I'm vegetarian and am wondering if there are other vegetarians or vegans out there? I've been working with a nutritionist to come up with a diet that includes the proper amount of protein and amino acids, while also being meat free. It would be great if there were others out there like me!

Please forgive me if there's a way to search forums to see if this question has already been asked. I'm new here and still figuring things out.

Transitioning from lapband to bypass on June 12!

HW: 402, CW: 314, GW 185

Welcome! Yes there are a handful of us veg*ns out there!

Some of us have been sharing our daily food on the Buddies & Mentors forum.

Hi! 13-year vegan here, had bypass this past February. It's been great, really no issues at all!

I'm getting there....going plant based. It's a process (trying to get my whole family on board).

On 6/14/2017 at 5:01 PM, fruitandveggies said:

Hi! 13-year vegan here, had bypass this past February. It's been great, really no issues at all!

How do you manage the pressure to eat massive amounts of protein?

7 minutes ago, talkingmountain said:

How do you manage the pressure to eat massive amounts of Protein?

I can't answer for that person but in my humble opinion, the need for such a high amount of protein isn't really needed. I think in the beginning, to follow through the best you can. But I just ordered Dr Garths book called a Proteinaholic today. He's a bariatric surgeon who went vegan and encourages his patients and everyone on a vegan diet. I'm currently doing vegetarian. I'm going to read it and see what he has to say. He dispels the myths about protein, protein, protein. Even though my doc wants me to do protein (min of 65g and that's where I keep it) he does promote more veggies and grains too, which is what I'm doing. So far so good. Still losing the weight too. ?

I'm a vegetarian but I haven't had surgery yet. Maybe in August if insurance approval comes through quickly. I think it's easy to get protein as a vegetarian. I make lentils a lot, lentil soup or lentils with burrata a la smitten kitchen, bean burritos, omelets or frittata, egg salad, hummus, quinoa and black bean salad, ethiopian yellow lentils.

Sent from my SM-G930F using BariatricPal mobile app

On 7/23/2017 at 4:35 PM, talkingmountain said:

How do you manage the pressure to eat massive amounts of Protein?

Yep, exactly what @Newme17 said. Most of the protein pushing is based on incorrect, old data or straight up pseudo science (check out this vid on the studies on this topic) and surgeons don't have to study nutrition in med school. I manage people asking about it by saying I'm just fine, I have no problem getting enough protein. That seems to satisfy their questions about my health, haha.

I'm grateful that my bariatric team keeps up with current nutritional literature and recommends 30g of protein a day (based on our lower calorie intake). They found in the thousands of patients they have that there is no benefit for extra protein, and in fact can be harmful. It's fine if it's a bit more than that, based on the person's height and activity level, but that percentage is extremely doable without even thinking about it.

And, even if I did need to get a ton more protein in a day, I'd do it the way everyone else does--protein rich foods. Rhinos and elephants have to get it somewhere! ;p

Vegan here two years.

We're in beginning phases of switching to a more plant based diet. I'll be three years post-op in October. We recently watched What the Health, and if anyone on here has seen it, WOW. It was eye popping and I haven't been the same since. And I've been an avid met eater my entire life.

I have been wondering about our higher protein requirements, and gone back and forth. I will say that I gave it a test run this past week, and surprisingly I felt amazing. It seems to me since we're supposed to eat more fruits and veggies ANYWAY, being more plant based is the way to go. I'm not sure if we'll go all the way Vegan, but I see us making a major shift. Would love to hear others experiences.

I love being Vegan. It's made my life easier. I'm also a twice cancer survivor and I believe that my lifestyle as a vegan has saved me from all my health issues. I have 18 surgeries under my belt. And so many other things are happening with my body. So plant base lifestyle has been a huge help!


Aka_ET

HW-220
Pre-op 194.3
RNY
SD June 16th 2017
CW-169.8
GW-140
HT 5' 3"
[emoji120][emoji878][emoji1272]

"You may see me struggle but you will never see me quit"

I haven't transitioned yet, but I'm curious and would like to follow any vegetarian or vegan food blogs for bypass patients.

3 hours ago, Paigetherage said:

I haven't transitioned yet, but I'm curious and would like to follow any vegetarian or vegan food blogs for bypass patients.

There's a Facebook page called WLS Vegetarians. You might join there.

I am ovo vegetarian. Sleeve made me lactose intolerant.

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Vegan and happy here

On 8/24/2017 at 6:11 AM, Bigdog56 said:

We're in beginning phases of switching to a more plant based diet. I'll be three years post-op in October. We recently watched What the Health, and if anyone on here has seen it, WOW. It was eye popping and I haven't been the same since. And I've been an avid met eater my entire life.

I have been wondering about our higher Protein requirements, and gone back and forth. I will say that I gave it a test run this past week, and surprisingly I felt amazing. It seems to me since we're supposed to eat more fruits and veggies ANYWAY, being more plant based is the way to go. I'm not sure if we'll go all the way Vegan, but I see us making a major shift. Would love to hear others experiences.

That documentary was an eye opener for sure. I have decided to go totally plant based a little over 2 months ago...haven't looked back and it's surprisingly cheaper for me too. I hope you're doing well still, since I'm responding to a month old post.