Hello, so I am almost two weeks away from my surgery date (6/26/14). I have a pre-op scheduled class on Thursday and have started experimenting with protein shakes. Does anyone have any good suggestions on shakes? I have to do them 2 weeks before surgery with a regular dinner and I'm a little nervous. I'll take any suggestions and advice!

I've only tried 3 brands - Muscle Milk, EAS and Premier Protein. Premier Protein chocolate is the one I always go back to. I like mine a little thick, so I add a scoop of chocolate Meal Replacement powder.

Hi am June 25 and doing 2 shakes 1 dinner as well.

My first day of two shakes was yesterday

I didn't want to go cold turkey so have been doing 1 shake a day for last 10 days or so.

I have tried unjury - pretty good look it up online and get the sample pack

I love Tara's whey blueberry I get at whole foods

A little pricey for what you get but extremely tasty

Carb advantage is good as well

I recommend getting a bunch of samples and not committing to a big tub of anything until you sampled it after surgery! My favorite brands are Jay Robb, Unjury, Syntrax Matrix, Syntrax Nectar & Nectar Sweets, Chike, Designer Whey, and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard. Places to buy samples:

http://www.jayrobb.com/protein/whey-protein-samples.asp

http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/protein-powders/protein-powder-samples-1-serving.html

http://www.unjury.com/store/protein/unjury-starter-kit.html

http://www.chikenutrition.com/chike-variety-pack.html

https://vitalady.com/protein-supplement/

I also like the cappuccino and hot chocolate protein powders a lot!

http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/hot-drinks/healthsmart-hot-drink-cappuccino-7-box.html

http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/hot-drinks/healthsmart-hot-chocolate-7-box-sucralose.html

You can also get high protein soups:

http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/hot-soups/

The three hot products above I linked are nice because you can mix them with really hot water or milk -- for most protein powders (like Unjury's Chicken Soup) you have to use a food thermometer and make sure it is under 130 degrees or the protein will clump.

The other things I recommend - if you are mixing your own shakes (I hate all the ready to drink stuff), use a hand/immersion blender so you don't add a bunch of air bubbles and foam in. And you may want to check out stuff you can add in to your shake for extra flavor. Here are some of the products I like for that:

http://shop.torani.com/Sugar-Free-Syrups/c/Torani@SugarFreeSyrups?gclid=CJ_hmN69774CFclr7AodAn8ATQ

http://www.sweetleaf.com/products/sweet-drops-products

Also do some experimenting to figure out what you want to mix your shakes with. I think that for most of them, using water is gross (some of the fruit flavors from Syntrax Nectar are an exception). But you have all sorts of options with skim milk (and you may have special high protein or low carb skim milk available at your local supermarket, check for that if you want), almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, etc. Depends on what you like and what your nutritional needs are.

I really appreciate all the suggestions! I bought a Ninja blender and have tried the vanilla Protein Powder with almond milk and fruit. That has not been so bad. I have been told that before surgery is one thing but after surgery I may not tolerate the shakes being thicker. One day at a time I guess! I tend to be a picky eater so I'm worried. Thanks for all the info!

Sara