nuts and trail mix

[aqua19]

Hello, my all-time favorite snacks are dried fruits, nuts and trail mixes. How soon will I be able to start snacking on them again? I'm doing great with my liquids, (a total 180 from a week ago) and I'm starting to get protein in from my foods Just curious though because I miss my dates and cashews!!! How far out were you all when you started?

[Sandra C.]

How far out are you from surgery? I began eating cashews some time during the second month. Start by trying a few to see how your stomach takes it. Chew to a liquified consistency. Cashews are one of the softer nuts, good to start with. Almonds have a tough sharp skin, I didn't add these and peanuts till month 3-4. Now at 5 months, I can eat any kind of nuts. Natural peanut butter Creamy style is great mixed with splenda, good for the 2nd month.

Dried fruit is going to add lots of sugar. I have stayed away from it so far to be able to lose as much weight as soon as I can. All fruit will slow weight loss, my Nut advised."Its not your friend". Low carb veggies are good to add to protein, steamed not raw for the first few months. Some cause gas, be careful, try them out slowly at first.

6-7 Dates for instance are: 30g carbs,25g sugar. The sugar will cause gas. The carbs are too high for me since I am trying to stay to a max of 50g carbs a day, my Nut suggested this number to help break my weight loss stall. I did buy a bag of dates last week, because I missed them. I am having one as a taste, every few days. Having them in the house is dangerous though, better not to have treats within reach on a daily basis. Willpower was not a part of my D.S. surgery!!!!

One thing to think about is analyzing your food choices pre surgery. Which foods did you over indulge in? If you can redirect your choices now to more unprocessed foods, your weight loss will be quicker, and your efforts more satisfying, and rewarding. These favorite foods will be good additions once you have reached your goal weight. All in moderation. Making permanent changes to food choice and lifestyle change with exercise is going to determine if you succeed long term, with the D.S. helping your efforts to drop weight. No one said the journey was easy. ;-)

Find sugar free replacements for your sweet cravings, but be aware the artificial sweeteners in SF candies do cause gas and more in some people. See if you can tolerate it, experiment. I can't live without Starlight mints- like candy canes, Bobs brand - w/NutraSweet, found at Walmart work for me.

Sandra ;-)

[RedSkittles]

I could tolerate nuts early, though I have heard from others that they could not.

Y'know--dates might as well be candy. Not off-limits, but not the focus of your diet right now. Very dense source of totally absorbable calories for you. Be careful on that one.

[Deleted]

Dried fruit = gut hell for me. You might as well be eating pure sugar with that stuff.

[Deleted]

Cashews = yes, dates = no. Cashews are my nut of choice.

I never ate dates, so I decided to google it to see what the nutritional value is. Are you sitting down--10 dried dates = 61 grams of carbohydrates (minus 6 grams of fiber).

You need to research what the nutritional value is of the foods you want to eat. The DS is all about choices.

Like EN said, any dried fruits are almost pure sugar so choose wisely.

[Girlrocker]

I'm singing the same song as the choir :-) I tried almonds about 3 weeks out, had no trouble, and I eat cashews, peanut butter, no trouble. Always subjective to your own tolerance. Dried fruit overall is not a great option - you're much better off eating the real thing, getting the natural sugar in fruit. Dried cherries, cranberries are a lower sugar option. I make my own trail mixes so I can control the content/ratio. It's a good snack option for hiking and cardio workouts, movie snack. But not early post-op, if you want to maximize your losing window.

[valgroce]

The dried fruits pack a concentrated amount of sugar, so use sparingly and try mixing different nuts along with your favorites and . I always add sunflower seeds and peanuts and pecans with my cashews.

[newsabrina]

Same as what everyone else said---

I have found that I really enjoy raisins. But, dang if they're not FULL of carbs!!

[Girlrocker]

Here's a link to Livestrong that gives a great explanation and nutrition information about dried fruit:

www.livestrong.com/article/18196-dried-fruit-nutrition-health-benefits/

2-3 dried date pieces has 33g of carbs

Think of this way - it's not the carb we eat, but what type - like the difference between a regular and sweet potato; white and brown rice; white and whole grain bread.

The goal is to make the best possible choices during the maximum weight loss window; then we can work certain things back into our diets in moderation.