So im 2 years abd a few months out. I lost alittle over 100 lbs initiallt and got to 175. Over the last year im ay 193-196 depending on the day. Everything internally has pretty much been going ok. My question at this point is should i still be using protein powder? I get my needed amount of protein from meals mostly and i still try to eat as healthy as possible. And if i do use powder should i replace a meal with it or should it just be extra protein? I would ask my dr's these questions but about a year out i oost my job and my insurance so i havent been able to afford to see my dr. Any advice is helpful. Also i do still work out but not as often as i would like because of finances and dad life.

Other than making it easy to get in your protein when you are healing from surgery, I don't think using protein powder is required. As long as you are able to get in all of your protein from food I don't know why you would have to use it.

My doctor had me drop Protein shakes at three months.

My nutritionist definitely prefers for us to get all of our protein through "real" food. How many grams of protein are you getting per day without supplementing? If you are in the 80-100 gram range, then I don't think there would be any need to add protein powder back in at this point.

My NUT actually want us to get our Protein from our food sources. The protein powder is good if you are in a pinch and need something, but it is not recommended for long term use.

My nutritionist and Dr want you to get Protein from real sources. My issue is I am often not hungry especially when engrossed in a work project. I work from home for myself so I can work endlessly there is nothing to stop. I use and have used Protein shakes and bars long before surgery and I continue to use them so I don't skip meals. I just don't feel like eating a lot. It is better to have a protein shakes than to skip meals until I am suddenly starving. It is even easier to skip meals now since I have no physical hunger.

If you want to use protein powder you can. Plenty of people who haven't had WLS use them. If you are trying to get your weight down. Then a shake or 2 a day as a replacement for meals can help you get your weight down.

If you get enough protein from food no need to supplement.

If you track, you can verify you get enough from food. I tracked for a few days and discovered I was having closer to 50g of protein. I find I need to use protein drinks to get to my goal of 80g.