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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...

But it's not just "what"... it's "how". "Eat It" was a tragically amusing song for one specific reason, which I think is very salient here: pretty much every lyric Weird Al put into it was something I'd heard *constantly* around me (and, occasionally, to me). "Have some more <cake, pie, whatever>", "Finish your plate, because people are starving in <name some random country that would never notice whether you ate less or not>", and so forth. In school and hourly jobs, we're encouraged to spend as little time eating as possible, but we still somehow need to fit in a meal whose size and content are pretty much invariant. This results, generally, in over-filling the plate with low-grade food, and stuffing it down as quickly as possible. If you're in poverty, the only foods you can generally get are primarily variations on starch mixed with more fats than needed for flavor, nutrition, and satiety: rice, potatoes, white bread, Pasta, ramen, with oil, butter, cheese-colored-substance, salt. If you're in a culinary backwater, you're pretty limited to what your neighbors eat, because it never occurs to you that there's something else. I'd never heard of romaine lettuce until college, and had pretty much no concept of broccolli as anything other than the mushy, bitter monstrosity Bush Sr would eventually decry, again until college when I discovered Chinese food was more than just chow mein. I'd never touched cilantro until after college, and just this year I introduced my brother to Indian and Thai food -- he's almost 30. All these things pile up, and additives or not they really complicate matters. I highly suspect most folks you're referring to (farmers, etc) didn't have much in the way of desserts, except on rare occasions when they could afford them (I certainly don't remember Laura Ingalls mentioning frequent desserts). Bacon, eggs, meat, potatoes absolutely -- this is what they could grow themselves. Sugar? Not so much. Maple syrup? More often, but you had a limited harvest time if I recall (eg, winter). What sweeteners they could grow would be most likely: berries, fruits, beets, all of which have much more to offer than straight fructose. Sugar and hard candies were available, but how often could a family afford it in the volumes we'd consider "normal"? We have more purchasing power for stuff we shouldn't eat than existed in the past. We've become very efficient at making cheap swill. Overall, of course -- definitely much more active. But the quality of the food was also different, and the price a bit more dear. I used to pop Vitamin C pills *as* candy when I was younger :tongue_smilie: I agree on this point. There are a lot of folks out there feeding their kids soft drinks. Even infants. It doesn't help that you walk into a store to pick up something to drink while you're out, and discover the Water is more expensive than water that's got a lot of flavorings added to it. A couple weeks ago. I actually scolded someone else's child (pre-teen, but more than old enough to know better). I caught her under a closed check-out with her toddler sister, snarfing down a candy bar. Her excuse? "But it was just lying on the floor!". Can we count how many things are wrong with that statement? I mentioned it several times, loudly, in the direction of her mother (at the next check-out, trying to figure out how to write a check), who didn't notice. But the girl gave me such a look of hatred, it was precious. What I really wanted to do was grab her mother by the hair and drag her over so she can see some specific points of failure-to-parent. I read (tried Romeo and Juliet by seven, and War and Peace by eight -- got lost in the first party or so). Revenge of the Nerds was pretty accurate. I also did marching band, which was much more enjoyable than PE, no offense to my uncle. PE was just a way for the jocks to exclude the nerds even more. PE in college was much more interesting: rifle, fencing, scuba.. no rope-climbing, dodgeball, or other ways to set up the non-athletes for failure and humiliation. Physical Education needs a drastic overhaul -- there is life outside of ball sports and track, and it would better target the folks that need it. But for most folks, that's a very accurate assessment. Cut out flour, sugar, corn, and rice. How large would your local grocery store have to be to hold everything that remains? Eating healthily means spending more per bite. The fact that we can afford to take fewer bites is a seperate issue. I think you allude to this when talking about your local dollar store. A few weeks before surgery I hopped onto Amazon hunting for WLS cookbooks. Have you *read* the customer reviews for some of them? There was one book that dared to step outside of Middle American cuisine, and suggest such things as Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, or East Asian foods. Complaints ensued from unimaginative (and unassertive) housewives. Primarily: - "I can't pronounce this un-American, heathen word. How can it possibly be edible?" - "I live in <cultural ghetto>. I've never heard of <insert spice other than salt and pepper>, therefore I can't possibly use this recipe." - "This isn't macarroni-and-cheeseburger-pizza! My kids would never eat this!" (did she ever try telling them to eat it, or go to bed without that can of caffinated corn syrup?) Mmmm... rabbit. :frown: You can keep the Beans and aphids (they primary source of Protein, and significant one, every time I went to an organic vegetarian restaurant run by a Buddhist monastary in San Francisco). Oof.. My BMI when I entered my bariatric program was just under 50 -- I'm a little on the lighter side for what my surgeon typically works on. Did you tell her she had to change, to save her daughter? I would have, in no uncertain terms. But afterward, I would also have gone to her daughter's physician and slap the hell out of him for not reporting this as a form of child neglect. This child *didn't* get this way overnight, and probably not from something like Cushing's syndrome. The child's food intake is primarily dictated by the parent. I'm glad she was thinking of ways to reverse her child's condition, but yes -- very disturbing that self-sacrifice wasn't immediately seen as an option, and moreso that a third party didn't force aggressive correction of the underlying parenting issue. Hell, *my* dad at least tried to put me on a low-fat/high-Fiber diet when I was that age, and between he and his wife even altered their food to match (toward turkey from beef). The state should have been involved much earlier, to enforce the proper care of the child. "Parental rights" be damned. That said, none of this surprises me. I have a dim view of the vast majority of new parents of the last 20-30 years.

