4th Stage Question

Hi again, everyone. I'm wondering if there are folks out there who wouldn't mind sharing a day's worth of menus -- what they are eating for a day in Stage 4. I know it's different for everyone but Stage 4 is typically the reintroduction of food after the liquid diet (Stage 3). My surgeon and nutritionist want me only to be eating soft mushy protein foods and I'm having a hard time with it. So I added Fat Free Refried Beans to my diet today, but they're heavy in carbs. Here's what I had yesterday: 1 large egg, scrambled w/1 oz. LF cheddar cheese 4 oz. prune juice Lite & Fit Yogart, 6 oz. 1/4 C. FF refried beans (with just a dash of green salsa - yum!) 8 oz. 1% milk with RealMeals Protein Powder to equal 20 g. protein 2 oz. tuna w/1 tsp. lite mayo Today, I've had basically the same but increased the FF refried beans to 1/2 C. (from 1/4 C.) Felt a little uncomfortable afterwards. I'm also drinking about 48 oz. of H2O a day. Can other people share their daily menus for this stage? Thanks. Maureen

Maureen, My surgeon doesn't like for us to use shakes or protein powders so I have to get all of my protein in with food. Not as easy as one would think. Some of my standbys are: Cottage cheese Low Carb Yogurt refried beans with cheese Reduced fat peanut butter chicken salad tuna salad salmon cheese sticks deli turkey shrimp, crab or scallops w/ lemon and a little butter and parmesan bean and bacon soup Hope that helps. Connie

Hi Maureen, I'm allowed to have more than protein now, but it might help with some ideas. Here is a typical day: 2 oz lite n lively cottage cheese with 2 peach wedges (delmonte 100% juice) 2 oz Turkey breast (healthy choice deli) with 2 pinapple cubes (in their own juice - must chew these very well!) Carnation Instant Breakfast made with skim milk and a scoop of Beneprotein (8 oz) - totals 18 grams potein 1 part skim string cheese 2 oz Baked Tilapia with about 5 canned carrot coins Another Carnation Instant Breakfast - heated in the microwaveat night - has helped me sleep. Other meals that I have: 1 egg soft scrambled with a slice of FF cheese chicken salad made with FF Mayo 2 oz Dannon Carb Control yogurt - I pair this with fruit (peaches or pears) 3 veggie meatballs cooked in pasta sauce served with a teaspoon of mashed potatoes and a smidge of the sauce to dip it all in. By far my favorite meals have been the fish (flounder or tilapia) with a few vegies on the side (carrots or green beans). Also, the veggie meatball dinner was a winner. They seem the most normal to me. Hope I've been able to give you some new ideas! mgm

For breakfast I either have an egg w/grits or a piece of veggie bacon (easy to digest) or like today I had turkey bacon. OR I have cream of wheat with banana - made with low-carb milk. For lunch I sometimes just get a TV dinner like meatloaf and poatoes and eat 1/2 to 2/3 of it or I have crackers and cheese or vienna sausages and crackers. Today I ventured out and had a real Hebrew National hotdog for lunch and it set just great with me. I feel like I'm ready for meats now so I've been testing it. They are sitting better on my stomach than some of the other stuff. I also may try those little single serve bowls of stew or similar. For dinner I will sometimes to a variation of lunch or have hamburger helper with the ground turkey DH made, or chicken curry, pureed with my hand blender over rice. I am really looking forward to adding veggies so I can have a chef's salad or something like that. Tonight for a snack I had strawberries sliced with a little Splenda and a couple tablespoons of SF/FF lemon yogurt and it was DIVINE! Oh - and dinner tonight was roasted chicken breast from Costco. Not only was it heavenly, it sat VERY well with me and it was the first time I felt like I wanted to eat MORE even though I knew I was nearing fullness and had to quit. Dina