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Almost two weeks out...

rjbj

Member
I've moved on to pureed food. It poses no challenge for me. I was fiercely jonesing for something that wasn't sweet--protein shakes and puddings and jello we're getting tiresome. I went to the store and stocked up on spices. The first thing I made was curried chicken salad, which was then blended to the consistency of baby food. It. Was. So. Good. I was eating a couple of ounces at a time and left full. Encouraged I moved onto tart: a lemon pie-flavored protein smoothie. This was less good. :) The third thing that I've made in the pureed category was a garlic-parmesan cauliflower mash, which does a tolerable impersonation of mashed potatoes. Only problem was the 3 cloves of garlic the recipe called for. I didn't think it was possible, but I had discovered the upper acceptable limit of garlic saturation. My mouth tingled after trying it, and while I really enjoyed the texture and variety, it was too much. Did not finish that batch. Here's a problem though, trying to keep my protein count accurate is harder when I start making these other dishes. The cookbook I am using says how much protein is in a serving, but then gives different serving recommendations depending on the stage of recovery you are on and doesn't give adjusted numbers, which is annoying. So, I've been making sure to work in at least a 30g protein shake into my rotation every day, just to get me almost halfway there without doing too much math.
 
I'm on the same stage and have the same issues with the protein. My team told me to add plain protein powder to everything to help get the protein in. I've been trying to pick the recipes that has the highest protein count so even when I puree it I'm getting a good amount. But when I can only eat one egg and that only has 7 grams of protein I know I'm coming up short. I'm also trying to do at least one shake a day to ensure I at least get 30 in. Good luck on your journey!
 
I made a lot of egg salad in the pureed stage. Try turkey salad - turkey has more protein than chicken. If you can stand it - add a scoop or 2 of plain protein into your pureed foods - I didn't do so well with adding the protein powder. I still a shake or 2 a day - it just depends on what I'm doing.
 
I put my recipes in my app and let it figure it out for me. And if you have MYFITNESSPAL, you can often find/import recipes from websites like allrecipes, etc etc.

That advice is really more for once you get to a regular diet. I regularly make my chicken salad, so it was worth taking the time to input the recipe with my own serving sizes. If you're looking for simple, mental tracking, just add the unflavored protein powder.
 
Congratulations on your progress! I used some soup recipes and blended them smooth then added enough water that they were pourable, then added protein powder (lesson learned: heat soup first, let cool a little and then add the powder so it doesn't coagulate) - my favorites were refried bean soup, and a few lentil soups. Agree that the sweetness gets old pretty fast. I also really love Diane's Magic Milk recipe - it is still something I have every night before bed - 8 ounces skim, 1/3 cup powdered milk (and then I add 1T unsweetened cocoa and 1T stevia powder) - heat it up and it is hot chocolate (I add a little more milk to get the volume I want), and compared to adding protein powder, you can heat up nice and hot and there is nothing to get clumpy and coagulated.
Isn't it cool to actually get full with a small amount of food?!
 
It sounds like a lot of you are doing what I've sort of decided, I'll have a shake for breakfast and one in the evening. That'll get me at least 50g total, not including the other stuff I have, like cat food vindaloo, as my roommate named my yellow chicken mush.

That hot chocolate sounds very nice, Ruthie.

Oh, I had my follow up with the surgeon on Monday an was cleared for work, so I was back in the classroom today, which was awesome. It's funny, but the thing that make teaching harder was that, after about 2.5 hours of teaching my voice was so strained. I have no doubt it's a holdover from outsourcing my breathing while I was under anesthesia. I also had a GP appointment. She said that I was down nearly 40 pounds since December. That's nice to hear. :)
 
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