I am 3 weeks out and I am having the hardest time getting my protein and water in. Today I only had 2 4oz shakes, 2 oz cottage cheese and 2 oz grits. and 24 oz of water. I have tried but i get so full and it takes me 30 min just to get my shakes down. I am not hungry and so I dont have the desire to eat at all. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you

I’m 4 days out and feel like I’m struggling too... I sip and eat very slow. I made sugar free protein in cheesecake and chocolate flavor today ... with each batch added 2 scoops vanilla isopure protein powder....I did the math and it’s a little over 5 g a protein per 1.5 ounce! And it’s pretty delicious! A friend gave me a tip to add dry milk to as much as I could such as cream of wheat cream of rice. Every little bit counts I figure... hope this helps

Meant to say sugar free Pudding!

Right after surgery, your body is in a major heal mode. Many people find it difficult to get in the required protein and fluid at the beginning. Just keep working towards those goals and you should be able to get there. Having said this, you are at week 3 and should have made some progress at this point.

Protein

Many experience problems drinking protein shakes. I hated them. But in the beginning I drank them, three 16-ounce protein shakes a day, in order to meet my protein requirements. You do not have to like protein shakes only tolerate them. There are many varieties of protein shakes available today. Experiment until you can find one you can tolerate. I used Muscle Milk Light (Vanilla Creme) powder blended with water and a half a banana. That worked for me. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, you might try premixed Isopure.

If you tried all the various varieties and still are unsuccessfully, then there is the fallback of fortified milk. 32 ounces of 1% milk fortified by adding 1 cup of dried milk provides 56 grams of protein. It also takes a dent out of meeting the fluid requirements. Mix up a pitcher and drink a little throughout the day.

Without sufficient protein, your body will scavenge protein from other areas of your body, such as your muscles. Protein is extremely important after surgery as its job in the body is to build and maintain tissues including your body's major organs and skeletal muscles. Protein deficiency, when continued over a long period of time can cause a disease known as protein caloric malnutrition. Common symptoms are poor healing, fatigue, hair loss and muscle wasting. Immediate post op, protein promotes healing of the staple line and incisions.

Fluids

It is common for your taste buds to change after surgery. Be willing to experiment. After surgery, my taste buds changed dramatically. Even water changed. In the hospital it tasted excessively chlorinated and I could not drink it. So I experimented. Sugar free popsicles became my best friend. Some individuals find hot or cold can help with fluids. For me, I found that I could tolerate flavored water. So I began using Crystal Light. I also found a new drink Bai which I liked cold. In the winter, I found that I tolerate hot drinks such as piping hot cocoa. But you have to use the "No Sugar Added" variety. Also fine English teas were very good.

The fluid requirement is met by a combination. It is not only the water that you drink each day. But also the water you drink when you take your vitamins and medicine. It is the milk you drink. It is the fluids content of the protein shakes. It is the water component of the soups you take. It is met by flavored water such as Crystal Light. It is met by sugar free popsicles. It is met by tea and decaf coffee. It is a combination of all the fluids that you consume during the day.

Protein water is the best discovery for me. 30g protein in 500ml and it's not thick like the shakes. X

Isopure protein water is great but the flavors can be how should i say it awful but they are easier to drink than the thick shakes also I would put mine back in the fridge it helped to alternate between a few ounces of water and a few ounces of shakes

I had to give myself a little tough love right at first... I kept saying that I don't have to enjoy it, I just have to get it down (water, then protein, then vitamins). It was my job, end of discussion. And each day I worked to get a little more than the day before until I was consistently hitting my target amounts. On the water front - I had to use flavors (crystal light), decaf hot tea, sf popsicles and broth to hit my goals. It was probably 6 months or more before I could deal with drinking just plain water.

Please remember that if you don’t get enough protein you will suffer with hair loss and muscle loss! I went through both! I still struggle getting protein in after 8+ years! You get tired of shakes, and I still dump even with the smallest amount of sugar! So I stay away from any sugar! Please try harder to get it in, you don’t want to go down this path!

Best of Luck in your journey!

I'm 3 weeks out and also struggling. I have calculated that if I eat 5 small meals (2 tbs, which is about all I can manage) as recommended, each takes around 30 mins to eat. If I follow advice not to drink 30 mins before a meal or drink for an hour afterwards, that is 2 hours a time when I can't drink- adds up to 10 hours per day. Add in the fact that I can only comfortably take 125 ml (1/2 cup) per hour, you can see that I am really struggling. Today I have had a couple of cups of coffee and am sipping a cup of tea - it's 16:25 UK time. I have had about 1/2 tsp of hummous, but didn't fancy any more.

