I am ten and a half years post surgery and I still stay completely away from any and all fried foods. I also do not eat donuts or other bakery products unless they are homemade (low fat) and I know exactly what is in them ( no trans fats ) and what the calories are. I try to avoid processed sugars (candy and cakes) and I never drink my calories ( juices or soda). However I will drink juice if I juice it myself in my Juiceman.I will juice the fruits and vegetables that I don't like to eat but I know are good for me such as beets, blueberries, strawberries, parsley, broccoli stems and melons. I stay away from cream sauce of any kind. I limit my intake of pasta because for some reason it sits real heavy in my stomach and bothers me. I avoid white bread in any form (sliced,English muffin, bagel) and white pasta and sugar free beverages because they all trigger cravings for more of the same. So I choose to stay away from them whenever possible. I eat red meat on a very limited basis and I almost never eat deli meats.
I do eat a lot of egg whites, canned tuna,fat free dairy ( cottage cheese, sliced cheese, milk ). I eat baked chicken, baked or broiled white fish, turkey burgers and meatloaf, broiled scallops. I choose Beefstake lite Rye bread when I have bread and I eat a fair amount of bran and wheat based cereal. I eat baked sweet potato or baked sweet potato fries, and I eat yukon gold potato, mashed , with skim milk and fat free butter as well as fat free cheddar cheese for flavor. And lots of fruits and vegetables.
At some point in the near future I will post under a section called Eating Plan, what my 13 week eating plan is for the 13 weeks that began two days ago. Not that I expect anyone to follow my plan, but to hopefully subscribe to the concept that a plan is a very important element to success and you will design your own plan for eating within a time frame that works for you.