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Interesting take on the whole carb thing, and I think it makes a good deal of sense. I grew up a strict ovo-lacto vegetarian. Everybody I knew was either LOV, or strict vegan (religious thing). Everything I've ever known about eating a healthy diet was centered around low-fat, high-carb, high-Fiber food combinations to create whole Proteins (Beans and rice; :tongue_smilie:legumes such as lentils, and grains like barley and buckwheat, and on and on). The emphasis on healthy living was so strong that I actually remember attending church services where the sermon was about the evils of eating meat, consuming alcohol, and any source of caffeine, and what it would do to you. So far, I can't seem to kick the carb habit, or at least the automatic mental process of pairing foods to create balanced meals that are, of course, high-carb. It seriously sucks being diabetic with that kind of background, let me say! My reaction to eating something high in carbs is more like serious annoyance, and, "Crap, all that health stuff I got hammered into my head, and I had to go and get diabetes and now I have to try to convince myself that the nutritionist isn't full of crap on the whole 'eating meat' thing." I guess some kinds of indoctrination go deeper than others, because I'm still not totally convinced after all this time that vegetarianism (if one includes sufficient sources of protein) is at all a bad idea. There're always dairy products and eggs, after all...or at least I'd like to try to maintain that pleasant fantasy for a couple more weeks, anyhow! :001_tongue::laugh0::001_smile:

Great to reinvigorate the recipes conversation, but likely more helpful on the forum labeled for it. Scroll down in the support groups section and towards the bottom is Food and Nutrition, and it's separated by things like what stage of eating you're in and if your vegetarian, gluten-free, etc. It's a good section and I've found some great ideas there!

I also forgot to add that I do mostly vegetarian. I'm not a big meat eater but endo/PCOS is the least of my worries when it comes to food.

This has been really good for me to see. I am vegetarian and I have a tendency to fill up on carbs, but I can totally see how easy it is to do. I'm going to try to get more protein in my diet too - carbs spike your blood sugar and then you have a blood sugar drop, which is how you get that hungry feeling. You end up constantly chasing that high. I find it very easy to slip in to that cycle.

I don't know a lot about vegetarian and vegan or the difference between the two, can you have eggs and cheese? Those are good sources of protein.

Hello everyone! I have started the process of getting approved for surgery and I feel like I am not sure how I stay on a vegetarian diet after surgery. I am a horrible cook and I hate to cook also. I really like that I eliminated the inflammation in by body by going vegetarian and I really don’t want to go off but I’m nervous about after the surgery any suggestions because now I kinda just steam veggies or cook the morning star burgers eat. I have only been a vegetarian since September 2019. Still very new n learning. Help please I appreciate all you can offer. Thank you in advanced!

I like vegetarian refried beans with cheese, salsa and sometimes sour cream. The refried beans are great for protein.

Band obsession is normal, but you might want to keep that to yourself when you're talking to the shrink. Good luck -- you're almost there! PS: Love your vegetarian quote.

If you mean falafel, I think they are really great. But I can't promise that the particular brand available in the super market is going to be good. It may be, may not be. As you probably know, it's a middle eastern vegetarian sandwich. If the falafel itself is made well, and it has a well made sauce and a fresh pita bread, they are really good. If you have a chance to eat one in a good middle eastern restaurant, that might be the place to start. If you try the one in the store and it's not too good, you may not want to try one again. That would be a shame because a good, fresh falafel is truly grand.

Kim, Thanks for the reply! The vegetarian chili sounds great!! I can have meat just not red meat. I'm really weird about bleeding up my food so I have been doing everything I can to not have to do that. I need to try cottage cheese!! I just have such a big mental block on mushy foods (I don't like them because of the look and texture) that this has all been really hard.

New to this journey but since I've eaten tons of Indian food, I think you should be fine. You should have no problem finding vegetarian foods but I would steer clear of the nans, pooris and other breads. As for Protein, eggs should be in abundance. And if you can't find what you're looking for, ASK! Good luck and have a safe trip.

After suregy I been starving with the weirdest food carvings by being 13 days out I try eggs threw it up try tomato soup threw it up even try to eat tiny piece of chicken threw it up I try chicken noodle soup and work protein shakes working. Applesause and sugar free popsicles work just feel like not gonna ever enjoy a. Chicken salad or simple meat cause deff not a vegetarian . Just very hard

Im with you. I was hungry all the time and thought about food where as before surgery I truly believed I would NOT be hungry at all. This was not the case for me. The inner fat girl does not shut up. I remember out of the hospital I wanted to eat sour power belts, vegetarian nachos, and mexican food. Those were all things I loved so much. Before surgery I made super low carb versions of mexican food which was amazing but it was the taste I missed the most and the thought of not having a savory dish for a while was torcher. Im 2 weeks out and the food craving are less but Im still hungry with the difference that I could only put a tiny amount of food in me. Believe it or not once you start feeling your body say no to certain solid foods you just wont want it anymore because its not worth the pain of feeling like a stuffed sausage with real bad nausea. Also weight drop off is different with people. Some people had sheepishly shed weight others is like a slow peeling of layers...Hang in there my friend...

