PROTEIN SHAKES???

OK NYERS here is yet another protein shake post to ponder? I am finally coming down to crunch time, and I don't mean NESTLES CRUNCH, as my surgeons office is submitting for INS approval tomorrow. Time to get serious about loosing my 5% of my start weight which is about 14.5 lbs, not too bad. Ok now so here is the protein question. Today I purchased a barrell of this nasty looking vanillia flavored looking powder called MyoPro Whey Protein stuff. Alright so here is the actual question; With all of your experience out there in OH land how in the world do I make this stuff taste like something I might want to drink? So far the only way I some what like it is in a shaker with ice and skim milk or better yet in a blender. Mixing it withcoldwater is a bit nasty! Any suggestions? Thanks Kenny

HI KENNY! Just wanted to tell you i make my portein shakes pre and post op with HOOD carbcountdown milk products. I also add a packet of splenda and i crush some ice in them to get that malted texture. I make them in my blender. WHEN doing chocolate i also add chocolate extract to them to help BE creative! GOOD LUCK! i mostly now drinkg ADVANT Edge ready made shakes i get lazy to take out the blender and mix, Hope this helps lisa 310/187/???

Thanks Lisa I never thought of using choc extract good idea. One problem I'm having is crusing ice in the blender. So far all I do is make lots and lots of noise and I end up with abit of crushed ice and 3 or for round ice cubes? Is that the norm? Kenny

kenny- as someone who has tried several protein drinks the only ones i found i could stomache were designer protein (chocolate) and pure protein (chocolate or cappacino). both can be purchased at gnc or traders joes, traders joes is much cheaper. i use designer protein with either water or 1 percent milk and pure protein comes in cans. both of theses come in different flavors but the ones listed above are my personal favorites. good luck with your paper work. donna open rny mar 18 2003 282/140/135

Kenny, Try different protein shakes til you find ones you can like. Thee aren't many for me! I like the unjury Chocolate caause it tastes like rea chocolate milk, & make it with skim milk. I also like the Fuzzy Navel Nectar which I make with oj or diet splash & water. I invested in a machine to make my shakes, that crushes ice. It was only about $20.00 so I think it was a good investment! Linda

