Vegan/Plant-based food

[LaNelle 4]

As of 11/30 I’ll be 4 weeks post op. I’m still currently on the soft food/puréed phase. So this question definitely wouldn’t pertain to right now. But I’m just curious if anyone has attempted vegan/plant based foods as an alternative to regular food. I’ve done lots and lots of research over the last several months on vegan/plant based eating. But I’d like to know if any other Bariatric patients have considered this.

[Smanky 748]

I've been vegan for six years and vegetarian before that for 32 years. It's super easy to go vegan these days (compared to when I first attempted it back in the late 90s). What do you want to know? How to transition?

[LaNelle 4]

Yes that is exactly what I’d like to know! I am 98% sure I would like to transition. The other 2% is how to do that.

[Smanky 748]

Honestly, we're living in a vegan renaissance, so there's a plant based alternative for almost everything these days.

My best advice is to go in at a pace that's comfortable and don't beat yourself up if you can't quit it all at once. I'm a firm believer in doing what you can, and acknowledging that nothing is perfect. Think about what you know you'll really miss (for most people, that's cheese and/or bacon) and tackle that last. Not everyone can do cold turkey!

There's so many dairy alternatives now that you can pick and choose to suit. I personally prefer soy and oat, and use Protein fortified soy milk now that I'm post-op for the extra protein. And try different brands - one brand's soy/oat/almond might be delicious, while another is undrinkable!

There are also excellent vegan cheese options these days. Miyoko's Creamery is a US brand and make good stuff, including a divine butter. I know you're in Florida, but you may have something similar to this near you: https://www.thespruceeats.com/vegan-cheese-5090419 Those Texas cheeses look good, and the article also lists other good plant cheeses in the US. Lots of yoghurt and other dairy options available now too.

Meat! There's some vegan meat available now that are SO DAMN REAL that I actually feel sick when they're cooking they smell so realistic. Beyond and Impossible Burger both do freakishly beef-like beef, and Omni do pork. I would also urge you to hit up your local Chinese supermarket (I know you call it something else in the US ... grocer?) and check out their vegan meats because Chinese vegan companies work some kind of sorcery here. You'll find superb faux chicken, roast duck, char siu pork and even fish. They also have bacon, as do other western brands. If you have a Trader Joes or Wholefoods near you, I imagine you'll be spoiled for choice in their plant-based offerings!

Eggs! Yeah... there's really no substitute here, sorry. Effort has been made, and you can get passable fried eggs, but a nice poached egg is and will likely remain unattainable. That said, a bangin' vegan scramble can be home made using well drained medium tofu crumbled, and flavoured with a little turmeric, black salt (important - kala namak is sulfurous so gives that eggy taste, but use sparingly!), dijon mustard and cracked pepper. Add mushrooms and spring onions for extra flavour. It's not a dupe for scrambled eggs, but it's tasty and a great protein rich Breakfast.

The other thing is: get excited about food, because there's new stuff coming out almost every other week! Vegans get ridiculously excited about food, I think because we remember the dark days, in the before-times, when all vegan food was punitive and we had to be content with bran muffins and sadness.

Apologies for the novella, and I hope I helped!

[LaNelle 4]

This is extremely helpful! Thank you ! I am exactly a month post op today. While currently still in the soft food phase, I’m finding it difficult to implement small vegan portions into my eating other than hummus and avocado. Any suggestions you can offer (if any) will be appreciated. I figured this phase would be challenging to fit in vegan options. I guess I’m just eager to start. I’ve done months of research and yet still learning new things daily.

[huskymama 149]

There is an older women on YouTube who went vegan years ago after surgery. I was raw vegan for the last year and lost a ton of weight my dietitian told me it will be at least 6 months for raw foods but she said I’ll be able to go back vegan just take it slow and easy

[Smanky 748]

5 hours ago, LaNelle said:

This is extremely helpful! Thank you ! I am exactly a month post op today. While currently still in the soft food phase, I’m finding it difficult to implement small vegan portions into my eating other than hummus and avocado. Any suggestions you can offer (if any) will be appreciated. I figured this phase would be challenging to fit in vegan options. I guess I’m just eager to start. I’ve done months of research and yet still learning new things daily.

I move onto regular food next week, so I'm just coming out of the soft food stage and I've been eating vegan burgers and sausages and chinese seitan alongside some vegetables, with strawberries as a snack. This is on top of my Liquid Protein (protein Water and Protein fortified soy milk). Scrambled tofu and marinated tofu have also been going down a treat.

Honestly, my "regular food" is pretty much going to be the same.

Here's a site with the nutritional info for all of Gardein's products which you may find useful. https://www.myfooddiary.com/brand/gardein Their Beefless Ground has 18g of protein per 3/4 cup, so you could do a nice vegan cottage pie (with cauliflower mash top) with that.