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Hi [emoji5] Diet: I'm vegetarian (been like this for 14 years) so tend to get most of my protein from cheese yoghurt and beans. I rememeber at 2 weeks out I created a spreadsheet and I had the most detailed plans of how many grams of protein, carbs and fat I would eat each day. Then I went back to real life and realised how unrealistic that really is. Well, it is in my life and will be for anybody else whose life is hectic. The truth is that the best diet is the one that uses instinct. I damn well know if I have eaten too many carbs and not enough protein during a day without needing to check a spreadsheet. It's just about using common sense to eat in a healthy and balanced manner but don't spend a week beating yourself up if there's a not so balanced day in there - everyday is a chance for a fresh start. Food restrictions: For some reason to this day I cannot eat pasta or potato (unless it's in the form of chips/crisps) without throwing up an hour later so I just stay away from them as if I'm allergic now. But I think that this is specific to me as others I speak to have been eating these since 2 weeks post op. Rice tends to not cause any issues. Have recently reintroduced bread, but like 2 slices a week. My sleeve definitely still works, I very rarely even eat meals as I do not like the bloated feeling after 2 bites. Small snack size foods throughout the day has become my thing with no meals Shakes: Eurgh shakes! Where do I start. In the UK I have yet to find a single protein shake that tastes good. I literally wasted well over £100 trying out different shakes in the first 3 months post op. I even tried protein water (Brand: Decibel if you wanna try)! THAT SUCKS AS WELL GUYS. I stick to protein from normal food now and I'm much happier for it Exercise: I like to use cardio so running, cycling and rowing machines are my thing as they are good for burning fat. Start off 2 days a week and build up from there, the more weight we lose the easier working out becomes. So dont try to jump into intense workouts that would suit you best say 8 months down the line instead. In terms of exercise I would say to trust the process, the time flies by! Loose skin: Weights will be good to prevent loose skin, I've been lucky and dont really have too much loose skin but I know that I want plastics in the future (saggy boobs lol) anyway so will find a way to get rid of it if there is any. Feelings: Honestly I feel great. I cannot believe that a whole year has zoomed by. It's the little things like walking to the train station, I'm no longer sweating or out of breath, my clothes fit better (until they get too loose, try to buy a couple pieces you can wear for the year btw as you lose, don't get a new wardrobe till you stop losing no matter how tempting it's a waste of money) and I generally have more confidence. I think we don't even realise how much our weight dictates all of the tiny choices that we make for things throughout the day until it is gone. One thing I can't stress enough is that we will all have our own journey through this thing, our bodies are unique and will react to the surgery in such a manner. Thankfully forums like these allow us to share our experiences and provide info/support to one another but remember to never let anybody judge you or the choices you make as you go through this (this is much more a mental journey than physical) or feel that your journey/process through this experience is inferior to somebody else's because you have different methods to them or you lose weight at a different speed/pattern. All in all I would do this entire year again in a heartbeat if I had to choose this surgery

I was doing a Keto like diet (was not hitting the fat goals) then I went on vacation and it was shot to hell So I'm doing a low carb plan but nothing like before. I didn't notice any gained weight as a result of the switch however I am in the early months of post surgery my body seems to enjoy the fruits and vegetables more than the proteins (I was a vegetarian prior to surgery anyways) but I'm still being careful to keep rice bread and the likes out of my diet.

You made those dumplings??? They look SO good & I'm a vegetarian! Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks for sharing. @Newme17shared this with me as well. I am thinking of going vegetarian. I want to eat super clean as I am considering doing power lifting.

It's pretty normal to hold more food after a year or two from being sleeved. Makes it a challenge to lose weight and maintain. The weight loss is also painfully slow. Cravings are tough. Once I have carbs/sugar I crave them more. I have to get my discipline back to get the scale to move. Many people go back to basics. Logging, protein and keeping calories down. This may be more information than you want - Feel free to ignore it. The calculator below helped me out. It calculates specifically to you. (sex, age, height, weight, activity level) After you enter your information you will see three tabs (maintaining) (cutting) (bulking) Click cutting to get your macros. enter the numbers into myfitnesspal or food log of your choice - Yes, you can have carbs - It will give you carbohydrate levels low moderate high. Start with moderate and see if you go into weight loss mode...If not go to low carb ratio. This works with any type of diet you are into (palo, keto vegetarian etc) https://tdeecalculator.net/

My plan is high carbs, but they're low glycemic carbs with good protein content like whole grains, beans, etc. I pretty much follow the Mayo clinic diet...which is similar to Mediterranean. My group serves a diverse community of people from all over the world, lot of vegans and vegetarians...so we have a lot of options. I think high protein keto diets produce the fastest weight loss and some folks tolerate them really well. (wish I did, but I don't) My group stresses keeping the calories at 1000-1200 per day, 60+g of protein, lots of exercise, lots of water, eat simple. We do a lot of fruit and veggies and whole grains and beans.

