My Nutritional Eval today!

Just wanted to express some feelings here...I am 2 more appointments from my final blood test! WOW....I can't believe I'm almost through and closer to getting an appointment for my surgery! I have to say that meeting Randi today helped ease my fears of being a vegetarian and worrying about not being able to get enough protein in my diet post-op. She gave me a vegetarian food pyramid and with my height I will need 97 grams of protein a day. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas at all as to how they get theyre amount per day in, I would appreciate any information!!! I am actually realizing now that I could be healthier and happier in a new body by this time next year....my head is spinning with excitement, anxiety and hope!

Dee, What foods do you eat as a vegetarian? Do you do cheese and eggs? When I first had my surgery, for the first couple of months I couldn't eat much meat at all. I have never been a big meat eater to begin with and after surgery it just never tasted good. For the longest time the only meat I could eat was deli sliced meat because it didn't remind me of real meat. LOL. But I did rely on a lot of cheese. I still eat a good amount. And I'm talking all kinds of varieties, not just regular block cheese. I like cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, cream cheese. I mix things together all the time. Recently the back of the boxes of Reduced fat Ritz crackers had a good recipe for a topping made with cream cheese, cheddar cheese and green onions. I just modified it to use less crackers for the same amount of mix so that I have heaping amounts on the cracker. So more protein and less carbs. It is pretty tasty too. I also relied on peanut butter a lot too and would put it on a lot of things. Beans are a good protein source if you like them. Eggs are also a good source of protein, though post op I can't seem to eat them. It is weird how things you liked preop can change post op. Anyway, 97 grams is a lot and at first it will be very difficult to get to that number without the aid of protein drinks. Did you ask Randi for a list of foods that are high in protein that you can eat? Your nearing the finishing line! Good luck with the rest of your testing! Megan

Hi Megan! It's a pleasure to hear from you again! To answer your question, I eat almost everything that isn't meat. I eat only veggie cheese, and I do eat eggs, but I get them from a local farm which has free range chickens and only organic feed. I also do drink milk which is also from a local dairy thats guarentees no RbGh (growth hormone), but I prefer soymilk or rice milk. I incorporate beans in so many of my meals and with having an iron, b12 and calcium deficiency and being anemic already, I still don't ever feel as though I'm getting enough. I LOVE peanut butter and hopefully I can eat it post-op and add it to all my meals if needed. Unfortunately, I have eaten WAY too many carbs over the past 14 years and have ballooned up and not able to ever lose it. I was diagosed with hypothyroid and being on 200 mcg's of levoxyl hasn't helped at all....I have always eaten way too much and found it so difficult to always have portion control. I have battled my weight all of my life.....and I am so looking forward to being healthy and being able to get around more, and enjoy life. RANDI was VERY helpful to me and gave me many good ideas on how to get my protein post-op. I drink a shake called Spiroteen (spelling?) and she approved that for having MORE then enough nutrients for pre and post-op. Also she told me that I can add nonfat powered milk to my shakes and add 8 more grams of protein. When I entered her office I thought she would tell me that I HAD to go back to eating meat for the protein, but she gave me hope that my decision to become a vegetarian for the moral issue years ago will not go to the wayside because of the surgery and not being able to get enough of what I need for nutrients post-op. I too am worried that everything I can eat now that has protein is going to be a problem to digest post-op....like you said, you never knew that what you ate pre-op couldn't be something you ate post-op. I already lose enough hair in the shower and my skin has been dry for years because of the lack of vitamins being a vegetarian! Thank you SO much for the words of support and advice! I'm so excited and nervous, but very hopeful.