Dieting Help!

[jlmjwiley 0]

I have had the Lap Band for two years now, I did great for the first year and a half but I seem to be at a stand still. I need some help making better decisions I think. I am at a good restriction right now maybe even a little too tight. I find that I eat once maybe twice a day and it is usually just snack foods. I know I am not making very good decisions in my food choices. I am having a hard time eating Breakfast because it seems like when I wake up I can't eat anything for many hours which I know is killing my metabolism. Does anyone have any ideas how I can make healthier choices and what foods I should try. It seems like some days meats are okay for me but most days eating anything is a bit of a struggle. I have lost 100lbs so far but I would still like to lose about 40 lbs more and I have been at a stand still since my last fill. I have tried the Protein Shakes as well but after a couple I cant seem to stand them! does anyone have any good recipes or any ideas at all that I can do to help my weight loss start again? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[JerseyGirl80 12]

snack foods always seem to be the easiest food for me to get down.. I hate that.. You probably really need to be getting in some healthy Protein. Have you tried eating Beans? Baked Beans or something like that? I'm not a fan of beans but they're loaded with Protein and they're much mushier than meats. Maybe beef Jerky if you can get something like that down? My doctor suggested beef Jerky whenever I crave salt because its full of protein, and it's better than eating chips. eggs are always good to have, or maybe chicken salad if it's mushed up enough?

When I was on my mushy stage I used to make a mashed potato fish bake.

It was just mashed potatoes, made with skim milk, low fat mozzerella cheese, fat free sour cream, non-fat spray butter (just poured it out of the bottle) salt & pepper

I would cook the talapia (with whatever seasonings i was in the mood for) in olive oil or pan spray

then I would add it to the mashed potatoes and mix it all in, mixed it into a mushy mess lol, and baked it. I added alot of fish so it was more fish than potato. I really liked it and it did the job, it was pretty easy to get down and was filling. You could doctor it up, use different fish or even chicken, different cheeses and even veggies. Hope this helps a little.

Have you tried the brand "Pure Protein" Protein shakes? they come in powder and also pre made ones in cans. I cannot stand the taste of powdered protein, it literally makes me nauseous. But the pre-made shakes don't have that whey taste. They're similar to slim fast shakes taste wise. I have a hard time eating in the morning so I have a shake for breakfast everyday. Sometimes I pour the can into a blender with ice and add frozen fruit to bulk it up, it makes it taste even better too. Or I'll add a scoop of non-fat low sugar ice cream. These cans certainly helped me out of my hating Protein Shakes funk.

Good luck!

[garyb464 0]

one thing i found out was,somtimes we cheat on our carbs.if you would write down all the carbs you eat in a day for a week add them up at the end of the week,now you have to be honest with yourself and you will find you have been eating more carbs than you think.i have 2 scrabled eggs with cheese salt and pepper to taste for breakfast,or sometimes i have a adtkins shake for breakfast.chocolate taste best to me.do not drink the shake and eat to use as meal replacer.for lunch sometimes i have tuna or chickes salad over shredded lettuce.and for supper i have either chicken or steak cooked tender so all you have to do is use a fork to cut it up.also i have a small helping of some kind of vegetables.i eat till i feel a little pressure around my breast bone i stop rt there.i am new to this so some of what i said maybe wrong but it works for me.I have lost 30 pounds since first of august had my band put in sept 1 2011.i had my first fill sept 26.my nutrishinist had to put me back on track about cutting out my carbs.I get to have 30 grams of non vegetable carbs a day. i for got to tell you vegetable carbs we don't count.hope any of this helps you..

[xavier 153]

Dear Wiley,

For once, I agree with someone who is at a plateau and thinks they dont need a fill! Well, that being said here's my advice for what its worth. I totally know what you mean about the snack foods, they go down pretty easy and they are not good.

I have mentally told my self that I can have anything because any restrictions or dieting is just no good for me and it leads me to the Snacks. So I instead have foods I MUST eat and those are the Proteins. For me that is mainly Beans, tofu, and fish but you get the idea. I MUST eat those at the beginning of every meal (or whenever I want to eat regardless of mealtime or even hunger) and then usually after that I cant eat very many snacks or whatever else.

I just mentally cant have no-no foods - it just makes me want them more! So now I have MUST-HAVE foods and they keep me out of trouble for the most part.

Also (for what its worth) I have a glass of wine after dinner and it really curbs the snacking...I think I would be a skinny alcoholic! But for a lot of people, any alcohol lowers their ability to say no, to snacks or whatever else! Good luck...you posted a very interesting situation and I will be interested to see what others say...

PS: There are two ways to turn on your metabolism in the morning: eat (not an option for me either) or exercise. Even a 20 minute walk will do it.