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I told no one....didn't want to put myself through all the cross examination, etc. I'm one of those where a lot of things about me is none of anyone's business but mine. I simply took a week off from work. Since then I have lost all excess weight, I am a normal body fat%....a slim physically fit person. That was over 3 years ago....everyone has forgotten I was ever fat, and new people I have met since then never knew I was fat and there's no reason to tell them.......no one talks about it anymore. No One! Even with my PCP and Cardiologist, they never bring it up anymore...no more "You need to loose a few lbs" I did it, completed it, now live a new life because of it. Life is good.... People look at me today, and see an energetic, vegetarian, daily gym rat, no junk food, 63 year old male. And I'm fine with that.

Hey all, So last Monday I made a decision to go vegetarian. It was based mainly on the fact that meat is too heavy in my stomach when I eat it. And it seems the further out I get, the more things I find upset my stomach. That being said, I don't miss meat as much as I thought I would. It turns out there are still things to eat in this world that have protein and aren't meat. I particularly like veggie patch "chickn" cutlets because they taste like chicken nuggets. Also smart life makes portobello burgers that are good. Has anyone else gone this route? If so I would like to hear what you eat so I can have a better idea. I'll tell you one thing... The numbers have been flying down the scale since I stopped eating meat.

That is pescetarian, not vegetarian - Kaylee Ann ~ Surgerversary 6/11/2012

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 . 😊

OMG. I’m on mushies and have been tolerating everything so far. Tonight I decided to go a little rogue and went out to Indian food with my family. I’m not sure if it’s strictly a cheat, because all the food was very mushy, but I’m sure the sauces had sugar in them. I ate no bread or starches, so I don’t feel too bad about it. I feel almost high and elated. It was so good. I got everything mild, and nothing disagreed with me. If you are in mushy stage and you’re bored of what you’re eating, I highly recommend Indian food. Of course you have to get the vegetarian stuff with no chunks of meat in them. It was sooooo good!!

I looked to see if there was a thread created for healthy vegan/vegetarian recipes. I didn't see any on the first page, so I created one here. Notice I noted HEALTHY...because we all know there are unhealthy ways of eating vegan/vegetarian diet. We can share our meals and pics (if you have any) with all those who are looking to follow a whole foods plant based diet. Happy sharing ya'll! Don't forget to follow the thread!!!

I'm a year and almost two months out. I lost about half of my hair a few months after surgery. It's showing no signs of growing back either. How long has it taken everyone else for their hair to grow back in? I'm starting to become very worried that it won't ever come back, since 6 years ago I had another bout of hair loss. My hair used to be so thick that I WISHED half of it would fall out. Then it did and never grew back. Now it's halved again and I have about 1/4 of the hair I used to have. Thinking back on it, around the time of the first shed, I had also had gallbladder surgery. I assumed the hair loss then was from going vegetarian, but now that I know surgery can cause hair loss, I realize that was probably what caused it. I'm worried that I'm going to be balding by my 30's. You can already see my scalp through my hair, and although my body looks a lot better, I still look like crap every time I look in the mirror because of how horrible my thin hair looks.

Thank you for your responses. I am in a kind of holding pattern. My doctor seems I should wait another two months to recheck the pelvic mass. I’d rather not. I at least wanted a clearer idea what it could be. Clarification. No one said it was just a cyst. It seems big enough to question it at the least. But that’s separate from my RNY. I have not heard from my surgeon about the upper gi fluoroscopy. My endoscopy isn’t until July 11th. I like at least knowing what I’m going into with the endoscopy. Some part of me just doesn’t want to do it. i think the 26th I’m supposed to progress to the next phase. But I know it won’t happen. I’m trying to take it in stride and make sure to get 50 grams of protein. It’s hard to get water without pain. Let alone enough. I’m taking vitamins (I bought mostly Whole food gummies) all the physical things aside. It kind of hurts that I had to go this far just to lose weight. I fought so hard to lose weight before and didn’t think I ate unhealthy at all. Low carb, low calories, etc. it’s hard when simple carbs are easier to stomach when you feel sick. But I looked for low carb alternatives. I didn’t give in for so many years to my sugar addiction or cravings for things like fried chicken. I followed strict low carb. It wasn’t until my weight jumped literally 30lbs out of nowhere that I loosened up on the carbs. My worst cheat most times was sweet kale salad with gardein crab less crab cakes or tuna salad. I’d make low carb grilled cheese sandwich or low carb pizza. But not very often. I ate cauliflower mash, cauliflower rice, shiritaki rice, and mostly vegetarian foods occasionally meat , and more veggies. I mean how can veggies make me fat. I can’t even think about food now. Though I do miss sushi. I admit I cheated once before surgery to have sushi that I hadn’t had in many years. Prior to surgery I’d already lost my ability to properly taste food or smell. For some time. I tried to find texture and taste in food. Like salty or sweet or crunchy. I know food isn’t everything but does it need to disgust us in order to lose weight? I know I’m totally off topic. I can’t get back on track. With my health. Was I ever on track? I knew the risks but it was RNY or give up. I just have no one that understands Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, and metabolic disorders, and having Gastric bypass surgery. I don’t expect much if anything, and I never ask for help. But right now I appreciate the response to this. I’m not very good at this. Thank you. christine

