Protein Suggestions

[GingerLeAnna 14]

What is your favorite Protein Drink?

[Recycled 2,182]

What is your favorite Protein drink?

Wine.....I think it has about .00001 grams of Protein. Ok, not funny.

Actually, I kinda think they all suck. But you do get used to them enough to tolerate them. I have been drinking Premier Protein shakes every day, since before surgery. I also drink Isopure Zero carb when I go to the gym or ride my bike. And I mix Protein powder in my milk when I eat Kashi Cereal. Thats about it for me. I drink mostly unsweetened tea or just Water.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

Mine was EAS AdventEDGE Carb Control, Rich Dark chocolate flavor. However, once I was able to eat solids, I moved to Protein Bars and dropped shakes altogether. SOOOOOOOO over liquids by that point!

[Recycled 2,182]

Mine was EAS AdventEDGE Carb Control, Rich Dark chocolate flavor. However, once I was able to eat solids, I moved to Protein bars and dropped shakes altogether. SOOOOOOOO over liquids by that point!

I completely forgot about bars. I have tried many and while I like Quest the most....(I tried every flavor) .....the Quest "Cookies and cream" are by far the best. Almost too good. I eat at least one a day. I try to get in close to 200g of Protein a day and for those numbers, you pretty much have to use supplements.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

I completely forgot about bars. I have tried many and while I like Quest the most....(I tried every flavor) .....the Quest "Cookies and cream" are by far the best. Almost too good. I eat at least one a day. I try to get in close to 200g of Protein a day and for those numbers, you pretty much have to use supplements.

I'm partial to the chocolate Chip Cookie Dough QuestBars. I eat two a day and I never get tired of them!

[efierke 60]

so far - Syntrax nectar fuzzy navel to drink in Water, and Isopure unflavored to use in simple recipes. from what I can tell, the isopure is heat tolerant too (at least to hot coffee) which is definitely helpful

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Bars are carb laden and for me... they sorta sneak in as junk food. weird i know, but I try very hard to leave them alone. Having said that, I ahve some in my house and they are causing me problems!

I drink premier Protein, but I mostly use food sources of Protein. I have found some real protein "bargains" at costco. Rule of thumb I use is that they must have at least 10G of protein per 100 calories and minimal carbs. If there are alot of carbs/sugars it means it is over processed.

I like premade food because I am lazy. Sandwich meat and roast chicken are way too salty. I like the chicken skewers (a bit salty too!) low cal and plenty of protein - and my fave are the turkey mozzarella sausages - 140 calories and i believe around 20G of protein.

[BeagleLover 1,020]

If you have an Indian ethnic grocery store, or can find this other places, Patak makes a ready-made mixes of spices for Indian cooking. All you have to do is take a small portion of the sauce and marinate the chicken, meat or veggies, then cook it. I really like the Patak mild curry mix. Since the spices are pre-mixed, you can use less or more to your taste.

[beebo 6]

Hands Down. powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury. I still use the unflavored in my coffee (2 yrs out Feb 4th) It's around 20 ish per container and the shipping is free if you buy 120 $ worth. vanilla is great for smoothies of any kind and the chocolate splendour is wonderful by itself or in a smoothie. I didn't really care much for the strawberry as it was a strong flavor. Right after my surgery though the chicken Soup flavor was so helpful for getting Proteins and liquid when cold Water was hard for me to do.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

Bars are carb laden and for me... they sorta sneak in as junk food. weird i know, but I try very hard to leave them alone. Having said that, I ahve some in my house and they are causing me problems!

I don't think of carbs as "the enemy" the way some people seem to. My nutritionist never advised me to limit carbs to any specific number and carbs are the only form of fuel your brain can use, so you need some! I just focus on getting all of my Protein in and that usually means I don't get many carbs and I'm fine with that. If my Protein source happens to have some carbs attached to it, then so be it.

My calories are only coming from three macro-nutrients: protein, fat, and carbs. If I get the 100 gram upper range of my protein target every day, that's 400 calories from protein. That means to get 1000 calories a day, I'm getting 600 calories from fat or carbs. Why are would calories from carbs be any worse than calories from fat? That being said, the bulk of those other 600 calories are coming from fat for me, because most meat-based protein sources also include fat and fat has 9 calories per gram, versus only 4 calories per gram from carbs.

In any case, even if I were overly concerned about carbs, QuestBars would still be a decent choice, because while they have 21 grams of carbs per bar, 17 of those are from "fiber". And most anyone who counts carbs actually counts "net carbs", which means subtracting out the Fiber and sugar alcohols from the total carb count. So the "net carbs" in a QuestBar are only 3 grams. Plus they only have 1 gram of sugar.

Now you could make a whole case about Isomalto-Oligosaccharides not being real "fiber" in the way we tend to think about Fiber. But the same could be said about the Polydextrose, Maltodextrin, Inulin, and Chicory Root Extract you see in all of the so-called "high fiber" foods on the market these days. Everything from yogurt, to Cereal, to Breakfast bars, to ice cream is claiming to be "high fiber" now with those ingredients.

If you are opposed to processed/packaged foods, then most Protein Bars probably aren't for you. But I don't think that has anything to do with the carb count, especially when the main carb you should be worried about (sugar) is barely even present in QuestBars at least.

Edited January 27, 2015 by JamieLogical

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

@@JamieLogical - I am not anti-carb but I am anti simple carbs. I mostly avoid "white carbs" such as white potatoes, refined sugars & processed foods, white bread, Pasta, white rice. I prefer complex carbs such as those found in Beans and veg, even brown rice, whole grains or sweet potatoes.

