All, I am leaving tomorrow for Mexacalli and just wondering if I will every be able to eat like a regular albeit healthy person ever again?

Those of you long time losers - in order to get 70-90 grams of protein into a day of calories (600-1200 calories) do you need to always drink protein shakes?

are you long timers still drinking protein shakes daily or do you find that you are able to get what you need from a healthy diet?

O ya u will ! I was just sleeved 2-6 but a friend had hers a yr ago and her main selling point for the sleeve was that she COULD eat what her family and friends and kids eat ... Aftet all the healing time has passed of course and in muh smaller portions! I'm already so glad I had this!

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I am 10 1/2 weeks out and my doctor just cleared me for any food. When you get cleared for regular foods, it's better to try to get your protein from food rather than protein drinks. I haven't used any protein drinks since 6 weeks, and then I was down to one 30gr Premier shake a day. It will depend on how many oz. of food you can get in without feeling too full whether you will need to keep using the drinks. I can have 8 oz. of food at one time, but I still can't get that in, but I eat so much protein (you need to eat your protein first at each meal) Remember though that the protein drinks are considered liquids and not food. You will be able to eat what everyone else eats, but of course smaller portions! Good luck! Don't worry about that now. Just take it a week at a time. You will do fine.

I am 13 months post-vsg and I get all my Protein from food. However, I still have the occasional Protein Drink because 1) I like them 2) As I am running out the door they are easy to drink in the car. I don't have one everyday, maybe once a week.

Don't worry--you will be able to eat like a normal person. The one thing you must do the rest of your life is take a multi-Vitamin, because it's easy to become deficient with the small amounts that we consume.

You will have an easy time in Mexicali==Dr. Aceves and the staff will take good care of you.

at four months i had a regular plate of lasagna, salads, steak etc etc. Only do a protein shake here and there.

Yes, you can. I'm 19 months out and eat pretty much whatever I want, just in small portions.

That said, I have ridiculous restriction and one scrambled egg fills me up. So for me, drinking one Protein coffee or tea each morning is a great way to boost my protein intake to where I like to be (90+ grams a day) without eating all day long.

But my situation is a bit different as I'm stranded in Central Asia. When I'm stateside and have access to hundreds of different protein options it's definitely easier to reach my nutritional goals each day. Though honestly, I just don't like to sit down to four heavy meals of meat or eggs a day and drinking a shake is an easier way for me to get there. But if you don't like them, it's not something you're going to have to do beyond the first six to nine months.

I'm not going to lie, though. If I had to drink a Protein Shake every single day for the rest of my life and the trade off was being this size, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

~Cheri

I can eat regularly, but it is hard to find something to eat on the run. For that, I prefer Protein drinks. It is my "fast food" of choice. If I haven't eaten, I can stop at a gas station and buy a cold one.

On days when my protein intake is down, protein drinks are also a quick low calorie way to get back on track.

I still drink protein shakes, although only after my workouts, just because I like to keep a decent amount of muscle mass. If I didn't care, I wouldn't do it. But they are not that bad, honestly. Recently I've been drinking Muscle Milk Light and they taste pretty good, I don't really feel like I'd rather not be drinking them. You can easily get your 70-80 grams of protein through food once you are a year out, though.

Thanks!

Yes you will! No worries! It's difficult at first, but you will eventually get back to normal (healthy portions) eating. Never like before, but that's a good thing right???