I was wondering if there were anyone out there who had the VSG and is vegetarian or vegan?

Before the surgery, I was vegetarian for over 3 years.

I have recently returned to the vegetarian lifestyle.

I wanted to gain other Protein ideas & general food ideas.

Thanks

Howdy!!!

Send me a message and I'll give you my email if you like. Let me clarify: I can and do eat chicken and turkey but it isn't a lot. I've had a few reactions to chicken at times and have to bug off. I'm in a lot of vegetarian/vegan groups. Plus my Protein powders, etc. are vegan/vegetarian. I've got problems with red meat, fish/shellfish, nuts/tree nuts and dairy, but I know a lot of what the "gang" uses in terms of stuff you could have.

I was always under the impression that Vegeterians or Vegans had their weight under control. Most that I have known have always givien me the my body is a temple speech. Or that I am unethical because I enjoy tastey animals. Could it be both alternative diets substitute animal products with sugar and high carbos? Just curious not being judgemental. Being honest, I can fully understand the benifits to being a vegetarian, but the vegans I know drive me nuts and dont have a clue when it comes to the science behind nutrition. I personally know a Vegan that is forcing her dog to be one also. Luckly her mom sneaks the dog meat.

Oh heck no. The ones I know do, but I've got a couple that could use "surgery". LOL.

I'm not judgemental. I work with Hindu's. I laugh and told them they put a curse on me. Used to I could eat every meat under the sun (we've tried kangaroo, ostrich, deer, rabbit, etc.) and after the surgery and everything went odd, I could manage chicken and turkey and that's it. This year the chicken went odd a few times.

Yes, the ones I know do eat a good amount of carbs. I'm not in your face. If someone wants to know, I say but I don't do it for any reasons other than I can't eat a lot of other foods.

PS I would feed a dog and cat meat because they're carnivours. We're omnivours. If someone doesn't want to eat meat, ok by me. If you want to eat McDonalds' and the like all the time, you have a death wish but I don't call that food or meat. That is called digging your own grave with a knife and fork.

@@ekmw, I'm currently a lacto-ovo vegetarian, but I plan on going back to vegan once I reach maintenance. If you want some info, tips or to recipe swap, just send me a PM. It doesn't seem like many of the vegetarian/vegan sub-groups are very active on here unfortunately.

Vegans that force their animals to also be vegan piss me off and I want to turn them in for animal cruelty. Animal ARE NOT VEGANS!! Yes, they can eat some fruits and veggies, but their bodies are designed for meat and they need meat.

Just because you're vegan or vegetarian, it does not mean you don't have weight problems. Sometimes, the problems can be from health issues, such as thyroid problems. With me, they couldn't ever tell what my problem was, because I was eating healthy and all tha jazz. Now, a lot of my family has thyroid issues, and sometimes, you can have it and the tests say that you don't.

My doctor thought that could be the case.

Now, I'm not saying I was perfect on the vegetarian diet. I'd eat really awful foods and in bulk sometimes, such as breads and pastas. As everyone on this site knows, BREAD IS EVIL!!

After getting the VSG, I've ate a helluva lot better, and I'm trying to always eat better. After I got the surgery, I had to eat meat for awhile, but I ONLY ate chicken, turkey, and tuna from the can. Now, I do not eat ANY meat / fish at all. I have been considering drinking chicken broth for Protein, but it kinda feels like I'm cheating my vegetarian lifestyle.

Why did I ever choose to vegetarian? One summer, while I was staying with my older sister, I told her I was having stomach pains a lot, but that day I wasn't having any. She asked me what I normally ate when I had pains and what I ate that day. She pointed out how every time I mentioned I ate meat, my stomach hurt. My stomach didn't hurt, because on that day, I had not ate any meat products. She told me to try being vegetarian, and see if it helped with my stomach and digestion. In one week, I lost 8 lbs and my stomach / digestion felt SO much better.

My NUT said it would be very difficult for me to be vegetarian immediately post-surgery (I had been looking into it as an option) because I had a partial thyroidectomy a few years ago, and can't tolerate soy products of any kind. I know there are other protein substitute options out there, but since my food options are already limited, I'm not going to worry about it for the time being. Maybe once I hit maintenance and have a little more freedom of choice, I'll explore the issue again.

Soy is also a problem for me. Same for lots of food restrictions. What about eating as vegetarian as possible? That's what I do.

I don't like the taste of meat and soy is fine with me so far.

Good question.. Not sure I want to live on supplements all my life now...

Agreed. I think if you do some different types of checks, you could probably get by with it.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

It's funny. I don't have to take any vitamins, because I get the nutrition I need from what I eat.

&& I get checked regularly (once a month) to make sure that everything is good.

If you eat right, you won't have to take vitamins, unless you want to. But even as such, too much of particular vitamins, can mess you up.

True.

I don't know what you'd need to take Vitamins for that you wouldn't want to take extra anyway. Other than B12 (which really we should all be taking regardless), you can get everything from plant sources. And that's if you're vegan. If you're just vegetarian, it's even less of a problem.

Most people probably don't eat like I do. Fresh veggies and fruit, nor do they schedule out Protein sources like Beans, peas and eggs, etc. That's the difference. I eat a fresh salad every day. Spinach is the main base.

I've got a malnutrition problem but that is all the complications. Dang sure isn't for anything else.