During pre-op I drank Premier Protein shakes and NOW I am sick of them! The smell of them gross me out!

I am on the pureed stage of food...ive been eating tuna fish, eggs, greek yogurt, Beans, string cheese, chicken breast, broccoli (steamed)

I also feel super tired and wasted when I eat only protein all day...when I have more complex carbs I feel better...

Cottage cheese and milk make me feel sick...

I'd rather eat 'real' food than fill up on shakes...but I definitely cannot eat 90 grams of 'real' food a day...I stay full for at least 3-4 hours..plus drinking my fluids is a full time job too...

I would love some ideas as to how to incorporate more protein with my real food meals...

I guess Protein Shakes are gonna be a must-do for huh??

Thoughts/advice?

I LOVED LOVED LOVED my premier shakes

Drank them everyday for months after surgery past the point that I needed too..

Yeah I'm finally sick of them too.

I try to eat Protein dense foods mostly like chicken and fish. But I also eat Fage 2% Greek yogurt everyday for an extra 20 grams.

Good stuff and my new love.

Oh milk makes you feel sick... Does All dairy then?

I LOVED LOVED LOVED my premier shakes

Drank them everyday for months after surgery past the point that I needed too..

Yeah I'm finally sick of them too.

I try to eat Protein dense foods mostly like chicken and fish. But I also eat Fage 2% Greek yogurt everyday for an extra 20 grams.

Good stuff and my new love.

Oh milk makes you feel sick... Does All dairy then?

I had tried Lactaid and I was really sick and cottage cheese too...made me feel awful...

Somehow greek yogurt and string cheese is okay with my lil tummy....

Im gonna try the Fage...

Turkey jerky--is it any good??

I had tried Lactaid and I was really sick and cottage cheese too...made me feel awful...

Somehow greek yogurt and string cheese is okay with my lil tummy....

Im gonna try the Fage...

Turkey jerky--is it any good??

I eat Jerky sometimes I just wish it didn't have so much sodium.. It's like a salt lick

Fage plain Greek I put a little Splenda and frozen blueberries in it, yummy!

Oh tofu! Do you like it? High Protein and good stuff.

I feel your pain. Here some ideas. For what they are worth.

Aside from what everyone else has added, I drink Click Protein coffee. They have decaf. If you want some flavor, they have a vanilla Latte. My mentor mixes in flavored vanilla Protein powder into hers to make a Cappuccino. I am a coffee lover and I like these. I was surprised.

When trying to just get the protein in, I use the Isopure Ready To Drink. I worry less about taste and more about losing my hair. But I realize some things you just cannot tolerate so you have to keep trying different things. Some people do not like these, say they taste grainy. I think its whatever flavor you like. I find the Arctic and the Grape Frost on ice to be the best.

I use the Bariatric fusion brand of shakes and to date (thankfully) I am not sick of them. Not sure if these are mostly in NY because I do not see many people using them. Been using the PB2 powedered Peanut Butter, diet Swiss Miss Hot chocolate (25 calories) and the Torani SF syrups to mix it up a bit in my shakes.

Also, for 20g of protein, I have the smaller shakes from Slim Fast that are HIGH PROTEIN. Make no mistake, these are not regular slim fast. These help me when I go to work. They look like a regular Slim Fast but they are not. Easy to tote around. My job is really not one where you can just stop and make a shake or carry a cooler around.

Greek Yogurt - Dannon Light and Fit GREEK Blends if you want to mix it up from FAGE etc. Going to try that blueberry and Splenda mix in the FAGE.

I have little chicken of the sea packs and individual hummus packs for lunch too. Shopping anywhere and everywhere to see what I can find that works.

Just trying to get an entire mix of things so that I am not sick of one thing. It is not easy at all but I am seeing results so that keeps me motivated.

I wish you all the best and thanks for starting this thread so we can all share.

tc

Not a direct answer to your question but I find I feel better if I completely can the carbs, even milk, and allow my body to settle into ketosis. Could your tiredness be because you're actually eating a few carbs so not in ketosis, but not taking enough food in for a non ketosis diet?? Just a thought... I'm a real carbs junkie so it kills me to give them up completely (except for non starchy veg), but after a couple of horror days I really do notice the difference.

