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One thing the PA told me to be careful about until at least a few months out is skin on something like a hot dog. I'm a vegetarian and she told me to even check for it on veggie dogs. Apparently it can get stuck in your staple line or cause other problems.

I came home from work once again. Body aches, head being "squeezed", ugh. There is a virus going around down here that mimics severe allergies/flu. I think I've got it. But since I had the time, I went to the salon and finally got a hair trim that has been needed for quite a long time. Now I'm home about to take a nap, but I'm still marching on with making sure I get a nice meal on today. I'll prep the veggies and have my husband finish it when he gets home. Today will be a kale salad with tortellini (again!!!...I loved it) and a roasted sweet potato and poblano salad as well. Why two salads? well, my poblano peppers are going to go bad if I don't hurry up and use them. Here are my recipes is anyone is interested. https://www.budgetbytes.com/2010/01/roasted-poblano-and-sweet-potato-salad/ https://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/01/kale-tortellini-cranberry-salad/ Also, do ya'll think we should utilize a vegan/vegetarian thread for recipes only? Or here is okay? Is there one? I haven't checked. UPDATE: I created a HEALTHY Vegan/Vegetarian Recipe Swap and Pics thread....come join in!

So, this ought to puff up some of the men...LOL Under the topic of IGF1: Another Smoking Gun (pg 194-196). "And for "manly" men concerned about getting enough protein, another study found that despite having lower IGF1 levels, the vegan men actually had higher testosterone levels than vegetarians and meat eaters (Allen, Appleby, et al. 2000)." I honestly believe this accounts as for why vegan athletes tend to be stronger and agile. My husband even says he feels like the muscles he's building is staying put this time around. Kind of weird, but hey, he must be having more testosterone. lol

it was kind of hard getting it going in the beginning for me. I won't lie. Not because I had to have meat, because naturally I just didn't crave or cared for it, but because I cook for my whole family and wanted everyone to be on board. Now that my husband is, it's way easier to do. We are going the vegetarian route for now. My kids still have some growing to do so I'm not too worried, but I am incorporating plants in their foods and they don't know it. Lol. But one place that has been very good as far as recipes go is www.budgetbytes.com under the vegan/vegetarian meals. It's cheaper and easy recipes and so far, we love every one of them that I've made. all that to say...i eased in to it in the very beginning. That was probably about 3 weeks before surgery. Then after surgery, it was pushed to have protein protein protein. I was going with the flow...but I knew I wanted to be plant based again and thought "well, maybe at maintenance." That's just too far away for me. Someone had mentioned Dr Weiners POUND OF CURE to me and my interest started even more so. In my opinion, there's no need to wait until then and there's no need to eat animal protein to get protein and there's definitely not the need to have so much protein! hope you get to reading the book, I think it'll help clarify and confirm your path. 😊

Great job!! I had the option today at a barbecue and I chose a veggie burger. I would not have made that choice 3 weeks ago. I am feeling really good about my decision. I do wish there was a cooking course for vegan/vegetarian near me. I think it would be fun and educational to learn better ways of preparing these types of foods.

Were you eating a lot of dairy, eggs, and cheese? Were you also still using vegetable oils for cooking? I am curious because many vegetarians still eat these things and miss out on the low fat benefits of a WFPB diet.

Interesting.......I will admit that I have a bit of a "head in the sand" approach when it comes to eating meat.....I will also say that I am less and less inclined to eat meat as time goes on. The last debaucle in the beef slaughterhouses about put me over the edge. I think I could, quite easily, be a vegetarian at this point in my life.

Haha, Amanda. I'm one of those people, though, who finds eat easier to stick to a plan when all the tools are there. I'm more likely to eat right if I open the fridge and find Trader Joe's chicken strips in there, than if it's empty. And I'm familiar with Paris as a bit more than a tourist, but I"m not yet a native, so I don't know where to go to get the things I need. I'm certainly going to take a lot of stuff - Fibersure for sure, and, now that I think of it, some PB2. I've been trying to figure out whether or not I should buy a blender; there's a vegetarian joint a couple of streets over from me whcih I bet would have smoothies, and I guess I could bring my own powder if they didn't have any Protein Powder. I'll just have to nail down a new routine quickly, that's all. I've started yoga again, which is good.

