Okay, now that I have my date I am totally confused about what I should purchase or have on hand pre-surgery. I've been reading these boards and there are so many different shakes, powders, mixes, pills, etc. that I don't know where to start. I don't want to spend a lot of money on powders or drinks that I'm going to hate during the pre-op diet and post op. How did you make your choice as to what to purchase? It can get expensive trying all these different powders and then if I don't like them, I'm stuck with eating (no pun intended) the cost.

I am in the same boat and will be watching this thread.

My suggestion is not to buy too much of anything. You can always get more. Boy oh boy, did I ever overbuy. It is too expensive to just get rid of it.

And the Vitamins I bought make me ill. So, I would not over buy on those either.

If I had to do it over again, I would buy one canister chicken unjury and a case (18) of the Premier Protein. Anything else could be added later.

Another thing you can do is order some sample packs from these online vendors.

Amanda,

Where did u get your Premier Protein?

I bought the Premier Protein at costco. They sell the 18 packs there in vanilla and chocolate. Chocolate is my favorite.

I saw the 12 pack at Sam's Club.

I am sure you can find them in lots of places. The cool thing about these is that each little carton is 11.5 oz and has 30 grams of protein. That's a lot of protein per ounce so it is easier to get your protein in. They don't require refrigeration either.

I suggest Isopure from GNC. My favorite thing was beef broth. It felt so good going down. Also SF Jell-O was tasty. Don't go crazy buying stuff cuz you can hardly eat! Oh, and bottled Smart water. Herbal tea.

Thanks Amanda & readyforachange!

I purchased my entire Protein liquid diet from my Bariactric doctors office. When we had our information seminar class, we were given taste samples of the different

types of drinks that we could buy to see which brand and flavor we liked and could drink for the pre-op diet. I chose Bariessentials ( chocolate & Vanilla ). We were

also given a list of different recipes we could try, to mix it up so we don't get tired of the same flavors and also a list of other things we could have as well ( Jello, broth

popsicles, ect.. ) to change the diet up a little. Check with your doctors office to see if they have a specific pre-op diet they recommend. It's easier and it takes all the

guess work out of what to drink, how much and when. Hope this helps.

Herbal and green teas tasted like plastic to me early post-op. Now I drink a lot of decaf tea and decaf coffee. I'm allowed to go back to drinking caffeine, but I haven't missed it so far.

I have way more Protein powder than I need, especially since I was totally turned off by sweet stuff until about 4 months out. Oh, how I miss that particular aversion! I just started using some of my Protein Powder as an additive to my coffee, thanks to a suggestion from someone here.

I like the Premier Protein shakes and the bars they make. I buy both at Sam's Club. Low sodium chicken broth was my drink of choice instead of protein shakes during the clear liquid stages. I also became lactose intolerant after surgery, so keep that in mind when choosing a base for your powdered protein shakes.

good luck!

The Vitamine Shop sells lots of individual servings so I tried a lot. I also ordered unjury which I've heard amazing things about. I had my surgery yesterday morning and I've been sipping on Oh Yeah vanilla and it taste amazing. They are pretty expensive but lactose free. Hope this helps.

so we need broth beef or chick i assume low sodium, Protein shakes how many carbs, etc ?, i was also told to buy gatorade 3, hard to find up here, we can drink tea green or reg. ?, i have 1 cup of coffee in the morning, that is it, do not drink much caffeine at all. what about crystal light to mix in the Water.

i know my hubby is like we need to go shopping so i have everything when we get home, that is starting to stress me, , like so many of you i hate wasting money on something i may not like,

so we need broth beef or chick i assume low sodium, Protein shakes how many carbs, etc ?, i was also told to buy gatorade 3, hard to find up here, we can drink tea green or reg. ?, i have 1 cup of coffee in the morning, that is it, do not drink much caffeine at all. what about crystal light to mix in the Water.

i know my hubby is like we need to go shopping so i have everything when we get home, that is starting to stress me, , like so many of you i hate wasting money on something i may not like,

I used Powerade Zero because I couldn't find the Gatorade I wanted.

