Vegans Help - Post VSG

Revisiting this post now 4 months after surgery, and you are right, it is not hard at all keepingvegan, or plant-based nutrition (as I like to call it). And I do it with no protein powder (hemp seeds, legumes, edamame.. are my choice of protein). As well as my B12 from nutritional yeast rather than pills. It will be interesting to see my BW coming up.

I'm curious, what are your daily carb levels looking like?

I don't count carbs, or anything for that matter. All my carbs come from plants.. I was never a bread eater type of gal.. so if I have any 'bread like' carb it's from a wrap.. or half of one.. otherwise it is what is in my plant based diet.
I never started this journey wanting to count anything, except for my wt loss. For me, this is my new life, a new start to the rest of my life and I wanted to start of all my new habits as sustainable ones.
I am feeling fantastic doing it this way, my wt is coming off consistently and I feel great - full of energy, no hair fall out, work 12 hrs, single mom, wake up some days at 6 to do 1 hr of working out before my 12's.. so something is working.

Do you count your levels?

A

At ~5 months out, you're in the honeymoon phase and you can get away without counting anything.

To maintain your weight in the long term, you MUST track your intake. The number one thing we see on OH from people who come back after regaining lots of weight is that they just ate "whatever," without counting calories or protein or anything.

Surgery is not magic. You cannot eat whatever you like, even if it's healthy and in small quantities.

I completely disagree.. although this may be for many, I know 2 SUCCESSFUL people (one 3 years post and one 4 yrs post) who do not count and who are still maintaining their weight.

I don't eat 'whatever'.. I am very conscious of the health value every bite I take has, and I am very aware of portion control. That right there is a recipe for success. Disaster strikes when you change the formula which I have no desire to do, nor would I ever allow myself to.

Also, protein is up in the air. Although I get plenty from my plant-based diet, I believe that Western Civilization is too Protein happy. That is just my personal belief. Lots of research going on about this.

I am very healthy, in all aspects, and getting healthier by the day educating myself about health and wellness which I never cared to do before, and yes, 5 months is new, and may be what you refer to as the honeymoon stage, but I like to refer to it as real life. My days are not always sunshine and butterflies.

And to backtrack, my weight gain was never due to over-eating to begin with - it was due to a series of unfortunate events PLUS then not being mobile. I could of lived on one meal a day and been fine with that, but one HUGE meal with little or no health value..

I appreciate all feedback and input as that is how we learn from each other, but please don't project words such as 'must' on others. I must not do anything I don't think wouldn't work for me.. I must do everything that IS working for me..

Good luck on your journey

Ana

You're welcome to disagree. But remember that two anecdotes do NOT a medical conclusion make.

Success at six months and success in the long term are VERY different beasts.

Good luck to you.

Years 3 and 4 are still pretty easy. Those same folks may not be having such a breezy time in years 6,7, 8, and beyond.

"Must" might sound harsh, but I have been on these boards almost daily since 2009, when I had my LapBand surgery and you know what? 99.99999% of people who come back and say they regained are the ones who stopped tracking or never tracked at all.

It's not unrelated. If you don't know exactly what you are eating, you won't know how and when and why things go off track. What works for you at 6 months out, or two years out, or 4 years out will likely not work for you in the long run, and having data to compare is the only way you will know for sure.

I use My Fitness Pal like a bible. I input every single morsel (the good the bad and the ugly) and then I compare my intake to my weight. I adjust accordingly. Why wouldn't I want to have as much data as I can on myself?

You are willing to have major surgery but not willing to take 5 minutes a day to track your nutrients? I don't get it.

Amen.

You don't have to get it. Nor do I have to explain my journey.

It is unfortunate that more support for peoples individuals journeys are not respected, rather a debacle of how many things they are doing wrong.

My journey - works for me. May not for you. Or him. Or her. Or anyone else. But it works for me. And that matters.

Good luck on your journey.

A