Hmmm. I like the donation idea, too. But I think what I'll do is donate my weight loss in dollars to Heifer.org (a really great charity where the money you give goes to buying livestock for people in developing nations - you can donate a hive of bees, or a flock of chicks, or a heifer, so that people can raise them for, for example, milk, and ultimately to eat (sorry, animals!) (vegetarians can also give trees!). Here's their catalogue: Meaningful Gifts | Heifer International Online Gift Catalog OK, that's what I'll do: every fifty pounds I lose, I'll give my current weight loss total in dollars to Heifer, starting at 100 lbs in a month or two. For $100, I can give a flock of chicks, a flock of geese AND a trio of rabbits (which breed v. quickly). And when I hit 150 pounds lost, I can give a llama or maybe a goat and a hive of bees. I like this idea!

You're welcome hon! I'm glad you've found it. As for recipes, there's a sub forum in Vegetarian and Vegan Eating that we're swapping recipes. Come join us there too! I'll tag you in. 😁

I did want to interject a morsel. For those that find they still need a bit of animal foods, don't despair. The Okinawans of Japan DID eat a primarily vegetarian diet, but even so, they did also consume a couple eggs a week, the equivalent of one 4oz serving of fish a week, and two 3oz servings of pork a week. If you add that up, they had a full-size portion of animal protein 4 nights of the week. Which is substantial for us bariatric folks. (It's just not much when compared to the lumberjack that eats 4 eggs and 1/4 pound of bacon for breakfast, 8oz of hamburger patties for lunch, a 12oz ribeye for dinner, and a pint of ice cream for dessert.)

Lol NewMe I am a vegetarian and had the sleeve in 2015. I was just tested and showed my good cholesterol was low and my bad cholesterol was high. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

OMGosh! Your dishes look so TASTEY! I have to learn how to work with Tofu. I tried in the past, before I went vegetarian just because I like tofu, but I didn't have much success. Those nachos are right up my alley because it's QUICK.

Anything ending in "itol" will send me straight to the bathroom. Those are sugar alcohols and have a laxative effect. Any other artificial sweeteners taste like metal to me but I can tolerate them if necessary. I won't eat jello, though, as it's not vegetarian.

