Bariatric Foodie

BF Basics: Carb Confusion (Part One)

So What the Hell is a Carb Anyway?

Ok, do you want the textbook definition or the practical one? Let’s start with the former. Here are the two best definitions I could find on what a carbohydrate is:

A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the general formula Cm(H2O)n, that is, consisting only of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, the last two in the 2:1 atom ratio. Carbohydrates can be viewed as hydrates of carbon, hence their name. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate)
an essential structural component of living cells and source of energy for animals; includes simple sugars with small molecules as well as macromolecular substances; are classified according to the number of monosaccharide groups they contain (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

Yeah…I thought the same thing.

So in practical terms, when we speak of carbs we’re speaking of a few different types of foods, mainly:

Starches like bread, pasta, chips, etc.
Legumes and beans
Vegetables
Foods that contain natural sugars (fruit, milk)

But remember, these foods are sources of carbohydrates, not carbohydrates in and of themselves. This is an important distinction because we often demonize foods as "carbs" and overlook the other important health benefits of the food, such as vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Carbs are abundant in foods and with good reason. Depending on the complexity of the carb (or, by the scientific definition, the number of monosaccharide groups they contain), your body can use carbs quickly to generate energy.

Our very first food as little humans is carb heavy. Whether you drank formula or your mother’s milk, it was mainly a source of a fairly simple carbohydrate (we’ll discuss simple vs. complex carbs tomorrow) – milk sugar. And when you began to drink cow’s milk that is also mainly a source of carbohydrates (True fact: milk has 50% more carbs than protein).

Our bodies need those carbs as “youngins” because we’re growing quickly and we need a LOT of energy to do so. While our need for carbohydrates (especially simple ones) reduces as we get older, we still need them for brain function and energy, to name a few uses.

But somewhere along the line carbs got a bad reputation, didn’t they? We became all about the Atkins diet and the South Beach diet, all campaigning for limited amounts of only complex carbohydrates.

Yet, we find that in countries whose diets center mainly on carbs like rice and fruit, there is nowhere near the level of obesity as in the United States. I’m not going to begin to theorize on that but will say that carbs alone are not the problem nor is limiting them the sole solution.

So, in summary, here’s what you need to know about what carbohydrates are:

They are a quick and essential source of energy and cell structure
They are found in starchy foods (like bread and pasta), legumes and beans and foods that contain natural sugars and fiber, like milk (containing lactose) , fruits (containing fructose) and vegetables
All humans need some carbohydrates for our bodies to function normally

Tomorrow we’ll discuss simple vs. complex sugars and why that isn’t such a simple matter.

BF Review: Oat Fit Oatmeal

I came across this product in the breakfast aisle of my local supermarket and thought I’d check it out.

The packaging looks promising enough. It’s called Oat Fit and the packaging is particularly good, in my humble opinion. Here’s what I could tell just by taking a glance:

It’s 100 calories per serving
It comes in Cinnamon Roll and Maple & Brown Sugar flavors
It has no added sugar
Individual portions come in a “pouch” (that made me smile)

I have to say I don’t usually have much faith in pre-flavored oatmeal. As I’ve said ad nauseum, I am a Splenda crack-head. I like sweet things to be sweet (it’s the southern gal in me ya see…). But still, the packaging was so good it prompted me to do the “360” on it (if you are a Facebook fan or Twitter follower, you know what a 360 is, don’t you?).

The side panels explained to me how eating whole grains helps you feel satisfied longer (I already knew that but if I did not, I think I’d find that fact intriguing). The other side explained how having the portion controlled pouches that did double duty as prep containers (I’ll explain that in a minute) made eating healthy fast and convenient. I was all but sold, but I had to check out the nutrition label.

Now for those of you not yet adept at reading labels, let me point out a few things. First, my morning oats are usually a half cup serving that is 150 calories and about 33g of carbs. As you can see, this oatmeal beats my oatmeal hands down on calories and carbs. It also has some good stuff in it like flax seed and the whole grain oats. It has some nutrients like calcium (but it’s carbonate so don’t get too excited). Overall, it’s not a bad choice for you or your family, based on the label.

Now the only question that remained was: would the portion size be enough to satisfy “the Wonder Pouch”?

You can’t see from the pictures I provided, but the instructions tell you to put your oatmeal in a microwave-safe bowl, fill the pouch to the fill line (which is 2/3 cups) with water and add it to the oatmeal.

Side note: I do a lot of my breakfast blogs at 5 a.m., meaning no divas to snap photos. Do you KNOW how hard it is to get this kind of shot by yourself. Yowsa!

True fact about oatmeal, you have a lot to do with the volume of your bowl of oatmeal. If you add a lot of water and cook it for a long time, the oats will expand (and get mushy in the process). You add a little water and the oats keep their firmness (unless you overcook them, in which case they dry out).

The most important factor in all this is how much liquid you add. So the fact that the box called for 2/3 cup of water, then, was encouraging. I could eat this and I would not be hungry afterward.

So I bought two boxes (Cinnamon Roll and Maple & Brown Sugar) and vowed to give them a go.

After prepping up some of the Maple & Brown sugar, here’s what came out of the microwave:

The coordinating bowl color was TOTALLY unplanned...

It looked and smelled like any other oatmeal, but how did it taste? For me, the determining factor was not if I had to add anything to it, but whether I had to add a specific thing to it: peanut product. If an oatmeal is too bland I usually add either peanut butter or peanut flour to it (I am using more of the latter these days as my peanut butter habits can get out of control very easily).

I tasted the oatmeal. Not bad…not bad at all. Mind you, I DID add a bit more Splenda (three packets) and a “splick” of salt (True fact: a bit of salt in prepared oatmeal reduces the amount of sweetener you need — try it! But don’t go crazy with it.). I shook some cinnamon over my bowl as well and…walked away…peanut free!

