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I don't know if you can order them in Brazil, but I felt EXACTLY the same as you. I hated the protein shakes. I couldn't tolerate any meat. I had surgery October 21 2020 and I still can't eat meat. Try Bowmar nutrition. I ordered from them and tried their samples. But their hot chocolate tub is awesome. It is not too sweet and is perfect for my protein needs. I have given up on meat. I have never been a vegetarian, but I decided this week I might as well do it. I don't WANT to be a vegetarian. I like meat... well, I used to like meat. Anyway...good luck. Sent from my SM-G998U using BariatricPal mobile app

That's the way my DS eats mostly. He wants to be a Veggie, but finds it hard (he is only 10.5, so I have to give the kid credit for even trying) So he eats fish whenever we go out, and while he is away at school camp, he will be eating whatever is served (we decided not to tick the vegetarian box, after seeing the menu - yuck!) If you want some recipes, I am happy to share, just let me know! I really look forward to reading the post that announces your Vegetarianism.

I have Protein challenges without fish and while I LOVE Matrix 5.0, I don't want to depend on Protein shakes for the bulk of my protein. I have been reading and participating in a tofo thread and I have my hopes up for tofu vs. chicken or tuna. I'm pretty well over chicken, it's fish that is my challenge. Replacing that protein in salads. I was vegetarian for many years and want to go back to that. I felt better, slept less, everything was better with a veggie diet.

I shall watch this topic with interest as a pre-op vegetarian!

Hi, I got sleeved on 12/20/16. Feeling much better. Still on liquid diet for another week. I've been a vegetarian for almost my whole life, wondering if anyone else can relate and what kind of results you had from the sleeve? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I have been dealing with this a bit too..and I've not had surgery yet. My husband (been together 29 years) started with the "when you get skinny you'll leave me" crap right from the get-go. I've yo-yo'd in weight for most of the 29 years we've been together, he only recently has gained extra weight (within the last 5-7 years). Sometimes I get frustrated with constantly having to reassure him that I'm not going anywhere. I'm hopeful that any success I have will inspire him to join me in getting healthier. When I look ahead to life after surgery, I see him right by my side, not some other man. I see us being more active together, maybe some fun competition once in a while, instead of him setting on the couch while I'm suggesting how nice a walk would be and wouldn't he like to accompany me? He has stuck it out for all my crazy diet changes (low carb, low calorie, south beach, vegetarian, vegan) in the past, I know he can weather this upcoming change. It is MY choice to do this though, he is completely against it, worries about my safety and outcome (sometimes expressed harshly) but even so I am always offering little bits of information at a time, because I want to include him...I still WANT his support, his encouragement, even though I'm prepared to do this without it. I want my successes to be his successes too! All in time I guess, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!

I have to say I feel very discouraged. I’m not sure why but I went into this fully optimistic and learning about the pre op diet and the things you can and cannot have after the procedure makes me very nervous. For example: I love blending spinach water ect, but I can’t because they say no liquid calories. Not even yogurt:(. I just feel this heavy weight in my chest. I don’t eat a lot of meat in general and I asked the nutritionist after if there were some vegetarian options and she said “yes, it’s just going to be much harder” . I can eat chicken, and turkey but I have never really cooked it cause it kinda grosses me out handling raw meat ( I’m weird I know. . I know all this will be worth it. Another thing is the straw thing you can’t drink from a straw... like I know that it is silly but it’s almost like they are taking away everything from you. I know I need this but I am so overwhelmed.