As for Proteins, I don't care for the flavored Protein drinks. Too many artificial sweeteners and dyes that I am allergic to. I use Isopure unflavored and add it to my coffee, tea, yogurt or Soup. I even added some to my oatmeal this morning.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

@@JamieLogical - I am not anti-carb but I am anti simple carbs. I mostly avoid "white carbs" such as white potatoes, refined sugars & processed foods, white bread, Pasta, white rice. I prefer complex carbs such as those found in Beans and veg, even brown rice, whole grains or sweet potatoes.

Yeah, I don't have any room for vegetables, rice, breads/crackers, or sweet potatoes yet. I do eat a fair amount of Beans, as they also have significant amounts of Protein. Every single thing I eat right now is a major Protein source. Maybe once I have more room (if I ever do) I can start working on getting in more complex carbs. For now I am very reliant on my supplements to make sure I'm getting all the Vitamins and minerals I need.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

@@JamieLogical - both dark green leafy veg and sweet potatoes contain Protein. That's one of the differences between a simple carb and a complex carb. Whole grains such as farro and quinoa are also good sources of protein as well as good sources of fiber.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

@@JamieLogical - both dark green leafy veg and sweet potatoes contain Protein. That's one of the differences between a simple carb and a complex carb. Whole grains such as farro and quinoa are also good sources of Protein as well as good sources of fiber.

Oh, I know. Just the amount of protein they give for the amount of room they take up in my tiny sleeve doesn't make the math work yet. 1 ounce of spinach has 1 gram of protein. When I can only eat 3-4 oz. of anything MAX, having a whole ounce of something only give me one gram of protein is pretty useless.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Since you quoted me, I assume these comments were directed at me.

I do not think carbs are the enemy, in fact I don't have any foods that are my enemy, but what I do think is that they are often sliders (even Protein bars) and you may find this a bigger challenge once you are in maintenance. I am 3 years post op and maintaining 150-160# weight loss. I have more capacity to eat now, more hunger and it is frankly hard at times. For me, Protein Bars have a way of being a snacky food that I eat when i don't really need a mini meal - and some of them are terribly high calorie and carb (not Quest bars so much). You will find many people who are in maintenance work pretty hard to keep snacky sliders out of the house as it is so easy to fall back into eating just a little too much too often. Real food is more satiating and it lasts - again more of an issue for people that are over a year out.

So, everyone's calories come from 3 macronutrients - Protein, carbs and fat. You absolutely need all 3 for good health. If you go too low carb, you really do not feel well and can get brain fog. My diet is definately heavier on the protien and fats - try to keep it more healthy fats like avocado, olive oil etc. I eat alot of veggies and many of them are good complex carb sources and those seem really okay for me.

What is sensible is to listen to your body since some people seem more carb sensitive than others. I didn't worry too much about carbs the first 6-8 months of my post WLS time. When my losses slowed down, I got serious about controlling carbs and I needed to do that to get to goal. At maintenance, I certainly have more, but if my hunger is getting out of control, it can be traced back to overconsumption of carbs - even healthy ones like whole grain breads etc. I know, I experimented with adding in a really nice organic bread daily and having a bit of wild rice with dinner for a few weeks and my cravings went up.

I don't believe in the whole net carb thing - I feel that is pushed by the processed food industry. Well, and the MD I used to see has some very good write ups on why total carbs is the right measure. It is like in the old days with Weight watchers, you could eat alot of nasty food but the points were low as long as there was a bunch of added fiber... Oh, and my own modification of it all is I don't even count the carbs in most veggies - I consider them free (potatoes, corn, peas etc are exception)

I don't think of carbs as "the enemy" the way some people seem to. My nutritionist never advised me to limit carbs to any specific number and carbs are the only form of fuel your brain can use, so you need some! I just focus on getting all of my protein in and that usually means I don't get many carbs and I'm fine with that. If my protein source happens to have some carbs attached to it, then so be it.

My calories are only coming from three macro-nutrients: protein, fat, and carbs. If I get the 100 gram upper range of my protein target every day, that's 400 calories from protein. That means to get 1000 calories a day, I'm getting 600 calories from fat or carbs. Why are would calories from carbs be any worse than calories from fat? That being said, the bulk of those other 600 calories are coming from fat for me, because most meat-based protein sources also include fat and fat has 9 calories per gram, versus only 4 calories per gram from carbs.

In any case, even if I were overly concerned about carbs, QuestBars would still be a decent choice, because while they have 21 grams of carbs per bar, 17 of those are from "fiber". And most anyone who counts carbs actually counts "net carbs", which means subtracting out the fiber and sugar alcohols from the total carb count. So the "net carbs" in a QuestBar are only 3 grams. Plus they only have 1 gram of sugar.

Now you could make a whole case about Isomalto-Oligosaccharides not being real "fiber" in the way we tend to think about fiber. But the same could be said about the Polydextrose, Maltodextrin, Inulin, and Chicory Root Extract you see in all of the so-called "high fiber" foods on the market these days. Everything from yogurt, to Cereal, to Breakfast bars, to ice cream is claiming to be "high fiber" now with those ingredients.

If you are opposed to processed/packaged foods, then most Protein Bars probably aren't for you. But I don't think that has anything to do with the carb count, especially when the main carb you should be worried about (sugar) is barely even present in QuestBars at least.

Edited January 28, 2015 by CowgirlJane