36 Part I: Eating Right with Every Bite
✓ Take small (pencil eraser size) bites and chew, chew, chew.✓ Eat slowly. Take 20 to 30 minutes to complete a meal.
✓ Introduce one new food at a time and don’t try more than one new
food every couple of days.✓ Continue to keep your food diary, including notes of any unusual
symptoms that may indicate you are not tolerating a food.
✓ Use small plates and utensils to help control portions.✓ Use fat-free gravy, light mayo, and broth to moisten food.Sample menu for a soft-food diet
With fewer restrictions, you’ll probably really like this stage! Use this sample
menu as a guide to help you eat well. You can add low-carb protein supple-
ments as needed to meet your protein goals.✓ Breakfast-^1 ⁄ 2 banana
- One scrambled egg
✓ Lunch- Ground beef patty with fat-free gravy
- Soft cooked broccoli
- Fruit cocktail in its own juice
✓ Snack- Plain fat-free yogurt with artificial sweetener or low-carb protein
supplement (if needed to meet protein needs)
✓ Dinner- Chicken and vegetable soup
- Whole-grain crackers
- Pears canned in water
✓ Snack- Sugar-free pudding or low-carb protein supplement (if needed to
meet protein needs)