This will be long. It'll be for those who are checking out the thread and those who just want to be reminded. It's a rant about Type II Diabetes from Dr Garth on his FB page some time back. LOL ENJOY READING! So, this is going to be a long rant with lots of scientific references, reader beware. The cliff notes: carbs do not cause Type 2 diabetes, meat does! I will provide references at the end of the post. "But wait a second" you may say. "My sugar goes up when I eat carbs, so carbs must be to blame". You are not alone in this thought. Even the President of The American Society of Bariatric Medicine thinks this way. He believes that if your sugars are low you are cured of diabetes. SO he puts people on low carb diets , and in fact the studies show low carb diets will lowers blood sugar, go figure. But has diabetes been cured? Are they healthier? Low carb studies are very short term and use lab results as their end points, not end organ disease. They don't prove that low carb diets reduce heart disease, they show that it raises HDL and since high HDL is associated with less heart disease they assume that heart disease is lower. Likewise, they assume diabetes is cured when blood sugar is low, but has diabetes been cured? Not at all. As soon as the patient eats a carb the blood sugar will rise. Why? Because they still have insulin resistance. So many people make the mistake of thinking diabetes is a disease of high blood sugar. High blood sugar is just a symptom, the disease is insulin resistance. This is why I see so many failed Atkins and protein fast patients. So what causes insulin resistance. This is the big question. Treating the symptom and not the cause is the typical western medicine paradigm. We need to look beyond. The fact is the biggest consumer of sugar, the organ most affected by insulin, are your muscles. I find it ridiculous that people, like Robert Lustig and Gary Taubes, talk about insulin as some kind of awful hormone. Why would we evolve to have an evil hormone that is in every single person. Insulin is only a problem when the body is resistant to insulin. Insulin serves a vital purpose, which is to get the fuel into the cells, and muscle needs glucose to generate fuel. Our bodies are built to live off sugar. Insulin is supposed to join to an insulin receptor on the surface of the muscle cell which allows the sugar to enter the body and then be utilized to produce energy in the mitochondria. In fact, the healthiest people in the world eat tons of carbs. The Sardinians and the Okinawans eat 80% of their calories from starches and yet their insulin levels are not sky high, and their blood sugars are normal. So what causes the muscle to become insulin resistant. Well this is a little more complex but it appears that it is fat build up in the muscle cell. Excess fat entering the cells interferes with the muscle cells ability to produce insulin receptors. If the muscle cannot make insulin receptors then sugar cannot get into the cell and then the sugar starts to build up in the system. Then the pancreas has to produce even more insulin to try and force sugar into the cells, and now you start getting high insulin levels. Moderate insulin is good but high insulin inhibits an enzyme called hormone sensitive lipase causing even more fat accumulation, and a vicious cycle begins. This then begs the question, "what causes fat to accumulate in the muscle cell"? Well, there are many theories. One is that insulin combined with lipids in the blood stream after eating causes intramyocellular fat. This makes sense. So if you eat steak believe it or not your insulin rises. It is also filled with fat. The insulin will cause fat to be accumulated in the cell. The same thing would happen if you ate a donut or a pizza. These are not carbs. They have carbs but they actually have more fat than carbs. Other theories are that inflammation causes the muscle cell to dysfunction and not oxidate fat, causing fat accumulation. There is definitely evidence that acid accumulation cause insulin resistance likely from muscle cell dysfunction. Type II diabetes has been rising at astounding rates. How does our diet differ? We are eating a very acidic diet with too little of the bicarbonate producing plants as our ancestors did! Meat based diets are very acidic and cause inflammation which results in intramyocellular fat. There are even models that show certain amino acids will cause direct deposit of fat in the muscle cells. There is some fascinating research looking at MRI's of people's muscles which show that athletes are able to mobilize fat easily from their muscle but overweight people cannot. This raises the additional question as to whether exercise has an affect on intramyocellular fat. There is also a good body of studies showing high iron stores can affect insulin resistance. As you may know, meat is high in a particularly toxic form of iron which can further attribute to insulin resistance. Interestingly, carbs are readily burned in our body or stored as glycogen. It is actually very difficult to turn carbs to fat. The only time carbs become fat is when glycogen stores are full and calorie intake has exceeded expenditure. A nutrition professor proved this by eating a high sugar diet but keeping calories less than 1800 calories. Despite eating almost purely sugar, he lost weight and his insulin resistance improved. So if what I tell you is true then it should work in a randomized control trial and in epidemiologic studies of populations of people. In fact, it does. Dr. Turner-Mcgrievy and Dr. Barnard have put it to the test. They took diabetics and randomized to either vegan diet or the typical ADA, high protein diet recommended by doctors. Despite eating high carbs and lots of fruit, the vegan group had significantly greater drop in A1C. We can see this in action in many different epidemiological studies too. The EPIC/Panacea study, which is the largest epidemiological study ever done on food and disease, found no correlation between carb consumption and development of diabetes, but meat had strong correlation to diabetes. In fact, fructose consumption was associated with less diabetes. This becomes more understandable when you know that meat causes inflammation, acidosis, stimulates insulin, and has fat. People tend to think Type II diabetes is genetic, but diabetes is affecting all races at this point. In fact, Japanese had low rates of diabetes but if they migrated to Brazil, which is having a crisis of diabetes, they get very high rates of diabetes. In fact, the Brazil government has made recs to decrease meat. The same recs are being given by the Japanese government which has noted an increasing rate of diabetes with the increasing meat consumption. One of the best long term studies is the Adventist Healthy study as they followed a large population for many years. The population was healthier in general due to lack of smoking and drinking and moderate exercise, making them an excellent study given less confounding factors. The vegans had considerably lower diabetes than the meat eaters. Even Harvard's Nurses Health Study, which is the largest and longest epidemiologic study in America, shows a significant relationship between animal protein consumption and Type II DM formation. Let me also add that the randomized control trials and epidemiological studies, unlike the low carb studies, show improvement in end organ function. Less heart disease, less kidney dysfunction, less neuropathy, and longer life. Most of all. Let me tell you that it is absolutely ridiculous to eat less fruit, as the president of the American Society of Bariatric Medicine claimed at our meeting. Studies show that fruit consumption does NOT increase A1C and is actually associated with weight loss and diabetes control. Studies show increasing carbs actually controls diabetes if they are whole grains, fruits and veggies! There are so many studies that prove this point. I have included just a sample below. Gimeno, S. G., et al. (2002). "Prevalence and 7-year incidence of Type II diabetes mellitus in a Japanese-Brazilian population: an alarming public health problem." Diabetologia 45(12): 1635-1638. de Carvalho, A. M., et al. (2013). "Excessive meat consumption in Brazil: diet quality and environmental impacts." Public Health Nutr 16(10): 1893-1899. Morimoto, A. (2010). Trends in the Epidemiology of Patients with Diabetes in Japan. JMAJ. 53: 36-40. Adeva, M. M. and G. Souto (2011). "Diet-induced metabolic acidosis." Clin Nutr 30(4): 416-421. Souto, G., et al. (2011). "Metabolic