Little Green

MY world revolves around you.

I'm sorry you're dealing with the nut allergy! That's sooo frustrating. Definitely glad to hear that your NUT is open to a plant-based diet! For whole food concentrated protein, like you said, beans are definitely the way to go. You can eat hummus or refried beans as well, they are a bit smoother/less filling so you might be able to eat more that way. Another good option is soy, particular soy milk. Make a smoothie with soy milk or add it to your oatmeal and that's 8-12g of protein just from the milk depending on how much you use. (Most other plant milks are low in protein.) In terms of non-concentrated protein, you can get it from literally any whole food. Whole grain pasta has a pretty good amount, about 4 grams in half a serving (1 oz dry). Most plant foods will have 1-3g in a serving and throughout the day that adds up. For plant-based protein that's more processed, like a supplemental protein (which you will definitely need this early post-op) there are some really tasty protein bars I've found called Nugo which are vegan and made from soy protein. I believe many of the flavors do not contain nuts, but you'd have to check to be sure. You can buy them on Amazon or in the protein bar aisle at Whole Foods. (And maybe other places!) You can also look for protein powders made from pea protein, brown rice protein, etc. as well. Orgain is one common brand. I just found some ready-made vegan shakes (like premier protein) at Target that I believe are Evolve brand, but I haven't tried them yet. Hopefully they taste all right! Probiotics... well that's a whole other discussion LOL (basically if you're not eating animal products you likely don't have a big need for probiotics as the plants help your gut bacteria stay happy on their own) but to answer your direct question, there are some fermented plant options! Sauerkraut if you like it, and kombucha tea are two good places to start. You can also make yogurt and kefir from soy milk, although I haven't done it myself (yet!) so I can't give you specific guidance. Good luck!!

I knowwww, I feel like we got in WAY too early and now we have to sit and wait for the general public release lol. But, they just posted a new teaser trailer on their facebook!

I didn't need a referral. I saw my PCP about 3 months after my consult and said, "I'm having bariatric surgery, here are my plans." (She was and is super supportive, thank goodness!) Many PPO insurance plans don't require referrals, so check that out before you find another doc and pay a copay. I'm usually against doctor hopping but unfortunately many still stigmatize WLS when it's the only thing shown to work for this population. In this specific instance I would definitely recommend finding a new PCP if your insurance requires a referral.

Okay no it does not help anymore............. you bamboozled me! LOL. I haven't called the office yet to tell them I'm postponing until May, so still have March 8 as the official date. We would have been almost twins!

Yes. That does help. When do you start?!

No. Whole fruit consumption promotes weight reduction. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5084020/) So stick to smoothies (as opposed to, say, juicing) and having fruit as a snack, and you'll be just fine!

Sooooo not fair. I'm so jealous!

Omg the Penny Saeger reference The documentarian used to be me.... I was f-cking psycho in my MyFitnessPal days.... And the bolded? Well... ME

No sugar added means the popsicles are likely made with fruit juice instead of an artificial sweetener. Gotta be careful with those stupid marketing phrases and always check the ingredients/nutrition info. So, no, those popsicles would not be appropriate for the diet. My surgeon's diet didn't specify exact grams or quantity of macros/calories but just said to have 5 servings of protein shakes with each shake being 200 calories or less, 15g of protein or more, and 8g of sugar or less. Combined with unlimited amounts of broth/jello/popsicles that's around 800-1000 calories per day and 80+ grams of protein. Again, that was not specified as the goal, but that's how the math works out. On my surgeon's diet, no, you would not be able to have almond milk or SF pudding, only jello. That seems acceptable for the protein powder, but I don't know your diet's requirements. Did you get any documents or literature related to the diet guidelines? If not, I would call and ask the dietitian. I'm telling you information based on my surgeon, but your surgeon could have a totally different philosophy.

No, you'll have to do the 6-month diet with your surgeon's office, sorry. No wiggle room with BCBS. Don't miss any appointments or you'll have to start over... not that I would know from personal experience or anything...

3 bags of cold brew iced tea and 1 bag of mint tea = the best-tasting unsweetened tea you ever did drink! It's not extremely minty, just enough to give it a hint of, "Hmm... that's delicious! What is that?!" and kill some of the bitterness.

Thank you Fluffy!!! No way I'm checking out, believe me. If anything I'm excited at the thought of weighing less prior to surgery and getting my husband more prepared to do his own cooking while I'm progressing through the various post-op food stages. I might also just feel relieved at being "done" with all the drama surrounding the date. What a week, I'm telling you. What a week.

Thank you so much! And yeah... whew. Now if you're able and willing to pay yourself, it's often much easier to get things done. It's definitely way more complicated when insurance gets involved. I just... I don't even know how my situation got so screwed up I do agree somewhat with the bolded. It makes me feel weird (not judgey, just weird) that people can hypothetically have surgery within weeks of even coming up with the idea. I'd been reading about WLS in depth for nearly 2 years when I walked into the surgeon's office the first time! So I think there's some pros & cons to the system for sure. But there's something to be said for making the decision and moving forward immediately. Leaves much less time for the emotional pity parties and food funerals

You guys, Larry derailed the topic. Honestly I think @BigViffer had the right idea and to me it's more likely Larry was a scammer than an actual perv. He cast a very wide net trying to find a mark, but we all reported him right away so he went bye-bye. I thought it was funny - but I'm really sorry it made people uncomfortable and I hope none of my jokey comments added to that discomfort.

