Hello there,

I got a mini bypass in February, and I am wondering if maybe it's time to make life easier.

I'd like to cut out the daily protein shake I drink and perhaps take vitamins morning and evening instead of four times per day, as I do now.

Can anyone please share their experiences?

Thank you.

I couldn’t drink protein shakes after my bypass because they felt like they filled my tiny stomach up. I was told that they really weren’t beneficial since they were liquid they pretty much went right through the stomach anyway.
I use the patch vitamins every night. I’m over 4 years out & the only thing I have had trouble with is my iron but I have a history of anemia so it’s not really from the by pass.

Meeting your protein goals is really a "For the rest of your life" thing, just like with vitamins. Which we would have to do even without having the surgery, it's just that now with the surgery, it will be so much harder to fit in all those great nutrients, which is why we need to have more nutrient dense foods to fuel our bodies. The amount you need to eat per day depends on what your Height and Weight is.

The good news is that this doesn't have to be in Protein shake form. You can do it just with diet. If you have a dietician, it's worth chatting to them about other ways to get your daily protein in. Some people just find the shakes easier. Others are happy eating it in their daily food.

Below are a bunch of foods high in protein, you can make amazing meals with these and get all your daily protein without using shakes

1) Beef Skirt Steak: 26.7 g Protein Per 100 g
2) Chicken Breast: 23.1 g Protein Per 100 g
3) Canned Tuna: 23.6 g Protein Per 100 g
4) Lean Pork Chop: 22.4 g Protein Per 100 g
5) Sockeye Salmon: 21.3 g Protein Per 100 g
6) Lentils: 25.8 g Protein Per 100 g
7) Shrimp: 20.3 g Protein Per 100 g
? Sardines: 20.9 g Protein Per 100 g
9) Lamb Chop: 20.4 g Protein Per 100 g
10) Cocoa: 20 g Protein Per 100 g
11) Cod: 17.9 g Protein Per 100 g
12) Cheddar Cheese: 24.9 g Protein Per 100 g
13) Pumpkin Seeds: 18.5 g Protein Per 100 g
14) Beef Jerky: 33.2 g Protein Per 100 g (Dont know if we can eat this)
15) Nutritional Yeast: 50 g Protein Per 100 g
16) Turkey Breast: 24.6 g Protein Per 100 g
17) Parmesan Cheese: 35.8 g Protein Per 100 g
18) Whey Protein: 70 g Protein Per 100 g
19) Dried Squid: 72 g Protein Per 100 g
20) Mackerel: 18.6 g Protein Per 100 g'

Then there's also things like Peas, Spinach, Kale, Broccoli, Sprouts, Mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, Edamame, Sweet corn, Winter Squash and Yummy Avocados.

Hope this helps

Hello, I had bypass a little over 7 months ago. I still drink a protein shake everyday. Otherwise, I have to eat NON stop ALL day to hit my protein goal. I am not a breakfast person, so I actually don't mind just grabbing it for breakfast to give my protein a boost right out of the gate.

You can stop drinking them whenever you want, you just need to maintain your protein goals.

Vitamins depends solely on the vitamins and your blood work.

I take a "1 a day" bariatric multi vitamin and calcium each day. Vitamin at breakfast and calcium at lunch. So far so good with blood work but I am early out so we will see how it worked out in a few months at my 1 year blood work.

I’m 2yrs out from sleeve to bypass revision and still drink a protein shake most days in my coffee. Do what works for you and is acceptable with your surgical team.

at 7.5 years out, I still have a protein shake almost every morning as my morning snack. However, we discovered early on that I malabsorb protein, so I have to have at least 100 grams a day to keep my prealbumin level from tanking. I *can* reach that through food, but if I have that morning shake, I know I'll always make my goal and i don't have to worry all day about whether or not I'm making my protein goal. I'd rather have that shake and not be thinking about protein all day...

In the beginning, I added unflavored protein powder to things I drank and/or ate.

