Hey! I'm gearing up for my soft food stage next week and thinking about protein sources. I get most of my protein through shakes right now in pureed stage but I also eat eggs and beans. I've been a vegetarian for 7 years now and don't plan on eating meat again. Has anyone tried these foods on soft?

-Steamed tofu (not crispy or hard)

-vegetarian deli meat slices

-vegetarian ground beef, finely chopped up

And can you think of anything else that might be okay on soft food?

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Beans. All kinds but refried beans and hummus are soft. And you can just blend any cooked legumes with a little oil and lemon juice and salt into a tasty dip. With tofu, I'd mash it anyway and possibly eat it in broth. Do you eat dairy? Cottage cheese was my go-to in softs.

I pretty much existed on vegan protein water (2 serves per day for a total of 56g protein), and tofu scramble during the soft food stage. Getting protein and water in in the one hit meant I could relax a bit on the protein count in food, which I was eating in such tiny amounts it barely added much to my daily protein goal.

I also used protein fortified soy milk. Since you eat dairy, you should be able to find a protein enriched version. Have that in your shakes for a boost. I used mine in sugar-free matcha lattes.

Good luck! Once you've soldiered through the soft food phase, it gets so much easier with high protein seitan and burgers etc.

Thanks! I tried tofu today and it went down well. I'm interested to see how products like gardein, tofurkey, morningstar and light life will sit in my stomach.

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I’m glad I found this thread. I’ve been a mostly vegetarian eater for the past few years too and all the articles I’ve read online say it’s very difficult to get the necessary protein without eating meat, which I find hard to believe. Have you had any assistance of a nutritionist with your bariatric program or have you been figuring it out yourself? I have my appointment for my sleeve in May so I’m trying to get prepared.

I dont think it'll be hard at all. I'm tolerating pea and soy protein well.
Here's how I'm getting over 80 grams of protein a day in soft foods:
Breakfast: Siggis simple ingredients protein yogurt (15 grams)
Lunch: yellow squash and 3.5 oz of impossible meat made into a meatball (16 grams)
Dinner: 2 oz of refried beans, 1 tbspn of sour cream (4 grams)
Snacks: thin slice of Provolone cheese (3 grams) and the big Kahuna, a protein shake made with 2 scoops of isopure and almond milk (use soy for extra protein). (50 grams)

...total for the day= 88 grams of plant based proteins!

You can switch this up too. Do an omelet, scrambled eggs, tofu scramble, stir fry tofu and other low carb vegetarian meat subs. I was scared at first to try vegetarian meat substitutes but as long as theyre not super breaded and you chew them really well, they seem to be working. My dietician approved of them too! Everyone tolerates food differently after surgery but so far so good. Best of luck. I did my gastric bypass a month ago and I still will not go back to eating meat ever again.

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That’s such good news and I’m relieved that I won’t need to resort to eating meat.

Yeah! Feel free to message me if you need suggestions or recipes. I'm fairly new, 1 month post op, navigating food again but I'm learning as I go! Can always try and impart the post op vegetarian wisdom.

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Thank you so much. From what I’ve been reading, vegetarians and vegans are not common in the gastric surgery family. I’m glad I’ve found at least one.

Definitely! We're here. There are some other great vegetarian and plant based threads on these forums. I also know some people go dairy free post op because they can't do lactose anymore. I haven't found that to be an issue yet but it happens.

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Gotta chime in to debunk the "it's hard to get protein when vegan" nonsense too! Total rubbish.

Seitan is super high in protein, and the best and tastiest I've found is in Asian supermarkets. I use a faux bbq pork or faux roast duck seitan, both of which give 19 to 20 grams of protein per 100g. 6 months out, I can easily eat at least 100g with some greens per meal.

My vegan protein water is 28g of protein per serve. Even without this, I can get 60g+ of protein a day through food.

Protein fortified soy milk is 10g of protein per 250ml serve. If I have that in my protein powder, it's a whopping 40g of protein in one hit. I don't like protein shakes, so I make a matcha latte with the soy milk and get that 10g in.

Without even trying, I get a daily 70 to 80 grams of protein in. Easy peasy.

I’d think more doctors would be encouraging more patients to explore vegan options since bariatric surgery is intended to help people get healthier.

One quick and easy soft food is refried beans. Also though, veganism isn't healthier.

Moderation is healthy and I dont eat meat for personal reasons. I usually eat 2oz of refried black beans for lunch. Great option!

Here's my vegetarian soft food stage dinner from the other night. 1.65 oz of impossible meat balls, .85 oz of protein Chickpea pasta, a sprinkle of parmesean and about a tablespoon of suace. Went down like a charm. Total protein: 13 grams. I think it's good for such a small amount of food and doesn't upset my stomach at all. Don't mind the kids plate LOL

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That’s looks delish. And the best part is my husband would eat that too - just in larger portions.

I get enough protein without meat I love No cow protein bars. If you need protein shake supplement Vega yea one I found I like. I am not vegan. I always ate a mix of vegetarian foods and meat but health reasons I slowly stopped eating meat. I did have eggs with a veggie burger (the actual vegetable style burger a way of getting veggies made in a way my gut could handle) Dr. Praeger's Cauliflower Burger and California Burgers have been my go to. I used to put egg on a small veggie burger. They have "Just egg" that is a vegetarian egg substitute that you can make your own scramble or omelette. There are many options not just beans. You can take plant based omegas, Bragg Nutritional yeast, Vitamin K to name three I can think of as top supplements. Protein intake is based on body weight and activity base protein is 0.36 grams Protein per 1lb of body weight. and more based on type of diet and activity level. too much protein actually converts to sugar. I am now working through some issues not related to my surgery. but have reached goal and maintained since my surgery 2019.