I saw my gp last week as a 6 week post op visit and one of the things she told me was that I should be getting all my Protein requirements for the day in before noon. I was assuming that she mainly meant the Protein shakes. I didn't ask her why and now I am wondering why and wondering if anyone else has been told to do this. I seem to question almost everything my gp tells me and would like confirmation as to whether this makes sense.

Also, I saw a post today about not drinking a half hour before eating and note that my post op notes from surgeon only state not to drink a half hour after eating. Again, since I like to make sense and reason things out, I am curious why we should not be drinking? Does it stretch the pouch, does it fill us up too much? What is the reason. I am following the no drinking after eating but it sure is a difficult habit to break. I often want a sip or two and am not a big drinker but seem to crave a drink with my meals.

Thanks for your help.

No drinking before or after meals...20-30 min on each side. If you drink before meals you won't be able to eat as much as you need to because you'll be filled with liquid...and picture your new tummy as a sink....you fill it up and it drains slowly giving you a longer sence of satisfaction of being full.

Not sure about the Protein thing as my doctor and nutricianist hasn't said before noon, just before end of day and try not to eat so late at night before bed.

Hope this helps...

My doctor never mentioned getting all Protein in before noon, in fact he prefers it spread out throughout the day. I could not imagine trying to get in 70-90g of protein in that amount of time. From what I've read, the body can only process 20-30g in a two hour period. There is some debate that the best times for protein shakes are upon waking, after a physical workout, and before sleep. All are times when our bodies are doing repair to the muscles. Some say this applies mostly to body builders. I usually have one shake in the morning and one in the mid-afternoon. The rest comes from food sources. It's treated me well doing it that way and I'm currently losing.

As for the drinking rule, gramaof4 is spot on. Drinking too soon before meals fills up the stomach and you'll feel full faster. Not to mention, it dilutes some of the acid your stomach produces to break down food for nutritional content. I learned this before surgery when a stool sample showed my food was entering the intestinal track without being broken down enough in the stomach. Naturally with smaller tummys now, our food is going to do that to a degree no matter what we do. Drinking liquids too close to solid foods just makes it worse. Same goes for drinking afterward, it can force food out of your stomach too quickly leaving you feeling less full and also robbing your body of key breakdown time in the stomach. I usually find about 15-20 to be sufficient before eating (other than a sip I take to get my multi-Vitamin down with food), and about 45-60 minutes after eating. There is something mentally to having Water at the table in case food gets a little stuck, but I rarely touch it.

My doctor never mentioned getting all Protein in before noon, in fact he prefers it spread out throughout the day. I could not imagine trying to get in 70-90g of protein in that amount of time. From what I've read, the body can only process 20-30g in a two hour period. There is some debate that the best times for protein shakes are upon waking, after a physical workout, and before sleep. All are times when our bodies are doing repair to the muscles. Some say this applies mostly to body builders. I usually have one shake in the morning and one in the mid-afternoon. The rest comes from food sources. It's treated me well doing it that way and I'm currently losing.

As for the drinking rule, gramaof4 is spot on. Drinking too soon before meals fills up the stomach and you'll feel full faster. Not to mention, it dilutes some of the acid your stomach produces to break down food for nutritional content. I learned this before surgery when a stool sample showed my food was entering the intestinal track without being broken down enough in the stomach. Naturally with smaller tummys now, our food is going to do that to a degree no matter what we do. Drinking liquids too close to solid foods just makes it worse. Same goes for drinking afterward, it can force food out of your stomach too quickly leaving you feeling less full and also robbing your body of key breakdown time in the stomach. I usually find about 15-20 to be sufficient before eating (other than a sip I take to get my multi-Vitamin down with food), and about 45-60 minutes after eating. There is something mentally to having Water at the table in case food gets a little stuck, but I rarely touch it.

Thank you for the helpful explanation. I would prefer to drink my two protein shakes apart, one in morning and one in the afternoon. I am always hoping that they will help to stave off hunger.

My doctor never mentioned getting all Protein in before noon, in fact he prefers it spread out throughout the day. I could not imagine trying to get in 70-90g of protein in that amount of time. From what I've read, the body can only process 20-30g in a two hour period. There is some debate that the best times for protein shakes are upon waking, after a physical workout, and before sleep. All are times when our bodies are doing repair to the muscles. Some say this applies mostly to body builders. I usually have one shake in the morning and one in the mid-afternoon. The rest comes from food sources. It's treated me well doing it that way and I'm currently losing.

As for the drinking rule, gramaof4 is spot on. Drinking too soon before meals fills up the stomach and you'll feel full faster. Not to mention, it dilutes some of the acid your stomach produces to break down food for nutritional content. I learned this before surgery when a stool sample showed my food was entering the intestinal track without being broken down enough in the stomach. Naturally with smaller tummys now, our food is going to do that to a degree no matter what we do. Drinking liquids too close to solid foods just makes it worse. Same goes for drinking afterward, it can force food out of your stomach too quickly leaving you feeling less full and also robbing your body of key breakdown time in the stomach. I usually find about 15-20 to be sufficient before eating (other than a sip I take to get my multi-Vitamin down with food), and about 45-60 minutes after eating. There is something mentally to having Water at the table in case food gets a little stuck, but I rarely touch it.

Here I am writing you again. Just wondered about your comment about the body processing only 23-30 in a two hour period. How does that work if I drink a 45 gram smoothie in one hour? Am I not getting the benefit of that protein intake?

Also, on another topic, I can't find the directions that someone kindly posted about how to add the weight loss ticker to my profile. Can you tell me how you did this? I confess to not being very computer saavy.

Thanks.

You must create a ticker at tickerfactory.com then you need to highlight and cut n paste the ticker link into your signature within your profile....

I too had trouble with appling my ticker, and I am computer savy....always can use the help link too.

Good Luck

Someone (Tiffykins, I believe) posted researched that dispels the 20-30g protein absorption thing... I will try and search for it.. and repost here...

Great advice on the not drinking before or after eating an actual meal of food. As for the getting all of your protein in before noon I have never heard of that one. I have heard that your body is only able to absorb a certain amount of protein at one time so if you consume all of your protein in less than 4 hours I would not think that the body is using it effectively. Besides I could not consume that much protein from breakfast to noon unless I stuffed myself or drank protein shakes non-stop.

I would be interested in hearing if anyone else out there has been told to consume all of their protein before noon. Sounds a little off to me.

I'm not sure if the 20-30g of Protein thing is true or not, perhaps the body can absorb more in a given time (?) -- but my doctor told me to treat protein like food, as an energy source. If you eat all your food before noon, what are you giving your body for the rest of the day? It's the same kind of thing how I used to NOT eat all day, just drinking coffee, until 4-5pm. Then wanting Snacks and a double-portioned dinner. I was only giving my body energy in a single shot which would just overload my system to store it because it couldn't rely on me giving it what it needed in regular intervals throughout the day. Personally, I think it's why I stalled so soon after surgery because it took weeks of protein in the morning, noon and night to let it know it didn't have to store anymore. Now, I try to get 40-45g of protein in before 1pm.

I'm curious about these mega Protein drinks of 40oz or more -- what is your overall protein count for the entire day? Do you drink one or two? I tried a few of them, couldn't stand the taste and the way they'd make my mouth feel for the rest of the day. Are there good ones out there? I will never touch Isopure again!

I too have read that the body can't absorb more than a certain amount of Protein at a time. So if you are drinking a really high amount of protein in a short time, your body won't get the full benefit of that protein. My NUT also reinforced that.

I can definitely tell when I drink before or after a meal. It just isn't effective use of the limited space of our stomachs. It is hard to get used to, though.