I’m wondering, I’m considering for myself as I am seeking to schedule a revision within the next few weeks if my body some peoples body might just handle a good old green smoothie better than I don’t know avocados and tunafish or some thing. I’m seriously considering becoming a vegetarian and I’ve been trying to figure out what would keep things really simple and keep me feeling the most energized with the most vitamins and thought Hey maybe I will just live on green smoothies for a few months after surgery.

UPDATE for Day 2 (day 1 for me bc I'm terrible at timing) Um,. this is the worst thing in the world. :c ALL YO GIRL WANTED YESTERDAY WAS A DAMN APPLE. I was walking past while grocery shopping, staring at them the way I used to stare at like the cannoli or something. I also had an appointment with my RD yesterday and told her about it, and she was like "WTF why are you doing this to yourself?" I told her it was all for the sake of experimentation. Before surgery, I was a vegetarian. I feel like I naturally feel more comfortable with a lot of vegetables in my diet, but we shall progress! Protein: 80 g Carbs: 20 g Fat: 18 g 600 calories My RD wasn't very happy with my calorie counts, she said she wants at LEAST 1,000 a day. Which feels impossible to me, I feel like I eat CONSTANTLY. I did "cheat" at the end of the night and eat an Enlightened ice cream bar. But I don't care, and it was good. lol.

Hi All! Can anyone share their menu of their daily meals/snacks? How many calories is everyone getting? I meet with my nutritionist next week since before surgery and want to be sure I'm ok. I average between 700-800 calories a day right now and probably burn an extra 300-400 calories a day during my jogs/light lifting. I'm averaging at about a 1 lb. loss per week so hoping I can figure out if I need to make any adjustments as I wish I was losing more only being about 8 weeks out... TODAY: Breakfast: Dannon Oikois Triple Zero Vanilla Yogurt Snack: Premier Protein Shake, Calcium Chewy Bite, Fiber Choice Chewy Tablet Lunch: 2 oz. turkey deli meat, 1 oz. string cheese, 1 oz. canned carrots Snack: Premier Protein Shake, Calcium Chewy Bite, Fiber Choice Chewy Tablet Dinner: 1/2 Cup Amy's Organic Vegetarian Chili

I have always had a love of food, which many will say was unhealthy, and I agree...I did go overboard. I just ate too much, pure and simple. I don't think that my food choices were necessarily the culprit though. I loved to make great tasting foods healthier...Still do. I just don't go out to eat that much, and don't snack on crap. My little gift from the surgeon also allows me to eat a lot less. I believe that those three things were the culprit. So, I love to meal prep and make staples on Saturdays and Sundays. I make a lot...Enough for probably 8-12 meals. I end up freezing some of it for another time, so I tend to have a huge selection of healthier TV dinners in my freezer. It is just easier for me that way. I actually made a Vegetarian King Ranch Chicken casserole last week. I pretty much followed the Ro-Tel instructions, but replaced the chicken with half chopped up Quorn chicken strips, and half chopped up mushrooms. I then also added in two pounds of fresh spinach to the recipe along with Light Cream of Mushroom instead of regular Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom . It turned out great. The calories and fat were cut in half, and the fiber and protein were increased at the same time. I only allowed myself four ounces of the stuff per sitting, and that is it. I would normally have six or seven times that. I enjoy food today just as much as I always have. I just make it healthier, eat way less of it, and find a way to fit it into my diet in a way that doesn't destroy my progress. I eat a lower fat, lower calorie diet, focusing on getting a mix of different nutrients. I feel that I need fiber, polyphenols and antioxidants almost as much as I need protein and healthy fats, so I try to eat lots of vegetables, fruit, and ancient grains as well. I don't have room to eat as much of those things as I would like, but I'm working on it.

