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I found making my own shakes to be a little easier than the packaged protein shakes. I also liked Kettle and Fire chicken broth a lot. I am on day 10 and I started pureed today. I made egg salad with, eggs, mayo and salt/pepper/paprika. I ate 4 tbsp total today at 2 different times (2 each time). It was heavenly. I hope your transition goes just as smooth.

Nutritional yeast (adds an aged cheese flavor) chia seed pudding (make with a protein shake to add protein) Ground flax seed (use in oatmeal or make flax crackers ) hemp seeds (also a good source of protein) psyllium husk powder (what benefiber is made from) can be mixed into muffins, pancakes, or crackers. A little goes a long way! Cocoa powder

I'm back from my bypass. They were going to let me go after the 1st night but I was having trouble eating any food. Everything I tried to swallow except for water felt like I was trying to swallow acid. Luckily it did get better by the second night and today is even better. I have not hit my water or protein goals but I wasn't expecting to be able to do that so soon. I am surprised at how much I can drink though. I don't have to take tiny sips, my normal pre surgery swallowing amount still works. I am not hungry but I also can't tell when I'm full either. From what I have read and seen, 2 oz should be the size of my stomach but I can hold more. I asked my dr about it and he said it was a good thing and that it will help me reach my water and protein goals better. I asked him if maybe my stomach was left too big and he says he makes everyone's stomach the same size because they use a guide instrument. He says I will start feeling the restriction much more after I can start eating more solid foods. He also thinks that I can move to pureed food after my drs appointment next week. I thought I was on liquids for 2 weeks but I'll take only one week as long as things go well. In the meantime I'm still limiting myself to 2 oz to make sure that I don't stretch anything. As far as recovery is going, I'm doing better than I thought I would. The only really bad pain was when I was waking up after the surgery. I was still so groggy that I couldn't open my eyes but I could hear the nurse and she kept giving me doses of pain meds until I was comfortable. After that I was moved to my room. I was soooo happy to find out that they were letting my husband stay with me. Poor guy had to sleep in a reclining chair but at least he got to stay. He was amazing help when trying to get out of bed to go to the bathroom and to walk the halls. I did not get bad gas pains but I still have a lot of bloating but I can tell its inside because I can hear it travelling the loops of my intestine (sorry of that tmi) I have been taking gas x but its not being too effective yet. Its a tolerable pain though so I just have to get through it. Another tmi is that I still haven't had any bowel movements but the nurse wasn't worried and I honestly haven't eaten that much so maybe there isn't anything to go. The weekend before surgery while on the liquid diet I had the worst constipation and that finally broke the night before surgery. So maybe I was cleaned out enough that I have nothing to go atm. I have laxatives if needed and I my dr approved fiber powder to add to my liquids if I wanted to. I did request a belly binder is what I've called it, but its got a better name that I can't think of atm lol. It is amazing with how much it lessens the pain of moving. Getting out and into bed has been the hardest but once I got that on, I haven't taken it off. So now I just have to get all my liquids in and figure out what full feels like. I'm very happy not to feel hungry and also happy that so far I'm still ok with the taste of my premier protein shakes. I was going to be sad if I couldn't drink anymore of my pumpkin spice shakes. Sorry for the book but I am a talker lol

My favorite high fiber food that can easily, ahem, end backups (and it is yummy yummy yummy ) is split pea soup… make it yourself easy enough with: split peas (dried bean section of grocery store, cheap too) carrots (I use a bag of baby carrots) chicken stock either: bone from a spiral ham with some bits still attached, ham hock or two packets of Goya ham seasoning i pressure cook for about 50 mins in my instant pot and it is sooooo tasty and has about 16 grams of fiber per cup! (If it’s too thick, add water or stock) I also use lentils too - they have good plant protein and high fiber

I’m scheduled for 14th October (I’m in UK). I have been on a strict liver reduction diet for 3 weeks already and have been sticking mainly to protein and meal replacement.

So I don’t use these really as meal replacements (more just I really like the taste and the protein helps fill me up) but I am in love with the Think creamy peanut butter bars. Perfect chocolate peanut butter flavor.

I ended up waiting almost two years from when I first reached out to my center, because of concerns about complications if I went a self pay route. I could for sure have written a check but I wanted the additional peace of mind. I was really annoyed at first about the waiting period and hoops I had to jump through to get qualified but in retrospect I’m glad I had them. I ended up losing weight prior to surgery, which helped me get ready for the lifestyle change and be more prepared for recovery, and I had enough time to be certain over and over that I was making the right call. I understand once a decision is made that it is frustrating to wait, but honestly if you have the option to get insurance to pay I’d always go that route. Also glad I didn’t fork out the cash for self pay because 2 years post op I ended up using those funds for skin removal, haha.

