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Ditching the protein shakes



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i am at 6 wks right now and i'm still having a Protein shake daily OR a Quest bar in it's place. it's still tricky and i'm eating several times a day, mostly Protein to get my counts in.

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I'm over 3 months out and still have to supplement frequently.

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Everyone is different, but I am 8 months out and still use one most days.

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I'm 2.5 years out and I find the best way to maintain my weight or lose more is to have at least one shake a day.

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I'm 7 months out with very good restriction and a very busy work schedule with no breaks in my 12+ hour days. No way could I eat enough to get in all my Protein. I still have a 30-40g Protein smoothie every day that I drink between appointments. I add Suprafiber or Metamucil and benefiber to the smoothie, so I'm getting a lot of my Fiber, too. And at 24-32 oz, it's a good portion of my fluids.

Maybe if all I did was graze all day on the weekends (between ranch chores, yard work, housework and playing ) I could probably get enough protein through regular food. But at this point the smoothie is easy, tastes delicious and has the best absorbed form of protein out there (whey isolate) so I have no plans to give it up.

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I doubt this could be done without shakes. It's tough enough to hit our Protein goals even with the shakes.

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It is possible without the shakes I cannot tolerate any of them-so I eat Protein rich food

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Thanks for the replies. I'm only a little over a week out and hoping someday i will get to the point where shakes are not needed. I know that is far away for me! I really can't stand the shakes, they make me gag. Keep my fingers crossed that the Protein Bars sit better with me when I get to the stage that I can start having them.

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What kind are you drinking? I like Premier chocolate and strawberry, Garden of Life vanilla and chocolate, Syntrax Matrix vanilla, Syntrax Nectar cherry, lemonade, apple and peach, and Muscle Milk banana, cake batter and red velvet cake. I also add coffee, PB2, fresh fruit, 100% juice, and Torani SF syrups for flavor variety. I dilute the RTD versions with milk to cut the sweetness and thickness and dilute the powders with at least 50% more liquid than what the directions say. There's so many options available, you might try different ones to find something that doesn't make you gag.

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I've been sleeved in France and my surgeon told me I don't need any supplementary diet for now, just eat natural food. I've been on Greek yogurt, milk, fish cheese and egg for my Protein intakes.

So, I'm almost 4 weeks out, without shakes, pre or post-op.

Not sure if it's a good thing though, just sharing the info.

I'll go back for the first post-op appointment on Monday, will see if he will give me any Vitamin or Protein supplement.

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I just had my telephone appointment with my surgeon and he told me that I can start adding food to my diet but not to fully get rid of the shakes just yet. I have to make sure food agrees with my stomach. So far so good. My book I got from Kaiser gave me a sample of foods to eat daily with the amount of Protein. I am going to try that sample because I cannot handle anymore of the Protein drinks.

For example 3 weeks after surgery: Breakfast: 1/4 c scrambled egg substitute 7.5g, Snack: 2 Tablespoons of reduced fat Peanut Butter 8g, Lunch: 1/4 c low fat greek yogurt 6g, Dinner: 1/4 c reduced fat cottage cheese 7g. (I will most likely do yogurt or eggs again). = 28.5 g of Protein.

I hope this helps.

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@@LKG, my recommended Protein is 60-80, does Kaiser only recommend 20-30? I am 7 weeks out....

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@@LKG, my recommended Protein is 60-80, does Kaiser only recommend 20-30? I am 7 weeks out....

I am a Kaiser patient and my required intake is 75 grams of protein per day. I think the previous poster was referring to her protein grams from whole foods, which supplement the protein from her shakes.

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I am at 1100-1200 calories a day. Most days I need to get about 120 grams of Protein. There is no way I could eat that much food and get the required protein levels without drinking a shake

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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