I am on day 6 of my 2 week pre-op diet and wanted to share a couple of the recipes with you that have been helping me get through this time! All of these are additions to vanilla Protein shakes. Enjoy!

Gingerbread shake: Add a dash of each: nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and ground ginger along with a tablespoon of sugar free caramel coffee flavoring.

Morning Coffee Shake: Add a single serve packet of instant decaf coffee a tablespoon of sugar free chocolate syrup, and a dash of cinnamon

Coconut cream pie shake: Add a teaspoon of coconut extract, a dash of cinnamon, and a tablespoon of caramel coffee flavoring

"Mounds" shake: Add a teaspoon of coconut extract and a tablespoon of chocolate syrup

I have several more, but these are a few of my favorites that go beyond the standard chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. :-)

Great ideas ~ I haven't gotten my appetite back enough to handle anything sweet. Are you having trouble keeping any of it down being sweet? Dr said I could have eggs ...I cooked them, put them on a plate...looked at them and threw them in the trash. Trying to wake up the taste buds.

What brand of protein powder to you prefer?

Great ideas ~ I haven't gotten my appetite back enough to handle anything sweet. Are you having trouble keeping any of it down being sweet? Dr said I could have eggs ...I cooked them, put them on a plate...looked at them and threw them in the trash. Trying to wake up the taste buds.

What brand of Protein powder to you prefer?

I'm pre-op right now - on my two weeks liquid before surgery. My doctor has me on Optifast, which is a milk-based product. So far it's the best one I've tried. Another one that I like is Metabolic Nutrition. I've tried their chocolate cake, vanilla cake, and banana and loved all three of them. I think they're whey based, but am not 100% certain on that.

Try lean shanke from GNC

Lean shakes from GNC are high in carbs

So how much carb should be in a shake?

So how much carb should be in a shake?

My doc said it's more about looking at the Protein. For a shake I think protein count should be at lease 15 grams.

On a side note, I discovered Peanut Butter extract tonight. Can we say SCORE! I put some in my chocolate shake and it was FABULOUS!

Im one week out...how much protein are you actually able to get in a day? Im still drinking about 2 bottled waters a day and maybe 5g protein a day if that. I hate crystal lite and Im still on the liquid stage. I'm not just knock down tired but require one nap a day. Still in pain so I don't walk yet. On a scale of 1-10...its about an 7 all the time. When I drink, its only about 3 sips and I'm done for a while. I mostly only crave water which may be from the pain medicine. Is there another way to get protein in a liquid other than store bought protein drinks or vials?

Thanks

In less than two weeks (16th) I begin my two week preop diet. These recipe ideas really give me some hope that it won't be so bad. Thanks for sharing them. :-)

Im one week out...how much Protein are you actually able to get in a day? Im still drinking about 2 bottled waters a day and maybe 5g protein a day if that. I hate crystal lite and Im still on the liquid stage. I'm not just knock down tired but require one nap a day. Still in pain so I don't walk yet. On a scale of 1-10...its about an 7 all the time. When I drink' date=' its only about 3 sips and I'm done for a while. I mostly only crave Water which may be from the pain medicine. Is there another way to get protein in a liquid other than store bought Protein drinks or vials?[/quote']

A week out I was still on Clear liquids. When you can have yogurt and shakes, at first just get as much as you can protein wise. You want to work up to 60 to 80 grams a day, depending on your body's needs and your exercise routine. As for carbs, I stay between 20 and 30 a day. My body HATES carbs. So I know to stay away from them. With pre op and 10 weeks post op I am 63 pounds, so I think it's working so far :-)

I like unjury. I mix the chicken soup with healthy request soups still. Also I do vanilla unjury with orange citricell fiber. It taste like a dreamcicle. Two birds with one shake!

I am 6 weeks post op and having MAJOR trouble getting in all my proteins!! I hate all the shakes I've tried except Muscle Milk. However, I can't hold enough of it to make a real difference. On the pre op diet I could chug one every morning and loved it... however, now I do good to get in a few sips. I'm a very picky eater/drinker, so I automatically hate everything I try.. lol I know, that really sounds childish, but I wonder if anyone could tell me a better way to get a lot of protein without the shakes or powders? I can't eat enough meat to get it that way either, so I'm really struggling here...

Have you tried the Protein bullets? You can get them an Wal-Greens, CVS, online (only a few at WalMart). Here's a link to some. http://www.walgreens.com/search/results.jsp?N=359447+2000013047&Ntt=protein&y=0&x=0

several different flavors, and you get 40+ grams of protein in about 3 oz! I'm going to try to find a few of the singles at WalGreens this weekend just to see how they are, and then I'll think about ordering the larger quantities that are only available online. My dietician suggested them so I did a little hunting yesterday.

Be very careful of Protein bullets. I've been told by my nutritionist that they contain collegen protein and we need whey protein. Even the ones touted as being whey protein have more collegen protein than whey protein. Therefore, when you look at the label and it says 40 grams of protein, the majority of it is still collegen protein and not whey protein.

Good luck to you. I am 5 weeks 2 days and still struggling with protein.