Costco carries premier protein shakes. Reasonable and good - at least the chocolate and latte flavored. I personally think caramel and vanilla are WAY to sweet but that could just be me.

I can relate to this! I'm 10 weeks (2+ months) post-op and I was wondering the same thing, but I thought it was just me, so thank you for bringing this topic up! I now can eat more fruits/veg along with my protein, so its going away. I'm still not 100% on normal food though. I was so worried that I wasn't keeping myself clean, which I knew couldn't be the case because with my weight loss so far, its EASIER to take a shower and all that!

I have tried and it always grossed me out. Changed the texture of things and I am SO WEIRD about texture. I might have been doing it wrong or something. I did try a few different times, different ways etc and always gross. I don't have a problem hitting my protein with the shakes. I just decided to try the Equate because they were a good bit cheaper, so I will just stick to the ones I like. hehe

Have you tried mixing protein powder into food? You can try unflavored protein powder and mix it into anything, but I personally think it tastes gross. In my early post-op phases, I liked to mix chocolate protein powder into sugar-free chocolate pudding, vanilla protein powder into yogurt, cinnamon protein powder into oatmeal, etc. I found that much more palatable than protein shakes. Also, protein hot cocoa is delicious.

You have to stay strong and stick to the program. If you cheat at this stage, when you can eat, you will be cheating then and losing the effectiveness. Try taking some different foods and puree them so you can eat. At this point you should be able to puree any vegetable, eat pea soup, puree some tuna or chicken etc. I was eating foods like this at this point without a problem. How about tomato soup, cream of mushroom soup etc, etc. There are many options that can keep you satisfied. You can also get some protein powder that is unflavored and mix them into these things previously mentioned.

If you hate protein shakes like me, I suggest the fairlife protein shakes. They just taste like milk and nothing else. You'd need to get core power elite protein (42 grams), fairlife nutritional plan (30 grams) or the fairlife core regular (26 grams) they are all low sugar. The best bariatric macro friendly fairlife in my opinion is the fairlife nutritional plan shakes. They are lowest calorie for the most protein. I also love the Gatorade zero water enhancers. It's the glacier flavor. I add it to about 20 oz of water and add a lot of ice. Tastes like refreshing blue lemonade. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

My Dietician has a "10 calories per 1g protein" rule for getting in lean proteins. With shakes and bars, he says to stay around 20 carbs and 5g sugar. That is pretty easy to find with protein bars. Most of the bars I eat are 180-210 calories and 20g protein so they fit right in. I tried the Unjury chicken soup and didn't like it, I couldn't even get past the smell. haha I do use Unjury protein powder though, keep it on hand for switching things up a little. I like the strawberry and I mix it with SF lemonade for a yummy strawberry lemonade. I use more lemonade to thin it out too so it is not really like drinking a thick shake but tastes good. I really want to get away from the shakes but I really struggle to hit my protein when I skip them. I literally eat ALL day and still end up around 55-65g protein. With the shakes I am more like 70-90g protein a day! Plus, I have never been a breakfast person so having a shake for breakfast is just easy and convenient. Just learning as I go and tweaking when necessary.

Try protein water if your taste buds are messing with you. I found most things were too sweet or too salty. I didn’t have a clear liquids stage only liquids so I could have cream soups instead of the too salty broths. And I diluted the shakes (doubled the water) to reduce the sweetness. I actually took advantage of the too sweet taste & killed my desire for anything ‘sweet’ for the long term by not introducing it back into my eating. How many more days are you on clear liquids? Maybe give your team a call to see if you can add non clear liquids earlier? Then you can add cream soups, milk, drinking yoghurt, etc. Better to do this than do the chew & spit which is really just a doorway back to bad eating habits. Are you sure you’re really hungry? While some don’t lose their hunger most do. If you are wanting to eat a specific food, taste or texture that’s head hunger. Real hunger feels different: no craving, no associated emotions (like frustration, anger, boredom, sadness), etc. You’ve been through & are going through a lot so it’s understandable to want something you used to enjoy & made you feel better. All the best.