Let me start by saying that I was told to have this surgery because of autoimmune medical issues and side effects of steroids NOT that I was an overeater. The whole journey to approval was doctors saying that this is hormonal and less so a result of behavior. I gained 40 pounds on 2 weight loss medications. I'm not really eating meals or solid or pureed foods. My post op plan says to consume 3 protein shakes/day and I usually only get one. I don't usually get 800 because I can't tolerate anything. I'm vegetarian and am making an effort to eat mostly protein with low calorie/fats. Pre-op I lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks on a liquid diet of fewer than 800 calories. AND I WAS NEVER HUNGRY--EVER! Now I dread eating and never feel that full feeling--just sick. I feel more hunger now. I feel better when I don't eat, so I hardly ever do. I was told only walking. No other exercise is allowed. I walk a lot since I live in NYC. I still have severe pain in my umbilical incision with certain movements. So, I actually don't eat 800 calories/day, however, that is extremely calorie restricted and should result in weight loss even without the surgery.

Age: 19 Sleeved 10/17/2017 SW:296 CW:226 Down 70 pounds. I’m feeling so discouraged because I’m very strict with my diet and exercise and I seem to be gaining some weight which I can only assume is gaining muscle. But my doctor is looking at me like I’m not trying when I’m following everything to the t. I feel so crappy cause he told me that me being down 70 pounds in 5 months was “nothing”. -My workouts consist of cardio for 45 minutes to an hour then weights twice a week -My diet is 80g of protein a day, 800 Calories, mostly vegetarian diet (when I rarely eat meat it’s fish), no bread, water and sugar free drinks. My doctor isn’t helping me cause I’m already following everything they tell me and I’m just depressed and feel hopeless. Maybe someone here can help me. Anything I can do to improve and maybe push my weight loss faster again?

A lot of people avoid carbs. Fruit has a lot of carbs. I follow the Mayo Clinic Diet...which is a slightly modified Mediterranean diet. I eat a metric feck ton of fruits and veggies, and a lot of complex low glycemic carbs. You will find people following many different diets after surgery. You'll find that different surgeon's groups have vastly different recommendations. Find a group that will work with your preferred healthy diet. There are a lot of ways up this mountain. Keto is very very popular right now. Hands down...it will give you the fastest results. Many people feel wonderful on this diet, but I don't. I prefer to eat a mostly vegetarian diet with meat consumed only occasionally..and my group is completely on board with this. What nearly all groups will require: 60g protein per day. (I get a lot of mine from plant sources..but I get 60g daily) 64ounces plus of water per day. 1200 calories or less per day after surgery. Vitamins.

I’m also bipolar. Had my gastric bypass last July. Ive been sad for a few months now,since Christmas,I think it was due to being around family at that time of the year. But I am aware that I invited 21 people to my home to celebrate Christmas Day,so maybe that was a manic episode and the sadness I’m feeling now is the low (?). I’m feeling quite confused. The good news is that I need a lower dosage of clonezapam at night. I’ve gone from 3mg to 2mg (a significant amount) I think in 2/3 days time I’ll reduce my dosage to 1.5 mg. I was on 175mg quetaipine and now I’ve reduced it to 125mg. These are the positives. Im not so clumsy during the day anymore from feeling drugged,I’m also more alert. I can definitely say though that surgery didn’t make me depressed. I did suffer from a few nervous days post surgery but I think everyone who has surgery feels that. It’s normal. Good luck with the surgery. Eating less bad carbs and sugar has changed my tastebuds,vegetables and fruit are delicious and sweet. I feel cleaner now from eating the healthy food. I don’t rely on potatoes like I used to,to feel sated,it’s great,as I’m vegetarian. Apologies for writing too much !

My surgery will be at Oakland Hospital. My surgeon is Dr.Matthew Weiner. I originally found him through his YouTube channel. I am located in Michigan. My date is set yes but waiting to hear back from insurance which they don’t think is a problem at all so they went ahead and scheduled me. Are any of you doing a YouTube journey series. I’ve started but my video is private atm just because until I have the surgery no one really knows. My fiancé and my mother know but that is it right now. Not sure how I feel about telling people. I’m really struggling there. I feel like I’m not prepared in the sense of having the things I need. I am thinking of choosing the Celebrate multivitamin. Any opinions or reviews from anyone taking them is more than appreciated. And yeah I just don’t want to be in a mad dash to get thing I need right before surgery. Also been trying to decide what my lifestyle of eating will be after surgery. I’ve decided to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian. And I know my fiancé and some family won’t support that fully or will make harsh comment and doubt my decision whiling I’m struggling with. So that’s where I’m at in my journey.

