Little Green

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!

@niseys4, @Little Green Is absolutely right. The more you eat, the LESS gas you’ll have. Just keep on eating and eventually your body will become immune, so to speak, to the Beans. Black beans are my favorite, I have them quite often and am not gassy either.
@Little Green, thank you hon for your likes and kind words! Like @Apple1, I have been mia a bit l, but am returning to be encouraged and give encouragement again. I love Dr Greger too and regularly go to his website, Nutritionfacts.org for information as well. I’m thankful for him and Dr David for the immense information regarding our health and eating a Whole Foods plant based diet. It’s been quite awesome learning and reaping the benefits of it!
So....I haven’t made a pic, but I made some chipotle portobello oven fajitas tacos today. Soooo good! I used very thin tortillas, but I probably would have been better off with just 1/2 of one or none at all. WAY too filling for me. Check out the recipe!
https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/06/chipotle-portobello-oven-fajitas/

Good evening y’all. It’s a chilly 30 something outside and a great day for some vegan chili!!! 😁
I used a medium salsa (probably should have used mild) it had quite the kick. I also kind of overmeasure my spices on purpose, but it’s all so tasty. I ate some with a few crackers as well. I actually took pics today. Enjoy!

Made some lentil loaf tonight for dinner

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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.

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.

Usually that gets better the more you eat them, so you might be stuck in a cycle where you don't want to eat them because of the gas but you can't get over the gas because you don't eat them much. I've heard that soaking dry beans overnight before cooking the next day can help reduce the compounds that cause gas. I also saw a video about "Beans, Gas, & You" on YouTube LOL but I haven't watched it yet. It's from the lilykoihawaii channel if you want to look it up!

@Newme17, girl you are the bomb dot com. You too, @Apple1. I've been reading through this thread for several days (lots of the "somebody liked a post..." notifications you've been getting are from me! LOL) and I'm finally to the end! I'm so thrilled to find some other bariatric patients eating plant-based. Thank you for sharing your recipes and your passion/knowledge!!! Love it!
I'm reading Proteinaholic now based on your recommendation (as well as reading through that thread so be prepared for more notifications! ).
I haven't searched through the entire forum yet but if y'all haven't read How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger, you gotta get on it STAT. It is so thorough, so well-researched and well-cited, and so compelling. It has changed me and my husband to be plant-based and my therapist has ordered it as well. You can also check out his videos on YouTube (NutritionFacts.org) if you can't get the book just yet. (But the book is still the best!)
I'm about six weeks pre-op at this point and planning to eat fully plant-based between now and my liquid diet. Due to the restriction in food volume intake I know I will almost certainly have to supplement with dairy products to hit at least 50g Protein, but I plan to make as much of my protein plant-based as possible. Definitely going to be a lot of pureed Beans and bean chilis until I can eat more!

I told everybody, including strangers on the street. I never have to worry about keeping my story straight or it coming out later that I lied to anyone. The only person who gave me a negative reaction was someone who could've used the surgery herself! She's no longer in my life so that's no problem.
In my experience, telling people the truth is a less difficult than it seems. Good luck to you!

Nope, that just happens if I eat too much junk or fatty foods. I'll either get nausea really bad or my stomach will send it back up. I've had rice and only got sick from it once after that I tolerated it okay.

Oatmeal was fine.
Quinoa was fine.
I eat whole wheat bread but it's always as toast. That's fine too.

I eat pineapples in small quantities
Same with oranges

I even had Couscous a little while ago and handled that okay. Different people can tolerate different things. There's some people that can still eat fatty things... Not sure why they would but they can.


Hw-273
Sw-226
CW-146
GW-130
Size- 4 or 6, Small in sweats. Small in shirts. depends on how it's cut or made.
Bra Size- 38D

Surgery Date- April 26th, 2017
RNY
"Only those who try will become" FFX

I hadn't done medically supervised weight loss, either. On my intake form they asked which diets I'd tried and for how long, so I just listed them and it wasn't a problem. I completed the 6-month diet visits required by my insurance and got approved with no issue. Good luck!

WooHoo!!! It will be here and gone before you know it!!

Congrats! Wishing you a safe effective outcome:)

Congrats!! We will be walking this journey together. It’s been just about a year for me too. Now it’s just 12 days away!


Carla from LV

My wife was on board so it didn't take any convincing but here's one thing you might try. We were at the store buying a bag of paper cat litter (for our rabbits). Each bag weighs 25#'s. I had my wife pick one up and pointed out that I am carrying around more than 3 of those in extra weight. That was am eye opener even for me.

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He read my letter, and thought it was sweet. He did argue with me that he wanted me to try a different diet and exercise method with him in control. I told him I've already tried that, and when I told him last year that I was going to consider wls if trying to loose weight failed again then that was the time to have done it. I'm not going to wait any longer. I stuck to my guns. He'd prefer I lost weight without surgery but will stand by me for this. He is happy that I am taking my health into control and I think he will get more comfortable with the idea of wls as time goes by.

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I took my husband to all of my seminars and most of my doctor appointments. He asked a lot of good questions and spent my first night home reading all of my instructions from the hospital out loud. Then, he read all my post surgical stuff from my doctor and nutritionist. He's been a key player in keeping me on track and being my cheerleader. My adult daughter has been amazingly supportive, too. Tells me she's proud of me all the time. I lucked out in the support department and i'm truly grateful.
Even my mom...who was scared to death about the surgery...has become a cheerleader. She keeps Protein Drinks in her fridge for me and is completely supportive.
Most of the folks who love us will have a little struggle with fear. Education helps:)

I sat down with my husband and told him how miserable I was. How unhappy. How my knees hurt. How my orthopedic surgeon would not do the knee replacement until I lost at least 50 pounds. How I was tired of being fat. How I was tired of doing everything and it not working and how the doctor said I was a great candidate for this.
And I told him how I went to the information seminar and I really thought this was the way to go. And I was scared because it was permanent, but I needed to do it and I wanted to be there for him and our kids. And I wanted him to come with me in two weeks to my meeting with the surgeon. And that's how it went.
And we cried. And we hugged. And he said - I love you and I want you to be happy. That's what I did.
To be fair, I did not tell my mother or my sister, since I knew they would not be supportive of my decision. They still don't know. You need to do this for your health. If he loves you and wants you around for the long term, then he will come around.