@@teedsg Many people have had WLS with PCOS and have been successful. I would speak to your Team about what one is best for you - especially being a vegetarian. I would think the malabsorption with Bypass would be more of a problem with a vegetarian - but I don't honestly know for sure. It will depend also on your eating habits and medical history. The best people to help you make this decision are your surgeon and nutritionist. Congrats on the steps you've taken to get healthy! PCOS sucks - I'm pre-op sleeve and hope that many of my PCOS symptoms resolve with surgery.

Hi, I am 37 and I started my weight loss journey on July 28th. I attended my first nutritional visit on 8-11-16, and i had my psychological visit. I am a new vegetarian. I weighed in at 5'4, 234 with the surgeon, and 241 with my nutritionist. So far I've only lost 3 lbs with this new lifestyle. I have PCOS symptoms of acne, weight gain, irregular periods, mood swings. I'm so frustrated with all of this! Which surgery option is best for my situation? Is there anyone out there with success with PCOS and weight loss surgery? I'm also thinking of going to another surgeon, because every time I call or email them, I get their live voicemail and they won't return my call or email. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using the BariatricPal App

My doctor didn't recommend one surgery over the other due to my PCOS. Losing weight should help a lot. I do know some skinny people with PCOS, but weight loss typically helps regulate your hormone levels. (After the rapid weight loss phase at least). With being a vegetarian, make sure you get some one on one time with the nutritionist. We have a vegan lady in my group. She counts Protein grams, but doesn't worry about carbs like many post-ops do. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi, my surgery is July 20th! Of course I'm on the liquid pre-op diet now and will be on liquid right after surgery. But what vegetarian soft foods did those that are post eat? I'm trying to plan ahead. I don't want to purée foods-that totally grosses me out. I would mash legumes but that's about it and I'm not sure if that's even ok? Wondering if anyone has a go to list of soft high Protein foods they could share? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm confused - the topic was for vegetarian breakfast ideas but you mention eggs. So I'm not sure what restrictions you have with your vegetarianism. I've been doing a lot of different egg muffin tin recipes. Basically it's scrambled eggs but in a muffin tin that you can make ahead of time. Dice up onions and pepper and mix that with eggs. What do you eat for lunch or dinner? You could eat those items for breakfast too.