Not a direct answer to your question but I find I feel better if I completely can the carbs, even milk, and allow my body to settle into ketosis. Could your tiredness be because you're actually eating a few carbs so not in ketosis, but not taking enough food in for a non ketosis diet?? Just a thought... I'm a real carbs junkie so it kills me to give them up completely (except for non starchy veg), but after a couple of horror days I really do notice the difference.

So maybe I am not is 'real' ketosis right ...I did notice when I was in pre op my breathe was really bad...like that ketosis breath smell...I don't have that anymore though.....So in order to go into 'real' ketosis I must have only Protein in my diet right?

Thanks everybody for sharing your p.o.v this is great!

Not only Protein but mostly, and no starchy stuff like bananas, fruit yoghurts, sugar, rice, Pasta and bread. And avoid fruit generally and limit veges to a couple of cups a day and no carrots, pumpkin, swede, parsnip, sweet and other potatoes.

When doing Optifast I've noticed going without milk in tea and coffee (as recommended) makes a huge difference to how I feel. I used to think it was so little that it couldn't do any harm, but when I followed instructions to the letter I lost more weight and felt better (after the first couple of days... which are always disgusting, as your body adjusts) than ever before - I've been on Optifast heaps of times.

Do you have a dietician or a special program you are following? You may not be on a ketosis program, but you sound like you 'almost' are.

Sadly "ketosis breath" is a feature - I'm home (not working) so making the most of the opportunity to be "unpleasant". sugar free gum helps too. You can buy urine testing strips for ketones to check you are where you need to be (if you're meant to be in ketosis, that is). I believe it's not healthy for everyone (diabetics?) and not long term (do you have a lot of weight to lose?), so your dr may or may not want you to do this.

I'm no expert on this by the way, just sharing what is and has worked for me. My weight loss is 19 kg (42lb???) in 12 weeks, so not huge by many people's standards, but massive for me! 12kg still to go!

Good luck with it all. Stay healthy first and foremost, so check with your dr or dietician (please).

GNC has an unflavored protein powder that doesn't have the temp restrictions that the Unjury powder does. I use it a lot. I also eat my protein in food and have shakes as snacks as needed. I use chocolate protein powder with a little bit of sf chocolate syrup for chocolate milk. If you add powdered milk to regular milk it doubles the protein content and the taste isn't much different.

Just remember your body can only absorb 40g of protein at a time

A carb detox will help. Try the Diva's boot camp on here. I need to myself, but I'm cheap and I can't just pitch the carby foods I have here

Once you eliminate carbs and load up on Protein you're likely to hit ketosis again. I'm slightly envious of your ketosis breath, that never happened to me so I have no real sign of it :/

Protein's hard! And somebody previously mention the Isopure ready to drink things, if you can stand the taste they're a great option. It's Fluid PLUS protein without that milky quality the shakes have. Early on I used them to make protein Jello. Gatorade 3 has protein shakes, haven't tried them, but they may switch up the taste for you. About Time (I think is the name) has a variety of different flavored that may help you switch it up, too.

Also, protein Peanut Butter balls! There's a recipe on here. Nothing but peanut butter (or PB2) and chocolate protein powder. It's a protein packed sweet treat

I use Isopure Zero Carb (creamy vanilla, unflavored, Cookies n cream, strawberries & cream, banana cream) & Isopure Low-Carb Dutch chocolate. 25 grams, approx 100 calories per heaping scoop.

All but the Banana Cream were purchased first as a 1 lb bag. (search the internet for the cheapest price & shipping) I didn't want to spend $45+ for a flavor I wouldn't like. The flavors are true & they have no aftertaste.

http://www.mybariatricpantry.com/Bariatric_Protein_Samples_s/35.htm is where I went for my Isopure Vanilla & Dutch Chocolate as well as the Matrix Sample Packs & Syntrax Nectar Sample Packets. Amazon.com has 1lb packages of Isopure too.

For the Syntrax nectar, you are allowed to specify which flavors you'd like to try.

(They also have a few flavored sample packets of these at your local Vitamin Shoppe store.