Also, Crystal Light has been great for me. I make the pitcher of lemonade flavor and mix it with a scoop of the strawberry sorbet flavored powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury powder. I have one Crystal Light and Unjury drink every day. Crazy thing is that there is no way I would have drank that before surgery. You just can't tell.

Even if you liked something a lot before surgery, you may tire of it afterwards. Samples are great, but not foolproof. When something that would have been a small snack or less (a vitamin) becomes a large part of your food intake, you can have very different feelings about it.

An example would be the Vitamins. Before surgery, I tried them and they were fine. After surgery, they were okay, but day by day they became less pleasant. Then, they became gross. Then they made me feel sick. And in spite of how important I know they are, I wouldn't even take them every single day. And, that is how it can be with any product!

Plus, you might not find yourself too interested in variety. A chicken Protein Powder is very versatile, and one you can add to a drink is great. But to buy too many products, I think you will find them taking up space in your pantry or on your counter!

Another shocker for me was how little I can really eat. Like, a can of beans: Maybe you don't like Beans, maybe you do, but that little ol' can of beans would last six days if I didn't throw it out after a couple of days.

I totally get where your husband is coming from, he wants to be ready. But in reality you will be up and around in a few days. Hopefully you won't buy what ends up being six months worth of stuff, or stuff you will have to give away or pawn off on your family. lol

ty for this info, yea my hubby just wants to make sure that everything is in place once we r home, i will have to look to see if up here we have unjury powder, i need to get some protein powder for sure,,

ty for this info, yea my hubby just wants to make sure that everything is in place once we r home, i will have to look to see if up here we have unjury powder, i need to get some Protein powder for sure,,

I am sure that there are other protein powders besides Unjury that would be as good. I was able to buy it from the diet doctor's office, which is right next door to the surgeon's office. So, that was a no brainer. Does your surgeon know where you can get some?

I am going to check out the Isopure the next time I need to buy protein.

If you read the labels, you probably want to check how many calories you are getting with your protein. For example, the label might say 20g of protein, but does that mean two scoops of protein and up to 300 calories? Hope not! My Unjury strawberry sorbet is 20g protein and 100 calories. Muscle Milk chocolate is 16g protein and 150 calories. Unjury chicken is 21g protein and 90 calories.

But, when I was at the gym today, I was checking out some of their supplements and some of them had 300 calories per serving! Those are for bodybuilders or someone else but me!

Another day, I bought some protein supplement at Sam's club, and when I got it home, I realized that it had (if I recall) something like 150 calories and only 9g protein.

It can really be dizzying to sort through the protein, just whatever you decide, maybe don't buy too much.

You are so fortunate to have a caring husband who wants to make everything ready for you. Mine is like that too. It breaks my heart when I hear about unsupportive loved ones.

I refused to buy anything but variety/sample packs. I bought the variety pack of Syntrax Nectar and I am so in love. But...I'm still pre op. And I've read enough people say that they didn't like the same things post op as they did pre op. So when I run out of samples, I'm just going to buy another variety pack so that I can see what I like post op. I'm in my pre op diet and have to drink one or two shakes a day. So buying it now wasn't a waste of money. I also bought samples of ProtiZyme. I've tried the peanut butter cookie flavor, thought it was good. I bought a few other sample packs but haven't tried any yet.

I agree that the Syntrax sample pack is a good option. I'm not sure if there are 'brick & mortar' stores where you can buy it, but I know you can order from BJ's Bariatrics: http://www.bjsbariatrics.com/

They have online ordering available (I'm lucky that their storefront is in my town, so I was able to go in there and browse when I was still doing Protein supplements). I liked the roadside lemonade mixed with a little lemonade crystal light and Water. I also liked the cappucino flavor mixed with decaf (but it was pretty sweet).