So I'm a month out, and I'm still struggling with water and to a lesser degree, protein. I abhor the shakes and try to get most of my protein from food, but it is hard because at this point I can only have teensy portions. So I find that I do best with one super high protein shake, and I tolerate it best if I sip it throughout the day. It takes me a long time to finish, even though it is thin. I also need to constantly sip water. So do shakes count as food or fluid when the rule of 30 is concerned? I personally would count it as a food if it was thick or had added fruit, but it feels like a fluid to me (Premier or Atkins RTD, over iced but not blended with ice). So is it ok to slowly sip it and have water in between, or should I try and drink it faster and wait for 30 minutes, the way I would with food?

Shakes are fluid. No need to do 30/30 with them--only with solids. Try diluting your shake with decaff coffee or decaf tea, or water, or even things like flavored water.

3 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

shakes are Fluid. No need to do 30/30 with them--only with solids. Try diluting your shake with decaff coffee or decaf tea, or Water, or even things like flavored water.

Thanks. It seemed reasonable, but I wanted to check with those with more experience with this. I do sometimes dilute with decaf...and my doc cleared me for real, honest-to-Bob, actual, caffeinated coffee as of one month, which is tomorrow! I am practically peeing my pants with excitement, LOL.