Hi How can I eat a healthy balanced diet and still keep my weight up? I mostly eat ready meals as these are usually high in calories.

[SteveJ]

I eat very little fruit and veg as they are low in calories and very filling.

Also can anyone suggest any suitable websites that have diet sheets for our particular problems ?

[Hidden]

If you ring the OPA helpline on 0121 704 9860 they will send you a copy of our Recipe Book. Also our website sosg.info/tips/food-ideas.aspx

Depending on how long ago your surgery was, I suggest that your priority is to establish a habit of eating, little and often, things that do not cause you too many problems in relation to diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting or pain. This means avoiding problem foods, often through trial and error.

After that think about nutritional balance, especially if you have had a gastrectomy and therefore might have problems in absorbing iron, B12 etc.

There may be supplements that you could consider.

Your weight will be the last of your priorities, and eating to try to gain weight will probably cause you more problems than it is worth, because you will probably be developing a new normal weight that is different from before. If you an bear to throw away the scales, do so.

Long term absorption of nutrition is an issue. Stephanie Wakefield is giving a talk about this and you are very welcome to come along to Robens Suite, 29th floor, Guy’s Tower, Guy’s Hospital, St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RT (close to London Bridge Station), on Saturday 19 November 2011. Tea/coffee and biscuits will be available from 10am. The meeting itself will start at 10.30am and will finish around 12.30pm.

[SteveJ in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for that Alan. I will ask for the Recipe Book.I am four and a half years post surgery.I am more concerned about my present diet than putting on weight so the Recipe Book should come in handy.

[Magdav]

Hi SteveJ,

As a vegetarian it's important for me to continue eating fruit and vegetables post surgery, although I'm conscious it's not 5 portions a day. If you want to increase your fruit intake then avocado's are very high in calories and good fats so maybe you could try introducing them into your diet, also bananas are higher in calories than other fruit which may have a lot of sugar and water in them. If a banana is too big a portion for you I've noticed some supermarkets have bags of smaller sized bananas for children! With regards eating more vegetables you could try sneaking them into dishes, for example add peas and or sweetcorn into macarroni cheese, or add mushrooms, peppers and courgettes to a bolognese.

I hope this helps.

Keep eating little and often, although it is trial and error as to what agrees with your new digestive system.

Best wishes

[SteveJ in reply to Magdav]

Thank you for that Magdav. I never thought about it from a vegetarian point of view, I really like avocados and i do have the odd banana so they wont be a problem. As to your other suggestions I will certainly give them a try.

Kind Regards

Steve

[cherrybailey]

I worried and worked really hard on what I ate, tried all sorts of food diets with help from my dietician, what agreed etc. My biggest problem gaining weight, the other in hand with this everything just going through me.

I realised after a long battle this was going to be my fighting weight as they call it, if I do too much physically can go as low as 6 stone 8, if I dont I can keep at 6 11.

I eat what I fancy and enjoy now, know I am going to have discomfort and toilet but work my day round it. (I can eat something one day be reasonably ok eat the same thing the next time and it reacts badly) I am 4 and a half years too.

I don't have any of my stomach so might work a little different.

What about weight watcher ready meals? I was told to try them, mainly because of my bowel but must have the goodness in them. You would have to check on the box if they would be any good to you.

Good Luck!

[SteveJ in reply to cherrybailey]

Hi Cherry

Yes I'm pretty lucky to have only lost part of my stomach so my problems are not as bad as yours. I think the problem with weight watcher meals is they are quite a bit lower in calories,my wife eats them and there is a difference.I have also noticed that I can eat something one day and be ok and the next time have a bad reaction, it is difficult.Thank you for your advice.kind regards.

Steve

[Pasta]

Being on liquid foodstuffs for more than 5 months has been a really testing time. I’m so very pleased that now I am post chemo/radiotherapy I can tolerate normal-ish food again – a slow process and food goes round and round until I can swallow it, but it is certainly a huge break through to re-discover my jaw action and taste buds again. I really feel for those folks who have had to put up with liquids for far longer than myself.

Especially during radiotherapy I felt I had a fireball of barbed wire in my upper gullet and the painkillers only gave me a brief window of time to swallow more comfortably - sometimes it took me 2 hours to swallow 200mls. But the one thing that drove me was to keep my weight up and avoid a feeding tube. Every liquid morsel I consumed I knew had to count calorie wise.

Eating or the equivalent is a real problem for many folk on this site, so I thought I’d share some of my “menu delights” I consumed. Who knows, I may have to go back to this one day. My fingers and toes are crossed, and so too are those of my friends who have kept my morale going over some pretty unpleasant and depressing liquid filled months.

Breakfast: weetabix and/or oats, ready-breck blended with blueberries, crushed almonds, sesame seeds and scrambled egg (mixed in the morning) plus one sachet of Scandishake.

I made a weeks worth of the cereal and additives and put them in jam jars in the fridge and freezer.

Mid morning: I made my own smoothies with single cream, yogurt and fruit (bananas, strawberries, nectarines, mangoes – some together & some separate) and sometimes with a little ground ginger. Again, fridge and freezer so as to have a stock. Some of the bought smoothies I found too acidic.

Lunch: Vitasavory 300 sometimes mixed with ordinary soup (plus croutons sometimes to add bulk and fibre) all blended.

Mid afternoon: Fortisip and/or Fortijuce. Instead of a cup of tea I would have a cup of peanut butter & tahini melted in hot water and if I could tolerate it a digestive biscuit mixed up.

Supper: certain ready meals blended easily. I had quite a bit of fish (cod or salmon blended to a paste) and very liquid mashed potato. I blended a lot of vegetables and stored them in my freezer. Chicken never blended well for me and tasted not so nice. Once radiotherapy started I couldn’t tolerate tomatoes (pasta sauces or soups).

