Eating right without a gall bladder: Low Fat, No Spice, High Anxiety!

As I approach 40, I have realized what most other 40+ year-olds already know: regardless of what I do, how well I eat, or how much exercise I get, my body is eventually going to betray me.  It's most recent coup comes from the digestive system.  My gall bladder has decided to create stones, eject them in to the common bile duct and cause bouts of extreme pain!  So, on Thursday, out comes the would be saboteur.

My doctor, whom I trust implicitly, has strongly suggested an ultra low-fat, no spice diet.  She claims eating these things will "anger" the gall bladder and may cause it to produce more stones or simply cause the existing stones to migrate to critical areas.  These things sound, bad.  So I have committed myself to this new form of eating until Thursday.  It has not been easy.  I work in the fitness industry.  I get it. Less saturated fat.  But NO FAT?  That means no oils, almost no beans (no humus!) no avocado, and no peanut butter!  I have had to embrace a diet of grilled or broiled poultry, fish, egg whites, rice, veggies, and fruit.  It is a next to impossible task if you want any flavor or variety in food.  

For all you fitness fanatics saying, "That is the way you should eat every day all day!"  No.  That is not actually true.  Our bodies need fatty acids for many things including utilization of fat soluble vitamins and, most obviously to me these last couple weeks, satiation!  But for the time being my gall bladder get's to win the fight even though the war will belong to me.  No fat and no spice.

I have been informed even after my surgery I will need to gradually increase my fat intake back to normal human levels.  I have been advised against visiting the local greasy spoon this weekend and pizza is a truly poor decision.  I decided this would be a great time to review three popular apps for weight management and food intake.  It SHOULD help me build variety in to my otherwise bland world. I will take a look at MyFitnessPal, Loseit!, and Fooducate. Starting Friday May 30, I will review one each week and do a head to head to head comparison on week 4. I will look at pros and cons for each app, what I find useful, what I find lacking and which one works best for the every day exerciser.

If there is anything specific you would like covered in the reviews please comment and I will take a look next week and let you know what I find.  Wish me luck!