I think protein for lunch and dinner should be easy but what do you eat for breakfast everyday? I am used to eating oatmeal nearly every morning now but what about after I am banded, is it still ok to eat oatmeal and maybe a protein shake? Help me out. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.:tt2:

Yes, you can eat oatmeal and drink a shake, although that may end up being too much food for you after you're filled. A lot of people put plain Protein powder in their oatmeal (I prefer the plain, unflavored soy protein). In order to make sure I get protein in for breakfast, I end up eating non-traditional breakfast meals. I'll eat some hummus or I'll eat some chicken. I know it sounds weird, but I don't let the fact that it's "breakfast time" dictate what type of food I eat. That being said, as I get fills, I will have to adjust accordingly because my tightness level will likely be higher in the mornings (as it is with lots of folks).

So, if you're looking for traditional breakfast meals, you can try oatmeal with Protein Powder, eggs, cream of wheat with protein powder, Cereal with milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, or a protein shake.

Two eggs. Scrambled or soft boiled. 1/2 small banana.

1/3 cup of lowfat cottage cheese and 4 large strawberries.

1 packet of Quaker Weight Control high Protein oatmeal with extra 1/2 scoop protein powder and 3 peeled grapefruit sections.

If I have time, I also make cream of wheat with 1/2 skim milk and 1/2 vanilla slim fast. I add a touch of cinnamon, protein powder and vanilla. It's delicious. Even my husband likes it.

One high protein shake with fruit (after a fill or if I'm not feeling well ONLY.)

I put low carb vanilla slim fast in my coffee for a little extra protien

I rotate these out so I don't get bored eating the same thing.

Those are some great ideas. I was thinking that you can't eat eggs everyday, cholesterol and all that. And protein shakes all the time would be boring and probably not make you feel full. While I don't see myself eating chicken for breakfast that is a good idea for the protein. Cottage cheese is good. And adding protein power to the oatmeal sounds good too. Does protein powder have any taste to it?

You can get protein powder without flavor. Be sure to buy whey isolate. It's better tolerated by bariatric patients. I order mine online at Bariatriceating.com. They have TONS of stuff special for us. It's very high quality and they ship to your door. the unflavored you can put in gravy, soup, all kinds of stuff.

Now I don't have much restriction yet, so my choices may change as a result of the next fill or two, but for now these are my standard breakfast choices:

• Eggbeaters or eggwhite omelet (1/4-1/2c) with cheese (1oz) or cottage cheese (1/8-1/4c) and 1/4c veg
  
• One or two scrambled hard-boiled eggs and a little fruit
  
• Scrambled egg and cheese and salsa or chopped tomato/onion wrapped in mountain bread
  
• Egg salad in lettuce leafs
  
• Egg sandwich: fried egg, 1/2 oz cheese, morningstar vegie sausage patty, in a mini pita
  
• Kashi oatmeal (has 9 g protein)
  
• 1/4-1/2c Kashi GoLean or Fiber one mixed with an equal amount of Fage or Oikos greek yogurt (greek yogurt has ~20g protein/cup) and a tiny bit of honey
  
• Crustless muffin-tin quiche which has egg, cheese, vegies, and maybe crumbled up vegie sausage patty
  
• cottage cheese pancakes (very rare!)

Hope that helps :-)

A protein shake, and then usually a latte. Protein, and more protein.

When I get sick of eggs and my protein shakes, I like to have a small bowl of non-fat Greek yogurt, sweetened with a bit of Splenda, mixed in with a few slices of banana, and a small handful of high protein flaxseed cereal added in for texture. Yum! Sweet, creamy, crunchy, high protein, low fat and perfect for those "tight" mornings when nothing much seems to want to go down!

That sounds so good, citygirl. I love yogurt, and bananas. I think I will have to take a trip to Trader Joe's this weekend and pick up some greek yogurt. I've never had it, just 'normal' plain yogurt, but I keep hearing about the greek yogurt. Yum!

This may not be the breakfast your doctor would want you to have, but I have coffee with a good dose of skim milk and a Pure Protein bar. Mid-morning, I may have a Medifast shake (yeah I know they're not great tasting, but I have a bunch of 'em left over).

I love greek yogurt, I'm going to try the banana with flaxseed combination, sounds healthy...splenda is good or you can try a little bit of honey drizzled over the top..

Breakfast can be a little more difficult time to get the protein in...sometimes I make breakwhiches: Take 2 slices whole grain bread (believe it or not, Vons nut and seed bread is fabulous)spread each with a thin layer of no fat or low fat cream cheese,add a couple slices lox to 1 side topped with cut up green onions (or you can use salmon) then make sandwhich, smush down a little bit to flatten, cut off the crust, then spray pan with oil, put sandwhich in and grill both sides till golden brown...cut in half and enjoy...usually in the morning it's hard to eat right away so I sip hot green tea about a half hour before I eat, that way it won't be so tight and less chance of pbing..