acidosis-induced insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk." Metab Syndr Relat Disord 9(4): 247-253. Sebastian, A., et al. (2002). "Estimation of the net acid load of the diet of ancestral preagricultural Homo sapiens and their hominid ancestors." Am J Clin Nutr 76(6): 1308-1316. Dawson-Hughes, B., et al. (2008). "Alkaline diets favor lean tissue mass in older adults." Am J Clin Nutr 87(3): 662-665. Jenkins, D. J., et al. (2003). "Type 2 diabetes and the vegetarian diet." Am J Clin Nutr 78(3 Suppl): 610S-616S. Holt, S. H., et al. (1997). "An insulin index of foods: the insulin demand generated by 1000-kJ portions of common foods." Am J Clin Nutr 66(5): 1264-1276. Barnard, N. D., et al. (2009). "A low-fat vegan diet and a conventional diabetes diet in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a randomized, controlled, 74-wk clinical trial." Am J Clin Nutr 89(5): 1588S-1596S. Barnard, N. D., et al. (2006). "A low-fat vegan diet improves glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in a randomized clinical trial in individuals with type 2 diabetes." Diabetes Care 29(8): 1777-1783. Barnard, R. J., et al. (1998). "Diet-induced insulin resistance precedes other aspects of the metabolic syndrome." J Appl Physiol (1985) 84(4): 1311-1315. Stubbs, R. J., et al. (1997). "Carbohydrates and energy balance." Ann N Y Acad Sci 819: 44-69. Bloomer, R. J., et al. (2010). "Effect of a 21 day Daniel Fast on metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk factors in men and women." Lipids Health Dis 9: 94. Snowdon, D. A. and R. L. Phillips (1985). "Does a vegetarian diet reduce the occurrence of diabetes?" Am J Public Health 75(5): 507-512 Tonstad, S., et al. (2009). "Type of vegetarian diet, body weight, and prevalence of type 2 diabetes." Diabetes Care 32(5): 791-796. Fung, T. T., et al. (2004). "Dietary patterns, meat intake, and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women." Arch Intern Med 164(20): 2235-2240. Jornayvaz, F. R., et al. (2010). "A high-fat, ketogenic diet causes hepatic insulin resistance in mice, despite increasing energy expenditure and preventing weight gain." Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 299(5): E808-815. Valachovicová, M., et al. (2006). "No evidence of insulin resistance in normal weight vegetarians. A case control study." Eur J Nutr 45(1): 52-54. Frassetto, L., et al. (2001). "Diet, evolution and aging--the pathophysiologic effects of the post-agricultural inversion of the potassium-to-sodium and base-to-chloride ratios in the human diet." Eur J Nutr 40(5): 200-213. Flanagan, A. M., et al. (2008). "High-fat diets promote insulin resistance through cytokine gene expression in growing female rats." J Nutr Biochem 19(8): 505-513. Cai, H., et al. (2007). "A prospective study of dietary patterns and mortality in Chinese women." Epidemiology 18(3): 393-401. Schulze, M. B., et al. (2003). "Processed meat intake and incidence of Type 2 diabetes in younger and middle-aged women." Diabetologia 46(11): 1465-1473. Song, Y., et al. (2004). "A prospective study of red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and elderly women: the women's health study." Diabetes Care 27(9): 2108-2115. Vang, A., et al. (2008). "Meats, processed meats, obesity, weight gain and occurrence of diabetes among adults: findings from Adventist Health Studies." Ann Nutr Metab 52(2): 96-104. Pan, A., et al. (2013). "Changes in Red Meat Consumption and Subsequent Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Three Cohorts of US Men and Women." JAMA Intern Med: 1-8. Ahmadi-Abhari, S., et al. (2014). "Dietary intake of carbohydrates and risk of type 2 diabetes: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study." Br J Nutr 111(2): 342-352. Lara-Castro, C. and W. T. Garvey (2008). "Intracellular lipid accumulation in liver and muscle and the insulin resistance syndrome." Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am 37(4): 841-856. Cozma, A. I., et al. (2012). "Effect of fructose on glycemic control in diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled feeding trials." Diabetes Care 35(7): 1611-1620. Azadbakht, L. and A. Esmaillzadeh (2009). "Soy-protein consumption and kidney-related biomarkers among type 2 diabetics: a crossover, randomized clinical trial." J Ren Nutr 19(6): 479-486. Sørensen, L. B., et al. (2005). "Effect of sucrose on inflammatory markers in overweight humans." Am J Clin Nutr 82(2): 421-427. Montonen, J., et al. (2013). "Consumption of red meat and whole-grain bread in relation to biomarkers of obesity, inflammation, glucose metabolism and oxidative stress." Eur J Nutr 52(1): 337-345. Barbaresko, J., et al. (2013). "Dietary pattern analysis and biomarkers of low-grade inflammation: a systematic literature review." Nutr Rev 71(8): 511-527. Muraki, I., et al. (2013). "Fruit consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: results from three prospective longitudinal cohort studies." BMJ 347: f5001. Ye, E. Q., et al. (2012). "Greater whole-grain intake is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and weight gain." J Nutr 142(7): 1304-1313. Chiu, T. H., et al. (2014). "Taiwanese Vegetarians and Omnivores: Dietary Composition, Prevalence of Diabetes and IFG." PLoS One 9(2): e88547. Goff, L. M., et al. (2005). "Veganism and its relationship with insulin resistance and intramyocellular lipid." Eur J Clin Nutr 59(2): 291-298. Esposito, K., et al. (2003). "Effect of dietary antioxidants on postprandial endothelial dysfunction induced by a high-fat meal in healthy subjects." Am J Clin Nutr 77(1): 139-143. Jiang, R., et al. (2004). "Body iron stores in relation to risk of type 2 diabetes in apparently healthy women." JAMA 291(6): 711-717. Hua, N. W., et al. (2001). "Low iron status and enhanced insulin sensitivity in lacto-ovo vegetarians." Br J Nutr 86(4): 515-519. Watzl, B. (2008). "Anti-inflammatory effects of plant-based foods and of their constituents." Int J Vitam Nutr Res 78(6): 293-298. Chandalia, M., et al. (2000). "Beneficial effects of high dietary fiber intake in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus." N Engl J Med 342(19): 1392-1398. Pickup, J. C. (2004). "Inflammation and activated innate immunity in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes." Diabetes Care 27(3): 813-823. Deopurkar, R., et al. (2010). "Differential effects of cream, glucose, and orange juice on inflammation, endotoxin, and the expression of Toll-like receptor-4 and suppressor of cytokine signaling-3." Diabetes Care 33(5): 991-997. Ghanim, H., et al. (2009). "Increase in plasma endotoxin concentrations and the expression of Toll-like receptors and suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 in mononuclear cells after a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal: implications for insulin resistance." Diabetes Care 32(12): 2281-2287. Bao, W., et al. (2012). "Dietary iron intake, body iron stores, and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis." BMC Med 10: 119. Romeu, M., et al. (2013). "Diet, iron biomarkers and oxidative stress in a representative sample of Mediterranean population." Nutr J 12(1): 102. Cooper, A. J., et al. (2012). "A prospective study of the association between quantity and variety of fruit and vegetable intake and incident type 2 diabetes." Diabetes Care 35(6): 1293-1300. Rizzo, N. S., et al. (2011). "Vegetarian dietary patterns are associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome: the adventist health study 2." Diabetes Care 34(5): 1225-1227. Consortium, I. (2013). "Association between dietary meat consumption and incident type 2 diabetes: the EPIC-InterAct study." Diabetologia 56(1): 47-59. Watt, M. J. and A. J. Hoy (2012). "Lipid metabolism in skeletal muscle: generation of adaptive and maladaptive intracellular signals for cellular function." Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 302(11): E1315-1328. Coletta, D. K. and L. J. Mandarino (2011). "Mitochondrial dysfunction and insulin resistance from the outside in: extracellular matrix, the cytoskeleton, and mitochondria." Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 301(5): E749-755. Eckel, R. H., et al. (2005). "The metabolic syndrome." Lancet 365(9468): 1415-1428. Brunzell, J. D., et al. (1971). "Improved glucose tolerance with high carbohydrate feeding in mild diabetes." N Engl J Med 284(10): 521-524. Christensen, A. S., et al. (2013). "Effect of fruit restriction on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes--a randomized trial." Nutr J 12: 29.

