I got banded on 9/14. A month before the surgery, my surgeon's nurse put me on the pre-op diet (before I even had a surgery date). I took a week off the diet, then was on it again for another two weeks. So for a total of three weeks before surgery, I subsisted on two Protein shakes a day, with a small protein and veggie meal for dinner. I was ok with that.

It is now 11 days after surgery, and I just cannot bring myself to drink these things anymore. I don't start pureed foods until Monday, and I am freaking out because I have no variety in what I eat. I want something with some texture! The only foods I get with any calories are cream Soups, pudding, and Protein Shakes. I am getting to the point where the thought of drinking a shake makes me want to gag. They're gritty and artificial tasting. I wish plain milk had enough protein to get me by. I could drink that all day long.

The Protein Shake I'm currently using is Isopure dutch chocolate. I mix one scoop with 8 ounces of milk. I drink two shakes a day, but yesterday I couldn't bring myself to drink the second one. I did manage to drink one at lunch today. What else can I try? I just need to get by until Monday, when I can start eating some pureed meat and not have to drink this junk anymore.

I use chocolate unjury. I mix it with 8 oz of fat free milk, put a tablespoon of reduced fat peanut butter, and away I go. It's delicious. With just the unjury & milk it's right at 28 grams of protein & 180 calories.

I drink EAS Lite shakes. They are higher calories than what my doctor wants in a shake, but they taste better. There's 20 grams of protein in them and the chocolate ones are great. I dont buy the powder. I buy the pre-mixed ones. They are a little pricey, but it's worth it to me. You get 4 for 8 bucks. If you get them at sames, you get 18 for 25. Wal-mart carries them with the diet/diabetic drinks.

Cooley,

I was banded on the 14th as well. I know where you are at! (pardon my grammar)

I started mushies this week though. I so much want to CHEW something!

I did the pre diet using Carnation Instant lite (chocolate, of course) and that was perfect for me. Filled me up, satisfied my need for chocolate, was smooth and creamy. But it's only 13 g. Protein. So dear hubby, who is trying to do this along side me, sans surgery because he only needs to lose 20 lbs., found EAS lite which has 20 g. I do not like them as much, they are sweeter, thinner and just don't sit on the tummy as well. We buy them by the case at the local warehouse club (BJ's, PriceClub. costco, Sam's....). Yesterday I had to ask my father in law to go with me to buy them because I can't lift the carton yet. The things we do....

Anyhow. I'm even having trouble finding mushies to enjoy. Adding Protein Powder to mashed potatoes or Soup ruins the flavor. It's supposed to be unflavored, but you taste it believe me! So far I'm eating a lot of one scrambled egg with 1/2 cut fat free cottage cheese or a can of Underwood chicken salad. (So far the store has only offered chicken or ham, though the label says they have barbecued chicken and roast beef.) It gets old after a while.

The best thing I've had is a Tropical smoothie with soy protein. Either they didn't add the protein or you really can't taste it. Of course I don't know how much protein they add. I can't find it on the website, though if you go there you will see that they have several smoothies with 20+ g. protein.

Tropical Smoothie recently updated their menus, but my son used to work there and he told me they keep the receipes from the old menu. So if you have a favorite they've removed from the menu just ask nicely and they may make it for you anyhow. Same with substitutions and deletions. I hate bananas, so I ask them to leave them out. And of course ALWAYS ask for Splenda instead of sugar.

It's a nice treat now and then.

Anyhow, you're not alone, and I'm sorry I don't have any solutions for you. The only thing I keep telling myself is "this too, shall pass."

Keep your chin up!

I went out and purchased one of those Magic Bullet mixers. It comes with four individual larger cups that you mix in directly. I pour in 8 oz of non fat milk, 1 scoop of chocolate unjury and then fill it to the top with ice cubes. Screw on the blade base and press it into the power base for about a minute.

The result is a smooth thick chocolate milkshake that is delicious and very filling. And the bonus is that you drink it out of the cup you use to make it in. Easy cleanup.

Like you I was so tired of the shakes and the taste until I started making them like this.

Anyone else try this?

Ron

I am getting to the point where the thought of drinking a shake makes me want to gag. They're gritty and artificial tasting. I wish plain milk had enough Protein to get me by. I could drink that all day long.

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I only drank 1/2 of one regular protein shake and decided there was no way I was doing that. I used the New whey protein bullets. They are about $3.50 each at GNC but each one has 42g of protein and it is only 3 oz, so you can drink it in 3-5 sips. It was very easy to get down. They are kind of thick and taste like a sweet tart. Some people who use them mix them with Crystal Lite, but I drank it straight. I just found it easier that way. You only need to get through tonight and tomorrow, so no more than 3 are needed.

When I started mushies, I at refried bean with reduced fat cheese and ff sour cream. I also like taco soup. I would put it in the food processor with a small amount of beef broth and mush it up. It was very tasty and filling. You can also eat many things that other people are eating as long as you blend it up and it doesn't look too unappealing to you.

Thanks for the great suggestions and encouragement! I didn't want to sound whiny, but man, those shakes were starting to make me gag. Blending them with some ice and other yummy additives may be just what I need.

What a great idea to blend up some taco soup! I still have some in the freezer from the big batch I made up a couple of months ago. I have been craving something spicy.

It sounds like unjury and EAS are pretty popular around here. I looked for them last time I was at Walmart, and all I could find was all that Trimspa and 5-hour Energy junk. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place, though. I guess a trip to GNC is in order. I can have a look at those Protein bullets too. They sound interesting. Do any of you folks use the soy protein shakes? Due to allergy reasons I will discuss below, I may need to switch to one of those.

It turns out that I might actually be allergic to the whey protein. I've been fighting an allergic reaction since my surgery that we haven't been able to identify. I've cut out everything else that was new since the surgery (meds, foods, etc.), but I had a major resurgence Friday night and by Saturday morning; I was covered in hives literally from face to ankles. It was even on my hands and fingers! I had to go back to the doc-in-a-box for more steroids to get my immune system to stop. The only thing left that is different is the addition of protein shakes made with milk to my diet. I just went ahead and started mushies yesterday so I can cut out the protein shakes too. I can get enough protein from 6 oz of pureed chicken a day, which is easily doable if I split it into 2 oz portions for each meal. I haven't had any nausea or pain, so starting early hopefully won't have any side effects. I would rather barf from intolerable foods than die from anaphylaxis. Sigh, what a tradeoff.

I've been drinking Premier Nutrition Protein shakes. They're pre-mixed and they're wonderful Of course, I drink the chocolate too! They have 30 g of protein, 160 calories and only 3 g of fat. I get them at Costco and they also run about $2 each, but come in cases of 18. I highly recommend these and plan on drinking them after I go back to regular food. My husband is going to start too.

The shakes are SO GROSS!! My doctor gave me an Isopure Protein drink that tastes more like Gatoraid, and once I had that, I never touched the shakes again. You can get it at GNC.

You can see a photo of this drink in the 2nd photo on this post -- Chronicles from Band Land: Week 1 post-op: What I'm eating

Hang in there! :seeya:

Catherine

:cursing:I need to edit the info I posted this morning. The shakes at Costco are $24.00 for 18 and they have 1 gram of sugar (I think I said 3). Sorry for the misinformation.