Hey there!

I had gastric bypass on 4/10 spent 4 days in the hospital with complications.... In the hospital I was excited to drink my protein shakes (I maybe had a total of 4 while I was there) but now that I am home I dread I and can't even stand the thought of protein powder it makes me want to vomit and I just can't seem to force myself to do it. Did anyone else struggle with this if so what did you do? Please help, I'm barley drinking enough water (<30oz) and no protein... I also have this feeling of fullness and pressure in my stomach that I can't seem to get rid of does anyone else have this issue? Any suggestions?

I know this is difficult, but try to stay focused on your goal. You don't want to take a chance & hurt yourself during recovery. The first few weeks are vital to your recovery. You just had major surgery on your tummy & it needs time to heal. With that said, what you're feeling is VERY normal. It can get quite frustrating, especially in the beginning, but it DOES get better.

I also struggled with getting enough fluids in, even to this day sometimes. So, at this stage, try a variety of liquids / soft foods such as the following. This was my follow up days 8 - 21. Please ask your Dr's office if this is OK for you at this point, especially since you had complications:

• Milk-skim, 1% or 2 %
• Soy beverages
• Fruit juices without the pulp (low-sugar versions)
• Plain sugar free Gelatin
• Creamed Soups – blended very well so no chunks are present (these tend to be higher in calories, so watch the content; use low-fat or fat-free versions)
• Chunky soups – put in the blender and thin out with liquid (broth or water) (Use the meat and veggie types, not pastas or rice varieties.)
• Drinkable yogurt without fruit chunks
• Blended fruit smoothies
• Carnation Instant Breakfast
• Ice milk
• Popsicles made from sugar-free juices
• Egg custard – thin
• V-8 juice
• Sugar-free hot cocoa
• Aktins® Advantage shakes
• Slim-Fast®Low-Carb Shakes
• 100% whey Protein powder
• Applesauce
• Water
• Propel
• Ice chips
• flavored water
• Broth (chicken or Beef)
• Sugar-free Jell-O
• Sugar-free Popsicles
• Crystal Light, Sugar-free Tang **5*Cyrstal Light Stwbry / Lemonade is my savior to this day***
• Mild tea (no cinnamon), green teas
• Low-sugar apple juice or cranberry juice
• Fruit ices (without chunks of fruit)
• Sugar-free Kool-Aid

Whatever you do, be VERY careful. Again, you are still healing & while you probably feel great, your tummy needs this time. I promise it WILL get better.

Hang in there & keep blogging on here. It helps to vent

PS In case I didn't say it enough, fluids are important but it IS normal to have that full feeling. Have as much as you can, as slowly as you can, as often as you can. Walk around the house if you're not already walking around outside. It all helps.

My Dr's office told me that, at your stage, it's hard to get it all the Protein in because you're still early in healing & just can't eat/drink enough. Don't worry about that. Do what you can. Don't panic., One step at a time. It will come.

I tested out Protein drinks prior to surgery. I also discussed different types of Protein Drinks at support group meetings prior to surgery. To me most protein drinks taste terrible. I chose one that was the least terrible called Muscle Milk Light. I found that vanilla Creme was the flavor I liked the best. I would blend it with Water and throw in a half a banana. It had 25 grams of protein per shake. There are others that are super concentrated that are in the 40-50 gram range. To me these taste extremely bad.

Right after surgery, I was lactose intolerant. This condition was temporary. A month or two later I could tolerate milk. Muscle Milk Light is lactose free.

If you are not lactose intolerant, you might think about using milk. Once I reached my bottom weight, I switched completely off my Protein shakes. My protein drinks now consists of a large cup of hot cocoa (no sugar added) in the morning and a berry smoothie in the evening. At 11 months post-op, I also get a lot of protein from my meals. Since you are only a week out, this is probably too early to make this transition to berry smoothies. In order to achieve a great weight loss also focus on the calorie side of the daily minimum protein requirements. Too many calories in your daily protein drinks might stall your weight loss.

I tested out Protein drinks prior to surgery. I also discussed different types of protein drinks at support group meetings prior to surgery. To me most protein drinks taste terrible. I chose one that was the least terrible called Muscle Milk Light. I found that Vanilla Creme was the flavor I liked the best. I would blend it with Water and throw in a half a banana. It had 25 grams of protein per shake. There are others that are super concentrated that are in the 40-50 gram range. To me these taste extremely bad.

Right after surgery, I was lactose intolerant. This condition was temporary. A month or two later I could tolerate milk. Muscle Milk Light is lactose free.

If you are not lactose intolerant, you might think about using milk. Once I reached my bottom weight, I switched completely off my protein shakes. My protein drinks now consists of a large cup of hot cocoa (no sugar added) in the morning and a berry smoothie in the evening. At 11 months post-op, I also get a lot of protein from my meals. Since you are only a week out, this is probably too early to make this transition to berry smoothies. In order to achieve a great weight loss also focus on the calorie side of the daily minimum protein requirements. Too many calories in your daily protein drinks might stall your weight loss.

How many calories in the muscle milk light

How many calories in the muscle milk light

There are 210 calories and 25 grams of Protein.

I'm also a fan of Muscle Milk Light although I personally think the Vanilla Cream is way to sweet, so I prefer the chocolate. However, I buy mine at costco, they aren't in a plastic bottle, but something more like a milk carton material. They are 8.25oz. each and only have 140 calories and 20g of Protein, 3g of sugar. LIke James I find that this product isn't as chalky as the rest of the protein shakes out there so it's easier to drink. I keep a couple at work for late morning or afternoon Snacks.

I'm a huge fan of the Chocolate muscle milk lite. The other day I just found one that had 40 grams of protein and got super excited!

There are 210 calories and 25 grams of Protein.

OK I have lean shakes with 100 cal. And 25 gr. protein

I had this issue it very difficult I actually starting eating yogurt an other things with some protein I was really sick the first 3 weeks still not getting enough water an protein 5 weeks out down 36 pounds