I was wondering if anyone knew of good ways to try various different brands and flavors of protein shakes/powders/etc without going broke? I'm looking for samples, small sizes, etc but haven't found a lot yet. I want to make sure I have something I can stomach after I get banded without spending a fortune on stuff I'll throw away to find it first!

You do know that many surgeons have a specific shake they prefer? or if not that, they have a range of cal/carb/protein/fat they want it to fall into.

You should first find out from your doc or nutritionist if they have any guidelines they want you to follow. That's a great start.

You can go to gnc and try different types of protein. They don't usually carry too many sample sizes, but they do have a very generous return policy. You can buy and try, and if you don't like it, bring it back and try something else. I have tried just about everything at my local gnc and finally settled on isopure zero carb protein drinks in the glass bottles. I like the grape frost flavor. Unjury.com has sample size packets. I personally didn't like the unjury protein though.

I agree with RM. Some docs are very specific about what brand they want you to have. Mine just said for post-op IF I needed to take one, try to make it low carb high protein.

You can go to cytosport.com, they are the makers of muscle milk (my fav shake) and if you send them an email saying you'd like to try samples, they'll send you a few packs in the mail for free including shipping.

Well the doctor didnt say I had to go with a specific brand. In fact at the info session they said to try different ones and see what we liked.

You can go to GNC and try different types of Protein. They don't usually carry too many sample sizes, but they do have a very generous return policy. You can buy and try, and if you don't like it, bring it back and try something else. I have tried just about everything at my local gnc and finally settled on isopure zero carb protein drinks in the glass bottles. I like the grape frost flavor. unjury.com has sample size packets. I personally didn't like the unjury protein though.

I would also suggest GNC. They will take back opened Protein powder. They also are getting in new ones all the time. If you like thick chocolate they have a new one for women called BeBuff.

There are some wonderful protein powders out there and it seems that everyone's taste is different but I have had no problem returning some I have tried. A lot of people on the forum seems to like Isopure but it made me gag literally. I love Syntrax brand powders called Nectar. I think they taste fabulous. I like the truffle in the morning with skim milk and I drink the lemonade with water in the afternoon. The truffle with 6 oz is about 25 grams of protein and the lemonade is about 15 grams.

Hello I am waiting for my last doctor consult, but enjoy reading the post.

Just be careful of cheap protien..You will know if you bought some. It will make u very gassy which is very painful. When I use to bodybuild I tried many different types of protien and it's difficult find one u like. It seems the body would like one type of protien for awhile then start rejecting.

A talk to one of my old trainers and asked why the whey protien is getting so expensive. He stated the companies are shipping the good protien overseas..so now an average tub of whey protien cost us about 45.00+

hope it helps..

I use these, they give a pretty good discount if you buy in bulk. They're pretty tasty too, they're the highest protein/lowest everything else I could find and easy to take since it's only 3 oz. for 45 g of protein.

In my first week, I went into Vitamin World and bought a variety of shakes that they had individually in the refrigerated section. It was more expensive initially, but it let me taste each brand before I bought a multi-pack.

I really ended up liking Muscle Milk and I loved that they sell it at costco. Costco even has a $6 off coupon right now.