It would seem as simple as that but it's not. I had 3 children in three years, no chance to lose the weight in between ,it just compounded. Easiest 100 lb gain ever. I worked on losing weight and became a vegan for a year loss some the transitioned into becoming a vegetarian for 10yrs but could not lose more because a large part of my diet was always carbs, although complex, still didn't help. Started to go carb free then lost weight but a surprise rare medical condition lead me to needing rapid weight loss or brain surgery. I chose to get sleeved first then brain surgery if all else fails. Never enslaved to food, already had a super strict diet (kosher) prior to being plant based so I NEVER ate fast food But you're right, I had to redefine my relationships with carbs because I just can't lose weight and eat them My post was to find out if other people perhaps like me, have trouble maintaining if food addiction is not a factor. But I appreciate all input.

By the title of this post, I thought you were talking about the new black panther movie!! There are Great Apes and they are vegetarians lol

A day of cooking for me. Guess I was in the mood! So dinner is now in the oven. It’s a new recipe I’m trying from budget bytes, vegetarian. But you can omit to cheese and make it vegan or use vegan cheese, I should think. Very rare that I make a recipe twice, so imagine doing mostly plant based for almost a year now and having a different dish almost every single time! Lots of variations. Anyway, back to the recipe. It’s a vegetable polenta casserole. I picked at each of the layers, pretty good taste separately, so I’m anticipating a good turnout with it all put together. Here it is: https://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/01/vegetable-polenta-casserole/ imagine the veggies being poured on top of the polenta/spinach mix and then the cheese spread on top. Sorry, I didn’t bother with a pic of it put together. Anyhow, it’s in the oven now. Smells pretty good in here . 😊

Yum!!!! I just made this vegetarian recipe. Kind of threw it together on my own getting the idea and ingredients from another recipe. So I sautéed an onion, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and kale. Added salt and pepper and feta cheese. Didn’t even think about garlic...man, that would have been good. Anyway, I whisked some eggs and thinned it out with some almond milk. Sprayed the muffin cups and filled them with the veggies and added approximately 1/4 cup of the eggs in each cup, maybe a little less. The first batch I put the cheese on top (see pic). The second batch I mixed the cheese with the veggies for more we’ll rounded tasting bite. Baked for about 20 min on 350. My thrown together recipe made 24 of them. They’re cooling off and waiting to go in the freezer. I managed to try one (I say that cause I had already eaten) and did but without being super uncomfortable (I still haven’t learned!!!). It is sooooo good. Nice and easy meal prep for breakfasts, that’s for sure!

Hi there! I had my 2 month follow up and my NUT told me that she knew someone that went vegan and it made their eczema flair ups to nothing! I'm considering it but... I'm allergic to nuts (tree and peanuts.) In fact, my current flair up is because I was eating protein bars not knowing they were full of nuts. I'm going vegetarian anyway because Meat doesn't sit right at the moment. I know beans are like protein magic but you can only have so much. Also what about probiotics? Is there a vegan version? SW: 366 CW: 329 GW1: 200 RNY Dec 18, 2017!

I have UHC and the main thing to focus on is that your first appointment weight CAN NOT be less than your last. That is the way they make you start over. So my first appointment I was 309 now at 6th month I am at 282. Because my doctor told me out rocks in your pocket of you have to, but make sure you do not weigh more on the 6th month than when you started. I don't have Tips I just started being more aware of my good choices as I realised I was not going to wake up SEXY AND THIN after the surgery I began to take this surgery as a TOOL not the ANSWER to my weight loss. Took me over a year and a half to get to where I am emotionally. I am glad I waited and understood I HAVE TO CHANGE MY CHOICES IN MY LIFE! My knees are bad, and I just can't live like this anymore. So just start being accountable for what you are eating and what you are not doing that has got you to the point that you need to have a surgery to improve your health. That is what i did. So choice stairs or elevator. Tortilla or lettuce leaf to wrap your taco, actually does help in the long run too. Hope this helped. I no longer struggle as much with food choices. I have to come to grips with binging when sad. Which my children have now began to help me by making me meet them at the store in the day time. With inclusion from them and actually them really helping with my I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE MY HOUSE, time in My life. I have to deal with my anxieties. So I have less time to think of my childhood or give any of the bad times in my life a second thought. If you consider not stocking your cabinets with bad foods then that makes it harder to eat them. I ask myself am I hungry or bored? Am I sad or hungry? Am I mad or hungry? I also became vegan 6 months ago for the sake of animals. I think that had helped some too. I am not saying you must go vegan, I am saying vegetarian is a great way to start changing your habits. I downloaded an app for bullet journaling and that has a tracker of how I felt everyday. I noticed a few patterns and made less time for those moments. I am not running from my past. I just have never recieved the closure needed because those that hurt me don't care or realize that they did anything wrong. I am okay with most, I just pushed them all out of my life because they brough my self pity and anger out all the time. This is way to long and probably will not be received as a "these things helped me" I am really trying to help. Sent from my LGMS631 using BariatricPal mobile app