Another place you can go for sample packets of Syntrax Nectar (for a small fee), is to the company directly. But you have to wait 1-3 weeks to get your product & you can't select your flavors.

http://www.si03.com/medical/med_index.htm Read 2nd paragraph, Nectar Variety Packet

I purchased 1 pound Isopure Cookies n Cream & Strawberries & Cream from Puritan's Pride.

http://www.puritan.com/natures-best-brand-0146/ppisopure-zero-car-strn-a1-024545?scid=26529

http://www.puritan.com/natures-best-brand-0146/ppisopur-zero-car-cookn-a1-024547?scid=26529

They also have the Vanilla & Dutch Chocolate I spoke of.

I mix my Isopure with Soy Milk. (Sometimes Silk, sometimes Wal-Mart brand) I use all flavors except chocolate & very vanilla. (Light, Plain, & Vanilla) They provide 6-8 grams of Protein per 8 oz. Plain tastes best for me, b/c I sometimes mix 2 flavors of my Isopure (chocolate banana is YUMMY!!) I become lactose intolerant with too much dairy, so soy milk works for me. I've tried a few Almond Milk varieties. ehhh, they're ok. They're also less in calories (30-80), but provide hardly any protein & provide less flavor. (my opinion)

I also drink the liquid whey Protein (in the tubes) 42 grams of protein. They sell singles & 6 packs of different flavors at Wal-Mart & singles & 12 packs at The Vitamin Shoppe Store. I used to drink them straight, before my surgery, but now, they're too thick to get down. What I do now is add them to my 16.9 oz or 20 oz bottle of Water & sip them down. A few flavors I used to love are now just so so, but I need the protien. The drink taste like the sugar free packets (crystal light, etc)

Try Kay's Natural Protein chips & Puffs. They have 12 grams of protein & I ate few from the bag when I had a need for a crunch. These are on amazon.com as well.

My pouch is still new & tiny (2 weeks old tomorrow). I still can't hold more than

2-3 tablespoons of food per meal, so I've learned to love liquids. Especially water.

Oh, and I sprinkle my unflavored Isopure in my applesauce, over my salmon, my softly scrambled eggs, in my greek yougurt. Just about everything I eat.

I hope this helps.

My daily target is 85 g. I had my sleeve 5/13

How I do it (for what it's worth)

During puree, they gave (my NUT) me some recipes for puree stuff and I did a Protein Shake for Breakfast and then ate either pureed homemade chili or deconstructed lasagna for the other two meals. Then cottage cheese for Snacks. Didn't count calories in the early stages.

For soft foods, I did more like pot roast, and chili not through the blender.

My Protein Shakes are whey isolate (Six Star chocolate) with plain light soy milk (just recently switched to unsweetened almond) some fruit (now that I can have it again) and PB2 (only 1T, not 2)

I also love the unjury chicken Soup Protein. You might try that if you don't like the milky kind. Just don't overheat it (has instructions) or it will separate out. It counts as a "shake"

I also did a lot of ready-to-drink Isopure - Blue Raspberry or Coconut. The others I found vile.

I was eating greek yogurt until recently, when someone pointed out the carbs in the fruit. So my options were plain with MIO added for flavor, or cottage cheese instead. I like cottage cheese, so I changed. I eat string cheese. I've added back in nuts for snacks.

I used to eat a lot of Ostrim, which is 96% fat free beef-ostrich Jerky. It's about 80 calories, and 14 g of protein. The skin isn't sitting too well with me yet, unfortunately. It's a decent snack, especially before a workout.

Don't despair - there are days I actually exceed 90 g of protein! It can be done!

the thing they don't tell you in advance is how much planning this takes. You just have to think about what you're going to eat for the whole day, or it doesn't work.

Good luck!

Kathy

Also, I almost forgot, you have to watch which Isopure you select, because they have several to choose from.

Isopure Zero & Isopure Low Carb is what you need.

Stay away from Regular Isopure & Isopure Mass. These have way too many calories, carbs & fat for us.

I'm pre-op and don't know if Wendy's chili is on this phase (I'm sure you all will let me know) but couldn't you add a scoop of unflavored protein to that? How about making your own protein beverage with nectar roadside lemonade and water? If it still doesn't taste "lemonade-y" enough add a little lemonade crystal light before adding water

I'm still preop but I'm definitely holding onto to all these tips

I wouldn't be able to hit 90 grams of protein per day on a DARE.