Just wondering if there are any vegetarians here? Or if it's even possible to be vegetarian and get all of the needed protein and nutrients with lap band. I'm just kind of exploring the idea for various different reasons.

I think with lots of planning it is possible. Tofu. Nuts. Cheese w/o rennet, quinoa, kale is surpringly high in protein, almond milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs... Google or others here can surely help.

Good luck and let us know how you proceed.. You could help others⭐️

I am mostly vegetarian. I eat lots of beans, tofu and almond milk. Also low fat string cheese. There are some pretty good veggie meat options, too, like burgers and hot dogs. I also supplement with protein shakes. I use

Well I'm one month post op today and so far 90% of the meat I have eaten has come back up. So seriously thinking of being a vegetarian. Right now it doesn't even sound good to think about meat. However, the sucky sweet protein drinks sound gross to????

I would not call myself a True vegetarian....but once I hit the Green Zone with the Band, it became difficult to eat red meat...

For years my Dr.'s, especially my cardiologist, were after me to cut back.

So I took advantage of the situation and stopped eating meat altogether....that was over 4 years ago.

Chicken has to be "Perfect" to go with my band, and unless I prepare it myself, it's hard to find chicken that tender.

So I don't eat chicken all that much either. Free range chicken is best.

@@B-52, I can understand the issues with chicken. I'm the same way in that, if it's not prepared just right, it's not going down. I can eat beef and pork as long as it's not overcooked. However, since having my band, I've totally changed my lifestyle and eating habits and, as part of that, have avoided eating those meats simply because they're not very healthy. And now that I've stayed away from them for so long, I find I just don't like them anymore. And I don't care for chicken either. This is why I'm considering a vegetarian lifestyle. I just don't see any point in forcing myself to eat foods I don't like anymore, ya know? I did talk to my surgeon about it. He said he wouldn't recommend it for everyone and he thinks it will be difficult for me to get enough protein but told me if I wanted to give it a try that he would be supportive as long as I make sure I get at least 60 grams of protein a day. I think I can do that easily. I can add quinoa to my diet. I can also add chia seeds, which are high in protein and can be added to oatmeal, yogurt, salads, etc. There are high protein milk varieties now that are ultra filtered, like Fairlife, which has 13 grams per 1 cup serving. I can use that to make my protein shakes and I'm more than halfway to my 60 grams without even eating anything. Then of course there's cheese, cottage cheese, peanut butter, nuts, beans. Right now, what I've decided to do is is to completely give up all red meat and pork for a few months and see how that goes. Once I get through the next few months without those, as long as I'm doing okay with getting my protein in and not feeling like I'm missing out, I'll cut out chicken and eventually I may cut out fish. I'm ok with keeping the milk products, eggs, and cheese in my diet though so that makes things easier.