Slwf-are you on a 10day pre-op liquid diet? My doc in Miami said I only need two days... Based on what I've read on this forum I was going for a week. Did the nutrionist give you a list of do & donts? I also recieved Vitamins and a liquid Protein that I won't take bc it's made out of animal (am a vegetarian). My doctor is well known in Miami but I feel like am entering a meat market. Cut & Go.... Not sure if am overeacting. Good luck and keep us posted

I believe there are Protein powders you can mix with fruit juices ? Also it does not have the MOST protein in it ,,, i am not sure if there is any dairy in the mix itself. you might try Carnation instant Breakfast mix. Anything "Whey" will have dairy in them . So careful with that. Check out "Celiac Forums" for Celiacs disease . They have to stay away from dairy . Just did a quick search and found these .. Protein from Rice, powder, Dairy Free, Vegetarian / Vegan, Hypo Allergenic, Plain - 1 lb. 5 oz. Go Dairy Free | beverages - smoothies & Mixes If you find a mix you can mix it with Lactose free milk could you not ? Can you drink that ? If you have a whole foods near you they should have tons of info or stuff. HTH mindy PS I just googled " Dairy Free Protein Mix" and came up w/ quite a bit Mindy

Just Google hemp Protein, soy protein, pea protein, egg protein, vegan Protein powder, etc. there are dozens of non- dairy Protein drinks out there. Ones I've found and use are Garden of Life Raw Fit and Raw Protein and Spirutein. Didn't like the Jay Robb egg (too "eggy"). But seriously, you will be overwhelmed with the choices. And you can always mix them with soy milk for even more protein....don't bother with almond milk, it has almost no protein. As for the ready made part, I have never seen Non-dairy RTD shakes out there. Maybe post on the vegetarian subforum to see if anyone else has.

4 days post-op. Been a vegan for 15 years and vegetarian for 15 years before that. Don't know how I will make it work long term but right now just trying to get protein in with shakes.

I am a vegetarian with multiple food allergies. A food allergy is not something that would warrant not having sleeve surgery. What you will need to do is review your food issues with the nutritionist in your bariatric program so that you can develop ways to meet your nutrition goals

i'd like to hear if they're on clear or not... i have been very creative with my diets, and i am a vegetarian, so will not eat meat broths. i have been making a lot of stocks and soups from scratch (veggie broth is easy to make, as are a lot of soups). I've also been doing lots of smoothies and drinking ensure, and having popsicles and juices and soymilk...

Honestly at 53 years old *(when people say they "can't" lose any more) I can lose just find. I can't keep it off. So since all the band does is restrict what you can eat....if you can't lose by lowering your calories (like WW or the vegetarian diet) then the band won't help you anyway! I probably sound judgmental and I'm not; what I am is worried.

Aldi started out here in Australia about five, six years ago ans seriously I think we coudlnt afford to eat without them!! I find I have to be careful though because they're big on processed food and not huge on fresh healthy food and the fruit is TERRIBLE! But I do Aldi first for some meat, milk, yogurt, snack foods for the kids, cat food, cleaning and bathroom products (for everyone except me, lol, I wouldnt wash my hair with that crap!), washing powder etc etc. Then I will head to a fruit and vegetable wholesaler nearby and we have a meat wholesaler too, we're very lucky where I am and the 4 Aldi's nearby bring down the prices in big chain supermarkets - we really couldnt afford to move out of this area or our groceries would double. Nonetheless these are the things I do to keep the price down. I stick with basic fruit and veg - apples, bananas, oranges in the fruit bowl, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, basic salad ingredients and some frozen vegetables, I stick with boring plain lunches like sandwiches and crispbreads with things like cheese and tomato, tuna etc. I clean EVERYTHING in the house with cheap shampoo - truly it works better than almost anything (especially on the shower doors) - and vinegar (straight hot vinegar to clean the boys toilet, cuts that lingering pee smell dead), we eat basic meat and 3 veg meals, a chicken breast, mashed potato and pumpkin and steamed veg, we dont eat a lot of fish except for what Doug catches becuase its so expensive, we eat a lot of things like roast lamb becuase whilst a leg of lamb may be $26 here, we get 3 entire meals out of it - a roast dinner, a shepherd's pie and something like lamb souvlakis. Same with a roast chicken - the rest goes in the freezer for sandwich meat for the boys lunches or I eat it in salads for lunch. I never ever buy things like lean cuisines, we dont eat any packaged food like that, we dont do dessert so no ice creams etc, Breakfast remains Cereal, toast, eggs, those basic choices, and deli items are kept for entertaining, not everyday eating. I dont buy orange juice or any other drinks, we have Water, water or water in this house, or milk but none of us are milk drinkers. I also make a lot of things for the kids like cakes and Cookies. And takeaway is a rare treat, I'd sooner make baked Beans on toast than spend $25 on fish and chips. Doug takes leftovers to work and my kids take lunchboxes to school (as does everyone here anyway, schools dont have big lunch programs, you can get a lunch order but there's no eat in cafeterias) We still manage to eat quite interestingly and well, probably one meal out of the seven in the week I'd put more effort into something special. I do quite a few vegetarian things with lentils, I make a lot of Soup with heaps of veges, whenever I buy a jar of spaghetti sauce, I'll add a can of tomatoes and some tomato paste, heaps of grated zucchini and carrot, a can of kidney beans and just 500g of mince beef and turn what would have been ONE meal with the mince beef and jar of sauce into something healthier, full of beans and vegetables the kids cant even taste into about three full meals on spaghetti (I sometimes have stir fried zucchini strips instead of pasta). Lentil patties, lentil dahl, a chick pea and apple curry, lentils and pulses are really cheap! And delicious. Even so, our grocery bill still comes in at around $250 to $300 per week for five of us.

