After reading many posts and comments, I've noticed there are two very different philosophies on VSG success.

One school of thought sees the reintroduction of "normal" foods back into one's diet as a goal or mark of success.

The other school of thought sees the months and weeks of post-op as an opportunity to get some mileage out of being able to live primarily on Protein shakes.

What is the difference between these two? I think the second perspective increases one's chance for success and rapid weight loss because it allows you to keep your caloric intake low while meeting your nutritional needs, and it helps to re-program those bad eating habits. If all you're eating is Protein Shakes, then you're not snacking and falling into old behaviors. The more food you prematurely introduce (even if your system can "handle" it), the more opportunities you have to make poor choices. Those foods will come in time. There's no rush. But these first few months post-op are a unique opportunity to quell our food obsessions and focus on re-establishing better eating and exercising behaviors.

Many VSG programs advocate a 3-month Protein shake diet (with a few exceptions) before real foods are introduced. I'd be interested in hearing where you stand on the issue, and what kind of success you've had.

I'm pre-op right now so am on shakes as well as solid Protein before surgery on Monday. B/c of my band issues tho, I've pretty much been using Protein Shakes, daily for well over a year. I just plain can't eat in the morning. Lately b/c of my slip, it's just easier to drink shakes for the most part. I eat one solid meal a day. Today, I was actually able to eat tuna for lunch and some FF chili for dinner. Took a hecka long time but it worked.

I am looking forward to being able to have some roughage in my diet. I love veggies and haven't been able to eat them for a month or so now. Miss fruit too. Threw some strawberries in to my shake tonight but it's just not the same.

I think 3 months of liquids only is a bit much. Post-op, I've got 2 weeks, then softs for a couple of weeks and so-on.

I know that being on a liquid diet for 2 weeks before surgery and then 2 weeks after the surgery was enough to drive me absolutely nuts! I'm not so sure that even with the sleeve as your tool that anyone could manage that long on that kind of restriction. my nut wanted me to get my protein from "real" food. I'm glad that she did. as far as losing hair...we all do have hair loss, but that doesnt mean all of your hair is going to fall out. I would just notice extra on my clothing and in the shower, I never got thin on the head.

good luck to you!

I am not sure I agree with the basic premise... most of us transitioned to "food" in 4-6 weeks post op. I don't doubt there are a few programs that are focused on shakes for an extended period of time, but I really don't think it is typical. Now, my NUT does have us use shakes are bars because it is so hard to get the Protein in, but it is still a real food based program.

I also disagree with the premise that you lose more weight faster by having just shakes for so long. I have done liquid diets and besides the going insane factor, after awhile the weight loss slows down. I lost weight faster post sleeve, on real food then I did on my medially supervised fast that nearly drove me over the edge those years ago. I also found that as soon as I started eating again after the liquid diet i regained fast!

I've never seen any evidence of two competing philosophies here. I think everyone, for the most part, follows the plan that their doctor or nutritionist recommends, and they can vary from one doctor to another. It seems that your doctor's plan varies greatly from other recommended stages post surgery that I've seen.

While it is true that you need to supplement your diet with Protein shakes in the first two weeks or so of healing because you can't take in enough protein, following that stage, there are soft foods that have lots of protein like fish, lean turkey, string cheese, cottage cheese, egg whites, milk, etc. Since most doctors have high protein requirements, protein shakes are good to add in addition to a meal, but I don't think many people here advocate having a Protein shake in place of all three meals. That would defeat the purpose of the surgery. Why would you have a tool put in if you are not going to use it? Most of us make a huge investment by having this surgery and want to use our tool as soon as possible.

Having this tool in place pretty much ensures that we won't go back to our old eating habits. For one thing, you will never eat the portion size that you once used to. Secondly, snacking on healthy foods is often beneficial for keeping your metabolism up. Lastly, I think most of us feel that we didn't go through this expense, this pain, and this surgery to end up sabotaging our weight loss with poor choices. That's not to say that we might choose something less than healthy from time to time, but that's a far cry from eating habits pre-surgery.

Keeping you on a liquid diet only delays the inevitability that you must eat solid food again and make better choices. If you have 900 calories a day on a liquid diet of protein shakes or you have 900 calories a day on healthy food, there is no difference between the amount of weight loss that you will see.

I personally don't see the logic in keeping a new sleever on a Liquid Protein shake diet for that amount of time. I did a program called HMR, which were also Meal Replacement shakes, for three months a long time ago. I lost 30 pounds, which immediately came back when I switched to "real food." Fortunately, I don't think that would happen to someone with a sleeve, but I do think that learning to work with your new sleeve as soon as you are healed is a good thing.

I really like Protein shakes. I am one of the few crazy ones!

The only thing I find is that for me, if I tell myself I am going to only do shakes, that's what I do. For some reason, if I tell myself I am going to right and eat well, I always manage to eat some sort of junk anyway.

I don't think it really matters if you get your protein from shakes or food, as long as you're following your doctor's post op plan.

The real problem is we live life in the world of temptations, and it's very easy to let old habits come back as we are farther on down the road. For me, it will always be a battle.