I'm also ovo-lacto vegetarian. Some of my frequent breakfasts are Greek yogurt, hemp hearts w/ nut butter, morningstar veg sausage patties, spinach and cheese stuffed baked tomato, portobello with goat cheese and kale or mozz and tomato, flax & millet Lavash toast with olives and cream cheese. Lately I've been making high protein muffins that are amazing (25 grams protein, less than 10 carbs, 423 calories) PM for recipe.

I'm 5'4 and weighed 239 when I started this journey, and 225 on the day of surgery. It's taken me a while to "get my groove" and from May-Sept I stayed the exact same wieght! I was lying to myself, and eating the wrong foods. I had good restriction, and couldn't eat very much, but I was eating junk! I had been a little down during that time and when you're depressed and not caring about yourself, you no longer care about what you put in your body. In September, I started a mild anti-depressent, and about two weeks later, without me even realizing it, my whole attitude changed. I'm not sure if its the medication, or if I just "woke-up." Since September, I've lost approx 18 more pounds and counting! Woo Hoo, back on track! I'm also a vegetarian with an extremely low metabolic rate - so for me to lose, I need to consume a maximum of 1,000 calories a day, or my weight will not budge. It's difficult, but I've learned nothing is beyond me! Anytime you have "head" hunger, or are struggling, go on LBT and read everyone's experiences. It motivates me everytime. :Dancing_sorry:

FluffyChix, it is a great read. It is actually a book that he pushes for non-wls patients as well. His premise is that if you eat 1-2 pounds of leafy greens and other veggies per day, you won't have room for most of the bad foods that cause weight gain and health issues. I did it for a few weeks, and did lose weight. My problem was that I could eat 5-7 cups or up to 3 pounds of food in 1 sitting. I ate the 1-2 pounds per day, and then still had room for a lot of other food. I think it could work wonders for me now if I can find a way to deal with the protein issue. I too ate a lot of Morningstar Farms as a vegetarian. I still have tons of veggie crumbles, veggie breakfast sausages and buffalo chicken nuggets in my freezer. I prefer them to the real thing as they are less greasy and "healthier". I would like to find a healthier option though. They really help with the protein dilemma, but utilize vital wheat gluten as a protein source which is definitely a problem for me. I stopped drinking milk, and whey based protein shakes years ago after I watched Forks over Knives and a few other documentaries. Now I find myself indulging in them once more out of necessity right now. Veggie sourced protein shakes are just too chalky for me. They also have very little protein compared to whey sources. I would be interested in leaving these behind if I could get what I need from food alone. I am open to leaving fish on the menu long term if I can get rid of milk, whey based protein sources, cheese, and other meats. I like tofu, and seitan. I think that maybe using these sources with egg whites, and maybe having salmon a couple of times per week will be good for me. We will see what the future holds. I have a little time to figure it all out.

I've been treated for hypothyroidism for 20 years now. Most of the time when I have a blood test done, they have to jockey around my dose a little. I don't think there's any kind of problem with hypothyroidism and surgery. There are some other sources of Protein besides just meat but I think it would be difficult to do this diet as a vegetarian or someone who doesn't like meat. I chose bypass because of my acid reflux which was pretty severe. My doctor explained that the lower part of the stomach is where most of the acid forms, so when you detach that from the digestive system and only have a tiny upper stomach, most reflux goes away. I'm 2-1/2 weeks out now and he didn't prescribe any antacids and I haven't had the slightest bit of reflux even when I lay down after eating (something I could NEVER do before). I was told I would be on chewable, sublingual or liquid Vitamins for 6 weeks. I'm really sick of the chewables already because they taste nasty (IMHO). But, I can do it until I can get back to swallowing pills. I haven't heard of anyone having to stay on chewables or crush vitamins for life. I hope you can find the information you need to make you feel confident or you postpone the surgery until you feel ready. Best wishes.

