Originally published November 29, 2009
So yea, I met with the dietitian on Tuesday, and after we talked about eating after surgery we got in to what I need to do before surgery to lose the pre-op weight. Basically, I’ve been put on a “Calorie Controlled Lifestyle” Here’s the explaination of just what that is from one of the flyers they gave me;
This calorie controlled lifestyle is a healthy diet used by many to lose weight or to control their diabetes. It is easy to follow and is appropriate for persons of all ages and stages of life. There is no need to count calories or to spend extra money on specialty foods. This diet is split into 6 food groups, and you are allowed a given number of servings in each group. This will help to ensure a balanced diet that will better support your body and its needs.
And the joyful part of this is I am supposed to limit myself to a whopping 1500 daily calorie level.
A Big Mac has 485 calories. Large fries 400, a regular Coke about 200. So a Number One Value Meal kills off about three-fourths of what I’m supposed to eat in a whole day.
To help you figure out what to eat, they break it down in to starches, meat/protien, vegetables, fruits, fats and milk, and I get 6 starch, 6 protien, 3 vegetables, 3 fruits, 4 fats and 2 milk.
It is almost hard to believe what actually qualifies as a portion… Starches you hve 1 slice of bread, 1 pita bread, 1 tortilla, or 1/2 of an English muffin, hotdog or hamburger bun… wheat ones of course. Cereals there’s things like 3/4 cup of a dry unsweetened cereal, like Cheerios I suppose, or 1/4 cup of Grape Nuts (one of my usual eats… but in a much larger quantity). O, if I want popcorn… 6 cups, with no fat/butter of course. Or I can get by on 6 saltines or 4 Rye Crisps (which I don’t like). Some vegetables don’t count as vegetable but a starch; stuff like corn, squash, or baked beans.
Proteins… meat…. it’s pretty easy to figure out a portion. 1 oz – be it fish, chicken, beef, even duck or rabbit. A few other things count as proteins as well, one egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 1/4 cup cottage cheese and in general an ounce of cheese. Most dinners you do a 3 oz portion of meat… that’s going to be about the size of a deck of cards. It’s also about 1/4th the size of the steak I usually get at Outback.
Vegetables are pretty easy. Bout 1 cup of raw or 1/2 cup of cooked. Fruits range from a small apple to 1/2 a large banana, 17 grapes, or a kiwi. Then Fats are pretty easy, 1 teaspoon of your basic oils, butter, or a whole tablespoon of reduced-fat Miracle Whip, mayo, or a lite salad dressing. Some fats that you may not pick up automatically would be nuts.. 6 almonds or cashews, 10 peants, 2 tablespoons of avacado (which I don’t like) and olives.. 8 ripe or 10 green. Milks are also a given, 1 cup skim milk, yogurt, and cheese… which I think you can count as either a milk or a protien.
There are some things which are sort of “freebies”, stuff you can have that don’t count against any of the food portions – tho some have daily limits. Sugar-free syrup, ketchup, A-1, etc… you can have 1 tablespoon a day. Sugar-free drink mixes, herbal teas, fat-free broths. And cooking stuff; herbs and spices, vinegar, soy sauce, tabasco, hot sauce Worcestershire. Good news… need to be able to season stuff. Oh, dill pickles. That’s gonna help… Been using them as snacks. bout 10-20 calories in a whole pickle. Even though I’m not supposed to snack… I won’t make it far without something between meals. I know I won’t… not for awhile.
This is why the surgery is going to help. I didn’t stay under 1500 calories Wednesday, definately not yesterday, today I think I stayed under 2000, but still… it’s not going to fill me up… not long enough to make it to the next meal. Maybe after awhile I could get used to this… maybe. Maybe.
The surgery is the tool to help me get full and stay full on small amounts of food, limiting my calories, helping me lose weight. Pretty simple if you think about it.
