Hello! I'm being banded on 6/5, this friday 5/29 I'm supposed to start my pre op diet that includes protein shakes and some other stuff ... BUT, I have never in my life had a protein drink so I'm wondering what some good ones are with high protein, taste decent and that are a decent price. I'm gonna have to stock up on them anyway for post op so I figured I would get a head start on buying them now.

Thanks for any input!

GNC carries quite a selection. My doctor had me on whey protein pre-op because he said that helps to shrink your liver. Have no way of knowing if that's true, but I drank whey protein shakes. GNC will often let you taste stuff. I'll tell you that chocolate is best, regardless of what it is, LOL. The strawberry flavored stuff is SOOOO fake tasting. Some like the vanilla but I didn't. I mixed mine with skim milk and they actually weren't bad.

I really dislike protein drinks so I've been using Sugar free Carnation Instant Breakfast. It has 13 grams of protein with milk, not a ton but Ok by my Dr. and it's pretty good.

I tried many of them and couldn't stand any that I tried including EAS, Ensure, Slim Fast, Adkins, none of them. My nutritionist gave me a chocolate Boost to try. It sat in my fridge for 3 weeks (this was about a month 1/2 before surgery). I was sure I'd hate it. Finally I tried it.

I LOVE Boost! It has by far the best taste I've found.

I love the chocolate best, but vanilla is good too. I haven't tried strawberry because I'm not a big strawberry person except for fresh berries. And they have butter pecan which I tried, it was ok, but a little sweet for me.

The regular Boost have 10 g Protein. They have high protein Boost too with 15 g protein. I can't taste any difference between the two types.

Here is what I do to get my protein:

I make a Protein frappucino every morning. I like coffee but if I drink that, then I dont have time to eat also since you cant eat and drink at the same time, so....I make a frappucino instead. It keeps me full for a least 2-3 hours. In my magic bullet:

ice

about a cup of milk

scoop unflavored protein (Jay Robb is good)

chocolate syrup (I like Hersheys Dark Chocolate)

Instant coffee

Splenda (been using the hazelnut flavored ones)

Peanut Butter (lately I have been adding about a tablespoon for a bit of variety)

New Whey 42 gram protein bullets...I like the fruit punch the best and mix it with sugar free gatorade of the same flavor. You could mix with sugar free kool-aid or crystal light and have the same effect

Oh my gosh this thread was so helpful, thanks all! I start the liquid protien preop diet today. I am worried about being hungery and calorie count. My doc put me on the preop diet for 2week before surgery 6/8. I have stocked up on all sort of protien drinks yet haven't tried any yet. I guess the next few days will be the hardest. Oh the calories on this preop the shakes are 170calories or 100cal then one low fat meal a day. The nutrionist said I could have little snake like nuts or fruit veggies but this diet seems to keep the calories 1000 or less, isn't that bad? After banding I understand the gradual diet change clears 2days then liquid protien for 7days then soft. I wonder is anyone else doing this same thing and worried about the complete drop in calories on your metabolise and working out with that little calories, I will just have to see how I feel by friday when I go in for blood work and all the pre op stuff.

Syntha-6 is an excellent tasting Protein shake. It comes in strawberry, cookies & cream, banana (all of which ive tried and loved) as well as chocolate peanut butter, vanilla, mochaccinno, caramel latte (all of which ive not tried). Ive tried some other brands but nothing ive tasted is as good so far and it still meets all the requirements of my dietician.

I've recently picked up a vanilla flavored whey protein mix. The center that I'm going through recommends adding extracts to the powder and blending with 1 cup crushed ice (no added liquids). I went to the grocery store and picked up orange, peppermint, and rootbeer extracts. I will say that I haven't tried these yet, but they seem promising. =) Good luck!