Reverse Meal Planning

joedenise

You could make your own hummus.  If you make it without tahini (or only use a small amount for flavour) it makes it low fat.  BBC Good Food has one such recipe.

JingsMyBucket

Thanks @joedenise and @Suffolk_lass, those are great tips. I also had in mind about using the ham for omelettes / soup. Maybe I'll slice some and leave the rest chunked. 

Suffolk_lass

joedenise said:

You could make your own hummus.  If you make it without tahini (or only use a small amount for flavour) it makes it low fat.  BBC Good Food has one such recipe.

Thanks @joedenise I have done that today!

JingsMyBucket

@Suffolk_lass just how low fat is your husband's diet supposed to be? 

Suffolk_lass

As low as possible. I've stopped using oil to cook with (cooking regu base in water for example). No cheese, no cream, no butter. Milk no longer whole. Fage 0% yogurt, anything already made (reduced fat hummus was one example) is 1.5g by portion (3.5%). Porridge made with water and a dash of milk. Lots of f&v and simple food, to stop the sand-like gall bladder contents causing a recurrence

JingsMyBucket

Wow, that is a drastic change. I can’t live without cheese. How are you coping?!

Suffolk_lass

I am quietly and discreetly using up the higher fat foods in my own food - so things like Greek yogurt (12% and 7% for G-Style), and butter still in the fridge, but minimal quantities and discreet, s I am not rubbing his face in it. I personally think (now I realise how much he was eating, as a regular nightly snack, just before bed) that if he had cut out the cheese and crackers late at night, it would have been enough, but maybe that is what we go for, post gallbladder removal, assuming he is not one in the hundred who can never have fat again. I also think the timing made the accumulation of the gallstones residue worse. He's six foot four and was a prop forward, so is never going to be small (and he is strong, with muscle weighing more than fat) so weight loss has never been easy.

He had a baked potato with beans and coleslaw last night, and a plate of salad. This was instead of the chicken thighs I defrosted (it just got too late before we started cooking). I think I will curry these today, using a dry marinade before roasting them with veg and then finishing the spicing. I am perfectly capable of making curry from scratch and I know he likes it. I have just become very lazy about using pastes and sauces for convenience. 

In terms of snacks I did make some hummus. I will modify this recipe next time - more lemon, garlic, salt and pepper, more can-liquid. Of course this actually used my emergency can of chickpeas as I normally cook and freeze a batch from dried in the pressure cooker, so I need to remember to buy more of these.

So in conclusion, I am coping, he is really, really missing cheese!

rtandon27

OH sends his regards to MrSL over the demise of cheese. 🤣  He isn't allowed too much dairy either!

Several years ago now, OH got a diet overhall to eliminate extra iron from his diet.  Seems he carries that Celtic gene that cause him to retain it in his joints and blood. Ironically we discovered this after a return from a trip to Iceland & we nicknamed it the Viking disease.

JIL

@Suffolk_lass I had gallbladder surgery and sympathise greatly with your husband, the pain was horrendous. Something that helped me was apple cider vinegar.  

Suffolk_lass

rtandon27 said:

OH sends his regards to MrSL over the demise of cheese. 🤣  He isn't allowed too much dairy either!

Several years ago now, OH got a diet overhaul to eliminate extra iron from his diet.  Seems he carries that Celtic gene that cause him to retain it in his joints and blood. Ironically we discovered this after a return from a trip to Iceland & we nicknamed it the Viking disease.

One of our friends has this and has had to go to hospital every month to have blood removed to stop it impacting his organs.

JIL said:

@Suffolk_lass I had gallbladder surgery and sympathise greatly with your husband, the pain was horrendous. Something that helped me was apple cider vinegar.  

Thanks Jil - I've never seen pain like it. I have had a look at Apple Cider Vinegar as it is reputed to cut through gut fat and stored sugar (glycogen) - it's recommended by that French biochemist who various people are following regarding glucose (one of the simple sugars our body stores). I remember that from my degree that included sports nutrition and the need to warm down to reconvert lactic acid into the stored sugars to prevent cramp after exercise