I agree with the fats thing, that was one thing I found with my research on this. Along with the Biotin and increased protein intake, I also upped my fats content, but was really smart about it. The Protein drinks I buy, are vegan, but they also have 6g of fat & 12grams of Protein per serving (2 servings in the bottle- which I can down in about 2 mins) and I had 1 of those a day and just watched everything else that I ate, so long as it was high protein. I'm a vegetarian, but crave red meat every so often, and usually when I crave it I eat it. fo the first few weeks on the biotin, I upped my red meat intake, basically I live with 2 carnivores, so I would make tacos & put a tablespoon of meat with 3 tablespoons of Beans, and with meat sauce, I would Strain the sauce off the top and then strain meat out of the pot and put about 2 tablespoons on my Pasta. And once a week there was a no holds barred of a 5 guys little burger. And then there was the steak incident lol..... So at this point, today esp. I haven't had meat in about 3 weeks but now that I said 5guys, I want one, and will probably give into it!

I am by no means an expert, but I thought I'd try to answer some of your questions, as well as your last post. I, too, was like you. I really didn't feel full until I basically ate until I was almost sick. The biggest thing that has helped me with the band is eating SLOWLY...whether it's putting my fork down between every bite or just entertaining myself with other things to make me eat slower; the slower I eat, the more I allow myself to feel what I'm actually eating. I can't necessarily say I feel 'full' with the band, but I'm slowly learning how to note when I should stop eating. I noticed that people don't talk about how they feel after eating as in depth as I thought they would: What does it feel like after eating the 1/2 cup of food? I actually do try to stick with 1/2 cup or 4 ounces (depending what it is) of food per meal. I'm only 5.5 months out from surgery and haven't yet been given the go-ahead to increase my portion sizes. I have had many meals that have been more than that amount, but I try to stick with that as much as possible. I also supplement in between breakfast and lunch and then lunch and dinner with a Protein shake. I'm a vegetarian, so I make sure I have at least one Protein Shake a day. What does it feel like to be full? I tried to answer that above. I don't necessarily know if I have the feeling down yet, but I can definitely tell when I'm at the point where I shouldn't eat anything else. What does it feel like to be stuck? I've had the stuck feeling a few times...to me, it's a pain in my upper chest, and I can feel the food like a big dough ball in that area. What does it feel like before you throw up? I've only thrown up once, when I decided it was ok for me to eat a bunch of triscuts; my mouth started watering like crazy, and I went to the bathroom to spit it out in the sink...I bent over and all of the sudden I just threw it all up. It didn't hurt; I didn't wretch. It just happened. And then I felt fine afterwards. What does it feel like when you drink Water and if you drink it too fast? I was told over and over at the dr's to sip my water. I am a gulper, always have been. I actually have no problem gulping water like I used to. I don't eat 15 minutes before or an hour after I eat, so my stomach is generally empty when I drink. I don't feel anything different when I drink fast. How do you exercise during matinence? For example if you do 2 hours of exercise per day while loosing weight do you have to continue to do that much exercise during maintenance to keep the weight off or do you pull it back a bit so you don't continue to loose weight? I, obviously, am not at goal yet, but I'm only 40 pounds away (fingers crossed that'll happen soon); on the exercise front, I just wanted to put in my 2 cents. I exercise basically everyday (with rare exceptions) for at least an hour, sometimes more. I fully intend on continuing with the exercise when I'm at goal. I might back down to 5-6 days a week instead of 7, but I think doing an hour a day is feasible for the long haul.

