me needs a small overhaul.

[pinkfox]

i need suggestions for a realy good probiotic thats not going to break the bank.
i dont have the space right now to start my own kefir or kombucha...

suggestons would be great.

im also working on cutting out the refined carbs...
i know theres alot of gluten free, carb free folks on this forum so any help on that front would be apreciated...

see ive got a few issues...
im a very picky eater and of course due to surgery i have some dietary musts...

protein must be first, and i cant do soy...
so i generally stick to chicken and turkey, but i do so love beef.

im very picky whe it comes to veggies...
salad greens, tomatoes, cauli, broccoli, corn and carrots and butternut squash seem to be the only ones that make it through the taste gauntlet no matter how i prep...

i live fruits but they all seem to be so "bad for you", apples, grapes, strawberry, peach, nectarine, bananna, mango.
theres amny im allergic to (kiwi for example) and its related to a nasty allergy latex, mango and bananna seem to be the only 2 that dont cause me problems from that family.

i am addicted to carbs...
ill admit it...
but more so, i need some of the startchy carbs...

see after surgeyr i cut out the starchies, just had meat and veggies and i got incredibly ill, we couldnt figure it out, but the moment i had a little bit of pasta and suddenly the nausia and vommiting and cold sweats and such whent away.
so i do need some of those "bad" carbs.

i try to stick with whoel grains as much as possible when i do bread and pasta...but what about potatoes and sweet potato? are those ok too?! rice we have once in a blue moon and i can only have about 2 tablespoons because its so filling...

i gained 1/2 a lb this week and im fairly certain its water weight from stress binging on bad carbs...but its also made me re-evaluate how healthy my "system" is right now and i dont think its as healthy as id like to fool myself into beliving.

 

[freemotion]

Are you trying to lose weight? What is your health goal?

Expand your taste for veggies. It can be done. Really. You have to push through and experiment more. Often, a good dose of fat or sauce or dip is all it takes, like greens or green beans cooked with salt pork or bacon, cheddar sauce or a sharp cheese grated over veggies while very hot, French onion dip (homemade, no chemicals, very easy) to dip raw veggies into, cut into very thin slabs to hold a lot of dip.

Kefir takes no more space than a container of purchased probiotics, btw. It can be kept at room temp and you can drink it all each time you make it each day if you don't have room for two containers. A glass peanut butter jar or pint canning jar is all you need.

Sounds like you were maybe going through a detox with the meat/veggie diet. If it is too much, better carbs are beans (dry beans cooked properly, you must cook them yourself, no sugar), sweet potatoes/yams with butter, etc (a half cup is a serving, watch out for those 6-8 serving potatoes, don't fool yourself!), winter squashes, limited whole grains (learn to read labels, "enriched" means refined, avoid).

Be sure to have some fat with your meat. Leave the skin on the chicken, avoid buying the leanest cuts, add fat if needed. I just ground some lean grass-fed beef and added bacon to the grinder. YUMMY on the grill! Adding a slab of cheddar to a lean burger is another way to add good fat to the meat. You need fat and salt to properly utilize the nutrients in meat.

Get a copy of Nourishing Traditions to learn about nutrient dense foods vs. displacing foods (bad stuff that fills you up so you don't eat good foods....the typical American diet!)

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Are you trying to lose weight? What is your health goal?

Expand your taste for veggies. It can be done. Really. You have to push through and experiment more. Often, a good dose of fat or sauce or dip is all it takes, like greens or green beans cooked with salt pork or bacon, cheddar sauce or a sharp cheese grated over veggies while very hot, French onion dip (homemade, no chemicals, very easy) to dip raw veggies into, cut into very thin slabs to hold a lot of dip.

Kefir takes no more space than a container of purchased probiotics, btw. It can be kept at room temp and you can drink it all each time you make it each day if you don't have room for two containers. A glass peanut butter jar or pint canning jar is all you need.

Sounds like you were maybe going through a detox with the meat/veggie diet. If it is too much, better carbs are beans (dry beans cooked properly, you must cook them yourself, no sugar), sweet potatoes/yams with butter, etc (a half cup is a serving, watch out for those 6-8 serving potatoes, don't fool yourself!), winter squashes, limited whole grains (learn to read labels, "enriched" means refined, avoid).

Be sure to have some fat with your meat. Leave the skin on the chicken, avoid buying the leanest cuts, add fat if needed. I just ground some lean grass-fed beef and added bacon to the grinder. YUMMY on the grill! Adding a slab of cheddar to a lean burger is another way to add good fat to the meat. You need fat and salt to properly utilize the nutrients in meat.