I'm so glad to hear that banders can be veggies. I am, as my nickname says, a "veg-wanna-be." I've never been very keen on meat for health and environmental reasons, but have found animal products difficult to cut completely out of my diet. I want to elimate meat and most dairy after the surgery. I figure I'll be overhauling my relationship with food then, why not make the transition to ovo-vegetarianism and organic foods. The higher cost of going organic won't be much of a factor since my portion sizes will be decreased. I'm wondering... Have any of you had your Doctor discourage you from eating veg or have they been supportive? And, how difficult has it been to maintain a veg diet post-op?

I think those things are probably true to some extent BUT I think the way its said implies a moral judgement. If obesity were about nothign but willpower, it would be easily fixed wouldnt it? Normal weight people affect the environment too - how many would be happy to pay top dollar for organic produce for example? If we wiped out commercial agriculture as it exists now and went back to sustainable methods, buying locally and in season, without packaging, without massive transportation round the globe etc, what would we then pay for a pound of apples? And who would be screaming about it? If we all went vegetarian, we'd cut down greenhouse emissions remarkably. How many are prepared to do that? I'm not fat anymore, I run for exercise, yet I drive everywhere because I have to. I dont have the time in my day for starters, to walk, and the public transport in my suburb is a farking joke - over an hour on the train into the city, that's if you dont count the half hour it would take me to wait for and catch a bus to the station - oh, that's after I've deposited 3 children at 2 differnet schools (one of which is 5kms away) in completely the opposite direction. So its easy to blame it all on fat people isnt it?

I'm looking for someone who can advise and support me on becoming a vegetarian and through the Lap-Band process. I am at the beginning of my Lap-Band journey. I've attended an information session, done some research on the web, and read hundreds of posts here on the forums. I want more. I am 43, 5'10", and live in NH (USA). I have over 150 lbs to lose and am looking forward to using the Lap-Band experience to completely revamp my relationship with food and eating. I am a budding vegetarian. I currently eat very little meat, and am weaning myself off dairy and most cheeses. (I'd like to keep goat cheese on the menu.) I do eat eggs. I am a novice at tofu, tempeh and soy Beans. I am also trying to buy organic as much as I can. I'm looking for someone who can help me learn about the intricacies of an (ovo-lacto) vegetarian/Lap-Band diet. I want to hear how you make it work and what pitfalls you have encountered. And....make a new friend. :biggrin2:

Does anyone know of a good vegetarian multivitamin for bariatric patients?

Whole Foods sells a vegetarian broth in a cardboard box/can, found with the liquid soups. I think the brand was Pacific. Their veggie broth is kosher, too. Unfortunately, it tastes too vegetable-y to use as a straight substitute for chicken broth. For some recipes it would be great, for others too strong. So you can try a box and see. I've used it in other recipes and cut it with water if it is too strong.

I have not yet had surgery, but I want to just get some good ideas for snacks and meals that have a lot of protein, and are vegetarian. What do you all eat for meals, and snacks?

Im using these after workouts too, not exactly the best tasting stuff but at such a small amount, i just gulp [edit: (half of)] it and imagine its medicine so that my brain isnt expecting anything pleasant lol and there its done! Does anyone know if these "new whey liquid protein" shots are suitable for vegetarians? I havent found any details on their website about that but dont want to suggest it to vegetarian friends before Im sure. Thanks :-)

SMS - Living a vegetarian lifestyle can be healthy - but you need to up your proteins...lots of beans and legumes and....dare I say it? NUTS!!!