I am really having a tough time making this decision, and I could really use some advice maybe from some vets or people that started out with a lower BMI (like 32). I would really appreciate any input you can offer! Thanks so much! I was sleeved in Mexico in Dec 2014 with a bmi of about 32, at 5'3" and 182 pounds. I thought I had found the miracle cure! I Lost about 30 pounds (out of the 50 that I wanted to lose) in the first four moths, and had to work hard for about another year to keep it off. Then I tore my meniscus in June of 2016, and was unable to do my walks/hikes, and have since put back on 15 of the original 30 that I lost. So probably not really worth it for me, in the long run. I have put a deposit down for DS in Mexico in July, but I'm scared, and my husband is not supportive, especially since I'm only 30-35 pounds overweight. I'm not even sure that DS would get me where I want to be. Also, I'm a vegetarian, so I think the protein might be difficult for me. Please, any advice with any of these issues (low BmI, sleeve failure, vegetarian) would be so helpful! Tell me to go for it or tell me it won't get me where I want to be. Anything! Thank you so much for your support!

Hey now everyone, let's uh chillax, I changed my name to kind of take a break ya know? But good golly y'all are just a little bit excited and uptight, taking things way out of context, getting the pitchforks out, calling on mods to step in, it's like a bunch of kids on the playground. The sad thing is, I really do eat crap. They call it 'skinny fat'. Everyone talks on these boards about how good they are and the one time they cheated- felt horrible! It's exhausting seeing the same angelic posts all the time, and I am just sitting here literally fighting with myself to NOT eat the huge candy bar in the kitchen, and yet it will be gone bite by little bite.It's food addiction. As mentioned in some posts about my 'vegetarianism', and my Arby's remark, I actually do eat and enjoy those beef and cheddar jr's, though I haven't had one in a while, at the same time- I am really conflicted with the outright torture of animals - I really struggle with the meat part- especially the pigs, but they are tasty and I will eat something with 'accidental' bacon, but I try to avoid it. Not decided yet if I care what happens to chickens, they are dumb animals. It's complex people, could we have more vegetarian fast food places?! Americans don't need that much freakin torture animal meat in their diets, I struggle with the fact it's in everywhere. And as far as everyone wanting to pounce and gang up on people, it's a bit overdone. Elode's comments kind of set me off into an immature rant. Do we need to be policing other people all the time?! People love Donald Trump because he speaks his mind and his kind of a jerk, it refreshing. I don't agree about anything he says, but dang it's nice to hear some candid talk. We have gone too far the other way in shaming people out of free speech. It wasn't taken away from us, we did it to ourselves. As far as the cursing, I am sorry. I like to be candid, speak my mind, and rant off on tangents (usually ambien-laden- hence the spelling errors). Sorry, I know it's a little trashy and ghetto. At the very least, at least I gave some people some entertainment value.

I have planned out most of my favorite restaurants and this is one of them. Ours has great black bean Soup and it is vegetarian, so that's a great option. If you ask, you can order off the "sides" menu (like adding chicken to a salad) and ask for shrimp, chicken or steak to add into the soup or on the side. If you have a favorite, ask for the sauce on the side and just use a bit.

I am almost 7 months post-op & I think I might have developed a problem with dairy. I've only noticed over the past couple of weeks. I am a vegetarian so I use dairy a lot towards my protein. I eat A LOT of cheese sticks. I haven't needed the antacids that they give you post-surgery for months. I use almond milk in my coffee and smoothies. I don't think that it is an acid problem as I have no upset with coffee, tomato sauce, oranges, etc. I had 2 string cheeses for lunch & I have been in horrible pain for the past couple of hours...acid reflux up to my throat, a lot of burping & gas. (Gross, I know. Sorry.) I'm just wondering if anyone else has developed problems with dairy. I'm also wondering what I am going to do for protein of I cut out my cheese & yogurt. My NUT is very supportive of a vegetarian diet, but not so much a vegan diet. Any experience or recommendations?

I have the "Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery" cookbook and I heart it! It has great, fast and easy recipes, even many vegetarian choices. I highly recommend it!

