Little Green

Dr. Weiner always says on his YouTube videos that you can tell real hunger apart from head hunger because you'll be happy to eat something healthy when you're really hungry, but that if you are craving greasy bad food and feeling sorry for yourself over eating an apple, it's head hunger. I'm pre-op so I have nothing to add myself - but I really appreciated the OP, @Creekimp13!

Okay, I got my samples in! I have to say, I got SO MUCH STUFF for just my $10 in shipping! I think I got at least 11-12 servings of the different kinds/flavors of vegan protein powders plus a couple little packets of supplements and the full-size green shaker bottle. That is a great value. It's really nice of them to offer such a comprehensive sample pack! The first one I decided to try was actually not the Veggie Elite protein mix but the Veggie Meal Replacement. The Veggie Elite mix seems like a workout-specific mix, like you would have with the whey powder. Basically just protein in a specific amino acid profile. The Meal Replacement has a different amino acid profile in the protein, plus Omega 3 & 6 from flax (I think it has DHA/EPA as well), plus an antioxidant blend of various herb/fruit powders and extracts, AND a probiotic blend. That packs a lot of punch! It's 190 calories with 22g protein and 8g fiber. Pretty impressive. They also included a Veggie Protein mix, which is basically the same as the Meal Replacement except without the probiotics, and it's fewer calories. So they have 3 vegan products - Meal Replacement, Veggie Protein, and Veggie Elite Protein. So the mix I made was the Veggie Meal Replacement powder in Chocolate Mocha flavor with 8oz chocolate soy milk (FULL DISCLOSURE: it is sweetened!), a couple oz water, and a few ice cubes. It's really not bad at all. It's slightly thicker than the premade Premier Protein shakes I've been trying - which I believe is true for all powders vs. premade shakes - and because it's got a tiny bit of stevia (about a gram), it's got a slight aftertaste. So, is it delicious? No. (And I haven't tried it with water or unsweetened milk yet.) But it's a protein powder. None of them are especially tasty and we're not drinking them for that reason. I don't think it would be fair to hold the vegan protein powder to a higher standard than the milk-based ones. In a whole food diet I don't think vegan protein powders would really have a regular place, because it's better to eat the actual peas and brown rice instead of just their protein - and better to eat the berries and herbs instead of just their extracts. But for bariatric patients in the early stages where volume is limited and stomach space is at a premium I definitely think these are a good choice. I'm so excited! Definitely going to be making an order of the full-size products. I also found Orgain on Amazon and at Costco, so I might give that one a try too. Apparently Garden of Life has an unflavored protein powder but the reviews on Amazon were pretty bad. So between the MRM powders and the Orgain I think I'll be okay for a bit. And I always have the Premier Protein as a backup. Sorry for the long post! Hopefully these details help someone

My surgeon had a little questionnaire to fill out, like on a scale of 1 to 5 how often does X or Y happen (ex: chance of falling asleep after lunch, chance of falling asleep while sitting quietly, etc.) and depending on that she made her recommendation for testing or not. (I always pass those tests because I sleep on my belly and don't have breathing issues - only when I try to sleep on my back do I feel the issue.) Usually the main symptoms of sleep apnea are severe snoring, gasping while sleeping, and higher than average daytime sleepiness.

How are you doing, @Brandi.? I would love to read an update from you if you're able. I hope you were able to get some help over the last couple of days and figure out what's wrong and get some relief. We're rooting for you.

I've heard awful things about Monat... hair splitting and breaking or even falling out, which reps blame on "detoxing" LOL - hair is dead, how can it detox?! Not sure about Biotin, either. I just stopped taking it myself (pre-op) after reading that it can interfere with results of lab tests. I cut my hair short and plan to keep it that way until I get through the hair loss phase. I figure it will be less noticeable on a short style than in a long style with ponytails, etc. Good luck!

Yep, sad but true. He keeps it pretty vague (I scoured his website and twitter lol) and besides the reference in FSND2, this is the only article I could find where he flat-out states he is not vegan: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-16203/why-im-not-having-a-vegan-thanksgiving.html So he eats fish & chicken, and occasionally red meat, and dairy as well. And I do agree that lowering the amount of meat you eat will make you healthier even if you don't go vegan, so the 70/30 thing isn't that bad, but if you are going to call yourself plant-based and build a business on being a fruit & veg diet guru, you should not be eating up to 30% of your diet from animal protein! Smh!!!

