A day in the life...

[tnm75]

...of a bandster. I was wondering if a bandster could give a sample of their menu for a day (i.e., drinks, meals, snacks)? What types of food are you preparing to make sure you get all of the needed protein in?

Thanks, Kristy

[mlgpdx]

HI Kristy! Everyday is different but I will give you a "good" day

breakfast: eas protein shake . I know.. everyone says you need to get your protein from solid foods. I rarely can eat first thing in the morning.. if/when I can I will eat 2 pieces of bacon or a small sausage link or maybe 1 scrabled egg.

I also drink 1 cup of coffee w/ sugar free creamer

liquid B-12 and liquid veggie/fruit vitamin

snack: a few cashews/almonds

lunch: on the run = pintos and cheese or 1 taco from taco bell or small chili from wendy's

at home = whatever soup/chili i made for the week...

snack: nuts or maybe a protein shake

dinner: fish .. like talapia/salmon or some other white fish... sauteed in a little olive oil with onions and zucchini or a can of diced tomatoes. if it's a chicken night I have sauteed and simmered chicken thighs in teriyaki sauce OR diced tomatoes until the chix is falling apart. I will try and eat 1/4 cup of whole wheat couscous or sometimes I just eat more fish/chicken/protein

snack: some popcorn with butter or... 1/2 cup icecream or nothing.. most nights nothing but some times I want to eat.

Every month a couple days before my period I am super tight and can barely get anything down... on those days I rely on protein shakes and tomato soup.

If anything I try to get more protein in my diet.. I notice when I really concentrate and make the effort to eat more protein I lose more weight and feel better.

Hope this helps.

[yoyodieter]

ok here goes, I'm not as talented as Mindy in the kitchen, lol... I have a lean cuisine for breakfast lunch and dinner, and wine for dessert..

plan and simple, I have a problem with portion control, so thats why I do the frozen dinners,

[trulytangledgrl]

...of a bandster. I was wondering if a bandster could give a sample of their menu for a day (i.e., drinks, meals, snacks)? What types of food are you preparing to make sure you get all of the needed protein in?

Thanks, Kristy

Hey there Kristy - - First of all let me congratulate you on your (VERY important) decision to get lap band with Dr. Ariel Ortiz Lagardere. He is a phenominal doctor... the best, actually. My fill Drs - - Dr.'s Christine Ren and Dr. George Fielding at NYU center for surgical weight loss, they tell me all the time what a fabulous choice I made to have my surgery with Dr. Ortiz. They are constantly saying how he is such a phenominal surgeon and even Dr. Fielding has said he is 'the best' (Dr. Fielding is from England and was proctored by Dr. Ortiz). SO, you are in THE BEST hands you possibly could be.

Now... like the previous post, I will say that everyone is definitely different in what they can and cannot eat, and the amounts, etc. This is my day, on average:

Breakfast: I find that I am VERY restricted in the mornings. For this reason, I always drink Slim fast low carb (VERY important that its low carb becase it has 20 g of protein and the LEAST carbs as opposed to the slim fast 'HIGH protein' which only has I believe 11 g... hmmm). Another favorite of mine is cream of wheat - - easier to get down than oatmeal and just as tasty

Snack: Fruit - a banana, some homestyle applecauce, watermelon, or pineapple.

Lunch: Once again, depending on how restricted I am feeling. A Cliff bar (crunchy peanut butter) and an iced coffee with skim milk and splenda, I will maybe bring something I made at home like chili or chicken, soup, meatballs are also a favorite of mine. Sometimes I will have a small salad with some canned chicken

Dinner: Generally I am feeling slightly restricted at dinner for whatever reason. SO, I will usually have Slim fast, cream of wheat, ground turkey with vegetables mixed together with seasoning or sometimes in a spanish rice style dish. Sometimes I will also have another fruit here.

Snack: Sugar-free 90 calorie fudge sickle! YUMMO

As you can see, most of the time the meals are very small and they consist of things that are fairly easy to get down. The MOST IMPORTANT thing you want to remember is to TRY - - TRY.... at every meal, to get at least SOME protein!! Also, try to get at least two to three servings a day of veggies and at least two servings of fruit.

Dr. Miranda will tell you that your plate should consist of the following 4 items, in this order on your plate:

PROTEIN

VEGGIES

FRUIT

CARBS

the idea is that by ordering your foods on the plate in that order, by the time you get done your protein you should NOT have much room left for that much of the rest of the items.