Ok I am online now researching vegetarian protien options that are also low fat. I figure I better know my stuff and maybe it will give me e few new ideas on what to eat to get all my protien. LOL. Thanks for all the updates. Oh yea I remember about the doc saying that Christina did not have to have CM appointment. The only reason I remember that is Liz made such a big about how that would never happen even if the doc suggested it at the orientation!! So I guess this was no the first time it has happened. I was hoping too but Dr. Baggs did not even suggest it!! Actually I am ok with the nutrion class and pre op class. I have alot of questions I want answered so it will be ok. I don't get another physical and another nurse appointment but ok.........I had one with Dr. Baggs and than two with my PCP in the last six months. But ok they want to be sure I guess. I also have had every blood test in the book in the last four months with my PCP and I guess I am gonna get another round. Anyone get checked for a hiatal hernia or sleep apnea? I sorta think I have a hiatal hernia it runs in my family. I have symptoms. I hear they can fix them but I would be curious if I have one. Lot of heartburn and chest pain which I guess could indicate a hernia. Also I can't eat and drink at the same time or I get sick........which will help with the band........since I am used to this rule but I just wonder why it happens. Hernia was suggested to me. Might also explain the chest pain I get sometimes. I also hear they check the gallbladder and remove it the same time as the band if they find something wrong. Anyone else here this? Lets all meet sometime in February? Anyone game?