My favorite cereal is the Kashi whole wheat biscuits. They have a lot of fiber and protein - they are lightly sweetened so keep that in mind. (My favorite flavors are the cinnamon harvest and the autumn wheat.) I'm pre-op so I'm not sure when I'll be able to eat them after surgery, but the wheat soaks up a lot of the milk and they get quite soft and mushy so I am thinking I might be able to swing them in the soft food phase. Whole wheat has protein, plus you can sprinkle in some ground flaxseed for more. Add your milk and depending on serving size you could get 12-20 grams of protein in a bowl.

That is so awesome! I love seeing doctors resist the professional peer pressure to do things that aren't evidence-based. (Dr. Matthew Weiner has a video on YouTube with the title, "Bariatric Patients, Eat Your Veggies First!" and with all the "protein first, protein first!" talk, that rebellious title just tickles me.) I do agree with your surgeon about the #'s on losing weight once you're severely obese. It seems like the metabolic and hormonal changes that the fat tissue causes in the body are really difficult to overcome. For me, the #'s for people overweight from childhood (check) and BMI above 50 (check) were so abysmal that even before I considered surgery I had trouble believing I would ever lose weight. I felt like I was fooling myself. I'm glad I finally chose to go forward with surgery and I look forward to maintaining weight loss for the rest of my life! Congrats on taking the first step! Surgery will be here before you know it.

I'm waiting for my at-home sleep study on January 23. This wasn't required by my surgeon but I requested it because I can't breathe well when I sleep on my back and I know post-op I'll need to sleep on my back for awhile. (I'm currently using a wedge pillow but it doesn't help much with the breathing issue. Definitely more comfortable, though!) The sleep doc recommended it as well due to the increased risk of difficulty breathing while on pain meds immediately post-op. I'm not saying that I hope I have OSA or anything, but I would feel a lot less anxious if I had a mouthpiece or CPAP machine to use for the first little while after surgery. We'll see.

My surgeon is not anti-caffeine but recommends stopping it prior to surgery because of risk of withdrawal. You'll need to be focused on getting water and/or nutrient-rich liquid during your first couple weeks post-op and you won't want to waste that stomach space on coffee. As you can eat more there's no reason not to have caffeine IMO. All this talk about diuretic effects seems to ignore the fact that caffeinated beverages are made WITH WATER.

I'm going back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando and I'm going to ride all the rides instead of holding my mom's stuff! Might be a graduation trip, maybe in 2020 which would be 2 years after surgery.

I gained 4 pounds at my last diet visit (still 3 pounds down overall at that point). I asked my surgeon to tell me honestly what she thought about my weight. She said she would say 2 things - 1 on the record and 1 off the record. The off-the-record response was that as an experienced surgeon she did not feel pre-op weight loss was always correlated with success afterward because pre-op we are still struggling and fighting against the hormones and the screaming hunger monkey on our backs along with all the anxiety of making this huge decision to have WLS and saying good-bye to certain foods and that lifestyle forever. The radical changes in hormones and hunger levels after surgery are the tool we use to lose weight combined with willpower - whereas before surgery we ONLY have willpower at our disposal. The on-the-record response was that she wasn't happy about the weight gain, and I needed to be extremely focused during the remaining pre-op period. She said I was still down overall which is an accomplishment because many patients struggle not to continue gaining. However despite that, she counseled me to strive to lose as much weight as possible because the smaller your belly at surgery the safer it would be. That was a month ago today and I've lost 13 pounds since then. I think she truly understood how I felt and both answers were what I needed to hear - that yes, it's hard to lose weight pre-op and don't beat yourself up, but also don't get complacent and strive every day to make good choices for yourself and your safety. That mix of answers worked for me! As far as insurance and whatnot, I was 367 on my consult day and 364 my last diet visit. They submitted the paperwork 12/18 and I was approved 12/22. So, no issue. Take it as a sign you need to be more focused, but don't go crazy with anxiety about it.

To me it's similar to Dr. Davis's book but on steroids. I know you've seen his videos on NutritionFacts.org so imagine a whole book made up of those videos. It's very enjoyable but definitely brain-heavy. I just finished part 1 where he talks about all the studies and "how not to die" and I usually did 2 chapters per day just to let my brain rest and soak up the info in between. Now I'm starting part 2 where he talks about the daily dozen and what foods should make up the bulk of your diet.

I really like unsweetened soy milk but the one I buy from Trader Joe's isn't fortified with calcium. So I tried one from the regular grocery store that is both fortified and sweetened. It's not awful but I definitely like the unsweetened better. (This is over cereal, I don't drink it straight.) Any brand recommendations for unsweetened soy milk with added calcium would be welcome!

