eating help

I just want to make sure Im eating right. Today is my  1 month surgery anniversary but this is my question, do you count carbs and if so how many are too many? When I asked the nutritionist this question she said not to worry about it right now but I want to get in the right routine if thats going to change. The other question is what the heck is sugar alcohol and should I be staying away from it?  I see a lot of the sugar free stuff has it in there. Is it bad or good?

If your nut. isn't worried about carbs right now, then I wouldn't be either. Some people are sensitive to sugar alcohols.. they can dump on them just like on regular sugar.  Others have no issues with them at all.  Basically, if it ends with -ol (sorbitol, manitol, etc.) it's a sugar alcohol.  The alcohol is a compound that adds sweetness without any of the calories.  Whether you should stay away from them or no is dependant on your physiology.

If your nut isnt worried, I wouldnt be worried either - your main focus at this point is protein protein protein so the carbs should fall where they should be - over time as you add more foods and can eat more I would assume your NUT would give you more guidelines.  There is no set answer to how many are too many... it all depends on who are you talking to or what research you want to follow. I also did not track carbs until I was farther out and kept my focus on protein. Sugar Alcohol comes from sugar substitutes - basically things ending in "itol" like  sorbitol, malitol - should you be staying away from it? It depends on if you can handle it or not - many people, like myself, do not tolerate sugar alcohols well and can only have them in limited amounts.... others do fine with them. Keep in mind sugar free does *not* mean calorie free. Fat, sugar and salt are what flavor food, when you remove/reduce one... one or both of the other typically go up - you will see that many sugar free foods are higher in carbs/fat/salt (any combo of the 3) then their normal sugar versions - you have to really look at the label as a whole to decide if eating something is worth it.