Need a lunch idea?

Today my lunch included: 1/2 turkey club sandwich from the Honey Baked Ham Store. This sandwich has turkey, ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce, bacon, mayo, and honey mustard on whole wheat bread.

I made this sandwich more bariatric friendly by holding the bacon, and honey mustard. I only ate two half slices of bread,(sometimes club sandwiches come with three slices of bread). I most often remove the lettuce, because it's hard to digest. 

For those of you who choose not to eat bread, or can't eat bread because of the type of weight-loss surgery you had (such as lap-band), toasting the bread or leaving it off completely would be another option. I often order items such as this with no bread. You can use the meat as an outside wrap or lettuce if you choose to have it. 

For those of us who can or do choose to eat bread, whole wheat or whole grain is a wiser choice. The outside edges are said to have more fiber. Today, I chose to leave the mayo and tomato to add moisture, but removing the honey mustard is a safer decision and keeps my blood sugar on a more even keel.

My little pouch can barely hold a half a sandwich, but man was it good! Weight-loss surgery means making adjustments and getting creative—it doesn't mean you have to give up flavor and enjoyment. Although there are limits, it means moderation, not deprivation. Yes, you can. You have many more meals to go!  

After weight-loss surgery, some people find it difficult to eat bread (especially lap-banders). Being a RNY patient, I personally haven't had any problems eating bread—although I don't eat bread all that often.

When I do eat bread, I most often eat whole-wheat or whole-grain breads. Toasted is better, especially early on, just after surgery. 

When making bread purchases, I first glance at the ingredient label. I want to make sure it is not made from "enriched" flour. Enriched means that all the nutrients have been striped away and added back in.

Next, I look at the fiber content. (Just after surgery, you may be told not be eat high fiber foods, but after your pouch matures, you may find you can eat foods with higher fiber content. You should always consult your surgeon or nutritionist before adding bread or fiber to your diet.) If the fiber content is 3 or higher, I know it's a healthy selection. The higher the fiber the better.

Tips for adding bread to your diet:

• Take it slow and easy
• Small amounts
• Chew well
• Eat slowly
• Don't drink with your meal
• Toasting makes it easier to digest

Some foods must be added back to your diet with "trial and error". If it doesn't work at first, try again several months later. 

I have found that Thomas brand mini bagels are a great choice, bariatricly speaking! 

Today's breakfast included: 1 scrambled egg, 1 piece turkey sausage, and 1 Thomas mini bagel.

Early on in my journey, I only chose the egg and bagel, with an occasional addition of turkey sausage later in my journey. 

Just after weight-loss surgery, tacos were one of the first food items I ate after returning to regular food plan. The ground beef is just right for our immature pouch, the shell adds a little crunch and it's nice and spicy. 

I started with ground beef and cheese, no extras. I would remove the top half of the shell and eat it open faced. The ground beef has enough moisture and easy to eat, early on. 

Later in the journey, I added tomatoes, or a little sour cream, or my very favorite—black beans. After a while, I could replace the ground beef with chicken. Before long, I was able to eat the whole shell. Soft or crunchy, tacos are a meal that offers great flavors that seems to hit the spot for that spicy kick and crunch we've been missing.  

GO TACOS ! 

I'm not one of those people who goes too far out on a limb for leftovers...but sometimes, especially when green vegetables and fish are involved, I make an exception.

A word of caution, raw vegetable, especially those "gas forming" ones such as broccoli and cabbage are best when eaten very well steamed instead of raw. Your pouch just can't work that hard to digest raw, and when trapped air gets in the tummy, it won't be very happy. Even veteran patients don't seem to digest raw veggies well.  

So, I always opt for very well steamed in the vegetable department.  Sometimes lunch is an encore to last night's dinner—vegetables and leftovers. 

Today's full menu included:

Breakfast:

• 1 sweet potato waffle
• 1/3 cup warm berry compote (you'll find the recipe in the recipe section)
• 2 ounces ham

Lunch: 

• 2—2 1/2  ounces Salmon grilled
• veggie mix (these were steamed the first go round, then when I reheated them, I sauteed to caramelize, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, snow peas, squash, be careful also with the snow pea strings)
• 1/3—1/2 cup sweet potato

Dinner:

• 2 ounces hamburger patty
• 1/3 med baked potato with 1/2 tbsp butter

There for awhile almost everyday included some type of fish, but recently I haven't had quite as much...but fish is back on my menu again. 

Today, I my plan was to have tuna for lunch, but when my husband asked me out for lunch the can went back in the pantry—just til tomorrow.

But salmon did make the dinner table, so here's today's line up. 

Breakfast:

• 1 whole-wheat sweet potato pancake
• 1 whole egg
• agave sweeetner 

Lunch: 

• 1/3 cup black beans
• 2 oz  chicken breast
• 6-8 tortilla chips
• queso cheese dip (1 tbsp)

Dinner:

• 2—2 1/2 oz grilled Salmon
• 1/2 cup creamed potatoes
• tiny salad with cucumbers and tomatoes with thousand island dressing

Snack:

• Oh Yeah,  Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar

The leftover salmon from dinner will make a great salmon/tuna salad for tomorrow lunch.