Kenny: I will address the 2 parts of your post seperately. First the weight loss preop. (not a question you posed but my support on how I framed this to do it for me!) WT LOSS BEFORE SURGERY/MOTIVATION/AVOIDING THE LAST SUPPER SYNDROME In our program we are required to loose 10% of our body wt before surgery.... Loosing weight pre-op is required by many surgeons & for many reasons... and I am so happy I did! 1.. to show motivation, 2.. ability to adhere to a plan (as we will need to for life!), if you can't be mindful and able to follow restrictions pre-op how will you do it post-op? 3.. to increase your health even a modest 5-10% wt. loss is very helpful, the National Institute of health has even researched this...(hence why weigh****chers is so focused on the 10% wt loss) 4.. decreases surgical complications (by exercise and decrease wt your heart and lungs are in better shape for surgery, anesthesia and healing!)... 5.. Also psychologically it is tough going from a super-sized big Mac meal to clear liquids for 2 weeks post-op! 6.. It helps shrink the liver and this eases their surgical procedure and decreases chance of nicking it.... 7.. exercising before helps you continue after! 8..The more you lose pre-op the less you will have to lose post-op and the closer to an ideal body-wt you will attain! I lost the weight by doing the food pyramid. That's it, I was eating so bad (fast food daily, large portions, consuming every high-fat/sugar thing imaginable and NOT exercising that just cutting down and walking 2 miles a day helped! For ME, it was "no one" was going to stop me from having this operation, it was my decision and all that was asked of me was to loose 30 lbs, I figured this is a small price for such a wonderful gift I would be given and the opportunity to have a healthier happier longer life....! I was so motivated/psyched; I dropped 30 pounds in 30 days and went on to drop 15 more before surgery! (Although this took me 2 months, as it got harder and I had a few last meals, we all do but you can't let this ruin your opportunity!) Exercise was another key; I faithfully walked 2 miles everyday..it helped that my mom went with me a lot! (a buddy is so helpful!) I followed the food pyramid given to me by clinical nutritionist Dr. Boham...I also wrote everything down (Many find www.fitday.com helpful for this) that went in my MOUTH!!! Or you can get food pyramid/bullseye version at: http://www.xenical.com/hcp/1400_Am_Beye.pdf I also had to remind myself how BAD I wanted this! Everyday it was/had to be more important to me to change my bad habits and lose weight to have this surgery than to continue to slowly kill myself with food/keep myself from the only hope I had!. I also told everyone about my plans and they helped support me, my friends/family and coworkers! I really can't give you any more guidance than this, it really had to come from within, it was a mindset with me, and I wanted this BAD real bad and I knew it was my last resort/chance! I felt invigorated and motivated by the end results...the long-term had to outweigh the short-term gratification of eating bad choices or overeating! It was a learning opportunity for me to change my habits and practice chewing well, not drinking with meals and eating smaller portions, giving up sugar/caffeine/carbonation/alcohol (if any of those are your issues, carbonation/caffeine/alcohol weren't issues for me)! So a few weeks/months of healthy habits to lose pre-op wt is not a lot if you frame it right! IT IS NOT FOREVER and it is about starting this journey! Choices have consequences I say.. the choice to lose it is up to you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now #2 protein shakes.... Protein shakes VARY widely in taste! I strongly urge you to order a whole bunch of samples from any of these sites to see WHAT YOU LIKE! The stuff in GNC/Wlamart etc is GROSS if you ask me! There are MUCH MUCH better proteins out there! I am not sure where you bought your tub of protein? IF at GNC their policy was always to take it back if you didn't like it in trade value wise for a nother kind. The best they carry (which is not great by my iopinion) is designer whey. *I* also recommend avoiding vanillas as it is probably the hardest protein to make tasty, chocolates are usually much better! (*with exception of 2 I found see below) MY #1 favorite is : I like PVL whey gourmet flavors the best, White chocolate, vanilla, raspberry, caramel dip, milk choclate, PB chocolate, blueberry, orange cremescicle....all are good I just don't have room for them all! LOL This is where I order it online: (2# tub $21.95 I think) http://www.a1nutritionproducts.com/buy/pvl/whey_gourmet Most 120 cal 23g protein a scoop 2.6 g carbs 2 g fat.... 15 Flavors to choose from and more to come! NEW Arctic Cappuccino Frappe NEW Creamy Dreamy Milk Chocolate NEW Radical Raspberry Smoothie Piña Colada Breeze Creamy Orangesicle Swirl Creamy Caramel Dip Dark Chocolate Mousse Mocha Java Madness Smooth Peanut Butter Chocolate Strawberry Banana Smoothy Blueberry Burst Chocolate Chip Mint Extreme Vanilla Ice Cream Royale Silky Smooth White Chocolate Rootbeer Float Cookies & Crème Supreme SAMPLES AT: http://tinyurl.com/9prnh $1.99/ea. My #2 fav is Champion pure whey stack: (Chocolate or banana scream, or mocha..strawberry is tolerable vanilla is GROSS!) Available 5# at: http://www24.netrition.com/champion_whey_stack_page.html or 2/5# at http://www.a1nutritionproducts.com/buy/champion_nutrition/pure_whey/2lb http://www.a1nutritionproducts.com/buy/champion_nutrition/pure_whey protein Samples first to try sites that sell!: http://www.vitalady.com/products-samples.htm Vitalady is well known in bariatric community a 10 yr postop herself, runs business w/ her hubby who is 9 yrs out also I beleive! (Champion and many more BUT she doesn't have PVL) http://tinyurl.com/9prnh This is a local NYers site Beth! She is great!