Get a copy of Nourishing Traditions to learn about nutrient dense foods vs. displacing foods (bad stuff that fills you up so you don't eat good foods....the typical American diet!)

X2 to everything!
And yes, kefir is something that will take up the space of a pint or quart jar on the counter, whereas if you were to purchase something, it would have to go in the fridge.
Lots of us have grains. Can you get raw milk, or at least low temp, non homogenized whole milk!

 

[Wifezilla]

I am using freeze dried kefir starter I get from vitamin cottage. I just add it to a half gallon of milk and leave it out for 24hours. Easy peasy.

As far as your symptoms when you were off carbs, two thoughts...
1. Those were possibly withdrawal/detox symptoms
2. You weren't getting enough fat maybe?

If your body chemistry does need more carbs (abi needs a certain level to keep her moods in a good spot) try sweet potatoes. I eat them around "that time" loaded with some good butter and sea salt. Kills the carb craving and doesn't derail me. Quinoa is also something i can have on occasion without triggering cravings and binging.

 

[pinkfox]

i had gastric bypass...well in truth, i had most of my stomach removed due to a none cancerous (thank heavens) tumor that had taken over 2/3rds of my stomach, they removed everything they had to and the result was a gastric bypass which id been considering anyway lol

so beans are a no go, too much gas no matter how there cooked they just make me very uncomfortable... my physical stomach is about the size of a ping pong ball right now...lol

because of that i obvioulsy also cant have too much fat (dumping syndrome)
i also hate fatty cuts and the skn *shudders* even if fried to a crisy critter i hate the skin *ewwies lol*
the only realy "fatty" cuts i use are when i make my own burgers in which case i do 80% lean ground beef...

we unfortunatly do not have much acess to farm fresh and youll pay triple for organic (and im on a very tight food budget) so i have to make do with what i can find meat wise. its typically chicken, i stick to chicken which will either be thigh/leg (breast is too dry) or small "tenderloins" done very quick on the grill.
ground turkey i use alot for burgers meatloaf and chilli, and then beef which will eithe rbe ground (but i cant have alot of ground as it sits very heavily) or top round or london broil which i just about show the grill and its done.
pork is a no go, its just too heavy, though sausage works well as long as i de-case it first. and amaerican bacon just isnt bacon...again i hate the fat and in the uk they only use the back backon wichi is all meat with very little "rind" (and i always leave that lol.

i have to be carefull with fish because im allergic to many, but tilapia and tuna seem to do me ok...
i tend to use avacado and olive oil mayo alot too...
and of course our fresh eggs make up a nice amount of protein...

because the normal fats tend to be touchy i do tend to have alot of cheese, olive oil based mayo, olive oil with vinegar as salad dressings, avacado and i try to have at least 2 fish meals a week to get some of the healthy fats in the diet....
cheeses are typically low fat moz, cheddars and goats cheeses. (though again, budget defines so its usually whatever cheeses i can afford that week.
i do make my own cheese sauces for the cauli...
oh and i also try to snack on nuts, but there sooo expensive.

but alot of veggies just taste incredibly bitter to me...(summer suqash for example, even when i grow it myself straight form the garden, it doesnt like my tastebuds, and i know its my tastebuds because eveyrone else says how delicious it is...)
i think my tastebuds are broken lol

serving sizes are no longer a problem...i physically cannot literally cannot overeat, its incredibly painfull when i do...its also forced me to slow down ALOT, eating too fast is also incredibly painfull...

so far has been fine, ive stuck to the rules and ive droped 130lbs in 9 months thanks to surgery and a major change in eating habits...
but this past week has been sooo stressfull...i never realized how much of a stress induced carb-a-holic i am.

i do try to stick to whole grains as much as possible but again my tastebuds and me have differences in opinions so i rarely have bread anymore...my biggest downfall i think is pasta, i do love pasta lol, i dont eat much of it, a coupld of tablespoons max, but yum lol.

ive reacently started trying to switch my pasta/rice fetish over to quinoa though, its very yummy but sometimes i still get that pasta craving.
ill definatly have to try doing mroe with sweet potato and winter squashes though rather than white potato...again there just sooo expensive around here...

unfortunatly raw milk and low temp homo milk are not available around here, farms wont even sell it to people buying it for pets anymore due to a major crack down, and the few places that sell legal raw milk its almost $10 a gallon, i just cant afford it....
i also cant have whole milk...it agrivates my exema something wicked (i couldnt have breast milk as a baby either) goats milk doesnt seem to beother me, but again getting it around here is like squeezing blood from a stone...