Be steady, stay consistent, try not to be scale obsessed.
Record your food. And eat. Work up to 1000-1200 calories by 6 weeks out.
Record your fluids.
Record your Protein.
Record your exercise.
Record your blood pressure.
Don't worry about your weight so much right now. Lotta Water redistributing, hormones, all sorts of weirdness. If you keep steady on your diet and exercise....it'll happen.
Be patient and try really hard to quit the emotional obsession with the scale. The constant highs "look, I lost two pounds!!!" and lows.."OMG, why did I just gain a pound???" are upsetting and counterproductive.
Slow and steady wins the race:)

Been there. I survived it a day at a time:) I tell people it's the hardest part of the whole thing. Surgery was easy in comparison in my mind. The pre-surg diet was hard, and the post-surg diet is hard, too. BUT....at least when you're post-surg, it's all down hill. You know you're coasting toward a healthy diet again, and you get to add things.
Hang tough...you'll make it.

I never hit my goal weight either, and I've regained since then. Not sure how much: I'm afraid to look at the scale. I hope it's only 15, but I think it might be closer to 25 or 30. I've gotten addicted to processed carbs again, so I need to go off them, but it's tough.
I was near perfect on my diet for a year, but never did any exercise. I think that really prevented me from reaching my goal. I'm feeting very motivated to exercise now; in fact, I'm going tomorrow to get a gym membership. (I do much better at exercise with a gym membership than working out at home.)
I'd like to do Keto because it's so effective, but since the surgery, my body really does not like it when I eat much fat. Also, there aren't a lot of Protein sources I like, so I'm thinking about looking into a more plant based diet. I like the idea of fruits, vegetables, Beans, string cheese, Greek yogurt, eggs, and some meat here and there. I should go back to Protein Shakes, but I drank so many for so long that I'm really tired of them. I think I'll start the Pound of Cure diet and see where it takes me.
Anyway, good luck to you! It's tough when it seems that everyone else has been so successful, but tomorrow is another chance at success.

Sounds like you're in the other 60%!

Wife & I have been on this whole plant food over a year now. She is off 90% of her meds. ( Back problems )
My weight is 153. Hers is 125.
Her last check up her doctor there was something wrong because she had lost so much weight. She couldn't understand the whole plant base food.
There is a cardiologist in town that teaches & offers this to her patients. She's tells them you can take these pills & see me for the rest your life or eat this way & never see me again. We will be seeing her soon.
Several friends have reversed there heart problems.
3 have cured there diabetes & off meds.
This is the easiest way to eat after a year. We don not count calories or worry about gaining weight any longer.
By eating this way everything else takes care of itself.
If you way of eating stops & reverses heart disease good for you.
The family believes if we had not found this way of eating I would of been a widower. This is why I come across so strong about this. This works. And it is sad that folks die & get sick because this information is not getting out, or it is challenged with fake information. The Tobacco company use to do this. Mix up the message to fool the public. Like the meat & dairy folks do to day. There is to much money in pills, to allow us to eat plants. $500 thousand is made off each cancer patient. Think about why diets are so confusing?
Bless all of you guys & Ladies.

MY STORY: ​
I was sleeved almost 5 years ago. I love it. But I my weight was climbing back up. I was up to 203 from 172. I was having nightmares about my weight coming back. I notice some people would look at my belly before making eye contact, like before. Well my wife came back from her check up in Feb and was told her cholesterol was 345. Her Cardiologist ( from India ) told her she was a heart beat away from a heart attack or stroke & needed to go on a vegetarian diet. Well our daughter told us to watch "FORKS over KNIVES" made in 2011. It saved her friends life. So we watched it on Netflix. We were stunned. First thing you think of is "why is this information not getting out to us?"
You are taught If you put good stuff in your body, the body will fix itself. The problem was we did not know what the good stuff was.
My wife got up & we cleaned everything bad out of our kitchen & went to the store. ( No gimmicks to buy.)
We went back to the Cardiologist 2 months later. He told my wife was in STAGE #2 of Heart disease. We told him we were following the Forks over Knives way of eating. He stated this, "THERE IS NOTHING I COULD DO BETTER THAN WHAT YOU ARE DOING. YOU WILL CURE YOURSELF." Then he wanted to take blood work to see the changes.
RESULTS: Wife Numbers WAS 345 New 171 Cholesterol, Her BAD cholesterol was 233 New 71, Lost 25 pounds.
Mine: 190 old New 134 weight was 203 now 175.
If your cholesterol is below 150 you are heart attack & stroke proof. The doctor took my wife off her meds!
Two friends are doing this after I gave them the movie to watch. The are losing weight & both were taken off there diabetic meds. IT CURED THERE DIABETIC PROBLEM. There blood work will be done this month.
This is a healthy lifestyle to eat. You eat all you want. No counting. No worrying about anything. Just eat the healthy stuff as much as you want.
​There is a second DVD on Netflix "PlantPure Nation". The doctors go to a town in NC and put volunteers on the Whole Plant Base food for 20 days. The results of blood work in 20 days will surprise you. The body fixes itself fast. This is information that should be taught in school.
So enjoy your journey towards health.

Hi! 13-year vegan here, had bypass this past February. It's been great, really no issues at all!