I have a question!

I had a doctor appointment on June 14th and everything went really great. My bloodwork all looks great except my protein is just a tiny bit too low. My doctor said it's not a big concern where it is now but he doesn't want it to continue to go down. It's so hard for me to get all my protein in, mainly because protein shakes make me feel sick and meats make me full after just a few bites. So for a couple months I've only been getting protein out of eggs and cheese. Soooo, my question is if I have a protein shake that says mix a scoop in 8 oz of water, and I mix it in 16 oz of water am I still getting the same nutritional value? Even if it's more diluted do I still get the 23 grams of protein? I've found that if I double the water, I'm more able to tolerate the protein shakes. Thanks in advance to anyone who answers. Leighann Lap RNY 11.5.04 275/166/130

Yep, as I understand it, you still get the protein as long as you don't cut it. I am the exact opposite, I like to use about 1/2 cup of milk, 1 scoop of powder and 7 ice cubes in my Magic Bullet blender. The only thing is that you can't take a long time to drink the protein or some of the nutritional value goes away the longer it sits around. Also, I've found that I if I use milk, I lose more weight than with water. Good luck. Alice From Dallas 11/10/04 285/183/175

This is why I like the protein supplement I use. It's called Profect (you can check it out via my www button at the bottom of my post here) I couldn't gag down regular shakes, I was having a heck of a time.. and there is NO way I can get all of my protein in from food daily. I still am not able to eat a whole lot. Anyway the Profect is less than 3 oz's and 25 g's of protein! Even if it tasted nasty, it's such a low amt of oz's it's doable. But it honestly tastes good! Not thick, not chalky, kinda tart! It can be cooked with, but I'm not much of a chef.. so the only other thing I've done besides slug it down is chop up some ice, pour it over and then it's like a slushee! Have a great day!

I agree!! Maybe if you used the milk instead, that would help!! For me, I can't do those protein drinks at all!! I used to be able to tolerate the Isopure, which I thought tasted like a koolaid, but now it makes me gag. After surgery, I couldn't tolerate any of them. So, I have been drinking the no sugar added carnation instant breakfasts, which with the milk included for an 8 ounce glass would be 12 protein, but I usually make it with 12 ounces so that it isn't as sweet. The sweet part is what bothers me! What about things like chili? Does that help to not fill you up as much? I know what you mean about the protein filling you up, although I can now eat about 2 1/2 ounces per sitting. Of course that means I am full before I can eat anything else, like veggies and such, but my dr wants all the protein eaten first....I eat eggs alot too, but the only way I can eat cheese at all is shredded on my meat. I can't just eat chunk cheese anymore. I used to love cheese! Have you tried the carnation instant breakfasts at all?? I know they aren't quite as many proteins as some of the others, but with 14 proteins (since I used the 12 ounces a milk, I add a couple more proteins to the total) if you had 2 a day, that would be an additional 28 proteins. This is the only way I didn't get severely nauseated. They are much more reasonably priced too then the protein shakes.

Hi Leighann, I was having trouble getting in all of my protein too until I finally found a mix that I could tolerate. Nectar Fuzzy Navel mixed with crystal light (peach tea, sunrise orange or ruby red grapefruit flavors). One thing to keep in mind with the shakes is that 1) you have to drink them w/in a 1/2 hour or they lose their potency and 2) We only absorb about 1/2 of the protein that is listed in a shake. I was told both of these things by my surgeon's office. So I only count 1/2 the value of the shake when I drink them (to be on the safe side). Also, you might be able to eat tofu easier than meat as its a bit less dense. Funny that you can handle eggs and cheese and not meat. I could eat very moist, soft meat a lot easier than eggs. It took me a long time to be able to handle eggs. For meat, perhaps try other cooking methods or other types of meat/fish? There is a great recipe in Susan Maria's book that I tried. It was a turkey meatloaf and it was super tasty and extremely moist.. moist enough for me to eat the leftovers for two days (I usually can't eat meat leftovers because it gets too rubbery). Hope this helps and good luck! Remember to keep trying meat/fish if you are not eating it regularly so you don't build up an intolerance to it. Jennifer