Very interested in vegetarian recipes safe for lap band patient. Any websites you can recommend?

In somewhat the same vein, I asked my fully vegetarian cousin. Did you choose this life style because you love animals? No she said I hate vegetables and I want to do b them all in! Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

Dr. Voung is a Pescatarian who enjoys the occasional steak. :-) I have a mostly vegetarian adult son who won't eat chicken because its "fowl" << haha I'm reading up on various options for meeting protein requirements after surgery. Thanks for the link to Dr. Greger.

I didn't totally go back in and reboot the stages, I just added things back in from previous stages like adding protein powder or shake to hit chocolate or oatmeal. I'm still doing shakes every day and this may remain forever in my routine (I'm only three months out btw) I was able to commit to creamer or half and half forever so it's a nice trade And by using it in coffee I easily reach Protein goals by lunch where as before I was struggling at 9pm trying to get more in. And now I maybe able to return to my previous vegetarian lifestyle (ovo lacto) in about 2 months when see my surgeon again which is my first goal now Sent from my N817 using BariatricPal mobile app

I think I need to track for a few months longer because my body rebels against all carbs But in heading back towards my vegetarian lifestyle especially if I can't do anything about my hair... Sent from my N817 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi all I was a vegetarian prior to surgery and would like to return to it now that I'm three months post op Wondering if anyone has experienced hair loss in excess being plant based and the main sources of proteins consumed Thanks

Okay....the set point is reduced with surgery, so yes, it's easier to lose weight in the beginning. This is why it's called the honeymoon phase. Easy peasy...but then you get on in time and you have to work it, just as any other person who manages their weight...but the catch is...you've developed great eating habits, better foods in your diet, and you are working out, whether it's just a simple walk a day or going to the gym and lifting, or whatever workout you want to do. Now, if you're eating 1200 calories a day to lose weight on your own...that's WAY TOO LOW. Please believe me, I did that, so do the numerous others who did it, and guess what...you have a rough patch and you start eating back the way you did, and WHAM! It gets piled back on and more! So, please please also believe me when I say, you can gain weight eating too low. I did this. Not because I was on some kind of diet, just because I didn't eat. When I did eat, the body was saying "hey, you didn't feed me enough food, so I'm going to hang on to every calorie you've just eaten, especially the fat and store it." My doc got on to me for this!!! So, education is key. Sometimes you have to figure out how the body actually works and figure out what you need to do. So, I entered in your stats in this calculator. I don't know your age (but I put in 30) and I don't know your activity level (so I put in light 1-3 times a week). Your body, at these stats, is supposed to be getting about 1697 calories a day to lose at a 15% deficit. When you lose, you revisit the calculator and get your new numbers. When you meet goal, revisit, and you'll have a general idea of how many calories you'll be eating to maintain. Now, I wish I had the discipline to have done this in the beginning without wls, but I needed to forced, per se, to learn better eating and change my lifestyle (I'm now plant based/vegan/vegetarian-like); I was also at a higher BMI and nearing getting complications due to my age/lifestyle then. I've always enjoyed working out, so that wasn't an issue for me. I'm at 40 lbs from my goal...and when I reach it, for my future stats, I'll be eating approximately 2400 calories a day. Sounds like a lot right? But my body will need it for the amount of energy it puts out. Check out the calculator and check out this website, if you plan to do it on your own. http://eatmore2weighless.com/weight-loss-calculator/

Seconding @Creekimp13, we plant based folks are always there in the vegan/vegetarian thread. As for losing muscle mass, hmm?? I’m gaining muscle mass. I’m about 9 months post as well. Check out the recipe thread for some good stuff too. Want a salty crunchy snack: roasted broad beans. Low fat popcorn. As for protein, I don’t count it, but I do eat a lot of grains, legumes, and veggies. Doc hasn’t had an issue with me not getting enough. So, I can’t help ya in that arena, but I do know these foods all have protein.