Any advice greatly welcomed

I'm 3 weeks out and also struggling. I have calculated that if I eat 5 small meals (2 tbs, which is about all I can manage) as recommended, each takes around 30 mins to eat. If I follow advice not to drink 30 mins before a meal or drink for an hour afterwards, that is 2 hours a time when I can't drink- adds up to 10 hours per day. Add in the fact that I can only comfortably take 125 ml (1/2 cup) per hour, you can see that I am really struggling. Today I have had a couple of cups of coffee and am sipping a cup of tea - it's 16:25 UK time. I have had about 1/2 tsp of hummous, but didn't fancy any more.

Any advice greatly welcomed

You may need a schedule :

6:00 am Water 8oz drink in 15 mins

6:45 am yogurt eat until satisfied (15 mins)

7:00 am Protein Shake in coffee 4 oz of each mixed drink in 15 mins

7:45 am scrambled egg eat for 30 mins

8:45 am sugar free ice tea 8oz drink for 15 mins

Etc...

That sounds like a good idea (though not sure about getting up at 6am ). Thanks for the advice!

I am 3 weeks out and I am having the hardest time getting my Protein and Water in. Today I only had 2 4oz shakes, 2 oz cottage cheese and 2 oz grits. and 24 oz of water. I have tried but i get so full and it takes me 30 min just to get my shakes down. I am not hungry and so I dont have the desire to eat at all. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you

I really struggled too with water. Had to get up early in the morning to start my drinking..still 4 months out I struggle. And on days where I fall short on drinking I do not lose weight. You need to drink lots of water to lose weight. My go to is Camomile tea. I drink more if the water is hot instead if cold.
Good luck on your journey.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using BariatricPal App

with my exercise I end up burning more calories than Im taking in.. water is tough too, I use to drink it like a fish.. now I have to make myself drink it at all :/ I can eat soup, Im doing ok with protein. its hard to know if and when Im hungry because I never feel like I am but I get the gas tank is empty feeling...

This will only be day 3 in full liquid diet...so not expert ?

Yesterday I felt “full” all day but stayed focused on my schedule. I get protein in first. I think that it’s easier for me in this full liquid stage than it may be with food. I am lucky that I still love my premier protein shakes. I have to split into 3 “meals” per 11oz shake but 2 shakes gives me 60 protein. Then I add “unflavored” (it’s not?) protein to water with a couple squirts of sugar free flavoring and that gives me another 30 protein.

I start early and “eat” at the top of each odd hour (7,9,11,1,3,5) for 20 min. Wait. Then on the even hours sip protein water, water with benifiber/merilax, regular water. I take vitamins all day long.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to “waste” pouch space on popsicles , coffee, tea, etc. right now unless you can get some serious protein in there.

I love my 3, 25 oz water bottles cause they help me keep track. When I drink a shake I take out 11oz for each. Use for helping get down vitamins. I bought melting vitamins but they are very sweet tasting so have to sip water with them to get the taste out of my mouth?

The worst are the calcium because they are 4 huge pills to dissolve .

On 2/28/2018 at 11:37 AM, bb3b said:

I'm 3 weeks out and also struggling. I have calculated that if I eat 5 small meals (2 tbs, which is about all I can manage) as recommended, each takes around 30 mins to eat. If I follow advice not to drink 30 mins before a meal or drink for an hour afterwards, that is 2 hours a time when I can't drink- adds up to 10 hours per day. Add in the fact that I can only comfortably take 125 ml (1/2 cup) per hour, you can see that I am really struggling. Today I have had a couple of cups of coffee and am sipping a cup of tea - it's 16:25 UK time. I have had about 1/2 tsp of hummous, but didn't fancy any more.

Any advice greatly welcomed

Once you reach the solid stage, you might consider relying on softer foods (such as chili and soups) rather than harder foods (such as steak and chicken). One of the advantages of this approach is in the area of fluids. The liquids used in home made soups count towards meeting your daily fluid requirements. I have included some recipes at the end of the following article. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Thanks, James, this is really helpful!

I have just reached the solid food stage, so will certainly follow your advice. I found that over the past few weeks I have tended to do as you have suggested and relied on soups, shakes, yogurts etc. Having said that, the first bite of real food (an omlette with very soft veggies) was heaven!