foxgirl74

I personally love the Gardein fake meat products. They are high in protein and actually taste great to me. If nothing else at least try the Gardein Beefless Tips, they are seriously awesome. Next best is the Quorn brand, they have some "chicken" patties that seem a lot like actual chicken patties. I have been told that too much of these products can cause some stomach problems, but I have not had any problems with them so far. I don't see any reason why you cannot have hummus after surgery once you are in your pureed stage.

I am a struggling vegetarian and find myself living off of eggs, cottage cheese and Gardein products. I don't care much for the Boca brand, and tolerate the Quorn fairly well, but would prefer to get my main protein from vegetable based sources. I am rather unfortunately uneducated as well as I would like in what and how to prepare the best types of veggie protein dishes, but mostly I am lazy which is why I usually go with the eggs, cottage cheese or Gardein brand. But I believe 100% in being vegetarian and gathering plenty of protein from the awesome veggies out there so don't give up, and neither will I! I believe it is the key to our long term success!! If you ever want to see some samples of my daily intake I log into sparkpeople.com and try to keep a daily log, but have been kind of bad as of late. But it might give you a few ideas.....? (FOXRIDER) Like I said, I am struggling to become fully vegetarian so for now I do tend to have something like turkey burgers on Tuesday's (meat for one meal only), and maybe meat on Thursday's (again, one meal only). Oh, and I don't do milk but find a little extra protein in the Soy milk I drink several days a week. Find a protein mix you can tolerate, for me it was Monster Milk, and add a half scoop or scoop to up your protein, if you want.

I am 8 months out from surgery and became a (struggling, mostly) vegetarian about a month ago. I fully feel it is the way to go and if you do enough research you will find you can get 100% of the required protein from plant based foods. It is much more difficult then just eating meat and I honestly still drink a protein drink almost every morning simply because it makes getting my quota that much easier. I do not think I could, or should, go vegan simply because the cheese and eggs have been helpful for me in eating better and getting protein, and to be very honest, I am not a vegetarian for animal "rights" reasons whatsoever. A typical day for me is a protein shake and egg for breakfast, a salad and beans of some-sort for lunch, and often I have a meat-like vegetarian product for dinner along with vegetables or whole grains. I really love the Gardein brand because they taste very meat-like and have high protein. Also, Quorn has some great meat-like products that are high protein that are easy to add into meals. My weight loss has slowed, but I do not think that has to do with adding in a few more carbs and changing my diet as much as it has to do with a natural body change after loosing the weight I have. Long term, I know this is the better, healthier way for me to maintain my health versus just having a lower number on the scale. If you have any more questions go for it, I have done quite a bit of work trying to switch over and still follow a higher protein weight loss diet. Best of luck whichever way you go with!!

All I can say is - redefine everything you know!!! I have found is that no matter what, we still have a choice. We have stomach surgery, not brain surgery. So, remember, you know what is best to create the body you have worked so hard so far to start making, so those cravings that have are detrimental, but not monumental. Stay true to you, and evaluate yourself week, by week. Best of luck!!

This is not encouragement because I know there is a much deeper issue that needs addressed, but I have to admit I want your problem. I want to be too thin, and have an eating disorder with a low weight versus my former/current disorder of eating too much and being overweight. There is no "win" either way, because there is something mental about this far more then I think we understand. I would seek some counsel, and not just for the eating issues, because I think extends further then that.

I do drink an energy drink every now and again. My doctor said stay away from caffeine because of increased stomach acid, but I take a pill daily anyway and have not noticed an increase. I do, however, have no tolerance for any carbonation whatsoever, which is not good for you anyway, so I would suggest either the Monster Rehab, which is tea and lemonade and has only 20 calories in the entire can, or the Rockstar Recovery kinds, which are lemonade, grape and orange which all have only 20 calories and are carbonation free. All of them are also very low carbs, so if you have to have a pick me up these are ideal, and you can sip on them throughout the day to avoid that shaky side affect. They all also have B12 in them I am fairly positive.

I had surgery the day before you and I can admit my weight loss has come to what feels like a screeching halt! I have answers, but they are not fun ones. First, our metabolisms are freaking out. We cannot lose more the 20 pounds and expect our body not to freak out think it is going into starvation mode. Second, the less you weigh, the harder to have to work to burn the same amount of calories. This park sucks the most to me because I have my comfort zones and I convince myself that I am doing good because I am still doing "something", when in reality the intensity must be enhanced to keep producing desired results. And last, and the least fun reason, we are starting to eat more. And I can only speak for myself, but I know I am not as honest and true to my diet as I should be. Granted I am doing SO much better then ever before, but we have an optimal time frame to be loosing weight, so keeping yourself dedicated and focused is essential. I do not believe in lose weight the first year or you never will crap, but it will never be easier then it is today, either. I would go ahead and do the pouch test, it won't hurt and if you have not seen results after doing the test and sticking to your diet for at least a week after I would talk to your surgeon and nutritionist to see if there might be another reason why you are not loosing. Best of luck, I know this struggle is hard!!

Oh oh oh me! I'll answer!! lol Now it will be different with each person because it depends on the company you work for and what they buy into with each UHC plan, but I was freaking out because I did not have a BMI of 40 or higher for over 5 years, but I DID have an obese BMI on file for five years. In fact, I did not even have those collectively since one year I did not see a doctor so they just went to a year prior. I think I showed 2005, and then 2007-2010. The only year I had documented with a BMI over 40, was 2010, all the rest the ranges were around 35-38. I have heard great things about them and their approval rates so far so best of luck, you will not regret it!!!

A good number of them are delayed release, which again makes me curious if any one has used them and had any results. I guess I worry because I feel like as we slow down and hit stalls if they would be useful or not, or worse, damaging. I am going to ask my surgeon about them, even though I will get the "you know you are crazy for asking" look. But I simply want to know.

So glad to hear you were approved!!! Funny, I have UHC and never received a letter or call from them, everything went completely through my surgeon's office and I later got a statement from UHC informing me they had paid their amount and to be aware I might be billed from the surgeon's for the % they don't cover. Five months later I still have not got anything....oh well, just glad it's done and over with, and paid for!!! Best of luck!!!!

I'll totally jump in on this one, I need some extra motivation!!! SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal foxgirl74...........246................175...........150.............25 Not sure if this is really possible in the two month time frame, but I am gonna shoot for it since I already promised myself I would finish my sleeve tattoo for my birthday on November 2nd if I can reach that 150lb mark!! So wish me luck and good luck to everyone else!!!

The impression I was given from my surgeon was that I would need to be on a chewable, liquid or powder Vitamin for the rest of life because pill forms pass through the pouch too quickly and not enough Vitamins are then released into the body. I will double check with him on this because I much rather take a pill form if possible. But this was the rule for just about anything I was told, pain medication, antibiotics....pretty much all other pills would have to be in the same form, except for the anti-acids.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you!! My Vitamin levels all came back great! With the exception of Vitamin D, which did not shock me considering that is the vitamin I have the hardest time taking and have been only taking two a day (as the package recommends) and need to really be taking four! But there were not at risky or worrisome levels, just needed to be aware and increase my intake. I still take all the Target chewables each day, except I still have some Iron left over from BA, but son as those are gone I will be picking some up at Walmart or GNC. I just got some great chewable Biotin from Walmart that tastes great and fairly cheap. I wish I could tolerate the calcium and vitamin D chews better, but I still take them daily and just need to suck it up and take 4 a day. Also, I do double the multi-vitamin each day which ensures I am getting the right amount of Vitamins since I still only eat about 800 calories a day.