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The choice on whether to be vegetarian is your choice, of course. My response was to highlight that it’s not hard to be a vegetarian post-WLS, if that is what you want.

 I don’t think I want to be a vegetarian any more. 

I’m l/o vegetarian, ~7 months out. Doing great, down +70 lbs from highest weight. I eat a variety of proteins— eggs, of string cheese, tofu, beans, “burgers”, seitan. It’s not a big deal, really. I don’t do great with whey protein all the time, but there are tons of vegan protein shake options.

I’m also a vegetarian, but I’m still pre-op (likely in 6 or so months I’ll have RNY). My surgeon said that she has a lot of patients that are vegetarian.

Is anyone else a vegetarian? Ovo-lacto here. I am pre OP. How are you doing post op? I am thinking about introducing meat into My diet post op because I am worried. 

I ordered caulifliwer puazza crusts from outer aisle. A bit pricey' but much healthier and higher in protein. I also make vegetarian tomato sauce with veggie crumbles.... my adult daughter is vegetarian and it's a staple when she's visiting. I serve it with spaghetti squash and since it's very low calorie I'm generous with the parmesan cheese. I had this in phase 3 and had no problems with it. Don't worry too much about the "go see a therapist" comments.... whenever you mention a craving some people think you're about to dive off a cliff... let's face it, most if us had some level of disordered eating and I guess that's what works for some people. Good luck! Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

I can eat the yogurt, cheese, applesauce, & mashed potatoes. I haven’t really ventured out with trying different foods yet. I made a mango sorbet yesterday with just chopped frozen mangos & a little splash of almond milk. I ate the entire thing, probably like 6oz. I’m getting tired of yogurt so I have to think of other things to make. I’m also vegetarian so I definitely have to think of foods to eat.

Omg thank you! I just recently got a food processor that I’ve been wanting to get since last year lol I’m vegetarian (should’ve put that in my main post 🤷🏻‍♀️) so I wanted to try making my own burgers from veggies/beans before I had the surgery, but I love your ideas! I used to make zucchini pasta all the time, cannot believe I forgot about that. I made riced cauliflower with broccoli and cheddar cheese before and my nutritionist said I should stay away from it because it’s too my fiber??? Isn’t fiber what makes you go to the bathroom? That’s what i need (not to be too much tmi) lol. For some reason I can’t really handle eggs, but any other food goes down fine.

I forgot to mention in my post that I’m vegetarian, so deciding what kind of foods to eat is kinda difficult. I made a big pot of veggie chili and I only ate it once. My tastebuds did not want it anymore. I have a bunch of already-made vegan food in my freezer, but I don’t think I’d like it blended lol.

Which flavors do you guys recommend? I know sometimes it can be hard to find a truly great flavor of protein bars. I’m barely having my first consultation on Monday, but I’m liking trying to do research now on ways to get more protein, as I’m a vegetarian. So I welcome any suggestions that can increase protein in ways I didn’t think of (I’m drinking protein shakes now, too)!

Yeah i found veganism unobtainable so i became a flexible vegetarian (some animal products sometimes but still heavy on the vegetables)

STOP!!!!! You're making me HONGRY!!!! Seriously, as a vegetarian I LOVE new ways to use eggplant and the one with peppers and rice and hummus sounds delish!

Korean BBQ w/ my bf this past weekend. We ordered spicy pork, shrimp, marinated thin beef, thin sliced pork belly, and beef tongue. I am saying goodbye to meat for sometime now and thought this would be a good way to end the relationship 😭 Ever since my kidney stone scare I’ve been thinking a lot about my health and I’ve never had a problem even when I was 140 pounds heavier. I’m going to try to go vegan for a bit and see how that works. Before wls there was a point where I was a strict vegetarian for a year but that was easy because I ate a lot of eggs lol Let’s see how long I can go 😅

I do prefer vegetarian meals but I recently had more plastics and need the protein. This is deli cut Boar's Head Sausalito Turkey and Muenster cheese (the only ones I truly like) they are so good! I'm glad you like the *glass* plate but its plastic 😂. I bought it to display something and ended up eating off of it once i realized it was too small for my needs. I miss thrifting as well, I often wonder when I will be able to shop normally again

Have you begun to eat more meat, GT? Was thinking you preferred vegetarian. The turkey looks so good - is it Cajun styled? What brand? I can never get a turkey product that has any flavor? Love the glass plate. I really miss going to thrift shops, Goodwill and/or estate sales where you can find really neat and unique vintage specialty plates.

