Since I was cleared for solid foods almost a month ago, I've been struggling to get the right combination of protein and fluids in - a balancing act that's been pretty difficult, as you know if you've been reading along. I think that I've finally found the start of balance to my eating for now.
I bought a small amount of roast beef sliced very thinly from the deli the other day. I'd been thinking about "sandwiches", and thought of a few things I could use make something similar for myself. I have been eating Kashi's TLC whole grain pita crackers with my egg salad and hummus. I added a thin layer of cream cheese, a slice of roma tomato, and then some of the roast beef piled on top. Each cracker of course took 3 or 4 bites to finish, but all of it combined felt like a real meal, instead of just eating a small portion of "protein". To top it off, it stayed down without argument!
The best impact to that meal, however, was felt this morning. I woke up and actually felt like I had some energy. I didn't have to drag myself downstairs to the treadmill - I felt pretty good! I'm really attributing it to eating more than just the required grams of protein, just enough extra to round it out into a regular meal. I'm going to do so again tonight (catfish with a citrus-saffron aioli and some broccoli) - and see if this continues.
Even with the "additions", my intake is still quite small - I've not yet topped 700 calories. A typical day's meals in the first 6 months post-op will be 800-850 calories, so I have some room to work still. Very excited!
Just don't overlook the benefit to continue taking a protein shake daily to augment your protein intake. Some stalls happen when you think you've taken in enough and haven't. I start my day with an iced coffee and Nectar vanilla or chocolate protein powder in it. It's quite good. Like if I weren't a post-opper, I'd still do it.
ReplyDeleteEnd note: My one year anniversary happened while I was in India: 1/19/11.