Today was the 7th day, it was not a good day, I could not force down more than one protein shake. I spent most of the day watching movies and fighting off the urge to vomit. I pray tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow is my last day on full liquids, I can go to pureed/soft foods Thursday. I really don't care for these sicking sweet protein drinks, and water flavorings. But I'm down 17#s. Nite y'all! Sent from my SM-G998U using BariatricPal mobile app

You guys aren't alone. I thought for sure at my appointment today I was going to end up back in the hospital. I was so happy when he told me it was a hematoma. Infections stink though, I hope you heal quickly. A friend of mine who had surgery last week too, has a yeast infection and isn't able to keep down her protein well. We have been brainstorming. Slow and steady. Feel better.

Had a fantastic appointment!!! Today I am exactly 4 1/2 months post op and I've lost 76 pounds!!! My blood sugar was 108 (had my a1c tested, waiting on that). My hematocrit (I always had iron deficient anemia - low red blood cell count, so the higher the hematocrit, the better the iron level) is at 46. My protein is at 8.2. My blood pressure was 113/70. And she agreed that since I work out 5 days per week and everything looks good, we can start to wean me off the Celebrex (anti-inflammatory for joint and muscle pain) and start to increase the turmeric (we've been doing this little by little but we're going to go a little bit bigger and faster now and see how it goes). I am currently off 4 meds. If I can get off the Celebrex, that'll be 5 meds gone!!! That's all I can get rid of since the rest are for my MS and my GERD issues (scope was rescheduled to this Friday to find out more about what's going on there). Here's a pic pre-op and a pic my hubby took today

I am 3 weeks post-op revision from sleeve to bypass. I have only lost 14 lbs in total since surgery. I have been following my plan and increasing my protein. I brought up my concerns at my follow up and the surgeon said I most likely will not lose anymore weight. I am extremely frustrated and discouraged. Only thing is my gerd is better but I am and was hoping for additional weight loss since I gained about 50 lbs since my original sleeve surgery 5 years ago.. due to pregnancy and gerd. Anyone else in this boat or experience this on their journey that can help me out!

My hunger came back gradually at around 7 months I think. It's pretty hard to ignore now but usually a small portion of protein will sort it fairly quickly. I love deli meats but bought ones are so salty - I roast chicken and keep it in a tub in the fridge almost all the time. A couple of pieces of that and my stomach shuts up again! As the others have said, enjoy this phase - it does feel strange but it's when I lost weight most quickly and I do wish it had lasted just a little longer. Sigh.

I could not do the shakes much more than a few months. I went to other forms of protein like the Unjury chicken soup which is 20 grams in a glass of warm water. Much easier to deal with the taste. I also like the protein bars that have low calories..there are a couple out there. Be careful of the keto bars though, they have higher calories. The brands I use have between 130 and 140 calories which is right about where most shakes are. The unjury is only 90 calories or so.

I live alone, hundreds of miles from any family, and I didn’t tell anyone about my surgery other than health care professionals. I really didn’t have any issues. I took a taxi to the hospital and hired a home health care aid to take me home. The hospital said they wouldn’t allow me to take a taxi/Uber home but they didn’t check and I totally could have, but the home health care aid didn’t cost much more than a taxi and she picked up my prescriptions and brought my bag in the house, so that was good. Plus, I had no idea how well or poorly I would be feeling when I got discharged, so it was nice to have that peace of mind. I had surgery on a Thursday, took the next week off of work, and went back the following Monday. I could have gone back much sooner, but it was good to have the week off so I could get used to my new situation (like having to sip tiny amounts to stay hydrated and get protein). I didn’t need any help taking care of myself. I didn’t have any pain by the time I got home. I was a little tired but functional. If I recall correctly, I wasn’t allowed to lift more than 20 pounds for the first 6 weeks, but I didn’t have any need to do so. I think my easy recovery was pretty typical of most WLS patients these days, but there’s always a chance you’ll have complications, so it’s a good idea to have a contingency plan in case you do need help.

Hi Sam! Yes, those first few weeks are the hardest to endure, but I promise you it DOES get better! Be kind and safe with your new tummy. My diet during that time was everything needs to be real moist. I ate a lot of babyfood. I know that bothers some folks, but there is a wonderful selection of pureed babyfoods that a super gentle on the tummy. Amazon and Walmart carry quite a few varieties and many are organic too. I ate recipes such as grits and eggs with instant grits. Highly processed oatmeal, like the babyfood variety. Malt-o-meal. These were really good go to staples. Plus I would make SF pudding with my protein drink and add a little almond milk. Then my pudding had a protein base. I hope you feel better soon!

Oh how exciting @MotownNixie glad to hear that you are doing well .. are you nervous and excited about moving stages ? And I’m doing well taking it a day at a time still trying to get all my fluids in and protein but I know it will get easier with time

Fairlife protein shakes are my favorite!