Question RE: Food Diary & Dietician

 When you first set up myfitnesspal, you put down what you would like to track and its all done automatically after that.  I currently have the following set up:

calories 
carbs
protein
fat
fiber
calcium

but really only pay attention to the first three.  I think you'll find it very helpful!

Thanks Sandy - I'm going to set it up for myself.

Deb

So glad th=o hear things are going great. I tracked on sparks and just pronted out a week when I went in for my follow up. Found tracking on line helped keep me on track and made sure I tried to eat enough. Had issues not getting enough calories in for the first few months,

Hi Leslie - I'm finding the same thing as far as my calories go. I think it's pretty difficult for us to eat enough when we're in the early stages after surgery so I'm making sure to get my protein in first & to take my vitamins.

I've heard good things about sparkpeople - I'll have to check it out. Hope all's well with you!

Deb

For whatever it's worth Deb, I needed to keep EVERYTHING really wet for almost 5 months post-op to make sure I didn't have that feeling you're describing.  Saltines are very dry.

Claire

Thanks Claire - that's good advice about keeping everything really wet!  You're right about the saltines being very dry. The only reason I tried them was because it was listed in my Pureed Foods meal plan - something to put a bit of tuna on. I think you're right that they are likely not mushy enough when I swallow them so I think I'll leave them off my diet plan for now. I have found that when I want something savoury, not sweet, I can be satisfied with some low-sodium beef broth instead.

Deb

A friend who had surgery a year ago told me about myfitnesspal and it's awesome.
It tracks basically whatever you want so currently I track fat, protein. carbs, total calories and exercise.

I also printed it out for my nurse's visit and plan to do the same at my next follow up.

It is free btw although I'm not sure how fast it loads if you're on dialup (we have super high speed). I also have it on my smartphone so can track stuff when I'm not at home.

I did find out the database wasn't always accurate (it said that 1% milk had 5g of protein, skim milk had 11g of protein when it fact they both have 9g or protein).

Sounds like you are doing well although the pain might have been from the saltines. The tuna sounds awesome - good protein.

Hi Katie - thanks for chiming in with your thoughts on myfitnesspal - it sounds pretty awesome! I have super high speed internet also so no worry about speed.

Deb

Hi Deb,

I tracked what I ate; the amount I drank and the vitamins I took.  For what I ate, I only tracked the total protein counts.

I showed the APN at my first post-op appointment.  They told me that I would need this information if I ever found I had difficulty and they needed to look at it to pinpoint problems.

I ended up not ever needing to contact them with any issue :)

Judy

Thanks, Judy - so glad that you never experienced any problems! I forgot that I have to track my vitamins too - I'll have to write that in manually on my printout, I guess.  I am still amazed at how little it takes to fill me up - wow!

Deb