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[ridgerunner 115]

Thanks @@Inner Surfer Girl. That makes sense. I am used to having vegetables thru out the day and feel sluggish when I miss them. How long was it before YOU started incorporating vegetables into your diet again?

[Christinamo7 4,042]

I was cleared for all foods, including raw veg at one month. my meals are supposed to be 75% Protein, but I am supposed to have veg, and even some fruit and limited carbs daily.

I have not had any problems, and I am loosing weight.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

Thanks @@Inner Surfer Girl. That makes sense. I am used to having vegetables thru out the day and feel sluggish when I miss them. How long was it before YOU started incorporating vegetables into your diet again?

I started drinking V8 during my full liquid stage. I started green Beans and no-sugar added applesauce during my soft food stage.

[ridgerunner 115]

@@Christinamo7

@@Inner Surfer Girl

What a relief. I was really worrying about the vegetable thing causing weight gain. And yes! V8!

I love it. Good to know I will probably be able to incorporate it into my post op diet.

Thanks ladies!

[Valentina 2,642]

Thanks @@Inner Surfer Girl. That makes sense. I am used to having vegetables thru out the day and feel sluggish when I miss them. How long was it before YOU started incorporating vegetables into your diet again?

I started drinking V8 during my full liquid stage. I started green Beans and no-sugar added applesauce during my soft food stage.

I was told to dip my Protein into unsweetened applesauce to moisten it allowing the Protein to slide down better.

It's fascinating how different our plans are achieving the same goals.

[Dub 9,922]

As I was coming out of the soft foods stage.....there simply isn't enough room in a 1/4 cup sized meal for anything but Protein.

All that other stuff simply doesn't fit, thusly was avoided.

Now that I've been told to push towards 1 full cup of food there is room to get my Protein in...and add some vegetables, too.

1/4 cup isn't much food. Stick with protein. This is the point in the weight loss focus where we shouldn't be concerned about food focus....it's not about wonderful flavors and such......it's simply about getting the nutrition and moving on. Break the food focus and get going with the losing.

I'm trying to wrap my head around just eating protein as being healthier than protein and veggies. Do you just take Vitamins for what you are missing in veggies? All my life I have been told to eat more veggies to be healthy and that Vitamins are a poor replacement. Is this outdated science?

You'll hear things from your bariatric surgeon that seem to conflict conventional dietary advice over and over again.

On the surface it may seem to bit a bit wonky.

There is one underlying premise that you must embrace for your nutritional needs to be met after having VSG surgery...at least in the first year. That rule is SUPPLEMENTATION IS KEY !!!!!!

You have limited room in your new stomach. Get your protein in. Supplement with bariatric Multivitamins, Iron, Calcium citrate, B-12 and Fiber drinks like Metamucil. Be mindful of the timing of this supplementation as Calcium needs to be taken at distant time intervals from vitamins and Iron.

Your surgeon & hopefully your NUT should coach you up here.

As you gain the capacity to move from the initial 1/4 cup up to the full cup meals....you will be able to add in wholesome foods that contain the nutrients that may allow you to cut back on the supplementation....YMMV.

Remember....the goal is to lose weight and spare muscle structure in those initial months. The diet you embrace during the first year is geared toward maximum fat loss. The diet you embrace later will be more in line with what you'll do for the rest of your life.

Now.......these are just my own opinions........based on the numerous conversations I've had with my surgeon and my own experiences. It works for me and is relevant to my own goals. It's all about finding your stride and blazing you own trial. Just understand that this wls path comes in stages & phases and our gameplan needs to be in accord with each step of this.

Change is the only constant during this first year. Trust & Believe.

[ridgerunner 115]

@@Dub

Now I can wrap my head around that. Thanks for taking the time to explain how this works so I could get it. I always understood the importance of Protein but the Vitamin thing was throwing me off balance. I feel much more confident about negotiating this aspect of my new life after surgery now. Thank you!

[Dub 9,922]

@@Dub

Now I can wrap my head around that. Thanks for taking the time to explain how this works so I could get it. I always understood the importance of Protein but the Vitamin thing was throwing me off balance. I feel much more confident about negotiating this aspect of my new life after surgery now. Thank you!