I had my op on April 20 and I find myself hating to eat. I am wondering what Protein vegetarians get. I hate Protein shakes now I'm going to try the Protein Bar Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Make sure you don't use a lot of salad dressing! From the people who I've interacted with that are vegan or vegetarian, most seem to feel they're better than those who eat meats. Kinda funny to me, since I myself, before my VSG (10/24) was a vegetarian for almost 3 and half years...

No - he can be a jerk, but he's not controlling that way. I have fingerprint protection on my phone anyway, and it is the only number I give out. The insurance company is always sending statements, and I open and discard them because he is not even interested in seeing them. I have my own business working from home - but I can pretty much do my own thing right up until 5.30pm on weekdays for appts and he would be none the wiser. My daughters know about the surgery and are very on board. They can keep a secret - we are always doing things without him knowing. They aren't all that close to him because he's not around all that much if he's binge drinking/binge exercising/binge online game playing - and often the 3 of us will just go off shopping, out to eat, to fairs, festivals, etc. I mean, it's pretty telling that we go off to the UK for 6 weeks in the summer and leave him behind... They are only 11 and 10, though - so I have at least 3 good friends that could take me to the hospital (including the 1 that had gastric sleeve last year). Once it's a done deal he'll be Ok with it - but I'm pretty sure he would do anything to stop it. Because he'll be worried that something will happen to me, yes - but also because he'll be jealous (having done his stupid yo-yo diets for 17 years himself) and because he is so much older than me and he dislikes me getting any male attention as it is (he's 66, and I'm 41 and don't look it). My BMI is not huge - at 36 with diabetes, PCOS, and high cholesterol I *just* qualify, so I have not been told to lose any weight prior. The surgery for me is more about future-proofing my health. For the last couple of years I have made sure to do at least 10,000 steps a day, and keep my calories around 1300. I have logged it all in MyFitnessPal going back to 2015. I should lose weight, but with the PCOS it is almost impossible. What I am looking to get out of the WLS is the complete reset of hormones and metabolism that follows. Because I don;t know how I could keep this up in 10 years, 20 years, etc. No joke - I already have a protein shake for breakfast and one for lunch, for 2 years now. He's used to seeing that. I have been vegetarian since I was a child and only use skim milk, etc. and cook healthy meals. I don't think he's going to notice much difference in my pre-op diet. Plus I can hide any odd looking stuff in my room - we have separate bedrooms.

:smile: Well, my lungs have cleared, the pulmonologist says I am all set, surgery is scheduled for June 3rd, and my second round of pre-ops with Anesthesia clinic, and Dr. R, are both next Tuesday morning, the 26th. Today is day one of pre-op... it will not be an issue, since I have been practicing with this diet since January. And to reiterate what Jay said, on my first visit to the BWH weight loss surgery clinic, I saw Dr. R and the Nutritionist, Sari, and she gave me all of the information regarding pre-op, surgery, and post-op diets. I also picked up the following books, for anyone who is vegetarian or not, and might be interested in low glycemic/low carb veg cooking. There is a lot of information in some of them, regarding the health benefits of a low "white carbs" diet. These books are keeping me from longing for things I do not need, should not have, and am determined to live with out. The book "The New Glucose Revolution" has very good information. Another book, if you are interested in something to pass time, is "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes (its the book with the piece of toast on the cover). Basically, this book sums up what many bandsters have learned when they had intolerance for bread, pizza, etc... and their PCOS and diabetes virtually disappear. It's the "white" flour carbs that are hurting us. Not necessarily sugar, per se, though I do not encourage sugar consumption, but the opposite. Its the carbs though. The bad ones, that are hurting us, to this point, where we require surgical intervention. JUST MY OPINION though, and I encourage everyone to search out the information that they need to make informed decisions for themselves. I am just glad Amazon remembered that Diabetic Vegan cook book (it sucked, the recipes were terrible and it was too strict and made me stop being vegan) a few years back, now that these titles came up with their algorithm they have on me! I accidentally ordered 2 of the first one, if anyone is interested in it, I will bring it to a support group meeting for you... "The Vegetarian Low-Carb Diet: The Fast, No-Hunger Weightloss Diet for Vegetarians" Rose Elliot; Paperback; $12.21 "The New Glucose Revolution Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook: 80 Delicious Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes Made Easy with the Glycemic Index" Dr. Dr. Jennie Brand-Miller M.D.; Paperback; $15.56 "The Whole Foods Diabetic Cookbook" Patricia Bertron; Paperback; $10.17 "Low Carb Vegetarian" Margo Demello; Paperback; $10.36 "Month of Meals: Vegetarian Pleasures" American Diabetes Association; Spiral-bound; $13.57 "Carb Conscious Vegetarian: 150 Delicious Recipes for a Healthy Lifestyle" Robin Robertson; Paperback; $13.57 Regards, Me! :mad2:

Even if you are vegetarian your body still needs protein.

