Protein shakes and bars forever?

[mandmom 31]

Hi everybody so yesterday was my 6 week post op gastric sleeve date. I have lost 20 lb in the six weeks. My question is this, my doctor is not allowing me to eat any real food! He wants me to stay on two Protein Shakes and one Protein Bar a day with 1 oz only of egg or yogurt or cottage cheese. 1 oz is two bites. Have others doctors had them on this after the surgery? Is this normal? Help!!!

[Wickedwinner 140]

Not for my program. My dr wants me to eat as much real food as possible and only use Protein drinks/bars if I can’t reach goal. By 6 weeks I was cleared for all real food as tolerable.


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[MegPRN 204]

My doctor starts us all on a regular diet starting week 4, and bars/shakes are only for supplementing if you're not reaching goal on "real", whole food Protein sources (dense meats, yogurt, Beans, cheese, etc). Does your doctor sell the bars/shakes he's recommending?

[FancyChristine15 810]

I did have to drink 2 shakes a day for a while, but I was never told to eat Protein Bars, as they are usually higher in sugar/carbs. I was always encouraged to eat normal food, once I got to that point in my program.

[PrettyMess13 3]

My doctor had me on Protein Shakes and bars for at least 6 months.

[gabybab 696]

I was cleared for full foods staring of week 5. Every surgeon is different.

[mandmom 31]

4 hours ago, MegPRN said:

My doctor starts us all on a regular diet starting week 4, and bars/shakes are only for supplementing if you're not reaching goal on "real", whole food Protein sources (dense meats, yogurt, Beans, cheese, etc). Does your doctor sell the bars/shakes he's recommending?

He tries but I find less expensive just as good replacements. I just don't get it I want to learn how to eat with the gastric sleeve I don't want to be on Protein Shakes and Protein bars for the rest of my life

[mandmom 31]

3 hours ago, PrettyMess13 said:

My doctor had me on Protein Shakes and bars for at least 6 months.

Why do you think that is that your doctor my doctor are so adamant about keeping us on shakes and not teaching us how to actually eat real food with our gastric sleeve? He also wants me losing at least 3 pounds a week. Which is not easy I am a 59 year-old post-menopausal woman who has arthritis. Although I have been doing at least two and a half pounds a week. I'm just really concerned that she's not taking my health and the longevity of living with the gastric sleeve to heart

[GradyCat 3,697]

I was encouraged to eat real food as much as possible starting at 4 weeks and only use one Protein supplement Meal Replacement each day if necessary

[Frustr8 7,886]

Well I guess I'm either special or a little behind, I have a Ensure max Protein strawberry in the AM with Miralax and a 1% milk with extra Protein Powder for evening snack. Still works for me, Precious Pouch usually keeps me on broths, pureed Soups, pureed veggies, and occasional chewed up meats, if I can sneak them past her descerning self.

[NYC_PAULA 194]

The goal with my nutritionist and surgeon was to slowly start weaning off shakes and bars once I started getting solid foods. I was told to get in a minimum of 70 grams of Protein a day. By focusing on lean protein choices like eggs, fish, lean meats, lite cheese, and Beans I can get about 20 grams per meal. I have one small high protein snack to get in the extra 10+ grams of protein. Sometimes that snack is a shake or bar and sometimes I'll even do a shake or bar for a meal if I'm in a hurry but I'm trying to focus on whole foods for the most part.

[domi 237]

Talk to your doctor and his nutritionist and let them know your concern. Mine was the same until I asked if I could talk to the nutritionist. The doctor said many of his patients are not fully committed and he thinks they lose more quickly when not having to think about real food. He allowed me to work with my nutritionist and truly learn what I should eat. Good luck to you.

[Sosewsue61 3,185]

How long is this regimen of shakes supposed to be? Until you lose x# of pounds or a set time? I can only guess the reasons are that he wants maximum weight off asap in these early months.

Honestly I felt better when I could eat real food, and I had an aversion to shakes early on. I had a few other aversion with foods in the early months - beef and chocolate. Chocolate still is iffy. It was a few weeks in the beginning figuring out tolerance, but gets easier as you go. Some people continue with one shake to supplement Protein requirements all through the journey.

Good luck.

[MegPRN 204]

it sounds to me like this is a money-making scheme for your doctor, not necessarily in your best interest. I would recommend seeing a dietician who specializes in post-bariatric surgery patients.

It also raises red flags for me when a surgeon demands a certain rate of weight loss, or gives you a scale number for your ultimate goal. The focus of this surgery should be improved health, rather than static numbers on a scale. My surgeon is great about this - his goals for me included things like getting off CPAP, being able to comfortably exercise again. He encouraged me to make my own non-scale goals, like shopping in a regular clothing store. If your doctor gives you a goal of - for example - 145 lbs, but you stop losing at 155 lbs - you're going to feel like a failure, and they're going to treat you like a failure, even if you're off insulin and CPAP and 3 of your 4 blood pressure pills, and are in a relationship for the first time in your life. Right? There are so many more ways to succeed at this than focusing on the scale.

[TracyS 62]

Hi everybody so yesterday was my 6 week post op gastric sleeve date. I have lost 20 lb in the six weeks. My question is this, my doctor is not allowing me to eat any real food! He wants me to stay on two Protein Shakes and one Protein Bar a day with 1 oz only of egg or yogurt or cottage cheese. 1 oz is two bites. Have others doctors had them on this after the surgery? Is this normal? Help!!!

Standard diet is 2 weeks pre OP on liquid diet. Up to 2 weeks after operation full liquids. Then 3 weeks of pureed food, then 3 weeks of soft food. If you are 6 weeks out you should have gone through the full liquid diet and the pureed diet and be in the soft foods stage. Like a baby they slowly train our stomach as it heals.

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