(PVL or champion and many more) http://store.bariatriceating.com/sazecais.html http://www.wlssupplies.com/ The nectars are ok also (like a koolaid) I like apple, fuzzy navel, caribbean cooler, and lemonade) Didnt like very berry cherry or crystal sky. I recommend samples highly to save $ on tubs u will just throw away! The other okay/good vanilla is Labrada ProV60 vitalady and beth both have that for samples! Now i highly recommend buying a Magicbullet blender! NOTHING compares to this for smoothies/protein shakes! Perfect size also and quick clean up! I add 4 ice cubes, 1 scoop portein, 7 oz water maybe 2-3 strawberries a glug of a sf syrup and whizz it up! I also add my upcalD calicum citrate powder (available at vitalady or beths protein) in am and eve shakes. I also use ground flaxseed for constipation and fiber and omega uses in my shakes! Nutty flavor! www,buythebullet.com or many places such as target or wallgreeens.com has it free S&H, HSN also carries ift I beleive! WELL WORTH THE PRICE I had mine almost 2 yrs now! I threw away the blender and smoothie maker for this! Oh add things such as 1tsp sf/ff pudding powder 1tsp sf jello powder 1T creme cheese or Sour creme or yogurt to emulsify better extracts spices 1/4 cup pumpkin frozen berries (a few as they are low Glycemic index) I acvoid bananas due to sugar in em is higher) any of davincis or toranis or artisan sugar free syrups! I have 24 or more now! TJMAXX carries SF syrups and wlamart has vanilla and hazelnut sf in coffee section I also get online from beths or: http://www17.netrition.com/cgi/prices.cgi?manu_id=121 direct from davinicis!: SPRUCE UP PROTEIN SHAKES WITH Sugar-Free SYRUPS! Davinci now has 51 Sugar Free flavors! http://www.davincigourmet.com/788.html Almond Amaretto B-52 Banana Blueberry Butter Rum Butterscotch Caramel Cherry Chocolate Cinnamon Coconut Cola Cookie Dough Creme de Menthe Dulce de Leche Egg Nog English Toffee French Vanilla German Chocolate Cake Gingerbread Grape Green Apple Hazelnut Huckleberry Irish Cream KAHLUA® Flavored *NEW* Lemon Lime Lemon Lime Macadamia Nut Malibu Rum NEW Orange Pancake Peach Peanut Butter Peppermint Paddy *NEW* Pineapple Praline *NEW* Raspberry Root Beer Simple Sugar *NEW* Spice Blend Strawberry Toasted Hazelnut Toasted Marshmallow Vanilla Watermelon White Chocolate Torani has 23 Sugar Free flavors http://www.torani.com/create/fpsugarfree.shtml Sugar Free Almond Sugar Free Almond Roca® Sugar Free Black Cherry Sugar Free Caramel Sugar Free Chocolate Sugar Free Coconut Sugar Free Coffee Sugar Free English Toffee Sugar Free French Vanilla Sugar Free Hazelnut Sugar Free Irish Cream Sugar Free Lemon - NEW! Sugar Free Lime - NEW! Sugar Free Mango Sugar Free Orange Sugar Free Peach Sugar Free Peppermint - NEW! Sugar Free Raspberry Sugar Free Strawberry Sugar Free Vanilla Sugar Free Vanilla Bean -NEW! Sugar Free Watermelon - NEW! Sugar Free White Chocolate - NEW! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ARTISAN Sugar Free Flavored Syrups http://www.artisancoffeeroasters.com/syrups/index.html Almond Caramel Chai Chocolate Chocolate Raspberry Coconut Crème De Menthe French Vanilla Irish Crème Kalu Café Raspberry Vanilla Hazelnut Nature's Flavor's Low-Carb Syrups http://www.naturesflavors.com/default.php?cPath=39&sort=1a&&showall=1 Anise, Almond, Amaretto, Apple pie, Apple, Banana, Black Cherry, Blackberry, Bubblegum, Blueberry, Brown sugar, Butter Rum, Butterscotch, Cantaloupe, Caramel, Cherry Cola, Cherry, Cherry Vanilla, Cinnamon, Coconut, Coffee, Cotton Candy, Cranberry, Crème Soda, Eggnog, Ginger, Grape, Green Apple, Hazelnut, Honey, Kiwi, Lemon-Lime, Lemon Meringue, Lemon, Lemonade, Licorice, Lime, Mai-Tai, Mandarin Orange, Mango, Maraschino Cherry, Molasses, Orange, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Peach, Pecan, Peppermint, Pina Colada, Pineapple, Pink Bubble Gum, Pink Lemonade, Plum, Praline, Pumpkin Spice, Raspberry, Red Hot Cinnamon, Root Beer, Rum, Spearmint, Spiced Cider, Spiced Cranberry, Strawberry, Tropical Fruit Punch, Vanilla, Watermelon. Some sites to order from! http://www.vitalady.com http://www.netrition.com http://www.coffeeismydrugofchoice.com/syrupstorani.htm http://www.flavoredsyrups.net/ TAKE CARE! U CAN ENJOY THE SHAKES! I recommend NOT adding milk, it adds calories and sugar (milk sugar) may add to cravings/hunger. A good whey shake should be 1 scoop ~120 cal 0-3g fat 0-3g carbs, to help u absorb it should be a concentrate or isolate or blend, and predigested (at least for postop!) and reduce appettite! Take Care, Jamie Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh 320/163 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery) Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King "Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"

Hi Jamie your reply blew me away thanks for all the great information I can refer to this list often! Thanks again! Kenny

Kenny: AHH Sorry to 'blow you away' or overwhelm you, when I sent it was nice and neat w/ tables etc, OH seems to sqwi**** up (oh well) Feel free to email anytime! Have a great New Year and Joureny! Take Care, Jamie Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh 320/163 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery) Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King "Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"

WELL KENNY.... about the ice crushing in the blender. MY blender dose have a button designed for crushing the ice it does failry well but there is always one or two lart pieces that i scoop out with the spoon! BE creative. I have even thrown bananas in my shakes for the potassium. BE creative! LISA

Ok Great Lisa thanks for the great feedback! Kenny