OK going to add my 3 cents work re: lap-band vs. RNY. I am the sole lap-band speaker at our 14-week bariatric surgery class here at the Santa Rosa Kaiser, so I know of what I speak! By the time I get to the class to speak - about week 6 - the folks have already had several successful RNY speakers come in, plus they have gone through the info class that you have to take first. In that class, they repeatedly call RNY the "gold standard" of bariatric surgery. But they do not bother to explain that "gold standard" does NOT mean that it is the best - it means that it is the baseline for statistical comparison. So when I ask how many people have already made up theri minds to have surgery, all the hands go up. When I ask those who already know for sure that they are going to have RNY to leave their hands up, there are only 3 or 4 that go down - the ones that will still consider lap-band. I do not beat up on either surgery - heck, SSF is doing gastric sleeve now too, so I guess I should say that I don't beat up an ANY of the surgeries - but I do ask that they consider more than just how fast they will lose weight. I tell them that this journey is about SO much more than which surgery you chose, which doctor you chose, and how fast you lose your weight. It is about the rest of your life!! You need to consider more than the immediate future. Do you want to NEVER be able to eat wedding cake - or birthday cake - again? Never be able to have a couple of glasses of wine without dumping toxins straight into your bloodstream? Because you CAN have the best of both worlds - good weight loss - MORE than 60% of excess weight with the new AP that we all have - good health - AND the ability to live life to the fullest without a lifelong malabsorptive component. My personal reasons for insisting on lap-band are: 1) Vegetarian 2) Did not want to never be able to drink or eat sweets again 3) No malabsorptive component - no re-routing God's system 4) ALL of the health professionals that I know who have had WLS chose lap-band. VERY telling. That said - it is a choice, and the choice is going to be different for every one of us. How blessed and fortunate are we that Kaiser allowes us to have these choices! I just wish they would get me into thatclass sooner so they would not all be so sure thay wanted RNY before they even heard about the lap-band. That was my second lecture this morning! I'm on a roll too Candra, LOL!!

