I'm having a little trouble understanding the role of protein in our diets. From what I understand, the protein is meant to fill you up and make you feel full longer. Is that it? Or does it actually boost your metabolism and help with the actual weight loss? I was banded on 9/20, and I'm just not hungry at all. I'm getting an average of 60 grams of protein and 64 ounces of fluids (whether I feel hungry or not). Yet I've only lost a couple of pounds. I totally understand this is a time for healing, but I'm wondering if I should try to force down 20 more grams of protein.

Yeah, i agree, it's confusing. We are told to eat high protein diets because yes, protein aids with weight loss, and it helps your body to lose fat, not muscle as you lose weight. My doctor recommends 60-80g of protein per day... and my understanding is that you shouldn't have more than 30g at one time, because your body can't process more protein than that and your kidneys will have to do extra work to filter it out, so you could be hurting yourself. So just like everything else in food and diet land... everyone has a different opinion on what works!

Protein does help boost your metabolism but you need a little fat and carbs with it in order to get it to absorb properly.

I agree I am confused about all the Protein myself. Some days I feel like I do NOT want to eat the protein at all. I can get full on just the vegetables and fruit and screw the protein. But other days I am hungry all day long and could eat every few minutes. I hate those days and wonder if on those days if I ate more protein the hunger pains would stop?

Ever since the banding my stomach is just growling and growling and making all kinds of racket! It has changed the way I feel about being hungry too! I'm only 5 weeks from post-op and am getting ready to head into my first fill. I think I will definitely sit down and talk to my doctor about my concerns with the protein vs not protein issue.

Protein is like Gas in the Tank, It helps keep you going too.

If you stay to low, you could feel dragged down, you might Bruise more easy, also it is for your hair that it does not fall out,

I spoke with a Lady at a meeting, that would always say a prayer at every meeting, please let my Hair grow in Thicker, It never did, it stayed very thin, so you could see the Top of her haid remaining Balled. I asked her if it was true with the Band, if you didn't have enough protein in your system, could this happen to us ?

"YES !" She said look at me,, I have the Band, and I didn't do the shakes or worry about protein. then my hair started falling out, and you can see where it's at.... She was now into shakes. power bars, meats, etc.....

Up until I moved. I went to those meetings. Her Hair, well it stayed thin.

I agree I am confused about all the Protein myself. Some days I feel like I do NOT want to eat the protein at all. I can get full on just the vegetables and fruit and screw the protein. But other days I am hungry all day long and could eat every few minutes. I hate those days and wonder if on those days if I ate more protein the hunger pains would stop?

Ever since the banding my stomach is just growling and growling and making all kinds of racket! It has changed the way I feel about being hungry too! I'm only 5 weeks from post-op and am getting ready to head into my first fill. I think I will definitely sit down and talk to my doctor about my concerns with the protein vs not protein issue.

I won't tell you that your hunger pains will stop entirely, but I know that protein will help you keep that "full" feeling longer. When we eat carbs our bodies burn it quickly for fuel, but protein is more of a slow burn.

ETA: just read this: "Your body burns twice as many calories by digesting Proteins than it does when digesting carbs."

Thanks for the replies! I will ask more questions of my dietician next time I see her. Protein is obviously important in anyone's diet but I guess the dilemma is finding a good balance between calories, carbs, protein, and even fat. Then again, if I knew those answers, I might not have needed the band to begin with. It's all part of the process, right? In the long run, it'll be sooo worth it!

Also, protein helps aid in muscle building... Which is really important because when you're losing weight quickly, you want to make sure you aren't losing any muscle mass. It also helps in the healing stages in the beginning.

You need enough Protein in your diet - about a gram per 2lb of *IDEAL* body weight, more if you're very active or heavily into strength training. You're probably doing fine - that's ideal body weight, your fat stores dont need protein!

But you need some good carbs and fat too.

The general advice to focus on protein is good because as obese people, you can bet all of our diets are filled to the brim with nutritionless empty white carbohydrates. We dont need that st7ff, although there's no harm in a little of what you fancy now and again. I personally believe wholegrains - oatmeal, good bread, brown rice are all foods worth eating and dont really think low carb is worth the pain, but that's just me and what my body likes, others cut out all grain foods completely. As a rectal cancer sufferer, I would never in a million years do it, those foods have a fairly clear association with reduced risk of cancer or recurrence whereas red meat, high saturated fat (so lots of cheese) and particularly deli meats like ham and salami (current recommendiations are to NEVER eat them!) are linked with increased incidence. So I would never dream of doing anything really high protein and low carb.

I'm having a little trouble understanding the role of Protein in our diets. From what I understand, the protein is meant to fill you up and make you feel full longer. Is that it? Or does it actually boost your metabolism and help with the actual weight loss? I was banded on 9/20, and I'm just not hungry at all. I'm getting an average of 60 grams of protein and 64 ounces of fluids (whether I feel hungry or not). Yet I've only lost a couple of pounds. I totally understand this is a time for healing, but I'm wondering if I should try to force down 20 more grams of protein.

the reason for the protein is that we dont lose muscle during our weight loss.protein builds muscle.

Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. hair and nails are mostly made of protein. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.

Unlike fat and carbohydrates, the body does not store protein, and therefore has no reservoir to draw on when it needs a new supply so it has to be a steady part of your daily diet.

Too much protein is not a good thing either.

My daughter is a RPN in the ER, and she has told me stories of young kids, wishing to "Bulk Up", taking too much protein and going into kidney failure because of overload.

Many times, when you find yourself binge eating, it is because your body is really screaming for protein, (and water) and we eat everything in sight trying to fill that hole.