I had gastric bypass surgery due to lifelong chronic illness, disability, metabolic disorders and inability to exercise. one being PCOS. Although now I no longer have ovaries but that’s a long story. I was doing a low carb lifestyle (I always will be) and low calorie years before surgery but it wasn’t enough. I needed extra help. I also had gallbladder surgery at the same time due to chronic inflammation. I am a little over a year out from surgery now. I keep daily log of weight, meals, calories and protein. I usually like to try to plan a few days of meals. I also take notes of any medical issues, symptoms and doctors appointments. It might be OCD of me and I do keep strict calories and had very low calories from the start. Since I have reached goal I did increase them somewhat to where I’m comfortable. I don’t eat a lot of meat with exception of occasional low carb foods from “Real good foods” they make chicken enchiladas I like. And breakfast sandwich with cauliflower buns. I didn’t eat these until close to a year post surgery. initially I stuck to PEScience protein powder mixed with 6 ounces unsweetened ripple milk, also BariatricPal protein soups, BariatricPal protein shots, juice flavor protein drinks. And later I’d started mixing the protein powder into Greek yogurt. Purée stage was tough for me. I stuck to very simple things a long time to avoid purée that made me feel sick. I eventually started soft boiled egg. And gradually added veggie burger. Just took it all slow. example Of my meals now: breakfast a protein bar with tea, lunch varies depending what’s in my freezer but not by much I like a veggie burger with an egg on top for extra nutrition and variety of texture and flavor or different variations of that with different vegetarian foods that are low carb and calorie. My dinners are actually Greek yogurt with 1/2 scoop protein powder, a baby banana, a drizzle of sugar free syrup (choczero chocolate is awesome stuff) and some sugar free land o lakes whipped cream. I’ve taken to mixing the yogurt with the protein powder (usually plain fage or TwoGood) then putting it in the freezer 30 minutes then mixing before eating ... I put a bit of pink salt when I mix it. It does something to the flavor. I keep to my portions and calories. But it’s enough for me. I’d say my calories ranged 300-480 averaging 380. I am now starting to average 480-550. Maybe seems crazy low. (I’m still baffled how before surgery I was gaining weight on 800 calories) I’m working on maintenance and finding balance. I also don’t count calories from the little bit of creamer I use (I use quest salted caramel protein shake as creamer) or the little bit of olive oil for cooking, or the calories of the banana ... but it’s been working out fine. all the best to you on your journey this is the protein I use in case you are interested http://rwrd.io/c6uus2e

Vegetarian wrap w/ a little added veg protein

Damn! Wow I give you soooooo much credit. I know I couldn’t do that diet. Not even for a day let alone 2 weeks. That has got to be the craziest diet. I can’t do it for a few reasons. I’m allergic to dairy and I’m a vegetarian.

Vegetarian Corn Chowder

Okay, then. Let the lock down cook-off begin Ms. Greentealeal! I'll make the original recipe less the bacon and you make a vegetarian version? I still have all the fresh herbs left from chicken and rice soup recipe Sunday. Let's put on those domestic diva aprons and post sweet potato and corn chowder creations. Anyone else care to join in? Fun! Inspired now for my one exciting excursion out a week: The grocery market. Haha.

Just leave out the bacon topping, sub the chicken stock with mushroom or vegetable broth, and voila! It's vegetarian! (and yes, its so easy BF can totally do it solo, lol) Edited to add: you could probably also make it vegan if you lose the cream...i think it would still be creamy without it if you cook the sweet potatoes longer? The. Recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/geoffrey-zakarian/sweet-potato-and-corn-chowder-4662171

Please tell me there is a (vegetarian) recipe for that chowder *oh & please let it be simple enough for my BF to make w/o my help 😂*

No, not a vegetarian just love the veggie burgers I found with cheese added it’s 15g of protein per serving. I also love turkey burgers. Used to love turkey sausage but can’t get it down now. Just have to stop drinking with my meals and right after.

I would drop the protein shakes and replace with food that will make you feel full and stay full longer. I stopped using protein shakes on a daily basis by 4-5 months I believe and even then I only had one a day. It appears you are a vegetarian, I’m not but others here are or have been. @GreenTealael @summerset @FluffyChix might be able to help you with ideas to increase protein without relying on shakes. This link will take you to a thread where we share what we eat. Food thread As far a hunger goes I have hungry/ravenous days out of the blue. I just make sure I have good choices available so I don’t grab chips or cookie. The bags of small apples they sell now are a perfect size for me. I also keep a big box of black seedless grapes in the fridge. Congratulations on your weight loss so far, that is amazing! 6 pounds in one month 7 months post surgery isn’t unusual as far as I know. Your weight loss will slow down as you get closer to your goal weight. May I ask how close you are?

I still have a protein shake every day at almost five years out, but I'm an outlier. Because it was discovered early on that I malabsorb protein (and I could have even before surgery - but we'll never know because they didn't do a baseline on this), I need to average 100+ grams of protein a day or my prealbumin level tanks. Although I could get this through food if I try, I don't want to obsess all day trying to figure out how much protein this and that has, so I just drink a protein shake every morning as my morning snack. Then I'll be pretty much guaranteed I'll be OK by the end of the day. that said, a lot of people do drink a shake (or even more) for the first few months just to meet the protein requirement. But at some point, most people don't need them anymore because they're able to meet it through food. If you're eating animal products such as meat and dairy and eggs, it's usually not that hard once you're out a bit to meet the 60 gram requirement that many surgeons recommend. Vegetarians can meet it without too much trouble as well, although it's a little more of a struggle for them (although certainly not impossible by a long shot - I know several WLS patients who are vegetarian).