Real food on 1.7mg - what do YOU eat?

I've noticed many people asking for meal ideas while taking semaglutide, but the advice is usually generic like "eat more protein" and "eat smaller meals." While technically accurate, that's not helpful when you're feeling sick and staring blankly into your refrigerator at dinner time. I'm 6 months in, so here's what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast (~9am): Two eggs cooked with a sprinkle of crumbled feta cheese and spinach. Half slice of whole wheat toast. Plain coffee. It took me a solid 25 mins to finish. Before sema, this would be gone in 5 mins flat with me wanting seconds.

Lunch (~1pm): A cottage cheese bowl consisting of cottage cheese, diced cucumber, sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning, and some halved grape tomatoes. Sounds odd, but it's good because it's chilled, it has little to no smell (key when dealing with nausea), and has around 25g of protein packed in a small volume.

Snack (~4pm): Plain Greek yogurt topped with some mixed berries. Sometimes I skip this because I'm not hungry.

Dinner (~7pm): Around 4oz baked chicken thigh, roasted broccoli florets, and a small amount of rice. I've found that I can tolerate chicken thighs more easily than chicken breast - the drier texture of chicken breast now makes me feel sick.

Total: ~1,200-1,400 calories, ~95g protein

Shoutout to my food tracking app for the helpful meal recommendations.

Here are some things I've learned along the way:

- Cold foods are easier to eat, especially right after my shot
- Smells are a trigger - potent cooking fumes can cause nausea
- Overeating = mistake #1. Now I put my silverware down in between each bite. Weird, but it works.
- Protein first, always. If I can manage only a few bites, they need to be full of protein
- I prep food on Sundays because decision-making at dinner after appetite reduction = skipping the meal, which makes the next day harder.

I went from struggling to eat anything in the second month to having a rotation of 8 or 10 go-to meals. It took time and experimenting.

What are some meals you rely on? I'm especially interested in meals for the first few months because I recall how awful that was.

It's too bad that you can't eat much food, and specifically hot food. I eat all the same things I used to, just less of them.

Sounds like an advertisement for a particular food tracking app.

What disadvantages have you noticed from using that AI tracking tool?

I totally agree with your point that just saying "eat protein" is not helpful, especially when you don't have the energy to test out different meals (or when finding a good meal feels like a chore, which is my usual problem)! I also struggle with hot meals when I'm feeling sick, so here are some meals I like. Since you seem to be able to handle eggs, I suggest egg salad, which is one of my go-to meals on days when I have a low appetite (or just a good meal in general) and can be upgraded with spices that you can stomach. It's great on whole wheat bread, too! To add more protein, you could add some of that cottage cheese instead of mayo! I also like to make a chicken and hummus plate, consisting of slices of deli chicken breast dipped in hummus along with cucumbers or carrots. I know you said that you struggle with chicken breast, so this might not be for you, but the hummus makes everything less dry and more yummy. When I'm really struggling, a protein drink or smoothie might help since you're just drinking instead of chewing. I hope you keep finding filling meals that don't trigger nausea!

I have a question. What's your height and weight?

I just started taking .5mg of Wegovy. I'm 5'11" and weigh 265 lbs. I work out 4-5 days a week while consuming between 2,000 and 2,500 calories a day. I'm not sure if I'm eating an excessive amount or not nearly enough.

That's very interesting. Like you, I'm also eating cold foods (I have to get those in first since nothing else sounds good). I have completely stopped eating fast food since it doesn't seem or look good anymore. Without the meds, all those cravings for cheese fries and burgers would come back, but now I can just say no because I have turkey and olives in the fridge for me to eat. I'm not a raging lunatic needing a food fix.

I eat pretty much the same thing every day: fresh, unsalted turkey from the deli counter, protein-packed Greek yogurt, peppers, organic cucumber, orange juice, plenty of water, and tea. No coffee. Sometimes I need a sweet fix and buy my favorite boba drink. Deep-fried food sounds horrible (coming from someone who used to love Panda Express!).

I switched from sema to tirtz and have no side effects. I was so tired on sema! I couldn’t even walk the dog. Now I have my energy and can exercise again. The extra cost is worth it.

Thanks for the advice. I have to work on eating slower. I'm always stressed about getting enough protein.

This is a great list of foods and very inspiring. I'm just getting started and have been doing a good job tracking my protein and eating a bunch of fruits and vegetables, but the meals look more like snack plates rather than a filling complex meal. These give me ideas for combining things so I can eat a more well-rounded meal rather than just a snack for each meal.

I don't have issues eating most foods. I just stay away from deep-fried stuff.

Everything went well last night. Sheet pan with seasoned and roasted diced potatoes, marinated chicken, and seasoned poblano peppers and broccoli. I eat the chicken and vegetables before I eat the potatoes.

I like snacking on edamame crisps, protein shakes, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, homemade beef jerky, bananas, etc.

I understand the nausea, and it's frustrating when a lot of my favorite healthy foods suddenly seem unappetizing. I'm only on .8 mg and my food is extremely bland right now.

I had 1450 calories and 160 g of protein today.

Thank you for posting this! I'm just starting month 2 and it's a real struggle to eat! I've been eating homemade protein oatmeal (or "proatmeal") and eggs. Strangely, I find that some vegetables are easier to eat than others. I'm currently finding success with steamed spinach and roasted sweet potatoes. Even weirder is that I don't want coffee, or more than 1 cup, anyway. That's far from when I used to drink it all day... I always thought it helped with my ADHD but I haven't felt massively different.

I eat a lot of snack-type foods as my meals: yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, cottage cheese, protein shakes/bars, tuna packets, vegetables with high-protein ranch dips, and fruit. I've noticed the same pattern with cold food vs. hot food. Soup is the only hot food I seem to crave, but most soups aren't super high in protein.

BugPath253 said:

What are some meals you rely on? Especially curious what works for people in the first few months because I remember how miserable that was.

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I didn't realize how bad my nutrition was until I started reading these posts. I need to get back on track, but it's kind of overwhelming. I eat mostly Greek yogurt, peanut butter toast, and protein shakes. It's easy when I'm busy taking care of my kids.

Thanks everyone for the meal ideas. I'm gonna try and be a little more adventurous. It's so easy to just fall into a rut of the same safe foods all the time.

I'm finding it really hard to eat enough overall. I'm losing weight, which is the point, but feeling weak and tired. Anyone else experience this?

I'm wondering if I should just force myself to eat more, even when I'm not hungry.

Vinnie33 said:

I'm finding it really hard to eat enough overall. I'm losing weight, which is the point, but feeling weak and tired. Anyone else experience this?

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That's when I started incorporating ready-made meals with good protein. They're easy on my stomach and keep my energy stable.

Red meat and really oily/spicy foods don't sit well with me, so I've been eating more fish. It's basically forced me to eat healthier.

Don't think I've hit a food that truly upsets my stomach yet. Been 6 weeks total now - started at point-two-five, sitting at point-five now (had covid in between). Nauseous a fair bit, but yogurt settles it right down. No clue what butter chicken even is, not keen to find out either.