It's funny when you realized recipes you used all along were plant-based and healthy. Here is the recipe I use for marinara (and it's oil-free!) - 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes 1 6 oz can tomato paste 1 tbsp onion powder (or 1 diced yellow onion) 1 tbsp dried minced garlic (or 3 cloves minced garlic) 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp basil 1/2 tbsp oregano 2 bay leaves pepper to taste Cook 6-8 hours in the crockpot until it's reduced and caramelized and your house smells like heaven. Cheaper, tastier, and healthier than jarred sauce! @Newme17 you might recognize it as a Budget Bytes recipe! I found her site 3-4 years ago and this is the recipe I've made the most often. The texture is a happy medium between chunky marinara and smooth sauce-like marinara. I think crushed tomatoes are absolutely perfect texture-wise, but you can use diced tomatoes for chunkier sauce, or use the immersion blender to make this one totally smooth. This is not a super sweet spaghetti-style sauce. Personally I never liked spaghetti/tomato sauce because it was too sweet (I know a lot of people actually add white sugar to their spaghetti sauce) and when I tried this recipe I knew I found the right one. The brown sugar just cuts the acidity a bit without adding a bunch of sweetness. Just the right level of tangy tomato-y-ness for me personally. And it has TONS of vitamin A and lycopene for extra cancer-fighting abilities! Whoop! Edit - we use this on pasta almost exclusively, but we have also used it as a sauce for pita pizza and it's a nice texture for dipping too.

I will check those out! Thank you for the recommendation! No, not yet. I'm pretty bummed about it but hopefully it should be here soon. I'm still in limbo on my surgery date but it'll probably be 10-14 days until my liquid diet starts so I'm anxious to get some vegan protein shakes/powders in my arsenal!

My snow day plant based breakfast of Kashi cereal with blackberries, blueberries, and soy milk. Proteinaholic on my Kindle and How Not to Die in hardcover. Going to relax and read all day!!!

I called today to check on the preauth and she told me I was approved!!! Woohoo! I had a "oh crap" moment because she said I was approved for surgery TOMORROW... um...? But it was just a dummy date they put on the request. So I called the bariatric office to confirm and they said the coordinator wasn't in the office but she'd call me tomorrow or Friday to set up the date and pre-op labs! I'm kinda sick with anxiety, I'm thrilled but my stomach is just roiling and twisting with knots. I probably have around six weeks before my surgery now and it seems like it's next week. It's been 14 months since I decided to pursue WLS and almost 10 months since my consult! Long time coming, but it'll be worth the wait!

@Newme17 those Mary's crackers are SO DARN GOOD. I couldn't believe the first 3 ingredients were rice, flaxseeds, and quinoa! It really goes to show how delicious herbs can make things! And I love how crunchy they are.

Omg... recipe?! That looks sooo good.

We've been traveling all day so here is my on-the-road menu. Keep in mind I am still pre-op so I don't have restrictions yet. At the hotel had a waffle with strawberries, pecans, and walnuts on top plus shared a large plate of fruit with my husband. A few hours later right before we hit the road I had an iced coffee with soy milk, half a banana, and a Kind "Pressed" bar which are whole food fruit bars! They taste like fruit leathers if you've ever had those, but they also have either chia seeds or greens in addition to the fruit. Only "bar" I've ever had that has natural fiber instead of added chicory root or something. It's so nice to see a bar that has "mango, apple, chia seeds" as the ingredients. All day on the interstate so a few hours from home we stopped and I got Taco Bell pinto beans for a snack. The tortillas, beans, potatoes, rice, and guacamole are all plant-based there! You could make a good burrito or burrito bowl out of those ingredients if you needed to eat on the road. Then when we got home we met my parents for supper at an Italian place. I had minestrone soup and gnocchi with marinara sauce. I also had a Caesar salad, which wasn't vegan but hey I'm still transitioning, right! Lol. I'm so new to this way of eating, less than 2 full weeks, but so far I'm happy with the variety! I definitely need to get more greens and more consistent protein because I am hungry every 2-3 hours right now. I think my stomach might be missing that super full feeling you get from a large animal protein meal. We have been traveling non-stop so not much cooking as been happening but I just got the How Not to Die cookbook and I'm going to try a few things this week!

The more I've been learning about fruit the more I want to make it a part of pretty much every meal, as well as having regular servings of whole grains like oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, etc. I'm having gastric bypass so there's a greater risk of dumping syndrome. I'm wondering if these healthy but carb-y foods also cause dumping, or if it's mostly just refined sugars and high-fat foods. I'm particularly interested in your particular experiences rather than what we might assume should/shouldn't cause dumping. Thanks in advance for any advice!

I had a gain at my very last appointment (so frustrating!) but because I will still under my start weight, it wasn't an issue and I was approved with no issue. You've still got some time to come back down again. It's definitely normal to be anxious about it, so I completely understand. But, I do believe you will be just fine.