Hi - I'd be interested in this thread. Great idea. We eat where we can organic fruit, vege and meat. I'm not at this point wanting to go vegetarian although some of our meals are - I try to balance it out alternating vegetarian, white meat, fish/seafood and red meat (pre op of course). I practice TM meditation - twice a day for twenty minutes each. I see a naturopath for health issues especially where I am not comfortable with the big Pharma solutions or should I say 'masking of symptoms'. I'd love to get back into Callinetics as I used to do this many moons ago and found I liked it better than yoga. I too want to be more consistent in my overall health and well being. Now I have a tool for assisting me with portion control I do believe I can do it - it would be nice to discuss and share from time to time too :-) Even 13 days post op my foods are organic drinking yoghurt, organic and non-organic Soups with home made chicken broth made from organic chickens. It hasn't been that much more expensive to shop organic considering my portion sizes are so much smaller it kind of balances out to what I would otherwise spend. I use coconut oil on my skin and for cooking - I haven't tried pulling with it yet. Have you?

I appreciate vegetarians.....leaves more meat for me.....

Came across this article on FB today. It was exactly what I needed to see. I've gotten comfortable with the fact that I can still indulge in small amounts and not see any weight gain or experience dumping. Well, that's NOT a good thing for someone like me, because it will simply continue and then eventually I will see regain. I don't want to waste all the hard work I have put in and everything I've endured to take my health back into my own hands. Having said that, some parts of this surgery might strike chords. Please remember that I didn't write it LOL so don't attack me if something makes you feel some type of way, especially that last header/paragraph. That's a sentence we all probably will take issue with, but please try to keep things in context... http://www.bariatriceating.com/2015/05/not-what-you-want-to-hear-bariatric-nos/ Don’t eat bread! That latte has 35g sugar! No macaroni salad. NO tortillas. No rice. It won’t last without change There is no delicate way to say this. We have always set ourselves apart from other bariatric groups in that we don’t look the other way while post ops continue to eat the bad carbs. We try and bring them back to the bariatric reality. We coax you to knock off the Pasta, rice, tortillas or bread and often people get mad or try and justify it. For years we’ve watched people blow through this surgery and they all have the same story. Everyone thinks they are ‘Different’, that they can handle the bad carbs and the sugar (they don’t get sick!) and ‘because they have lost 100 pounds in 7 months they must be doing something right’. The first hundred pounds is the surgery Hate to keep making the same point, but your surgery did it, not you. Remember that you are not driving the car for the first year. Eating the same foods that grew you to 300 pounds, but in smaller amounts is not a good long term plan as eventually you will be able to eat larger portions. Ask yourself why eating the same bad carbs would be a good plan. No doctor has advised you to eat the same way post op as you did pre op. Post ops pick this up somewhere, latch on to it and defend it, often to the bitter end of a total regain. No one fights for broccoli carbs! It’s not that the bagel will kill you, it’s that these carbs make you hungry. They rapidly turn to glucose and burn… poof, gone, #Lookingformore. They don’t give you any nutrients. They don’t create a feeling of satiety or lasting fullness. The empty carbs work against what you are trying to achieve. If you were arguing for eating salad or green bean carbs, more power to you… but people are trying to hang on to foods without value. If this big argument was for VEGETABLES… well it wouldn’t be a debate as vegetables didn’t make us fat, it was those ‘other’ carbs. Did you ever meet an obese vegetarian and wonder ‘HUH?’… how’d they get obese if they are vegetarian? Same deal… its not the vegetables, its the other stuff… the carbs… the potatoes, bread, macaroni, rice, tortillas and sugar! Square peg… round hole Stop looking for slightly better substitutes for bad choices and find new healthier foods to love instead. We keep trying to force that square peg into that round hole. Stop EATING crackers and chips… don’t find ones that you can justify because they have fewer carbs. Enough with the terrible fishy shirataki tofu noodles. Learn to live without bread and pasta so it will not call your name. We aren’t changing the behavior or trend if we continue eating them, just slightly shifting it. Before long you’ve got your hand back in the Doritos bag & fork in the Mac and cheese. Look It’s Protein Cheesecake! Don’t add protein to muffins and convince yourself they’re good for you. Stop with the Starbucks Creme Brûlée Lattes because ‘they’re your one indulgence’; they have 500 calories and thin people don’t even drink them. Stay the heck out of Wendy’s. I read an article the other day touting all the ‘good choices’ in fast food restaurants. How about stay out of them. That’s the best choice of all! Why go to the place where you know there is danger. Before you know it, oops… there are fries in your bag! You know people gain back weight, right? In our first month of new Facebook Support group I have cried for new members who have gained back all their weight. I am not immune either after fourteen years, three bariatric books and knowing better. When life hit the fan, I comforted my bruises in the way I knew best and it has taken me ten months to lose fifty pounds of it. People are having revisions, a lovely sounding word for a second serious body damaging operation. What will change? Unless there is major change along with that new surgery, won’t it have the same result? Step away from the bagel! Own that there was and maybe still is something wrong with your food picker! Use surgery as an opportunity to change, not cheat. I used be bothered by the ‘word on the street’ that we were the carb or food police, but am now proud of it. If you want to promote the virtues of Everything in Moderation while eating half a Subway, there are plenty of groups that will help you do it. If you want to eat right and learn new behaviors to make the feeling of slipping on those skinny jeans last… we have a support group that’s a healthier fit. Bariatric Surgery IS the easy way out It’s a personal food cop that is always with us, that helps us push away from the table. We make it hard when we don’t live by the bariatric rules we’ve been given. There is nothing harder then gaining weight back after surgery. There is nothing better than losing it a second time. Control is empowering. If you need to pick up and start losing again… If you need to work off a regain… it’s not too late and your pouch works just fine if you choose the right foods. Clean those lethal carbs from your life and go back to Bariatric Eating – protein first and lots of fresh salad and vegetables. We’ve got the support for you to make that change!

