Newbie with Gallstones needs Fat Free Cooking Advice

Charlie23

I need some advice on how to have a fat free diet. :eek:
I have gallstones :eek: (diagnoised today) so i need to have a fat free diet until i have a scan and get things sorted. I have no idea how to do it money saving wise. I have a df and dd who both need to eat normal food and lots of it! I get married in 16 days so really want to make sure i'm well.
What can i eat? I'm really stuck on what to do for meals.
Hope i've got the right forum.
Thanks for any advice

hot.chick

don't think off fat free food as 'not normal' just adapt the way you cook thing so you don't add any fat.

There is no reason your family should eat different things in the main and this avoids you cooking 2 meals every night.

How about you give us some ideas of what you would normally eat and we can see if we can adapt it for you?

ryandj

I am not a medical expert, but I don't think you want a fat free diet! Fats are an essential part of a balanced diet.

You probably want a low fat diet. Try things like skimmed milk instead of full cream, less chocolate, grill instead of fry, and also try out using 1 cal cooking spray - its oil that you spray out of a bottle, and each squirt is only 1 calorie.

You could look at this post...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1331718

Skint_Catt

Easiest way it just healthy eating - lots of fresh fruit, salads and vegetables and grilled lean meat or fish. Cut out processed foods and anything with high levels of unnatural sugar and salt.

I agree with ryandj - fat free diet is not healthy - everyone needs certain fats in their diet which occur naturally in foods.

Charlie23

Thanks . the diet needs to be as fat free as possible as thats what causes my symptoms and after the last 3 days i really really don't want to eat anything that might cause it to start again!
My DF is completley the opposite to me and has to have lots of food especially the more fatty food, he's recently lost nearly 2 stone :mad: just from eating more 'normally'! (god i hate him!) The nurse said that he shouldn't be eating the same as me because he will lose too much weight. My dd eats loads of fruit and veg but still needs the fatty meats etc.
Usually we eat:
cottage pie, lasagne, home made pizza (the cause of my pain 3 days ago :mad: ), fish cakes, curry, stir fry, spanish omlette, wraps, homemade chips and chicken, roast . . . . . . . . . .
I had tuna, sweetcorn and potatoes tonight which was nice but i can see me getting bored!!!!! :rotfl: :rotfl:
I LOVE chocolate and work with people who eat lots of bad food! i'm never gonna survive!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

sillyvixen

eat loads of fruit and veg. cook using leaner meat and dont add fat to cooking- use lower fat cheese and keep to a minimum have lots of pasta and rice dishes. if OH needs more fat and food let him fill up with bread and butter cheese etc. just remeber the pain of an attack every time you feel like chocolate - its not worth it. it can be done - i had a minimal fat diet for 6 months while i awaited gall bladder surgery. it was hard but i found ways of addapting, it helped me rekindle my enjoyment of cooking. i dont envy you i think it was easier as a veggie. favorites included
stir fry & noodles (spray oil)
pasta and ratatouie (sp) no oil
rice and veg s curry no oil/fat added
hm pizza no cheese (lots of veg)
stuffed baked pepper stuffed with couscous and veg
hm veg soup
lentil bolanase
lots of jacket potatoes and salad and large portions of veg

good luck i hope you get sorted soon!!

hollyh

Hi

I can sympathise with you, i had my gall bladder removed last year. I would say the pain of an attack is worse than childbirth, and can see why you would want to do everything possible to reduce the chances of another one.

I haven't got that much advise because mine was misdiagnosed for 6 months prior to my operation. I was told it was everything from wind:rolleyes: to IBS. I was treated for conditions i didn't have so didn't stick to a fat free diet. Hense the regularity of the attacks.

I will say that for about 2 months i was symptom free and that was when i was following a weight watchers diet. When i stopped the diet the attacks returned.

In the end i collapsed whilst having a meal out and was taken to hospital where they said straight away it sounded like gall stones. i had a scan the next day and my op 2 weeks later.

So sorry for the lack of advise, i hope you are treated sooner rather than later and enjoy your wedding.

Nicki

I had gallstones as well, and know what you mean about chocolate. However I was consoled by the fact that wine is fat free, and if you want to indulge your sweet tooth, so are wine gums. I ate a lot of these before my gallbladder came out, and still lost stacks of weight too.

If you can get to your local library there are usually lots of low fat cookbooks. I particularly recommend Rosemary Conleys low fat cookbooks, even though she is writing from a weight loss rather than a health point of view, as her recipes are all either very low or no fat, but taste great. She also gives the nutritional info so you can check exactly how much you're eating. You can also google for recipes which are low in fat, and most chain restaurants post their nutritional info online too, so if you know that you are going out to eat somewhere you can check in advance which dishes you would be better off eating.

Good luck. Hope you feel well soon.

Charlie23

Thank you. I thought it was wind to start with, my first attack 2 weeks ago and the one on sunday were both at night and i spent the whole night awake in pain. So thinking it was just wind i tried everything and since sunday i'd been having regular glasses of water with bicarb of soda in it! _pale_
I was thinking that i was being a wuss so i'm glad someone else found it really painful. Trying to explain to df and my mum and i felt so stupid. Also trying to tell the doctor 'it feels like wind but its really really painful' i did think i would be turned away with some 'windeze'.
Thanks for the advice and ideas they've really helped. I looked in my cupboard when i got home and all i could see were things i couldn't eat! Wish me luck for shopping tomorrow :rotfl: I might drool at the chocolate especially as the nurse will be draining my blood beforehand!

kellitots

Hi Charlie,

That sounds awful, I hope you get sorted out soon!

I found a good page (on BBC website) here. It has a fair few recipes on it for brekkie, lunch and dinner.

Fruit is your friend, keep lots about for a sweet, low fat treat when you are feeling peckish. Fruit smoothies are also lovely and filling, you could make it with juice or low fat yoghurt.

Also, have you tried Quorn? It is very low in fat and I think it's really tasty. Try Quorn mince, a tin of tomatoes, some mushrooms, peppers and courgettes for a lovely spag bol. Or Quorn deli slices in sandwiches or on Ryvita, etc. Other veggie ranges can be just as good or better, so it's worth trying a few to find things to suit your tastes.

I agree with one of the posts above that it's no good to be feeling that you're depriving yourself- think of it as a culinary adventure and just keep looking forward to your wedding which I am sure will be fab. Hope I helped a little.

xx

sillyvixen

Nicki wrote: »

I had gallstones as well, and know what you mean about chocolate. However I was consoled by the fact that wine is fat free, and if you want to indulge your sweet tooth, so are wine gums. I ate a lot of these before my gallbladder came out, and still lost stacks of weight to.

I did not have the opertunity of consoling myself with wine as i had obstructive jaundice and could not drink alcohol for the 6 months i was fat free:mad::mad: