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When can I stop using protein powder



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So are you vets still using Protein powder/shakes as a supplement or do I get to do away with the god awful stuff someone in the future? I know I cannot now because I cannot eat enough to even think about getting any amount of protein in my body.

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My NUT told me I will need a Protein drink through the weight loss process, up until maintenance. As we've read on here though, everyone's program is different.

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my bariatric team wanted us to begin to come off them at one month and get our Protein from real food. most of us in that group use them occasionally (such as when you need a Breakfast or lunch on the run) but not daily after that.

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Every plan is different. Some plans (the minority for sure) never want you to drink them. Not even post op. They take the don't drink your calories rule very seriously. Some plans people drink them for years, Indefinitely.

For me it was my choice under my plan. They were required/ recommended post op until you could get enough Protein without them. They made me sick as a dog so I worked hard to get my 80-100 grams without them as soon as possible. I stopped drinking them all together at 4 months. Hit my personal goal at 7 months and was at that point a normal BMI. 100% of my excess weight gone. I am proof it is about Protein. Not whether your protein is liquid or solid. Real food or artificial Protein powder. shakes will never keep you full like dense protein and they break an important weight loss rule. DONT drink your calories. Plus they are nasty and full artificial crap!

I am glad to be done with them, glad my Breakfast and lunch is no longer a nasty, stomach churning, chemical filled crap. I am obviously not a fan Protein Powder or shakes.< /p>

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my plan wanted us to start to wean off them as soon as we passed the puree phase. Once we could meet our daily Protein targets consistently without them, there is no need to supplement with shakes etc. Occasionally having one after that for an easy grab and go option is fine, but no requirement to continue using them once meeting Protein requirements without them.

Immediately post op, I considered them "medicine" to help me heal and didn't think of them as food to be enjoyed. And while I didn't find the ones I used to be god awful, that thought process did help me get through that phase.

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Easy. As soon as you can get all your Protein from just food alone.

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Easy. As soon as you can get all your Protein from just food alone.

THIS is the long and the short of it.

Took me a LONG time to get there and even at almost three years out I still supplement more days a week than not to get all the Protein in (my goal is higher than most at 90-110g). Other people get there in 6-8 weeks.

The more other sources of protein you can tolerate/incorporate the sooner you can stop using them! meat, seafood and chicken of course but also Greek yogurt, eggs, cheeses (including cottage cheese, ricotta, etc), nuts & seeds, Beans (and tofu, tempeh, etc).

The more you fill the space available to you with protein, the less supplement you need.

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I am about 18 months post-op. I haven't had to use Protein Shakes for a long time but still do occasionally for convenience. I also add Protein powder to my oatmeal, etc. It is a choice, not a requirement.

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Yikes. I'm 2 months post op and toss in a scoop of GENEPRO in my coffee each morning. Then usually have a Premiere shake as a snack at some point during the day. I don't think I'd make my goal each day without it. I hate greek yogurt and cottage cheese.

I wish I were more creative.

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Easy. As soon as you can get all your Protein from just food alone.

I feel like that will never happen

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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Easy. As soon as you can get all your Protein from just food alone.

I feel like that will never happen

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

You're only about six weeks out! Give it some time!!

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      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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      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!

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

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