphrased highlights with some of my thoughts included:
Eat every 3 hours - Important to keep the internal fires burning. She sees this as a must so I am going to have to make some adjustments. It will probably help with the hunger pangs as I tend to stretch the gap between meals to 4 ½ to 5 hours.
No soups, it’s a liquid that just slides through the pouch. My first reaction was Noooo! It makes sense, but soup is my go to at work. I like having something warm at lunch and it hits the spot. I am going to make a couple of chili variations as it’s a better option and add some salads with protein to the mix.
Eat protein first, then veg, then starch. I think many of us are familiar with the protein first rule, but her explanation really helped to make it click for me. Protein is the most complex and takes the longest to break down. If you eat it first it sits at the bottom of the pouch, the veg and starch (like sweet potato) then fall in after (not that simple but helps to paint the picture). It helps with satiety, falls through the pouch slowly and your body uses it bits at a time for energy.
Snacks should always include protein as well as complex carbs.
She mentioned that my surgeon recently attended a gastric band conference and it was mentioned that each bite should be chewed for one minute! It was found that those that followed this rule had little or no problems with stuck episodes or pb’ing. She did say that I didn’t have go to that far, but it’s really important to chew each bite at least 12 -15 times. This is one area that I need to work on.
Finally, my first fill is booked for next Tuesday. Yay! It feels like I have no restriction, I try to stick to the one cup rule and may stretch it to another ½ cup but even then I’m by no means full. And because I have no restriction I know that I haven't been chewing each bite thoroughly. I am going to concentrate on this for the next few days as I don't want to be suffering the consequences after the fill.
A friend and I are going to the National Home Show today. There will be lots of dream spaces including kitchens for me to ogle and I may spot some of the HGTV Canada hosts.
Have a great weekend!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
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All her rules seem sound - but you know what.. stick with the most important ones. No drinking during or after meals for however long they say - do eat your protein first and the rest after etc etc.. but the soup one? Hmm.. I don't know about this. If it's working for you, then I say go with what you know. Its alight for these people to say.. "no soup" but they don't necessarily know the circumstances. Maybe do a heavier soup in a low fat variety. Whatever works for you if you're still losing weight might be the way to go :)
ReplyDeleteEveryone is different and soup has been hard for me too! Some days it seems to be the only thing I can tolerate. Chili is good because it's high in protein and if you make it yourself, you can make it low-fat. Good luck on your 1st fill!
ReplyDeleteHi Bianca-I love the soup so decided I would have it first so it would go through and then eat my solids. I treat it like a liquid. I was having the same conumdrum with a glass of skim milk. I didn't know where it was supposed to fit in. If I want a glass, I drink it first. I just mixed up a batch of chili which I love but to make it firmer and not a slider I put it over rice. Guess we will all figure it out in the end. As long as the weight goes down I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, it is always good to review what must be known with the band.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing great-- congrats!!
V xox
Appreciate the suggestions and first fill was a breeze!
ReplyDelete