Thanks for your help y'all. I would love the link to the facebook group . I just feel like i cant eat normal meals, food now , Set aside bread rice pastas, I cant eat meat very well w/ out it hurting, I cant eat eggs, Must of anything, I have been considering becoming a vegetarian becuase i seem to have less issues with that at this point . Did anyone have this issue w/ their band before the VGS surgery ?

I still like all the same foods... I don't think healthier eating as a vegetarian is automatic - chips, Cookies, candybars, pizza, full fat cheese, white bread, rice, potatoes, white Pasta, cake and pie for example have no meat in them but aren't real healthy. But so long as you do your research so as to make healthy choices and get a balanced diet, vegetarian eating can be healthier than omnivore eating. I still eat the flesh of animals, but really try to emphasize eating finfish, shellfish, chicken and turkey for my "meat", and to sample from beef and pork only occasionally.

Burp...I hear you! I am 4 years post op and started to burp all the time. I burb when I'm hungry, stressed, or had food and or coffee too. It last for hours....I'm hoping yours will go away as you heal more. I did not have any burping for years. I think it's time to start journaling all the food I eat as I have noticed that certain food do not cause bloating! Especially super healthy stuff. Like my band won't cause me to burp after avacato citrus salad I started making. Your band may be a vegetarian which mine became . It just won't tolerate meat! Hope your burping subsides....best to you xox

Sorry about the delay in response.....West Indian and Native American. What do I eat? Well this surgery has made me somewhat of a vegetarian. Meat does not settle too well. I do have to watch my calorie intake as well as water. I do try to make smoothies. I have one protein shake (Premier Protein). I still only can eat small amounts at a time. I get acid reflux at times really badly. Sent from my LG-US996 using BariatricPal mobile app

you guys are wonderful... i truly appreciate each and ever one.... My meaning is .. and cassy is right (hope i can call u Cassy) I have a cuz named Cassandra... love her.... anyway. I think to me.. its more of wanting people, like me... , to look deep inside and evaluate what they really are doing. and you all are right... i guess if one over eats anything it could be a bad thing.. my experiences with my son's GF's and friends that are "vegetarians" and "healthy" eaters are that they are all very aware of everything they eat. I have never met an over weight one... but that's just me. some people .... I think.... this is just me talking here.... and lying to them selves about what they truly are doing to their bodies that's .... Really making them fat. dose that make since...? sometimes i know what i want to say... but my words don't come out like i want them too.... lol

My brother is a vegan and I know several vegetarians, and that is not a ticket to thinness. But, they are more aware of what they put in their mouths than others. I think it is a commitment to making the right choices just like getting the LB is a commitment to a different, healthier lifestyle. We are at a point of surgery to make this choice stick, I'd say that's a big commitment and requires some soul searching and being honest with ourselves. I love all those fast food places, but like someone said, I like the idea of a long, healthy life more. Or something like that. Good thoughts!!

Vegetarian here. Dark green leafy veg also contain Protein, so go for those. If you want a break from meat, try topping with a hard boiled egg and some black Beans. I also use salsa instead of salad dressing. Very low cal and fat free.

My skinny sister who exercises regularly has a higher cholesterol than me. She is a vegetarian (so not a red meat issue).