Well, I can see I'm in the minority here, but that's okay. The doctors and clinic I've chosen are the longest-practicing WLS surgeons in the city, and they're constantly improving and setting the bar for other programs in the area, so perhaps this controversial idea is a newly-emerging approach. Or perhaps they're just ultra conservative when it comes to post-op care. But as someone stated, the important thing is that we're each following our doctor's instructions and listening to our bodies. That is exactly what I'm doing, and I feel fantastic. Best of luck to all!

My best friend's sister in law is in Arizona, like you. The Sister in Law had gastric bypass three years ago and, while she has dropped her weight, she hasn't been healthy enough to enjoy the loss. The Sis in law is still using Protein shakes exclusively over 3 years out from surgery and has apparently never learned to eat real food again, nor does she comply with the Water regimen we all have to do. Sister in law has been in and out of the hospital for malnutrition and, every time, the doctors tell her that she needs to eat "real" food and drink her water. Sister in law complies while in the hospital, then goes right back to the shakes as soon as she gets out. My opinion is that the sister in law is basically anorexic because she's terrified that she will gain a pound back.

Knowing this woman like I do, I was determined to follow my surgeon's guidelines for getting back onto solid foods. I personally believe that the early stages are a great time for us to learn new eating habits and to figure out how we're going to follow the eating guidelines for life. For me, it's about being able to eat like normal weight people eat, rather than like obese people eat. Now, I can take a bite of something less nutritious and go on without having to finish the entire cake, quart of ice cream, etc. It's about behavior modification for me.

Good luck!!

I am trying to come to terms with both philosophies, I know I will be terrified of gaining back the weight, yet if I can't sit at the table and eat with my family it will alienate me. Suggestions would be great

I totally understand what you mean about the conflicting philosophies because my surgeon is totally anti Protein shake/powder and I got the evil eye for fessing up to using shakes as Breakfast on work days.

I think each surgeon models their approach to post-op eating on what they've seen works best for the most people with across their surgical careers. In fact, I had a booklet they handed out to me in the fall of 2011 that indicated I could have lactose-free milk and yogurt in week 2 post-op but by the time I was there in January 2012 they'd revised their plan to be no dairy at all until week three. I was so looking forward to coffee with milk! There have been a few tweaks to their eating plan like that along my way and I've tried to just roll with the changes as they've come.

I'm not sure if having only Protein shakes is good for you in the long term. My NUT wanted me off Protein Shakes once I hit the soft foods stage in order to make sure I was eating regular foods. I had a very conservative diet too: two weeks of Clear liquids, two weeks of full liquids, and two weeks of soft foods before I was able to eat regular foods. When I told my NUT that I was doing protein shakes for breakfast on work days she wasn't too thrilled about that. As she explained it, we all need to learn how to eat regular foods in the long term and protein shakes provide limited nutrition outside of protein.

Here are some links that might be of interest for those doing more than two protein shakes a day:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/479801-are-too-many-protein-shakes-bad-for-you/

http://www.naturallyintense.net/blog/diet/nutrition/are-protein-shakes-bad-for-you-and-do-they-work/

If my dr's philosophy was 3 mos of liquids post op I think I would have found another dr. I've never heard of that n I know for a fact I would not have been able to stick with it. My dr is pretty conservative Nd cautious but even he's not that strict.

My dr considers himself conservative. I transitioned to puréed foods one week out and have to stay on that until my 2 month post op appt. I drink at least one protein drink a day to get my protein over 60 grams like they want. I am so ready to introduce other foods!

I couldn't wait to get off just liquids because I am sure I was taking in more calories that way versus now, where I am able to eat things with substance. It takes longer to eat; it takes less to make me feel full; and I am satiated longer. Shakes/liquids just slide on through.

Three months of nothing but Protein shakes would plug you up, but good. I don't think it's nutritionally sound. Your body really needs to process what it was made to eat and the protein shakes are a broken down form. Vitamins and supplements are not near as good as food.

That said, I occasionally drink a Protein shake when I am in a hurry or just feel like it. I can make some that are as good as shakes or better. I told my nutritionist that I occasionally have one and she asked my why I'm still supplementing. I had to tell her that I just liked them once in a while.

I think the goal is to ease into regular food by phases. I had 2 weeks clear liquid, 2 weeks full liquid, 2 weeks mushy and then regular foods. You do need to learn how to eat correctly.

When I told my NUT that I was doing protein shakes for breakfast on work days she wasn't too thrilled about that.

Ha, just saw this. Our post surgery diets were the same and we got the same reaction from our nutritionists. I do believe they are right, but I also think an occasion Protein Drink is fine.

Just another food for thought: I could be wrong, but I don't think that the protein shakes, like the Premier Protein that Costco has or like Muscle Milk, are actually supposed to be meal replacement shakes. I don't think they will give you the complete nutrition that you need over the long term if one just drinks those instead of meals. There are meal replacement shakes that you can buy, but they are fairly expensive. I think HMR and Optifast are meal replacement shakes, but many others are not. Also, I don't think there is much if any fiber in shakes and other things that your body needs so it wouldn't surprise me if someone declined in health if they were on the protein shakes longterm.