Happy new year to everyone!

Like others who've posted on this forum, I want to move towards a more plant-based diet. For my, my goal is hopefully to return to being mostly vegan (I've gotten re-hooked on cheese, ugh!)

There aren't many of us out there, and we are constantly subjected to misinformation -- even criticism -- about how we "need" to eat animals products regularly.

So here's the challenge: pick one day a week and post on this thread on that day EVERY WEEK until Valentine Day. Post more if you want; once a week S the minimum.

Post about anything you want -- what you ate that day, what you wish you'd eaten, something funny your cat did...anything goes! Let's just start supporting each other by simply letting other veg*n & " eg*n wannabes" know they aren't alone.

Who's in?

Seems like the bariatric NUTs believe you can get all your Vitamins from a supplement something I know is not true!

It seems like other micronutrients available in plant foods are completely neglected.

As for protein: I don't know how much of the Protein I consume is actually absorbed with the MGB. Same for micronutrients.

Since the sleeve is a restricted procedure I'm hoping I'm absorbing more of my protein and vitamins.

I'm glad to be moving out of the puréed phase and into soft solids. This week I made homemade seitan and soy yogurt. Even getting a little veggies in, though that is what I miss most. I can only eat a few bites of veggies whereas before surgery veggies occupied most of my diet.

I really do think once I hit the maintenance phase I'm going to cut back on protein just a bit to make sure there is enough room in my diet for veggies.

Hi there ! I'm sorry for "disappearing" after starting this thread! My mom has Parkinson's and when it's bad, I tend not to have any spare time at all for internet posts!

Anyway I hope to have some time this week to post more, including responding to some of your questions, Shana Lee.

I've been in a terrible hard cheese phase and the past two days without it have been full of cravings! Cheese has casomorphines in it and you guessed it - that's a relative of morphine. Which explains why cheese can feel almost like an addictive substance, lol!

How is everyone's weight loss and blood work going?

On 1/18/2017 at 1:07 AM, Shana Lee said:

@@talkingmountain I meant to ask what your exercise regimen is?

On 1/18/2017 at 1:05 AM, Shana Lee said:

@@talkingmountain I would love to know more about your diet! I find myself eating more and more of a plant based diet, yet I feel like I need to eat more often then not, and I know I could never eat as much produce as some of the Vegans I know, not even a 1/16th! Please share how you do it, what you eat! Needing some inspiration!

On 1/18/2017 at 1:07 AM, Shana Lee said:

@@talkingmountain I meant to ask what your exercise regimen is?

@Shana Lee My "exercise regimen" is super basic. try to walk briskly at least 15 minutes a day, usually during my lunch break on weekdays.When I feel like it, I try for 30-45 minutes because some days I don't walk at all. Basically that's it!

On Saturdays over the Summer, I was jogging about 1-2 miles at a trail near my home. But Jogging seems to make my tendinitis flare up so am not sure I'll do it again this summer.

I started lifting weights 2-3 times a week this Winter but injured my shoulder so didn't accomplish much. Wanted to build up some bulk because I'm actually too skinny (lol never thought I'd say those words!)

I don't feel like I exercise enough.... But fwiw we were talking about exercise at my local support group and I was shocked to discover that I was literally the only one in the room who even walks regularly!

what are you doing for exercise? And have you ever tried Zumba?

On 1/18/2017 at 1:05 AM, Shana Lee said:

@@talkingmountain I would love to know more about your diet! I find myself eating more and more of a plant based diet, yet I feel like I need to eat more often then not, and I know I could never eat as much produce as some of the Vegans I know, not even a 1/16th! Please share how you do it, what you eat! Needing some inspiration!

@Shana Lee Most of my meals include some variation on beans, salads, potatoes, nuts, and fruit (particularly oranges and berries). These have become my "go to" foods -- they leave me satisfied, taste great, are easy to prepare, and always agree with my "pouch." I have air-popped popcorn sprayed with soy sauce and smothered in nutritional yeast almost every night. Oh, and some good quality dark chocolate most nights ?

Lately I've been drinking some wine and also eating more foods that are "high" (relatively speaking, lol) in sugar. And eating cheese (not just a sprinkle as a flavorant -- I mean eating several ounces at a sitting!). Cheese is horribly constipating and I've started having "late dumping" from the sugar... soooo it looks like I need to "dump" the crap from my routine, which is just as well: empty junk food calories are the devil!

On 2/1/2017 at 4:54 PM, vegbeth said:

Since the sleeve is a restricted procedure I'm hoping I'm absorbing more of my protein and vitamins.

I'm glad to be moving out of the puréed phase and into soft solids. This week I made homemade seitan and soy yogurt. Even getting a little veggies in, though that is what I miss most. I can only eat a few bites of veggies whereas before surgery veggies occupied most of my diet.

I really do think once I hit the maintenance phase I'm going to cut back on protein just a bit to make sure there is enough room in my diet for veggies.

@vegbeth, fwiw I read in some published research study that only about 20-25% of protein is not absorbed after having RNY. the average woman only needs about 30-ish grams of protein The "60 grams a day" recommended some programs recommend even higher!) has no basis in research-backed science - its just a guess that was made back when RNY was much more invasive/restrictive/malabsorptive

So, given all that (and the fact that I'm a year+ out from surgery and in the "maintenance" phase) I shoot for an average of about 35-39 grams a day (I.e. 25% over the average woman's needs). . I dont worry about getting exactly that every day, since some days I have less and other days I have more. I enter my food into Cronometer every once in a while to make sure I'm in the right ballpark.

So far this is working for me. My blood works is great and I feel great. My kidney function is excellent (excess protein causes kidney damage). BP has gone from 140s/90s to 110s/60s If I can cut out the daily hunks of BellaVitano Merlot cheese (new obsession!) I hope to get my cholesterol down from 180 to my goal of 150!