Well we made it home, round trip five and a half hours to go to the doc. I got the pain pump out and about half of the lipo stitches. I have to go back next thursday to get the drains and some more stitches removed. I am smaller and smaller every day so weird. I said that today to the doc that I feel like I am shrinking and he said you are. He said that every day I will be smaller as the fluid escapes through drains or just normal every day life. I finally had some relief with the bowels. It was ok until I started having a coughing fit holy moly that was terrible. I advise no coughing and no sneezing with garment down, up it's bad enough. My doc was thrilled with my incisions and said they are healing so nice and flat. My hubby is a wonderful nurse lol. The doc also was so excited when my garment came down he was telling danny look how nice and flat and see how she now has muscles on the sides, I can't see since my boobs are ginormous now but was excited to hear him say it looks like I will have a 6 pack when I am done .. who would have ever thought. lol. We talked about my thigh lift and he says I don't need one but will do one if I really want it. I think I do. I didn't do all this not to go the whole way lol. My teen daughters are making a vegetarian Thanksgiving for us so sweet. I have friends bringing turkey lol. I am bummed not to be out there shopping on black friday. :thumbup: So all in all appt went great, I feel great, I didn't take any pain meds not even tylenol today and still feel great just tired. Going to go nap. But first I want to say how Thankful I am for all of you my lapband friends xoxoxo Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Hi Everyone! I am scheduled November 12th for gastric sleeve surgery. I am on mostly liquids and low carb foods if I choose. Does anyone else follow a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle? The doctors and dietitians keep having me think that it's going to be nearly impossible to do. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

The ADA and the AHA are absolutely NOT recommending that you get your carbs from french fries, Desserts or bread. What they ARE recommending is that we humans (omnivores and some could argue closer-to-vegetarians than not) is get our diet from a mostly plant based source. And by this they mean mostly vegetables and fruits and whole grain sources. This means brown rice and Beans, not french fries and cake. People who eat plant only food are the thinnest people (vegan). The ones who get their carbs from white bread/french fries and sugar are the heaviest-- and I daresay -- probably also eat the most meat. Unfortunately, our medical associations have NOT been good about pointing people in the right direction about carbs. They've led many to believe that all carbs are equal when they are not. Some do best on a very low carb diet. As a person who works in the fitness field-- I would argue that active people would do better with a higher percentage of carbs in their diet (and I don't mean just athletes- but active people in general). Not tons and tons-- just a balance. On another note-- weight loss can stall from too few overall calories as well as low amounts of specific nutrients. Something else to think about. Sorry for the book... :thumbdown:

I mostly eat that way. The problem after surgery is so little food. It makes it hard to get the protein grams in a few tablespoons of food. I’ve always preferred to eat at least vegetarian. I’m not sure how to handle this. I’ve bought plant protein non flavored powder supplement, hoping this will work. I think vegetarian would be easy with eggs and dairy to increase protein. I don’t do well with dairy... but there are so many dairy alternatives now. What I’ve found is they have higher carbs/sugar or fat to “fix” the flavor. Bottom line, I totally support any healthy eating that works for you. Let us know how to support you! You got this!!

Were you a veg before surgery? It's challenging but not impossible. I've dealt with so many anti vegetarian nutritionist it annoys me to no end. One of the reasons I went with the hospital instead of the other hospital I looked at was because the nutritionist was so rude and condescending toward vegetarians.

I'm between being a vegetarian right now because my NUT is strongly against me being one so early in my journey. So I've been having the weirdest cravings. I haven't had beef for a couple months now and all I was is a big fat juice beefy burger. So it's more like in my head.

Wendy's Chili 2 lbs ground beef 1-29 oz can tomato sauce 1-29 oz can kidney beans (with liquid) 1-29 oz can pinto beans (with liquid) 1 C diced onion (1 medium onion) 1/2 C diced green chili (2 chilis) 1/4 c diced celery (1 stalk) 3 medium tomatoes, chopped 2 tsp cumin powder 3 Tbls chili power 1.5 tsp black pepper 2 tsp salt 2 C Water Brown ground beef in skillet over medium heat, drain off fat. Using a fork crumble the cooked beef into pea size pieces. In a large pot combine the beef plus all the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring every 15 minutes for 2-3 hours. Makes 12 servings. Leftovers may be frozen for several months. For a vegetarian version just bump up the amount of beans, add some veggies (I would add broccoli, more onions, zucchini, etc.) and skip the hamburger.