1 yr 3 months later, I still have have problems meeting my protein requirements so I can't stop. So far the only protein shake I like is RTD Koia plant protein shake in chocolate banana. Unfortunately, it is too expensive for me to drink every day, so I still add protein powder to my coffee in the morning. Recently, I like Syntrax chocolate truffle.

I'm another who can't tolerate protein shakes post-op. They're just too sweet. There's one brand I can stomach (BSc Clean Vegan), but I only drink it occasionally when I want to hit most of my protein in one "meal", and I definitely don't enjoy it. Instead I drink protein water throughout the day to supplement my food-based intake.

Adding unflavoured powder to soups etc was basically like adding mud. Completely inedible. It's probably a different story with whey protein, but plant-based protein powder needs a lot of flavouring and help to be palatable.

It's strange how the taste buds change, as I was absolutely fine drinking protein shakes before my bypass. The tolerance for them hasn't come back, and I'm over a year post-op now.

I was drinking at least two protein shakes per day for the first five months after my surgery. Since I couldn't drink dairy I have found some non dairy yogurts. i have slowly stopped drinking my shakes because I have found food is better for me. I just recently found I can drink whey isolate protein water so I sometimes have one of those per day. That way I get my water and some protein in if needed. I track my food intake to make sure to get my protein in and if I'm lacking in protein then I grab a protein water so I don't have to worry about the shakes anymore.

I talked to my doctor about this & you CAN drop your shakes as long as you're able to still replace that protein w something else!

I'm almost four months post op and I still have two shakes per day in the form of proffees. I can't afford to stop them. I hit higher protein goals because I do cardio/strength training five days per week and I couldn't eat that much protein from solid foods. As for vitamins, I will never stop taking them. My surgeon stressed how important it was to prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies by staying on top of my supplements, (and having regular blood tests) because once they occur it's much harder to bring the levels back up, so it's just not worth going against that medical advice. I trusted my surgeon enough to operate on my body, so surely I'm going to trust her advice on preventing V&D deficiencies so I will follow her advice forever.

To the OP: I would say that life is probably easier for you post op in many ways after losing weight, the trade off is your guts have been rerouted, and you can't compromise on supplements and protein. Have you had your vitamin and minerals checked via blood test? Talk to your team and see if they approve these changes, take their advice firstly because they know your medical needs.

Best wishes!

On 11/12/2022 at 6:42 AM, I♡BypassedMyPhatAss♡ said:

I'm almost four months post op and I still have two shakes per day in the form of proffees. I can't afford to stop them. I hit higher Protein goals because I do cardio/strength training five days per week and I couldn't eat that much protein from solid foods. As for Vitamins, I will never stop taking them. My surgeon stressed how important it was to prevent Vitamin and mineral deficiencies by staying on top of my supplements, (and having regular blood tests) because once they occur it's much harder to bring the levels back up, so it's just not worth going against that medical advice. I trusted my surgeon enough to operate on my body, so surely I'm going to trust her advice on preventing V&D deficiencies so I will follow her advice forever.

To the OP: I would say that life is probably easier for you post op in many ways after losing weight, the trade off is your guts have been rerouted, and you can't compromise on supplements and protein. Have you had your vitamin and minerals checked via blood test? Talk to your team and see if they approve these changes, take their advice firstly because they know your medical needs.

Best wishes!

I Love this and agree, I also appreciate the post up above the protein breakdowns in different foods. I do not do protein shakes everyday but that means I am ensuring I am hitting my protein goals. I love Protein yogurts like the Oikos triple zero brand-can add additional protein powders here; I also add unflavored protein or vanilla flavored protein to my oatmeal ( I love oatmeal in colder weather months fiber + protein)-this can get me to close to 40 grams of protein in the morning . You may need to meal prep to ensure you are getting what you need till you can eyeball it and know. Also, Vitamins are KEY.

Edited November 15, 20223 yr by Therese22