Lunch Ideas?

[vljohnson02]

I work, and during my lunch break I walk, so I eat my lunch at my desk. For the sake of convenience, I usually have one of three combos: soup, a ravioli cup, or tuna & crackers (with any of them, I usually have a piece of string cheese). In reading, WLS Lifestyles, it said that we really shouldn't be eating what they consider to be "easy" food, I've never thought of my lunch as being "easy" just easier to eat at my lunch, and decent in protein. So long story short, what do you guys bring for lunch?

-Vanessa

Protein One of the three nutrients that provides calories to the body. Protein is an essential nutrient that helps build many parts of the body, including muscle, bone, skin, and blood. Protein provides 4 calories per gram and is found in foods like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, beans, nuts, and tofu. Proteins are an essential human nutrient, obtained from both plant and animal foods. Though their greatest commercial use is in food products, they are also employed in adhesives, plastics, and fibres.

[MsJacquiiC]

Hmmm - I think the "easy foods" might also be classified as slider foods --- The only thing I can say about that is - as long as the protein content is decent and the fat/carb content is not excruciatingly high - then you should do well with it. I think we all tolerate foods differently as post-ops - some can only have the softer, easy, slider foods - whereas if you're like me and have a cast-iron pouch - then you're able to tolerate most anything really.

For me - lunchwise - I usually keep it light. I like a lot of chicken or maybe a refried beans cup with sour cream, cheese, salsa... What I love about having had WLS is that the restrictive process really works. So - my thing is "anything in moderation" --- What about everybody else?

HTH,

Jacquii.

Protein One of the three nutrients that provides calories to the body. Protein is an essential nutrient that helps build many parts of the body, including muscle, bone, skin, and blood. Protein provides 4 calories per gram and is found in foods like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, beans, nuts, and tofu. Proteins are an essential human nutrient, obtained from both plant and animal foods. Though their greatest commercial use is in food products, they are also employed in adhesives, plastics, and fibres.

Pouch Most bariatric surgeries restricts the amount of food a patient can eat by reducing the size of the stomach by gastric banding, stapling or removal. What results is known as the gastric pouch.

[danidunavant]

I occasionally have Chucky Sirloin soup for lunch; about 1/2 C which is low in fat and carbs and decent in protein. A good standby is a BLT using something like a romain lettuce leaf as my bread and using Canadian bacon rather than even turkey bacon. It's yummy but sort of messy to eat. I made a wonderful pot of chili the other day and it's great for a quick lunch too. I'd just about kill for a cheeseburger but haven't been brave enough to try it yet. Maybe in a few weeks I will try 1/2 a patty and see how it goes! Dani

Protein One of the three nutrients that provides calories to the body. Protein is an essential nutrient that helps build many parts of the body, including muscle, bone, skin, and blood. Protein provides 4 calories per gram and is found in foods like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, beans, nuts, and tofu. Proteins are an essential human nutrient, obtained from both plant and animal foods. Though their greatest commercial use is in food products, they are also employed in adhesives, plastics, and fibres.

[MsJacquiiC]

ah - Cheeseburger fiend are we?
I'm weird in that I was never big on cheeseburgers - mainly because I'm not an American cheese fan (blush) -- that's a good idea though with the lettuce as bread - I've seen a few recipes and even some restaurants carry a "low-carb" burger that uses romain lettuce as the bread. I've heard some people though Dani that do burgers - and I have too actually a couple times. Just tear off the top bun and have the burger with the lower bun only. Lessens the carb intake and you still get the "burger" taste persee.

Jacquii.