Please feel free to search for & join "WLS Vegetarians" on Facebook.

If you eat cheese, try paneer. Its a fresh indian cheese with a mild flavor, suitable for vegetarians. It doesnt melt, has a texture a bit firmer that firm tofu.

But they are complex carbs, they aren't going to sit and turn to glucose. I'm vegetarian, most of my Protein comes from beans, it hasn't adversely effected my weight loss in the least. True, but pure protein first. Just quoting the rationale of the NUT Beans are protein.

Welcome to the Popular Diet Forum! I set this one up because a lot of us turn to specific diets before or after weight loss surgery. Before surgery, these diets may help kickstart your weight loss so you go into surgery with some momentum. After surgery, you may find that following one of these diets helps you stick to your weight loss surgery diet. Just a few of the diets that are out there are: Atkins Gluten-free Jenny Craig Nutrisystem Paleo SlimFast South Beach Weight Watchers Vegetarian and Vegan diets Feel free to discuss anything related to popular diets. Do they work? Can they improve weight loss? Are they good after weight loss surgery? You can swap recipes, exchange tips, and discuss products and foods. Enjoy the forum!

Hello Cheryl, Do you have a pintrest or somewhere u post ur recipes? I never had tofu and would like to try different vegetarian meals. I eat meat and hopefully after my band I can still tolerate chicken and fish (at least). But I still want to try other Protein supplements to make sure I get enough daily intake while changing up my foods. Definitely don't want to eat the same things all the time. I'm on pintrest at Madahooha28@gmail.com

You should try Quorn products. Soy free and gluten free vegetarian sources of protein. They are mushroom based protein - but they don't taste like mushrooms I swear! The Turk'y roast is my favorite - beats a tofurkey any day. I even got my meat eating father to eat it more than once. The Turk'y roast has 100 calories, 13 gr protein and 0.5 gr sugar per serving. And the serving is larger than you would think.