For weeks I drank everything. Then when I got into a routine I found in the evenings when I had the time to sit quietly I put my food in a dish – separately so it looked more appealing, and slowly ploughed through it.

I hope this is helpful to some and not “telling your Grandma how to suck eggs” (eggs are good source of protein !!). When plodding through my supper watching the TV as a distraction I noticed how many ads are to do with food !! and how many food master chef type programmes there are !!

With all my best wishes to those who struggle with food and to the carers who also have their own struggles as providers.

Jill

[SteveJ in reply to Pasta]

Thanks for that Jill.I was very lucky in that after a while on fortisips I was able to move on to solids quite slowly and a bit at a time,then just build up gradualy from there.Thank you for your advice.

Kind Regards

Steve

[Hidden]

Anyone tried Egg Benedict?

[SteveJ in reply to Hidden]

Hi Alan

No I have never tried them, I will look them and give them a go.

Kind regards

Steve

[Charlie36]

have never had a sweet tooth and don't particularly like chocolate. I used to be vegetarian but following a chat early on with the Consultant now try and eat chicken and fish a few times a week.

I was perscribed the liquid supplements via. my GP and hated them, even the smell! However I found I was able to even enjoy ordinary "weight loss" formula such as Asda's cafe latte powder which when mixed with milk gives vitamins and minerals and around 300 cals. I managed 2 a day as snacks then ate 3 "normal" small meals when possible.

I found M & S ready meals the best of the bunch and their "fuller longer" range is higher in protein with a low GI.

Belvita biscuits (low GI, not too sweet) ,

crackers with cheese spread,

hearty soups ("big" ones),

small slices of fruit cake,

cheese straws,

cornflakes with orange juice,

wraps instead of bread, (less "claggy").

Apparently smoked salmon on cream cheese with crackers is good but too rich (in more ways than one!) for me.

Warburtons have bought out a product called "sandwich thins". When toasted they are must more digestible than bread and go down well with mushroom pate inside.

Quinoa is very high in protein and Tesco sell it with red lentils and it cooks quickly.

Couscous with grated cheese, jacket potatoe with anything. Scrambled egg with grated cheese mixed in, or with finely chopped anchovies is good too.

Peanut butter and tomatoes on crackers is high in protein .

Melba toast (you can buy it now in small packs) with a veggie pate or spread.

I use red pesto and green pesto as a spread sometimes with these.

I find I get the d symptoms if I eat either too high sugar or too high fat so if I have fish I don't have the chips!

Oh and hummus, avacardo dip with corn snacks or crackers might be worth a try.

I add tinned lentils and beans to soups too

I'm afraid I don't eat a lot of fruit or veg unless I add it to something else (fruit to the formula drink, finefly chopped veg to soup) as I find it hard to digest.

Best of luck. My Consultant said "don't count calories, count protein as that's what builds muscle".I have gone from 7st 4 lbs to 7st.13 lbs now so somethings working but I have waved goodbye forever I think to my once "fuller figure"! And weightwatchers

Hope some of the above might be usefull anyway. The OPA book is very good but I have a problem sometimes with lots of milk/cream additions and so cannot use those ideas often.My best wishes,

Charlie.

[SteveJ in reply to Charlie36]

Hi Charlie

Well there is plenty for me to have a go at there and I like most of the things mentioned.I have never had quinoa but I will try anything once.I think I will give the fruit cake a miss though,I had some 2 hours ago and ended up with dumping, I should know better.Thanks very much for the suggestions.

Kind Regards

Steve

[Charlie36]

Hi Steve,

re: fruit cake, I know what you mean and I really only eat a very, very, small slice ie. a finger! "Dumping" is horrible isn't it. I had a cheese flan last night and butter on vegtables. Big mistake! Too much fat. Affects me more than sugar even. Its so much trial and error and I try and keep a list now of stuff I have trouble with.

Best wishes,

Charlie.

[SteveJ in reply to Charlie36]

Hi Charlie

Yes "dumping" is really horrible and it seems to be sweet things that hit me.The funny thing is I find I need to have something sweet after it has happened to me.I think keeping a list is a very good idea. I will do the same.

Kind Regards

Steve

[Hidden]

Late dumping is caused by an insulin rush because the food is going through the system faster than expected by the body, so having something sweet is indeed likely to affect it, because it is all about the insulin:sugar balance.

sosg.info/information/post-...

[SteveJ in reply to Hidden]

Hi Alan

Thanks for the info,I will look at the link you put up and see what they say.

Kind Regards

Steve

[StephanieC]

Hi Steve,

IF you are wanting high energy and protein foods that are "healthy" the following foods may suit you:

Nuts and seeds +/- dried fruit

Add ground almonds to desserts and cereals

Soya milk has similar calorie and protein content to semi-skimmed milk but less saturated fat

Flapjacks are reasonably healthy, very high in calories and can be obtained with not too high sugar content from health food stores

Add lashings of olive oil to your food - high in calories and good for you

Oily fish has beneficial properties (mackerel, sardines, salmon, fresh tuna - tinned tuna is not considered oily even if in oil) - try and aim for 2 portions a week

Avocadoes as previously mentioned are great - you could try guacamole and tortillas

Houmous is another great healthy and high calorie snack.

If you are not taking much in the way of fruit and veg for reasons of bulk you can try having some juices where you will get the vitamins and minerals without the bulk. Also try and take a multivitamin.

I hope this helps -

[SteveJ]

Hi Stephanie

Thank you for your email and taking the time to respond.

Some really good tips here and I will certainly give them a try especially the fruit juices. I also like mexican food so the guacamole and tortillas will go down well.

Thanks once again.

Kind Regards

Steve