As @FluffyChix stated in the original thread:

Quote

Let's share all our sophomore experiences, our angst, our struggles, our suggestions--let's talk about life! Let's become friends! You can be on any kind of food plan, do any kind of exercise or not, be gay or straight, engage in cardio or not--you just have to be in the "tweener" stage post WLS.

Not a Newbie but not yet a Vet - Sophomores have different challenges and are coping with an awkward middle stage, so please only post if you've passed the six month post-surgery mark!

IDEAL Weight - Surgery Day Weight = EBW (excess body weight) --> 303-140 = 163 ( going with 140 but I would look dead at 140 lbs. I have huge wrists, ankles, sizable hips and shoulders--I am big boned for sure)

60% of 163 = 97.8 // 303 - 98 = 205

So I have lost 71% of my EBW --a bit better than average. Certainly not an outlier, unfortunately. I am hoping that what they say about sleeves losing for 18 months is true.

Doc set my goal at between 164-179 lbs, but oddly when I went for my 9 month follow up at 189 he said I was good where I was and to just work out/tone-up. I don't feel done though. I feel like I need to get lower for that "bounce-back". I never want to see 200 again!!

On 4/24/2019 at 1:26 PM, Kris77 said:

I imagine there are vegetarian people who have weight loss surgery. I wonder if it’s harder getting all the Protein you need being a vegetarian? I don’t know but if he curious to know. meat is much heavier so I know I don’t eat the amount I need.

A girl in my FB group has bypass and is vegetarian. She eats dairy and eggs, though. Vegans can also have the surgery, but they rely on beans and soy product a lot. They sell separate supplements with amino acids in them for vegans/vegetarians. I get the vast majority of my protein from dairy (cottage cheese).

Edited April 30, 20197 yr by mousecat88

19 minutes ago, mousecat88 said:

A girl in my FB group has bypass and is vegetarian. She eats dairy and eggs, though. Vegans can also have the surgery, but they rely on Beans and soy product a lot. They sell separate supplements with amino acids in them for vegans/vegetarians. I get the vast majority of my Protein from dairy (cottage cheese).

Yeah I think this is totally do-able as a vegetarian. You just have to be smart about things. I do think it's harder to do vegan, but still possible. Lacto-ovo vegetarians would have the easiest time of it as do pescatarians.

On 04/30/2019 at 08:07, FluffyChix said:

Yeah I think this is totally do-able as a vegetarian. You just have to be smart about things. I do think it's harder to do vegan, but still possible. Lacto-ovo vegetarians would have the easiest time of it as do pescatarians.

Vegetarian here, 6.5 months post vsg. :) Vegetarian for 23 years so it just feels normal to me at this point. I try and focus on protein by including dairy, beans, lentils, nuts, tofu etc. If I feel I’m missing the mark on protein on a given day I might add in a premier protein but it’s rare these days. Veggies also have protein... not so hard to do :)

Okay so since my pouch isn’t very fond of meat and I don’t feel like fighting her about it I’ve decided to challenge myself to Meatless May. My problem in the past when I tried to switch to vegetarianism was that I planned poorly. This time I chose to prep simple vegetarian and pescatarian meals. I bought groceries to help with my meal prep and for now I’ll use meat substitutes a couple of times a week while gradually trying Whole food recipes to add into my diet.

I have a variety of nuts, seeds, nut butter, cheese,Greek yogurt,cottage cheese,etc to help me get my protein in. Also I’ll still be drinking Premier protein once a day until I get a better blender for protein smoothies (without powder,yuck).

How is everyone incorporating fiber into their diet? I have IBS and used to have dumping syndrome BEFORE surgery. Now nothing wakes these bowels up except MOM and senna tea, and I have to get this under control.

My team advised me to add fiber but I’m struggling to eat anything after I eat my 2-3 oz of protein. I thought about going back to my genepro protein powder to get half of my protein in for the day and then focusing on the fibrous veggies and beans for my meals instead of protein.

Plant based protein sources:

9 minutes ago, Jolexis said:

How is everyone incorporating Fiber into their diet? I have IBS and used to have dumping syndrome BEFORE surgery. Now nothing wakes these bowels up except MOM and senna tea, and I have to get this under control.

My team advised me to add fiber but I’m struggling to eat anything after I eat my 2-3 oz of Protein. I thought about going back to my GENEPRO Protein Powder to get half of my protein in for the day and then focusing on the fibrous veggies and Beans for my meals instead of protein.

How far out from surgery are you? It get a little easier in time when you have the willingness/ability to add bulking insoluble fibers (leafy greens and *some* whole grains)

But, I also use senna. Just keeping it real.

It’ll be 7 months on 5/8. I’ve been eating some salads now that I can tolerate the lettuce, and I’ve been trying to do less dairy for my protein because I know that wasn’t helping things at all.

Thanks for the chart! I’ve been curious about trying lentils for a couple of weeks now. I always see such tasty looking recipes on Pinterest for them. I think I’ll pick some up today while I’m grocery shopping.

My bowels sucked! Now I have a daily formula which keeps me pumping regularly. Here's my recipe for terlet success.

17g Miralax (Clearlax)

2 Colace (docusate sodium)

12g Now Brand whole psyllium seeds dissolved in 14oz of Lipton Cinnamon Apple Spice Tea (drink it room temp) + 6 drops liquid vanilla stevia

lots of leafy dark greens + broccoli + cauliflower + asparagus

healthy fat

100+ water per day

limit dairy except Greek yogurt

raw fermented veg (sauerkraut, kimchi, lactofermented veggies

hummus

1 hour ago, FluffyChix said:

My bowels sucked! Now I have a daily formula which keeps me pumping regularly. Here's my recipe for terlet success.

17g Miralax (Clearlax)

2 Colace (docusate sodium)

12g Now Brand whole psyllium seeds dissolved in 14oz of Lipton Cinnamon Apple Spice Tea (drink it room temp) + 6 drops liquid vanilla stevia

lots of leafy dark greens + broccoli + cauliflower + asparagus

healthy fat

100+ Water per day

limit dairy except Greek yogurt

raw fermented veg (sauerkraut, kimchi, lactofermented veggies

hummus

I ❤ Hummus and Carrots

TBH (not that anyone wanted to know ?)

But I have better BMs when I eat some carb/bread like food : Wasa, Ryvita, Matzo, Real bread?

So...

7 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

So...

I'm a solid 4 ?

Just now, Orchids&Dragons said:

I'm a solid 4 ?

I'm between 8 & 9 ???