Folks, I consider that a success.

And as I thought, the bowl did, in fact, satisfy me very much. It was yummy, sweet, just a touch salty (that really does it for me) and…my breakfast was only 100 calories. Holy Cow!

The packaging suggests adding milk for a creamier consistency. That could be good. Since I take my iron right out of bed, I can’t do that but maybe I’ll try this for dinner someday and see. I like my regular oats in milk so why not these?

And of course, while I didn’t need to add peanut to my oatmeal, I am also not above doing so if I get the urge. And with 100 calorie, lower-carb oatmeal, why not?

Verdict: Diva says Divine!

BF Basics: Carb Confusion!

A person stands up in their weight-loss surgery support group and proudly proclaims, “I have successfully maintained my weight loss because I don’t eat ANY carbs!”

The support group leader smiles and asks, “Do you eat fruits? Vegetables? Dairy products?”

The person smiles and says, “Of course! But I don’t eat carbs!”

This is actually a (99.9%) true story a support group leader recently told me. It summarizes well why Bariatric Foodie is doing this little series on carbohydrates. When we have weight loss surgery, we are told, “Protein is king of all nutrients! Eat nothing before protein!”

Well that’s all well and good but it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to avoid carbohydrates. And that’s for good reason.

In this series we’re going to discuss what carbohydrates are, how they behave in your body, why you need them (yes, even simple ones from time to time) and give some pointers on how to manage carbohydrates in a well balanced eating plan.

So check back each day this week as we go through the following topics:

Part 1 – So what the hell is a carb anyway?
Part 2 – Simple vs. Complex: Why it’s not that simple.
Part 3 – A time for every carb…
Part 4 – Net Carbs & Fiber: YOU do the math.
Part 5 - Making it all work on YOUR plan

Along with this series, this week's recipes will show you better ways to approach carbs in your daily meal plans.

No need to take notes, peeps. The entire series is available as a free download and is stored it here on the blog for future use (look under "Your Food Questions, Answered"). If you like what you are seeing throughout the series, I hope you'll consider throwing a donation my way for my Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk endeavors (look to the right for my widget). If you don't feel so compelled...no worries! I do this first and foremost because I love it and will always continue to do so.

So...sit back...relax...and let's get CARBY!!!

Nik's Tropical Sunrise Protein Smoothie

Raise your hand if this has ever happened to you.

You decide to be nice and make something yummy for someone you love. It’s not for you, it’s for them. And because you love them, you put some actual effort into making it good — you measure out your ingredients, you mix it all up and prepare it carefully…you even make it look pretty.

Then, just to make sure everything is good…you know, quality control and all…you decide to have tiny little taste and think, “Hot damn! Why didn’t I make this for myself????” And now you’re officially pissed off. Because you know when you DO make it for yourself…it isn’t going to taste this good!

I found myself in that situation this morning. La Petite Diva has always loved protein drinks and I don’t mind feeding them to her, especially for breakfast on the go. She even has her own dedicated blender bottle so she can continue drinking all the way until she gets to school!

Here’s what went in the cup today:

Nik’s Tropical Sunrise Protein Smoothie

(Note: I’m not giving exact amounts with the fruit because, frankly, I always have a bit of trouble determining the actual measurement. I will say I filled my Magic Bullet blender cup ¾ of the way with fruit if that helps).

Ingredients
Frozen fruit medley (with a special emphasis on peaches, melon and strawberry)
Fresh cut mango
1 c. skim milk
1 scoop unflavored protein (or you could use a vanilla if you like)
½ stick Orange Early Sunrise drink mix (the kind from Wal-Mart)
A splash of sugar-free Coconut syrup

Directions:

Place fruit, milk, protein and drink mix in a blender and blend until smooth.

I topped the above with a dollop of whippage (force of habit) and a few mango pieces…after which I took the ill-fated sip before dumping the whole thing into my daughters blender cup.

I vow to make myself this smoothie later on today!!!

Breakfast for a three year post-op

I see a lot of long-termers doing something that bugs me a little bit.

Now I understand that some folks maintain a small pouch capacity. I can understand that.

But I also see a lot of people torturing themselves trying to eat like a new post-op forever. WLS group dynamics being what they are (from my purview), we can't ever admit to eating decent portions. Noooooo...that would be tantamount to admitting failure in some way!

Well I'm here to bust all that up. I eat. A good deal. Although, inexplicably, my calories tend to trend low (mostly because I've gotten very adept at eating a lot of food for not a lot of calories). But I throw down. And I have not gained all my weight back in doing so.

So I thought I'd show you guys a typical breakfast for me, a 3 year post-op. First, I should say my pouch isn't that different from yours. It didn't like food early in the morning. But here's the thing. I didn't like sweet protein shakes early in the morning. And one of us had to relent. And it wasn't going to be my brain.

How did I get my pouch to accept food in the morning? Simple. By giving it food in the morning! Conventional wisdom tells us that the metabolism is much better when we take in calories within about an hour of waking up. With my morning schedule that's actually more like 30 minutes post-wake-up. It took a while of fits and starts but my pouch eventually caught on. I can now eat straight out of bed. I try to use this information for good and not evil.

Anywhoo...a typical breakfast for me looks like the above. I have one slice of wheat toast (the brand I use has 50 calories, 8 net grams of carbs and 4g of protein), with a few sprays of Olivio no-cal spray and a poached egg. On the side is a half cup of unflavored Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon of PB2 and some Splenda mixed in.

So while we're on the subject, do you all know how to poach an egg? It's so easy and so much easier on some folks pouches. Here's how you do it:

Step One: Put some water in a pan (not a lot, maybe an inch or so) and bring it to boil. This will happen very quickly. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to the boiling water.