I had Dr. Fischer for orientation too. He was a bit more far with the lap band at mine. Said it had pros and cons.........but it was very clear to me he preferred RNY!! Maybe that is why I debated so much about RNY for so long.......I really got the feeling that kaiser prefers RNY all the way through. Dr. Baggs was more fair but I also felt he leaned towards RNY. Although when I asked him straight out what was best for me he told me it was my choice and depended on what I thought was best.............he did say 42BMI and under tended to do well with the band........and than the vegetarian thing...........he said if I was set on no meat lap band might work better.......but he was very pro choice with me!! He wanted me to decide and didn't really guide me either way to much........

I will keep calling. That is how I got my orientation Just seems like it is hit or miss who you get. Last time I called during the lunch hour and they scheduled me right away. I liked Liz I thought she was cool. We had some smokers in the room and she was pretty tough on them but I thought it was totally appropriate. I liked her. I really liked Dr. Fisher. I hope to get him too and I think things will go smoother once I get my first appointments. I wish you the best of luck and that is a totally doable goal for March. I am looking about the same timeline I hope. So how much have you lost now? Seems like this 1200 calorie thing goes pretty quick from what they said. I had Robin for the nutritionist. She had to rush through her stuff to get us out on time. So did they mention a nutrition class to you guys? Nothing with us. Maybe that is the final pre opt class they were talking about?? It is suppose to be five hours. WE did'nt get to stay after since another class was coming in right after us. I did stay and ask Robin a few questions about vegetarian Protein but we had to talk on the way out the door. I agree it is worth it. I am gonna stay the course. I will give it a couple of days than call again for an appointment. I think once I have an appointment than maybe I can start to call and try to trade it in for something closer. I didn't get to sit upfront and I didn't get time to talk to them. Just to crazy of a day. I think that might have helped. I really like Dr. Fisher you are lucky to have him and let me know if you make it without a case manager;-) Maybe I will get that lucky. Dr. F did seem a bit negetive on the lap band.............so I hope he lets me go that route. They had me debating if it was the best option all the way home. But I am pretty firm that is what I want!! Thanks for the update helps to know the process.

Gardein products are excellent. I've been vegetarian for years and never bothered with the "meat" alternatives till I found gardein stuff. So glad you like it! Try the chipotle burgers, they are yummy.