You are quite welcome and I hope you don't let the new way of living throw you off.

It's actually very, very simple. So much more so than other conventional diets for non-wls folks.

Keep on the simple path and all will be well. You may get slightly bored at times with the diet....but please remember it is just a phase.....gut check time.....stick with it and advance to the next phase that will lead to more variety.......and so on.

Here's a culinary pro-tip for you in case you are unaware, like I was: There are a plethora of flavored tuna, salmon and chicken packaged in foil packets. These packets make a decent serving size for those early days. Flavors are wide ranging and very tasty. The Proteins are very moist and go down easy. No preparation required. My desk drawer at work stays loaded with them. Just beware that the Tai Chili flavors can be hawt.

Keep it simple.

Don't go muck things up by adding in foods that aren't directly relevant with the specific phase you find yourself in.

You've got this and have the ability to kick arse and take names.

[goplay94123 575]

I started adding vegetables in around month one. However the first few attempts have been sufficed with the word "incident". There was the "Brussels sprout incident" and the "zucchini rounds incident". Suffice it to say when adding in vegetables make sure you actually have room. I was craving a vegetable so badly that I didn't listen to my internal voice saying I was full from my Protein and got very sick ☹️ But you learn. I like zucchini noodles, mushrooms and a bit of cucumber. Good luck!!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[Daisee68 2,493]

I incorporated veggies as soon as I could and tried to concentrate on some good carbs like Beans (which also have protein). My plan was to continue to drink 1 Premier Protein shake per day to make sure I was meeting my Protein goals while still allowing me to get meals with some protein and some carbs. For example, I would have 2 oz of deli turkey or 2 oz of tuna along with cucumber slices and a small piece of cheese. I eat a lot of berries (every day at breakfast). I never liked Pasta or rice to begin with so it wasn't hard for me to avoid those. I struggled with staying out of chips and crackers. I just preferred getting more "balance" and the Protein Shake per day allowed that. I lost 120 pounds from surgery date to my 1 year post-op (150 pounds total with 30 of those before surgery) and am at goal and in fact still losing and trying to figure out how to make the loss stop!

[ridgerunner 115]

@@Dub

More good advice and I will take it to heart. I have already somewhat simplified my eating to gjve myself the best cgance to succeed at this..high Protein, low carbs, almost no sugar (real or fake), no caffeine or alcohol, no white or corn flour, almost no processed foods (I have an occasional adkins or high protein lean cuisine when I just don't have the time to cook). I have lost 40 lbs so far so I am on my way I think. I have bought several of those flavored tunas but have only tried two so far... lemon pepper (loved it) and buffalo wing (not awful but a little strange) I have been afraid to eat to many in a short period of time because of mercury. Is that silly? Do you know how much an adult can safely eat?

[ridgerunner 115]

LOL goplay94123!

Dualy noted

[ridgerunner 115]

Good tips Daisee68.

I also gave the "crunch" issue. It is my achiles heal. Amazing numbers. There may be hope for me after all. Thank you.

[Daisee68 2,493]

Thanks @@ridgerunner - The cucumbers somehow helped me with the "crunch" even though they aren't really crunchy? Seriously, I remember asking my NUT "When can I have cucumbers?!" I saw it on a post somewhere of how someone used cucumbers instead of crackers (i.e. with cheese on them or with tuna on them, etc) and I just couldn't get them off my mind! I think I was probably 3 months out when I started eating them and I kid you not, I eat them NEARLY every day! Very strange.... Oh and raw onions. LOVE the crunch I get from that too. (Weird I know.) And just to be clear, I have had my share of chips and cheez-its and it is only in the last few weeks that I have started to understand and be able to deal better with my "addiction" to them. I was in therapy today, and even the therapist commented that even though my addict voice is still there, it seems to be getting a little weaker than my "healthy choices" voice. It is all a process....

[ridgerunner 115]

LOL Daisee68

Lately I have started buying and eating cucumbers much more often since my usual crunch Snacks are off limits. I did not relate it to the need for crunch...but by golly!...now that you mention it, I think that is why they have been more appealing to me than they were in the past. Funny!