Lap-Band Eating - I Need Help For A Friend
Okay, I'm a total mom, enabler. I know this. A friend of mine got lap-band surgery years and years ago. Over the last few months she's been feeling run down and always kind of, I don't know, hinky. She hasn't been good about taking her vitamins and I think food has become a tiny priority in her life. She's eating crap. Now I think that with only being able to eat such small amounts of food, that whatever you put in your mouth should (a) taste really good, and (b) be loaded with vitamins and minerals and other good stuff. So, I've been trying to come up with tasty, super healthy food for her to eat. She's always broke (her job pays practically nothing), can't eat steaky things due to the band, hates fish, like shrimp and crab, and has been spending far too much time with skinless, boneless chicken breasts (which would totally put me off my feed). She has no problem with rice, which some LB people do.
So anyhow, any ideas? I'm trying to come up with really tasty, very healthy, super cheap food for her to eat.
And yes, she's going to the doctor.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
16 Comments:
Who doesn't love fruit "milkshakes"? Frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries and peaches are yummy) and unsweetened soy milk make smoothies easy. If you add fresh grapes, you get a sweet, milky meal you can take your time and sip. Protein powder helps w/energy, and you can get lots of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals out of the fruit. One blender full of smoothie, apportioned and put in the freezer can get you through 3 meals for maybe $15 total. Once you have the soy milk and protein powder, they get cheaper from there. If you can get her to do it, baby spinach, carrots, and avocado add fiber and minerals w/out changing the flavor or texture.
erancili at 10:45PM on 03/31/09
How's about a veggie loaded fritata? Eggs are a good source of protein and your friend can cut down the fat content by using one egg and one egg white instead of two eggs.
I also agree with the smoothie idea, but I would be inclined to use yogurt and soy milk for the creamy base and add in a bit of wheat germ.
Also, V-8 Fusion juices have a full serving of vegetables and a full serving of fruit in each 8 oz. glass. It's not exactly cheap, but my veggie hating 14 year old loves the pomegranite blueberry flavor, and at least he getting some nutrients in.
dhorst at 9:21AM on 04/01/09
I don't know anything about lap band diet restrictions, but here are a few ways to get protein, veggies and fruits...
1/2 Avocado and cottage cheese w/ s&p - filling, creamy, protein, good fats
Broccoli and spinach soup - loads of vitamins
Oatmeal and protein powder - protein and fiber
Quinoa with sliced berries(fresh or frozen), cinnamon and honey - protein and fruit
You are a good friend, I hope she is receptive to your efforts!
erinlovestoeat at 11:31AM on 04/01/09
The most important part of any radical weight loss procedure is the patient's true desire to change the eating habits that got them heavy in the first place. These procedures in and of themselves are not a magic bullet, though success is widely publicized.
A friend of mine had lap band surgery and she weighs just as much as she ever did. She even had me press her abdomen because you can feel the lapband. She did not change her eating habits and has about a million excuses as to why she didn't lose weight.
Gastric Bypass is the same thing - a radical change to the body that can assist severely overweight people in losing weight. However, if the deep desire to change habits is NOT THERE, these surgeries are expensive but useless.
In other words, after surgery the patient can't eat a quarter of a cheeseburger (citing "Well, it's less than I usually eat") and expect to be transformed into a supermodel a year later. It's the fundamental changing to good food habits that will ensure success with either of these procedures. Habits have to be cultivated and nurtured. "Healthy" has to be the new "normal." Education is key, the patient must completely reprogram the way he or she thinks about food and nourishment.
If the patient recuperates from the surgery and embarks on a regimen of nutritionally dense foods - protein, carbs and veg - I have no doubt that weight will be lost, and quick. However, if after losing a lot of weight, the patient goes back to bad eating habits, all that pain and expense was for naught. The weight will definitely return.
therealchiffonade at 11:59AM on 04/01/09
It may be that your friend's disinterest in what she eats is her way of going cold turkey. Maybe eat small portions of really good foods would be too difficult for her, so she's making it as utilitarian as brushing her teeth. That's not what I would do, but maybe it's how she's coping.
She certainly sounds like she needs help with the nutritional angle, but making the meals more tasty might not be what she's looking for at this stage.
dbcurrie at 12:19PM on 04/01/09
From what I've read, and the experience of a couple of friends of mine, some people have immense amounts of trouble post-WLS and can't keep down a great number of foods. This may be contributing to the issues she's having.
I like the fruit shake idea - frozen fruit is cheap and good for this. It adds a lot of nutrition, is generally pretty easy to get down, and if dbcurrie's suspicion is right, it probably won't be a reminder of food that she can no longer eat in large quantities. Frozen shrimp can be defrosted in lukewarm water and tend to be pretty good. It's cheaper than the fresh stuff and a break from chicken breasts. As for anything beyond that, it's probably pretty dependent on what's going on with her specifically post-surgery.
tangledgray at 12:40PM on 04/01/09
@chiff/db - my friend has had the lapband for years, so this isn't a cold turkey/don't know how to eat issue. She's lost a great deal of weight, and has been until recently, great about the healthy food and taking her vitamins. Honestly, I think she's just plain bored.
chisai at 1:25PM on 04/01/09
Maybe a healthy "fried" rice? I get brown or white rice from the local takeout place, heat with a quick little soy sauce/garlic mixture, then make it nutritious with some shelled edemame (or peas), corn, chopped red pepper, chopped red onion, mung bean sprouts, finely scrambled egg, and tofu bits. I can make at least 8-10 servings for about $5, even including buying the cooked rice. It's quick, comforting, stores well, and tastes shockingly close to the real thing.
