:nervous Hello from Ohio! I've been vegetarian for 52 years (I'm 56) and I'm so sick of being asked (sometimes diplomatically and sometimes not) how I could get so fat if all I eat are vegetables.

Being veg. only means I don't eat meat, fish, and eggs. Everything else it fair game!

I did want to pass on a communication I had with Bariatric Advantage products. None of their vitamin supplements are vegetarian--the vitamin E comes from fish oil.

I'm still awaiting insurance determination and I hope to be banded the first week of June. I'm fortunate to have approval from my primary insurance guaranteed. If the second company declines coverage I'm only responsible for about $1,000. I'm just hoping that my secondary (Humana) doesn't require the 6-month physician-supervised diet I sometimes hear about. My BMI is 40.8 and a six-month diet may result in a BMI too low to qualify.

Does anyone have the experience of being required to diet for six months?

I am not a vegetarian, but I can appreciate how annoying that must be to be asked such a question....

I hope you hear from your insurance company soon...that would be great...I was denied by insurance company, but went ahead and did the self-pay...I am so glad that I did....I couldn't be happier...been banded one month tomorrow...

I was a vegetarian for about 10 years (Which, ironically is when I gained all my weight.. mostly from Pasta and chocolate) during HS and College. I got "You don't LOOK like a vegetarian" all the time. I can laugh about it now.. but it was kind of annoying back then. :-)

Anyhow, I"m a full fledged meat eater now... so sorry I can't help to much.. but I'm sure you can still eat a good veggie stir fry or veggie burger post-op.

My surgeon has his patients do one month of the post-op diet. I think I lost 2 pounds in the month. However, it was enough for the dietician to reccomend me for the surgery, which was good enoughfor me. I had my surgery December 8th, 2006 and I'm down about 40 pounds so far. I was interested when you said you are a vegetarian because since I have had the surgery I eat lots more veggies and very little meat. Meat does not agree with me at all since I had my surgery.And that's ok with me. Good luck to you with you upcoming surgery.