So I'm going to take the next few days and mull this over, but I'm considering postponing my surgery to May. (I have authorization from the insco through June.) The point of all the hurrying was to get it done in February before everything with my husband's job imploded... now that it's in March and whatever happens with the insurance will happen regardless, it's more of a PITA than anything else because it's in the middle of my school semester. I'm feeling so amazed at how everything got so complicated, lol. I originally wanted to have surgery in December but I screwed it up when I missed an appointment and had to restart my 6-month diet. So then the plan was January, but waiting for all the testing to be completed pushed it back again. Now you guys know the story of February in painful detail so I won't repeat that... and now it's in March. So................ I just don't see the difference between March & May, practically speaking, and May is more convenient in many ways. Again, I'm going to sleep on it for a bit. I don't want to be rash. I'll discuss with my support system and make a list of pros & cons before deciding. (Is it super petty that one of the appeals of having surgery in May is that one of the pieces we're singing in the music program this semester has a high C and I'm the only one who can hit it-- and I was worried that I wouldn't get to sing it after surgery???? Lolololol okay don't answer that. *angel face*)

Haha! Of course! And even if you weren't, I'm as foul-mouthed as they come so you still wouldn't have offended me LOL. I've been out and about all day visiting with my family so I wasn't checking in on BP. No worries!!!

Awww. How sweet you are I'm going to regret it again when I restart liquids, I know!

@Apple203 I'm not sure what "release your guard rails" means LOL. Whole30 eliminates grains and legumes and dairy, Dr. Weiner promotes whole grains & legumes as healthy and doesn't care much about dairy as long as it's low-fat. Not sure how that's Whole30 approved, lol. "He" throughout my post is Dr. Weiner... I thought that was clear, sorry. Is there something I'm missing as to why people say Dr. Weiner promotes the same diet as everyone else? I've read his book and watched all of his videos, many 2-3 times. I've never seen another bariatric surgeon request his or her patients eat mostly veggies and focus on plant proteins. (Except Dr. Garth Davis who's a vegan.) The immediate post-op diet for my surgeon is the same as everyone else. Focus on protein & water. (Except my surgeon only asks for 50g protein.) We have a graduated list of approved foods as we progress through the diet. Obviously I'm planning to follow that to a T for my own safety! I'm talking long-term.

Really??? LOL I actually think it's pretty darn different. The standard advice is to eat your protein (and the word "protein" in that context almost always means meat or dairy) first and then if you can fit in other healthy foods, do it. (As you mentioned in your post, fitting in 1-2 oz of broccoli around your protein, maybe, if you have room.) In contrast to this Dr. Weiner strongly emphasizes eating vegetables first and fitting in protein around that. He also recommends plant foods - veggies and legumes and fruit and raw nuts - ahead of meat and dairy and has fairly low protein requirements - about 50g compared to many bariatric plans encouraging 80-100g. (Of course he isn't vegan by any stretch and I've seen him recommend yogurt smoothies and small amounts of animal protein, etc. He even said in one video that he doesn't think that a fully plant-based diet is "necessary for the general population." So yeah, while we're claiming him he's not necessarily "ours," know what I mean? Just a good resource!) While Dr. Weiner's diet is "low carb" compared to our pre-op sugary diets, it's certainly not low carb in the bariatric sense. You can't eat many fruits and certainly not any beans and whole grains and still remain under 30-50g carbs. It's also low-fat. Difficult to be low-fat and low-carb at the same time! He also promotes eating in abundance instead of focusing on calories, a huge difference from most bariatric plans. You just need to eat your abundance from healthy plant foods (Obviously you still end up eating fewer calories because you're eating high-volume, low-calorie foods but it's the mindset that helps make a difference!) So on a spectrum with keto/Atkins on the left and veganism on the right I'd say he's definitely well across the center line to the right, while most bariatric plans are basically keto except with low-fat dairy and some wiggle room for beans. Sorry for the long post, Fluff - I am fully carbed again, having eaten an abundance of fruit, oats, and rice in the last couple of days that I've been free from my liquid diet. So I'm all peppy and ready to argue again!!! Heehee!

Dude you would so dig Dr. Greger. You love research and that's literally what he does - comb through every article published in every English-language medical journal every year and break down research for laypeople. Come on Johnny... join the veggie train with us. There's a metric f-ckton of evidence for it!

I don't expect anyone to believe me at this point but they moved my date again lol. March 8. So get ready, maybe, kinda sorta. Until the next update.

We do have COBRA coverage... if it comes to that. It's $1500 a month *guts clench violently* but that's cheaper than self-paying for surgery. I'm just not sure how it works and if it's considered like a continuation of the previous policy where all the coverages and claims are still kosher, or if it's a new policy that starts, or what. Right now my husband is pretty sure he can get back to work before then, although my blood pressure is still not ready to hear all the details of that situation yet maybe another day or so of solid food and then I'll be ready.

I already told them I needed it done before the 20th and that's why they got me in on the 15th. Then the snafu happened. Supposedly it was going to be the 19th but there are certain Mondays that the surgeon does not operate and that was one of them I'm at peace. Plus, now I can have hibachi with my parents tomorrow night and then enjoy my mom's birthday party Sunday. I also found some vegan premade shakes at Target so that gives me time to try them and maybe buy some in bulk so I don't have to keep drinking Premier whey protein lol. I just can't bear the phone tag games anymore, so I'm just going to take the 28th and rest with it. THANK YOU ALL for listening and responding and encouraging me. What a 72 hours it has been, lol. I love my BP friends and I'm just so darn thankful for you all!