If time allows and you are willing, maybe the two of you can have an outing where you plan a meal for fun and cook together - plan it, buy the ingredients, prepare and eat it together. You don't have to teach her anything but that eating healthy food can be fun and relaxed. I can see how someone might lose interest in food and eating when it's made so technical for them, especially if it's a barrier to achieving the health they desire.
Kudos to you for trying to help instead of lecturing or judging - food and nutrition can be such a deeply psychological and emotional issue that it can become quite a terrible struggle. You're a good friend!
savecara at 1:26PM on 04/01/09
PB or cheese on toasted WW bread, steamed veggies with shrimp and brown rice, shrimp salad with some cherry tomatoes.
Kerosena at 3:00PM on 04/01/09
Buy her a fun, somewhat health oriented new cookbook. Not necessarily a diet book, which it doesnt sound like she needs, but one which focuses on a healthy type of cuisine, like a vegetarian book or mediterreanean or vietnamese food. Then make a date to cook together one new recipe a week, splitting the grocery costs. Sounds like she's bored of cooking the same old stuff- help her get excited about it again!
Embackus at 3:25PM on 04/01/09
I'm confused. Did she ask you for help with her diet or nutritional stuff? It doesn't sound from your original post as though she did. It sounds more like you're taking on the mother role and being a (self-admitted) "enabler." But sometimes an enabler is the last thing a food addict (current or former) needs.
If she's just blowing off steam about being bored with the maintenance phase of weight loss, you might focus less on the food and just lend her a sympathetic ear.
Tokyorosa at 1:51AM on 04/02/09
I dont know anything about the lap band procedure, but I had my stomach and a number of feet of intestines removed 2 yrs ago due to cancer. I know exactly what it feel like to not be able to eat much at any given time is like. In my case it sharpened my interest in food even more since I felt like I needed to make everything count. It sounds very much like your friend may be experiencing some depression, I'm Not a dr or qualified in any way, but you say she feels "hinky" and has stopped caring about things she would normally care about, ie vitamins and healthy eating. I did talk to a nurse I know, she said she went through something very similar after she lost a large amount after a weight loss surgery. Your friend may be finding that, rather than solving her problems, the weight loss is just that a weight loss. This nurse I spoke to suggested that your friend may benefit from joining a support group, or even speaking to a counselor. Good Luck, and try to remember that people make their own choices in life, and while you can try to help, they have to accept that help and do the work.
huneybumper at 7:59AM on 04/02/09
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. As a note - she did ask for my help regarding finding food she wasn't sick of, it was not me taking it on unasked.
I think that @huneybumper may have hit it on the head. I agree that she probably should join a support group or see a counselor. Which I will suggest. I'm not her mom, and while more than happy to help her, all joking aside, I can only take so long playing mom. I'm about there.
chisai at 4:03PM on 04/02/09
@chisai--Best wishes for your friend.
dhorst at 4:53PM on 04/02/09
I have a lap-band, and I honestly think it's what caused me to be so interested in food. Before I ate, swallowed quickly, and was done. Now, I liken having a lap-band to eating through a straw. Things that break down quickly are what's easiest to eat. That sometimes rules out bread, pasta, whole cuts of meat (tho I do love and crave sausage, bacon, pates, you get the idea), oysters, mussels and clams, and fibrous vegetables. Yep, leafy greens are difficult to eat. Any fruit that has a skin. Citrus. Also eating and drinking at the same time, which includes soups that have chunky ingredients.
What this means is that you taste everything to the nth degree. Now I feel like whatever I eat should be the best that I can find. It's made me a bit of a food snob, to tell the truth; I just don't want mediocre anymore. And when I'm surrounded by bland, it's depressing. Which may be what your friend is going through.
I say take her out to a great restaurant. Fish places are best, or tapas, that way she can try lots of little things, wake up the taste buds. I know how easy it is to fall back on crunchy things and chocolate, just because they 'go through'. That may also spark some inspiration on what she can make for herself. As for healthy flavor, I think you can google a carrot ginger red lentil soup that I found somewhere that is amazing.
If you have any further questions, feel free to email me through blog. I haven't updated in over a year, but it's a way of getting to me without me posting my email address here. The blog is cityminx.blogspot.com. I've had a lap-band for 4 years now, and I've accomplished EXACTLY what has been predicted - I've lost 70% of my excess weight. That last 30% is up to me, and me alone. That can be frustrating, but that's how the lap-band works. Still, it's been an amazing tool, and I have absolutely no regrets.
I still miss oysters, tho ;)
CityMinx at 11:25PM on 04/03/09
oops, forgot that she didn't like fish. funny, i can't do chicken breasts at all....
i will say, tho, in all politeness, stay out of it. when you get a band you start listening to the inside of your body in a different way. all of a sudden she looks different, and is viewed differently by both friends and strangers. believe me, I love hearing how great I look now, but that does mean in subtext that I didn't maybe look so good for a long period of my life. and having people attracted to you may take some getting used to. it's sad, but very very true.
i think what she's going through has little to do with food at all. and if you come by as super-nutritionist-friend, well, then, that may have an adverse reaction.
instead of a restaurant, take her out dancing, for drinks, for a fun night out. make her feel good, and good about herself. I think she needs that right now more than vitamins. the nutrition part will work itself out.
CityMinx at 1:10AM on 04/04/09