My daughter was 19 when she had RNY surgery, the gastric bypass. She has it last May and is now 20. Prior to that she had a similar situation with issues too long to go into but she was in-patient for a week due to her suicidal thoughts and other harmful things she was doing to herself. It was a very difficult period and it happened during her last month of HS her junior year. So let's assume she was around 17 at the time. Since that time she's been seeing a therapist and also on meds for anxiety, panic attacks and depression. Mainly these affected her in HS as it was not a very friendly place for her due to her size, she is also 6 ft tall and over 300 pounds at the time. She had wanted to have the WL surgery for a while, and had actually gained much more weight after she was in-patient at the mental facility, not a pleasant time for her, or me but it's about me. Anyway once she was out of HS she seemed soooo much happier applied to the local state university here and decided to dorm. Ended up switching roommates with another girl and made a good friend and things were honky dory for a while. Then that roommate's family moved out of state and she eventually had to move to the state university near her parents which kind of left my daughter a bit vulnerable again. By the time that spring semester was in it's mid-point she was getting bad panic attacks again and got a medical leave of absence from school. During this time she was 19 and had decided she really wanted to get the gastric bypass. Oh by the way she was a vegan also during her HS years and slowly after gaining so much weight went to vegetarian and prior to her surgery now eats fish and seafood but no mammals. She seemed to really gain weight as a vegan because she ate a lot of Pasta and it seemed to be her main diet I suppose but I respected her decision to be a vegan. She eats well now and eats a lot of "Amy's tv dinners. So she's went through the same surgery center I went through to have my lap band, which was fairly new there anyway and with the backing of her therapist and psychiatric nurse and her primary care physician she was approved to have the surgery. She's lost 125 pounds since last April and there's a definite improvement in her self esteem and in her health. She also suffered from back pain. I think she wanted to be certain she would lose the weight as I had not on the lap band so she chose a more drastic surgery but I backed her up even though it worried me to death and probably always will but if she had not had the surgery I'm afraid of what she may have done to herself so I felt my hands tied. I'm just giving you this information because you are not alone out there at your age and I know how hard it is especially this day in age to be overweight and how it makes you feel. I think though that working still with your therapist will help and possibly if you insurance is going to run out maybe your parents could get some type of additional policy on you once you've past that certain age. I know some insurance companies will do that but your parents would have to pay extra in their premiums. I just think it's not an easy fix and the more support you have and knowledge you gain prior to any weight loss surgery is very important. Even though my daughter has lost a lot of weight she is still on her meds and continues with therapy and will for a long time as it's just as it's very important especially with what she's gone through and what she will go through in the future. So good luck to you and I hope things work out for you and you're feeling much better soon take care, Nancy:smile:

I'm lucky enough to have a supportive husband. My mom is on the fence but just bc she's worried. A girl I went to school with had bypass years ago and developed a blood clot and died. I had a blood clot in my lung 2 years ago from being over weight. It's scary but I know that means blood thinners after I leave the hospital and I definitely will nor forget to walk walk walk after surgery. I look forward to feeling better physically after surgery. I finished my last nutrition class this month. They submitted to insurance. My surgeon is taking the month of April for vacation. So I'm looking at the end of May they said. Also I was told to keep attending the monthly classes bc if insurance decides they want anything additional, you won't have to start over. I bet once your out of surgery safely you dad will feel better. The hard part will be sticking to your food goals while the family had other goals. I was a vegetarian for a few years, so I know that can be hard. My family is mostly overweight as well. Good luck.

That's great! @@sarahb309 ... not about the throwing up, i mean about the scale. I'm too scared to eat stuff too because i don't want to feel dumping syndrome again. I felt it once while i was on liquids. So I'm terrified to try anything that might not be good for me. I haven't been cleared for chicken, so I've pretty much been a vegetarian since 2 days before surgery. Ugh... I'm dying for some tuna.

I sent it the article to my son (T1 diabetes), but he is mostly vegetarian so not sure how easy this kind of diet would be for him, tho I know it can be done. Fortunately, insulin pumps these days do a lot of self-correcting.

Welcome to VST! You've come to the right place for VSG questions. There are a ton of threads on here about what to eat at the various stages, including some threads for vegetarian sleevers if that is applicable for you. Use the search function in the upper right side of the page to look up what you specifically need to know. Hopefully, your doctor has given you at least basic guidelines to use for eating. With those, you should be able to put together a diet you can safely use. This surgery, like any other WLS, is only a tool. The weight will fly off to begin with, but it's up to you how well you use this tool you've been given! Good luck!