The reason you are not finding much is that WW really goes after people who post their info especially if they make money off it. I knew a lady who made points bracelets and sold them on E-Bay and they made her stop. If you know someone who goes to the meetings they can buy the info for you. If you check the diet forum MaryAnne posted a points calculator. Usually a point is about 50 calories but that can change as in the case of high fiber items which makes the points lower. Good luck! Kathy_PA

Mechanical soft diet refers to the consistancy mainly of the meat. Mechanical soft foods are very well cooked with lots of gravy or sauce for the meats. Meats can be cut up finely or med fine like ground beef. Also meat can be chopped in chunks. It will depend on the persons degree of chewing/ swallowing difficulty. Meats should be sliced very thin and always have gravy or sauce with them to aid in swallowing. Any foods can be eaten on a mechanical soft diet as long as they are cooked very tender and the meat is the proper consistency. If needed you can puree the meat or even all foods. Add nectar, juice, gravy, broth, milk or other calorie dense liquids to foods to puree.Even pureed foods can vary in consistancy. There are generally 3 consistancies used: pudding constancy, nectar consistancy and thin consistancy (almost the consistancy of milk). Some speech therapists also recommend using applesauce consistancy. The best thing to do is consult a speech therapist and your doctor if the person is having swallowing problems so a modified barium swallow test can be given. This test will assist in determining the proper consistancy of foods/liquids to avoid choking and aspiration. I hope I helped. Good luck to you. Debra Truncale, RD, LD

Ya, blender: get some protein powder from a health food store or excercise food store READ the label. You can make delicious SMOOTHIES with 'product' recommended serving of protein powder, any fruit of choice, milk and BLEND, yogurt too. You can even use peanut butter to throw in. Tell you doctor you want a dietitician - immediately. They can help with balanced meals. Can even try talking to a pharmacist for recommended supplements to put in these things. SMOOTHIES are great - yogurt and fruit and water Mashed potatoes and chili whipped into a drink with beef broth to thin out... Try those lovely canned stews and blend them, chunky soups and add MASHED potatoe to them for the starch content. Let me know if any of this helps. Dessert can be ANY PUDDING MIX, thinned out a little with milk... Green vegetables? Try another dinner shake with a creamy cheese sauce thinned with a little milk (recommend carnations canned 2 percent). Think about when you were a kid...I loved hamburger, mashed potatoe, peas and ketchup. I would smash it all together on my plate before eating it. If he is turned off by the LOOK, get some of those plastic cups with the straws that are solid colour so you can only taste and not see. The mind is funny sometimes. I hope this helps. Strongly suggest a dietician, need protein with his meals. Oh yeah, banana and peanut butter shakes are good to... chocolate and raspberries/strawberries (fresh/frozen) Let me know how it goes, Peggy

Thanks MarieND, ElsMaMa, I somehow seem to have given the impression that my Dad wont follow a diet. Actually, he is very good about trying to stick to a low fat, low carb, etc diet, and has his diabetes well under control at this point. The problem is that he gets tired of his extremely limited diet, and who can blame him. I'm just trying to help him find some other things he can eat. Since he is 70, and male, he just isn't willing to learn how to cook complicated dishes. He makes stir fry, and simple soup and stew dishes, for example. I just thought that maybe there were some microwaveable dinners that would fit his diet. Given the large number of older folks with these problems, you'd think some bright boy would be marketing to them. Thanks again! Le Jane