4 weeks out today - food is boring

I am 4 weeks out and sticking to the change in lifestyle - except for the excercise part isn't happening as often as it should yet.

My question is regarding food.  It is absolutely boring to eat anymore.  I almost dread eating my meals and sometimes would prefer to skip them than eat.  I haven't skipped any meals and I haven't strayed from the guidelines of my dr and nut.

anyone else 4 weeks out and there abouts and experiencing this?

My allowed foods are:
Turkey
Chicken
Seafood
Eggs
Beans
Cottage Cheese
Low fat/ low sugar yogurt
reduced fat cheese
tofu

I tried chicken and it killed me - it is a no no for now.  I don't do tofu.  Seafood was great but I am not to have ****tail sauce so shrimp sucked wind the one time I ate it. Pretty much eating eggs, turkey, refried beans, and talipia with a side of cheese or cottage cheese. 

I am looking forward to next week when they will increade the allowed foods to include some cooked veggies and some fruits.

Why no ****tail sauce?  If it is a sugar issue, I found some that was very low sugar compared to the vast majority of them.  Shrimp was one of my favorites early on.  Have you tried stir frying them with a little garlic?

I used pam spray, some garlic, the shrimp and lite-house makes an excellent low cal dressing that is ginger I believe, it tastes a lot like a terriyaki sauce without all the calories.  I think it's 30 calories for 2 tablespoons full.  I would add just a little bit of that to it when I cooked the shrimp, it gave them a nice flavor.

How about hot sauces, have you tried any of those, or are they still too hard on the pouch.  I found that by adding seasonings to a lot of my foods, I could make them taste different and add some variety.  Cayanne pepper, Curry powder etc.  Just a little bit so that the food wasn't bland.

A little bit of Sals goes a long way as well.  It helps kick up the eggs and beans. 

It's hard to tell you what to try, because at 4 weeks, I was still on a softer diet than what you are on.

Good luck with this, enjoy this time, all too soon enough you will start to get your hunger back, and then it becomes more like work.  This is the easy time for you.

Scott

At this point nothing spicy is allowed and nothing with tomatoes in it will be allowed till 4 months out.  I hadn't thought about garlic though on the the shrimp - thanks for the idea. 

I am having head hunger this past week.  Certain foods - like crunchy foods (usually junk) look appetizing to me as do cereal and mashed potatoes.  Wanting these 'tastier' foods makes it seems that much more bland what i can eat. 

Also I do get hungry before every meal and I am hungery almost all night till I go to bed.  I just feel no motivation to eat.  I do it because I am not supposed to skip.

I hear you, I deffinately get the crunch salty bad for you food cravings.

While I always liked sweets, I used to say I had a fat tooth not a sweet tooth.
I would chose something fried and crunch over something sweet any day.

For me the head hunger is deffinitely noticeable, I find it really rears it's ugly head when I'm bored.  If I can find something to do that keeps me busy, I won't notice any hunger or desire to eat until I stop, then it comes back.  A lot of the time that hunger sensation truly is thirst for me.

I was installing laminate floors in my house this weekend.  While doing that I was fine didn't want or think about food.  As soon as I stopped, my first thought was hey what's the eat in the kitchen.  Then I stood up and got dizzy.  I realized what I needed was fluid, not food. 

Good luck with the process, it truly is a life changer.  Keep with your plan and you will be a success.  You just have to get through the restricted diet part.  Eventually you will be able to enjoy all the flavors you are used to.  I know I never thought I would crave veggies, but by the time they let me have them, I sure was wanting them.  I thought soda would be hard to give up, but it wasn't, it was the easiest of my favorites.  The hardest has been breads and pastas.  While I haven't given them up, they certainly have been greatly reduced, almost to the point of non existance.  Those carbs are hard to give up.

Best Wishes

Scott

Thanks Scott

You seem to mirror my sentiments on the fried and greasy - and the breads.  I will keep plugging away at it.

Actually went to a Thanksgiving dinner 2 days ago with my wife's extended family and they were all heaping the food on their plates, going back for more, and eating multiple desserts (and drinking homemade rootbeer - my friggin favorite soda).  I calmly ate my 4 ounces of turkey for 20 mins and was done.  I know I can get through this, just gotta get past the boredom of it all.

Never giving up,
Dan

Yeah, it can be tough. Find the foods that work for you, keep them handy. When I could tolerate crunchy stuff, I opted for Soy crisps. I never put a soy anything in my mouth before, and was pleasantly surprised. It took care of the crunch I was craving without all the fat and grease. Plus a boost of protein in them. I also tried nuts and that went very well for me, but i was closer to 8 weeks out for those. Ask the nut what you can try - they should have something.  I ate a lot of refried beans, chili, tuna, and mushy cereal (although my lactose intolerance has gotten worse since surgery).

I like sauteed shrimp with lemon and garlic on it. That works for me. I've even lightly breaded them and fried them in canola oil. Not the best way to eat them (health wise), but it helped me get some more crunch that I was craving, while eating a good amount of protein.

I struggled to find foods I like, or foods I could tolerate. I found eggface. (http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/) and search the recipe board on OH. Helps me find the right foods I can eat.

Hang in there Dan!

I was the same way. I'm 7 months out and eating is still a chore to me. I'd just as soon have a protein shake and skip the food.  I try to make myself eat solid food once or twice a day, but it's a pain in the azz to me.

A tip my ex-wife Gave me is if you crave something like Cheetos put one in your mouth, (I know this sounds less than appetizing) let the tasty stuff on the outside dissolve in your mouth and spit out the "chip" part. She said it got her through the junk food cravings with minimal disturbances.

Get out and do something. It does take your mind off food

If it helps, I was told that when you followed these rules in the better, you will have an easier time in the long run you will be able to tolerate a wider variety of foods.

good luck

jim