So Heather what does your diet consist of being 7 months out? Can you run down a general day from breakfast to bedtime? Have you experienced any ill effects?
Jeff....First of all, I feel FANTASTIC! No ill effects at all. I am really lucky, knock on wood!! I'm going to the gym and LOVING it. I would have never thought I would enjoy the gym. I have actually been out for a little over a week due to muscle spasms in my back. I'm still having a little bit of pain, but am going to a massage therapist, so hopefully that will do the trick and I can hit the gym next week.
As for my food. I pretty much eat mostly protein. An example of my meals...
Breakfast...egg beaters with some sort of meat (ham, Jimmy Dean Sausage crumbles...YUM, etc) and shredded cheese. I usually make enough for 2 meals b/c I will have the leftovers the next morning.
Lunch...I will usually have whatever was left over from the previous night's dinner. I will reheat it at 50% power for a little longer just to keep the moisture in.
Dinner...I will usually eat whatever I make for my family. For example, tonight, we had steak. I know a lot of people can't handle the steak, but I personally can. I pretty much can eat whatever I want to be honest. The only thing I CANNOT eat is tuna fish made at restaurants. I tried the Subway tuna and started feeling sick. I think b/c of the mayo. When I make tuna, I use Miracle Whip light.
I will eat a chicken drumstick if we have bbq chicken on the grill, I will eat about 1/2 a turkey burger, steak, fish, etc.
I have started having a low fat snack at night while watching tv. I bought a popcorn popper at Wal-Mart the other day and will pop some pop corn and use either parm cheese, or the butter buds on top. I will have between 2 and 3 cups of popped popcorn. It satisfies me and I feel better eating something while watching tv (that's when I used to snack before).
I know our dietician says to eat the protein first and then eat the rest. That's exactly what I do. I will have some green beans, broccoli, etc on my plate, but I try to eat most of the protein first. If I have room for a little bit of mashed potatoes, veggies, etc, great. If not, fine too. That's just me personally though.
I'm not sure what your doctor says in regards to drinking while eating. I know I stop drinking 30 minutes before I eat, I DO NOT drink while eating and I wait an hour after I'm done eating to drink again. That's just what our doctors recommend.
I can drink skim milk (a cup or so at a time), I drink the Trop 50 OJ (I LOVE OJ in the am), Light lemonade, etc. I DO NOT drink soda, even diet.
I also limit my sugars b/c I'm SOOO afraid of dumping syndrome. I heard horror stories and I do NOT plan to go there.
I hope that helps. Did you have it done or when are you having it done?