will definalty have to look into doing daily home made kefire though, for some reason i thought it had to be refridgerated or kept dark.
i use only greek yogurt now so that was a good switch and while i cant have sugar i do try to stay away form the artificial sweetners too (partially because im incredibly sensitve to asparteme and saccarine lol)
is kefire alone going to give me enough pro-biotics to help start to balance out my gut?

bb i was looking into the fermented olive oil too, i know a bottle lasts about 6 months but i wish they made it in more affordable 1-3 month bottles i just cant afford that much at once...if i could divide it up and pay a little each month lol...i should ask them if they take payment plans lol.

its tough because i do have the specific limitations from the surgery...and all the info out there is for a "normal" stomach.
im hoping that by limiting the startchy carbs on an every day basis now itll be easier to fight the carb cravings when im stressed....

if it was a deto it was an almost deadly one, i ended up sending a few days on fluids in the hospital and they almost had to put in a pic line to get nutrients in because i couldnt hold anything down...as a result i was having seizures too...
funny how a smple bowl of chicken noodle soup actually possibly saved my life...
but it scared me enough that now i worry if im getting enough carbs amd i not getting enough am i having too many...i aim for no more then 60grams of carbs a day and i HAVE to have a minimum of 80g protein a day.

my other question would be re. the b vitamins...since surgery my b's are always low...b is hard to absorb...so i take 2500mg of sublingual b12 every 5 days, but im also supposed to take a normal b1 daily...and the b1 makes me feel sick...
anyone know of a more natural way to get in some additional B1 thats not going to make my stomach turn.

i have $50 MAX a week budgeted right now for ALL groceries (includes personal hygnene, and none food goods like garbage bags) and suppliments.


in terms of goals.
i have another 30-40lbs to loose to put me in my goal range so a big part of it is to continue loosing weight at a steady pace over the next few months before entering a maintence phase...
however my biggest concern right now is overall health...
no point in being a healthy weight if your overall health has suffered for it...and given my system has been completly re-routed at this point (im missing most of my stomach as well as about 1/4 of my small intestine) i think i need to make sure eveyrhitng internally is as well balanced as possible to keep what i have left healthy.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Quick note on beas. Its not the cooking at stake. Its the proper soaking.
Soak for 24 hours in water with 1/4 cup of cultured whey. Drain and cook.
I have never had so much as a bubble with them done that way.
Its at least worth trying just a tiny bite prepared to see if it works for you.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Also, you might want to look into taking Bile salts, as its likely with the surgery that your bile duct and gall bladder are not functioning the way they are supposed to.

 

[pinkfox]

your right about the galbladder, i actulaly have to be on meds for the rest of my life to try and keep it functioning at normal levels so ill definatly look into the bile salts.

when i got sick the first thing they thougth was that my galbladded had died, then apendix lol. tuned out i just needed noodles LMAO.

so far today ive had a peach/mango smoothie made with greek yoghurt and ice...
lunch is hot chicken with tomato, spinach and cheese with a balsamic sauce.
im going to have moz cheese and a small handfull for grapes for a snack in a couple of hours
and then dinner i belive tonight is chicken and salad (from my own garde )
ill probbaly throw in a hand full of almonds as a snack at some point between dinner and bedtime...

but thats pretty much a nromal day for me

im supposed to eat every 3-4 hours...
but some days i find it hard to eat that frequently and do have to stop skipping meals.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

your right about the galbladder, i actulaly have to be on meds for the rest of my life to try and keep it functioning at normal levels so ill definatly look into the bile salts.

when i got sick the first thing they thougth was that my galbladded had died, then apendix lol. tuned out i just needed noodles LMAO.

so far today ive had a peach/mango smoothie made with greek yoghurt and ice...
lunch is hot chicken with tomato, spinach and cheese with a balsamic sauce.
im going to have moz cheese and a small handfull for grapes for a snack in a couple of hours
and then dinner i belive tonight is chicken and salad (from my own garde )
ill probbaly throw in a hand full of almonds as a snack at some point between dinner and bedtime...

but thats pretty much a nromal day for me

im supposed to eat every 3-4 hours...
but some days i find it hard to eat that frequently and do have to stop skipping meals.

If you got on bile salts, then you can certainly start eating good natural fats again.
That will make a big difference over all.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Does that (bile salts) work for someone who is waiting to have his gall bladder removed? My dad has been suffering for years,- recently had an attack ( at Easter), and his surgery date is in September. He is not having any fat at all right now.