I am going to start the 1200 plan today so hopefully that goes well. Hard being a vegetarian. I did call today for cancelled appointments and was told we call you, you don't call us. They said I will get something in the mail stating when my appointment is that I don't have choices. I was told I can't call for cancellations until 4 weeks have gone by first. I think it really depends on who answers the phone to be honest. They told me to wait until I was called for orientation but I kept calling and finally got someone who signed me up the same day. Truthfully the orientation was disorganized and the presenters were really frazzled. We started 45 minutes late and they had to kick out another class to get us in the room and there was alot of chaos. They rushed to get us out by 12pm so I am guessing stuff was missed like scheduling appointments. We were not given any sheets to sign or even asked what would work for us. Just told we will get something in the mail and that they are really backlogged right now. Said they had 200+ referrals a month and they were really, really busy. so for some reason I seem to be in with a slower moving group....................things aren't coming together very smoothly and the process seems to be taking a long time. They didn't mention a nutrition class yesterday??? Just the psych and surgeons appoint than a pre-op class. I wonder if they are not doing it anymore or if they tell us later. But it was not brought up on the list of things to do. I am still hoping for Dr. Fisher. Liz did mention yesterday that no one gets a surgury without a case manager's approval. She said sometimes the doctors try to schedule without one but it won't go through without a signature!! LOL. Don't know what that is all about but she seemed pretty irratated that doctors would try to leave her out of the approval loop you might want to check on that since she seemed pretty adament that everyone had to get approval from her or her co workers first before surgery is scheduled. LOL. Good luck she is tough.

Hey girls one more day!! I didn't do well on the 5 day test. I got way to hungry and dizzy so I stopped. I don't know if that is to healthy for me being vegetarian and all. Ok well down 2 pounds in a month but at least not up. Still don't know what Robin will say. But ah well here we go. I went to the mall tonight with my daughter got a salad only ate half cause the band stopped me ......ya know that last bite syndrome was coming on so I stopped...........was dying of thirst and took a sip of my daughter 7up..............just to clear my mouth. First of all way to sweet and sticky tasting but...........OMG I was in the bathroom with in one minute. I was instantly sick..........yuck, yuck, yuck!! My daughter was mortified I had to do this at the mall..........she told me mom serious you should know to prevent this by now. Ah yea know I was feeling no restriction the last two days than today it hits again............crazy!! I have doing liquids protien shakes all day with ice...frappicino like and yummy and had a salad tonight......but since I switched to water I have been so very thristy all day long. I can't drink enough water and thus my indulgence at the mall at subsequent visit to the pot!! see you all in two days!!

Riley you coming to Reggies this weekend? You are the only other vegetarian that I know of!! Ok making lentils and cottage cheese. Going to SF tomorrow and need to take my own food this time..........tried the resterant thing today but I really do better at home........I PB'd a salad..........and garden burger........I would rather eat my own food for awhile I KNOW what works no guessing and having problems.....

How do you make yours? I'm a vegetarian so typically I do refried vegetarian black Beans, lettuce, olives, tomato, salsa, natural sour cream, and tamed jalapenos. If I have extra calories sometimes I'll add cheese or Morningstar griller crumbles (vegetarian beef Protein substitute).

"Luck" Riley - can't wait to hear the details! I understand about not losing any weight even though you haven't eaten anything - that's been happening to me! Tamra - when Bev called on the gal who drank the alcohol she said she was callling on her at that time because she had to leave early - so I don't think it was out of shame. I put a little alarm on my phone to go off the day before the meeting so I'll txt you when i get it. I really need to try to get back on my eating schedule. since I've only been eating like once a day I haven't lost anything - when I eat something small every 3-4 hours I lose fast. Problem with that is when I start to eat is when I have the problem because i don't want to stop. So much easier just not to start Oh, riley - I got some frozen edamame and i was wondering what the best way is to prepare them? I've never made them before - more like peas or beans??? Vegetarian rookie over here.