Here's my story:

I am almost done with month 4 of my 6 month pre-op

The dieting is getting tougher as I get closer. My brain is thinking of all the things I will not be able to eat for along time.

I have been able to lose 15 lbs using Weight Watchers (yeah!!).

I am finding working with the nutritionist is difficult because I have been eating a vegan diet for the past 2 years

(no I have not lost weight on it), not because I like it but for health reasons.

My NUT is not into plant based Protein, and wants me to add whey protein. I understand the need for quality protein

so I have added greek yogurt and string cheese-- which I like. But I always thought protein was protein!

I tried to eat red meat this past week and it just did not agree with me, it is certianly not worth feeling that bad

and I don't plan to eat it again.

Is anyone out there a lacto-ovo vegetarian and successful with their sleeve?

Is anyone using plant based protein supplements?

Thanks!

Whey protein comes from cheese, so it should be fine for your lacto-ovo vegetarian dietass for vegan-based protein sources, they generally lack certain essential amino acids. And the sources tend to be things higher in carbs that sleevers are supposed to avoid...beans, legumes, grains, etc.

There are a few here and most have to rely heavily on Protein powders and milk products such as Greek yogurt, cottage cheese etc to hit their goals. I tried playing with it in MFP and it's really hard to hit 60 gms of protein with just Beans, legumes, and tofu.

Red meat may have been a tough one to start with. Perhaps a little chicken or fish? My son goes vegan for one month out of the year and breaks it with a hamburger when the month is over. Invariably, he gets very sick. But he persists! and soon he is back to tolerating it.

Sorry about the typos above, but when I tried to edit the post, Nothing comes up on the screen and I was just typing blind... This has happened ever since they changed this site..... ATTENTION website creators!

Here's an example day I created with a vegetarian, but not vegan diet. And even then it's not easy as you see

I'm not a vegan, but too much dairy and/or meat makes me ill even pre-op, so thinking ahead to post-op, I checked out some vegan protein powders. My nutritionist was concerned because she said I wouldn't get the branch chain amino acids that I would with whey protein, and most vegan proteins are rice or starch based, and therefore high in carbohydrates. I found Warrior Blend by Sunwarrior. It has 80 calories/1.5g fat/4g carbs/16g protein per scoop, and the package says it has a complete amino acid profile. Additionally, BCAAs are available by themselves at GNC. I'm not sure what they're made of how pairing the two together would work for me, or even if that would be necessary, but I'm enjoying the shakes now (along with whey protein), and I have them in my back pocket in case the whey becomes intolerable.

do you think you're lactose intolerant? I know that makes many of us sick with the milk stuff. I use OTC lactaid pills to help with that.

I don't think so, gamergirl, although I'm not 100% sure.

Have you considered Gelatin Protein? I'm not sure if you are still vegan, so this might not work, but I am going to try gelatin protein instead of whey protein for health reasons- I found a recipe for an after work-out shake that sounds really interesting. I don't use a lot of Protein powder anymore as I get most of my protein from food, but I am very into Paleo and organic foods, so I thought the gelatin protein was really interesting. I just ordered all the ingredients, so I haven't tried the shake yet, but I will this week.

http://www.primallyinspired.com/protein-workout-recovery-shake-using-gelatin/

If you can't tolerate whey, you could use plant based proteins and take a BCAA supplement which can be found at any vitamin/supplement store.