Weight Loss Surgery - Question: Food

OK I'm Kieran The Question Girl today (totally off topic I used to get called that as a kid and even got a book Colleen the Question Girl)
I was thinking of making my own trail mix and putting single servings in Ziplocks maybe unsalted peanuts and almonds some other nut and Raisins
What do you guys think? Do you have any better components? I'm sick of pria bars balance bars etc and I don't want anything slathered in sugar and corn syrup obviously I figured if I measured Everything going in and measured into single serves it might be a good idea and keep me from cruising for junk. (i only do it without change in my pocket so trouble can't ensue!)

Kier

I'm lurking but have you looked at Larabars? They are raw food bars that have very simple ingredients, dates and nuts. They are also portion controlled which I like.

I was doing my own trail mix for a while but I couldn't really control myself so I stopped.

Kier - we all have snack ideas - and putting them in single serving baggies is absolutely the way to go.

having said that, take a real hard look at your nutritional needs before you go off making trail mix [which i love, but it DOES have some downsides].

are you getting enough protein?
how many grams of carbs are you eating?
how much other fat are you eating?

these are the factors that go into selecting a snack. at your stage, my snack was jerky because i wasn't coming anywhere near my protein goals without it.

nuts and seeds are wonderful sources of protein, but they also have a lot of fat [which translates into dreaded calories - even though they're GOOD fats], AND they have some carbs. not a lot - but when you mix in DRIED FRUIT, the carbs go WAY up.

a dietician i used to see had a great snack mix - using cheerios, with small amounts of nuts and dried fruit, and even some tiny little chocolate chips. it was a bit carb-y for me, but tasted GREAT. her thoughts were to get some very high quality [hence, long lasting] carbs in with enough protein to prevent a dumping reaction.

now, having said that, i think Meg has a low-carb protein bar recipe somewhere that's based on a chocolate protein powder. it wasn't bad, as i recall. better than pria bars!

you're very very smart to be doing this, ya know! let us know what your experiments lead to!

Hi Question Lady,

I make my own protein bars and love them. They're pretty calorie dense, but a little goes a long way and I know exactly what's in them. All I do (and it varies every time I make some) is take a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter (I try to use good quality, no additive stuff) a scoop of protein powder (Unjury unflavored is my favorite), a little cinnamon, a little vanilla, maybe some dried fruit ( I have to admit I've used chocolate chips too!) and some raw oatmeal straight out of the round container to bind it all together. Oh yeah, I usually add a little agave nectar too, but you don't have to. Then I squish it between waxed paper sheets to form a bar and voila! - a custom made protein snack. I don't know how much sugar/sugar alcohol you can handle since I didn't have a bypass, but this works for me and maybe you can change it to suit your needs.

Chickadee