[vljohnson02]

The other day when I was eating lunch, I remembered why I eat so simple for lunch. My band is so tight in the mornings until about noon, that usually my breakfast consists of drinking something. And by lunch, it's just getting to the point where I can get something down with *hopefully* it not getting stuck (not guaranteed even at that time --- beyond touchy band!). Thanks for the different ideas though! And I love the idea of using lettuce. One of my favorite things to order when I feel like ordering something out, is a Jimmy John's Unwich (if you don't have a Jimmy John's, it's a sandwich with no bread). I can only eat a quarter of it, but I every minute of it. And my poor band/stomach doesn't tolerate bread 99.5% of the time, so I try not to bother with bread products, so this satisfies that sandwich craving I get sometimes

[LaurynBeth]

I try to e at a lot of cottage cheese. But Jacquii told me about the refried beans with salsa cheese and sour cream and its really filling and tasty. I made some ziti with extra sauce and for high protein added ricotta cheese. I know carbs arent that great for us but in moderation I think its ok, besides, ricotta is super high in protein and is easy going down.

Lauryn

Protein One of the three nutrients that provides calories to the body. Protein is an essential nutrient that helps build many parts of the body, including muscle, bone, skin, and blood. Protein provides 4 calories per gram and is found in foods like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, beans, nuts, and tofu. Proteins are an essential human nutrient, obtained from both plant and animal foods. Though their greatest commercial use is in food products, they are also employed in adhesives, plastics, and fibres.

[MsJacquiiC]

Originally Posted by vljohnson02 The other day when I was eating lunch, I remembered why I eat so simple for lunch. My band is so tight in the mornings until about noon, that usually my breakfast consists of drinking something. And by lunch, it's just getting to the point where I can get something down with *hopefully* it not getting stuck (not guaranteed even at that time --- beyond touchy band!). Thanks for the different ideas though! And I love the idea of using lettuce. One of my favorite things to order when I feel like ordering something out, is a Jimmy John's Unwich (if you don't have a Jimmy John's, it's a sandwich with no bread). I can only eat a quarter of it, but I every minute of it. And my poor band/stomach doesn't tolerate bread 99.5% of the time, so I try not to bother with bread products, so this satisfies that sandwich craving I get sometimes

You know what? I had the roux-en-y gastric bypass and my pouch is a bit tight in the AM's as well. Which is not necessarily a bad thing or I'd be hitting up Hardees for carb-rich sausage biscuits LOL - Just kidding - but good point about eating light for breakfast and even into lunchtime.

Breads do sit a bit heavy with my pouch as well - I've usually avoided breads mostly - in fact - I bought my first loaf of multi-grain wheat bread earlier this afternoon - the first loaf of bread I've had in 6 months...

Originally Posted by LaurynBeth I try to e at a lot of cottage cheese. But Jacquii told me about the refried beans with salsa cheese and sour cream and its really filling and tasty. I made some ziti with extra sauce and for high protein added ricotta cheese. I know carbs arent that great for us but in moderation I think its ok, besides, ricotta is super high in protein and is easy going down. Lauryn

I'm a carboholic - Always will be - but yes Lauren - you're right = moderation is the key to long-term success! That ziti with ricotta sounds AWESOME - in fact I bought some spaghetti noodles & sauce earlier this afternoon as well - forgot my parmesian cheese though ARG.

Jacquii.

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass A type of gastric bypass procedure which combines restrictive and malabsorption techniques - meaning, it reduces the amount of food a patient can comfortably eat (restriction), and also reduces the amount of calories that can be digested in the small intestine (malabsorption). This combination of bariatric methods leads to greater weight loss and the roux-en-y procedure is seen as one of the best ways to treat clinically severe obesity. See WLS Videos for animated surgery technique.

Protein One of the three nutrients that provides calories to the body. Protein is an essential nutrient that helps build many parts of the body, including muscle, bone, skin, and blood. Protein provides 4 calories per gram and is found in foods like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, beans, nuts, and tofu. Proteins are an essential human nutrient, obtained from both plant and animal foods. Though their greatest commercial use is in food products, they are also employed in adhesives, plastics, and fibres.

Pouch Most bariatric surgeries restricts the amount of food a patient can eat by reducing the size of the stomach by gastric banding, stapling or removal. What results is known as the gastric pouch.