I KNOW its overwhelming. It will be - - for a WHILE. Don't get discouraged. Its a lot to take in and it takes the patience of mastering a completely new lifestyle. You didn't learn to overeat and eat unhealthy overnight, so you won't change it all around overnight either. Be patient with yourself and utilize the forums whenever you can GOOD LUCK kristy on your journey to a new healthier you!

[tnm75]

Thanks for the information. I've been such a fast food junkie for forever... and, I'm just trying to get an idea of what to cook, etc. You advice is wonderful!

Thanks a million, Kristy

[mlgpdx]

ok here goes, I'm not as talented as Mindy in the kitchen, lol... I have a lean cuisine for breakfast lunch and dinner, and wine for dessert..

plan and simple, I have a problem with portion control, so thats why I do the frozen dinners,

haha Linda you crack me up!! How could I forget the wine!!! holy crap.... please note that I forgot my "alcohol" in my daily diet list.

1. red wine

2. vodka

[Taz]

...of a bandster. I was wondering if a bandster could give a sample of their menu for a day (i.e., drinks, meals, snacks)? What types of food are you preparing to make sure you get all of the needed protein in?

Thanks, Kristy

These days I am on a pretty simple menu:

Breakfast: Glass of OJ and my liquid vitamin (Centrum). Half a cup of granola mixed with half a Banana YOP. Drink the other half of YOP.

Lunch: Soup to Go - Cream of Tomato or Cream of Mushroom. One small ambrosha apple with an individual packed slice of cheddar cheese. Not fake kraft singles... actual cheddar cheese. Alternatively, if I have more time around lunch I go for a walk to the local Wendy's or Tim Hortons and have a bowl of chili.

Afternoon Snack: Small mandarine orange or a small bottle of gatorade.

Dinner: This is where it varies. Sometimes its stuff like steak cubes rubbed in montreal spice (steak bites). Other times it grilled chicken. Others a good crock pot recipe. I have to give my wife credit for taking care of this particular meal for me. I eat what she makes. And she is doing great to be supportive and concious of what I can have.

Evening snack: Either a sugar free popsicle, a cup of popcorn or lately I have been craving chips and having the 100 calorie Old Dutch Dill Pickle Baked chips.

Water: 9 glasses. I try to be religious about this. I drink nothing else, except the odd cup of Earl gray tea with sweetener.

On the weekend as I have more time, so breakfast may include eggs and ham or sausage. Lunch is something like a grilled ham and cheese (but only 1 sandwich instead of 3 like I used to eat, with low carb bread that has significantly less calories and more nutrition) and some tasty soup (like Tomato and Black Bean, Garlic Mushroom etc).

I rarely feel deprived. But I am not eating 7-11 nachos and a hotdog at 2 in the morning either.

Taz

[nicolek]

Hi

Am . Usually a protein shake as I am pretty tight.

Lunch. Tuna and light mayo with a few crackers.

pm. Whatever I'm cooking for the family just LESS.

snacks frozen yogurt tube or cheese string.

hope this helps

[JazzyJude]

...of a bandster. I was wondering if a bandster could give a sample of their menu for a day (i.e., drinks, meals, snacks)? What types of food are you preparing to make sure you get all of the needed protein in?

Thanks, Kristy

Kristy! Don't forget to browse thur the Recipe section...LOTS of ideas!

[GirlBarb]

I wish I could say what I do today...I am not loosing weight.

What I did and need to get back to that lost me 35 pounds:

Breakfast: I would cook fresh spinage in a small pan, drop of water and cover, when very soft I would add a couple of scrambled eggs and toss lightly...when soft cooked, I add a bit of strong, hard cheese. Remove from the heat and top with salsa. Lots of vitamins and protein in this meal.

Lunch: tuna with greens and any vegatables and mayonase (I love mayo, but it's not so good) OR a cooked soft fish like flounder and steamed vegatables. OR a frozen dinner in the microwave.

Dinner: chicken and vegi's

I did real well with that, I also added things like yougart and nuts, or non sugared fruits (berries are the best for weight loss)

I am not doing this now, I added junk food, like ice cream, etc... went on vactation for a few weeks and I'm up five pounds in the last 3 months.

I also need a fill, and that is in two weeks, so I am starting to curve to my habbits back to the good ones. The fill will help. I also used the treadmill 3-6 times a week for close to an hour each time. When I get back to all the right things I did, I will get this weight off (including the inches) that I did by eating around the band.

I wish us both luck, Barb Make that I wish us ALL luck in working the band.