Have you ever wondered if it is possible to be both a WLS patient and a vegetarian? Many think it’s not possible because of the protein needs after WLS, but I happen to know a few post-op vegetarians who have realized great success. My friend Kelly, a three-year post-op and vegetarian of more than 25 years, is one of them.
This week, she’s going to share with you all the basics of vegetarianism, how that all relates to post-op life and even give you some tips and recipes for integrating vegetarian eating into your life! Thanks Kelly!
Over the next five days, this series will speak from Kelly's perspective. If you have any questions for Kelly about any information she’s given, leave them in the comments and Kelly promises to respond to them quickly!
Here’s what Kelly has to say:
I was really excited when Nik asked me to write a series on a vegetarian post-op diet for Bariatric Foodie. I love Bariatric Foodie, I love being post op and I love being a vegetarian, so it’s right up my alley. I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking lately about my diet, and I’ve been considering transitioning to a vegan diet, so the timing was good for me.
I’ve been a vegetarian for more than 25 years, since I was 14. The food choices we make can be pretty complicated, but to put it simply, I decided I personally didn’t want to kill animals and that I didn’t need to do so in order to eat. I grew up in a family of meat-eaters and vegetarians were kind of rare back then.
Now I find a lot more people eating a vegetarian diet and a lot more food options out there.
I had gastric bypass surgery a little over three years ago and it never occurred to me to start eating meat after my surgery. I did have to change my thinking about protein a bit and make some changes to my diet in order to increase my protein intake. The meal plans and recommendations I got from my surgeon and dietician were designed for people that eat meat so I had to customize those to fit my needs.
I’m not going to try to convince you that you should be a vegetarian. That’s up to you. I’m just going to tell you that you can be a vegetarian and get enough protein and be healthy after weight loss surgery, if that’s what you want to do. And I’m going to show you how to do it.
In this series, we’ll cover:
- Part I: What the heck is a vegetarian, anyway?
- Part II: CAN post-ops be vegetarians?
- Part III: What does this look like in real life and how do you make the transition?
- Part IV: Making good vegetarian food choices
- Part V: A day in the life of a post-op vegetarian
.::Related Article::.
BF Basics
- BF Basics: Fast Food
- Veggie Tales (part 5): A day in the life of a post-op vegetarian
- Veggie Tales (part 3): Making the Transition
- One Ingredient Fixes to Jazz Up Your Vanilla Protein!
- One Ingredient Fixes to Jazz Up Your Chocolate Protein!
- Protein Shake Check-Up
- Labels, Part Seven: Vitamins and other such stuff
- Labels, Part Six: Protein, Queen of All Nutrients!
- Labels, Part Five: Carbohydrates
- Labels, Part IV: Sodi-ummmmmmm...
- Labels, Part Three: Facts about Fat
- Labels Part Two: Kill-a-Calorie
- Labels, Part One: May I Serve You?
- BF Basics: De-Mystifying the Nutrition Label
- How to Make Cauliflower Rice
- How to Make Cauliflower Rice
- BF Basics: Carb Confusion (Part Five)
- BF Basics: Carb Confusion (Part Four)
- BF Basics: Carb Confusion (Part three)
- BF Basics: Carb Confusion (Part two)
- BF Basics: Carb Confusion (Part One)
- BF Basics: Carb Confusion!
- BF Basics: Protein Smoothie
- BF Basics: Oven "Frying"
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