quite curious about protein (what are you eating to get it all in)

Thanks Pam. i am finding (other than milk which is getting much better) i dont have any intolerances. at least not to meat. i just dont want to eat anything. I cant handle some cheeses, mostly soft cheeses and cottage cheese. those dont go down and stay down well. i will keep in mind what you said about milk. i want the nutrients so i will try and focus on denser protein. i am trying beef jerky today. i just am trying a little bit. and chewing till i am sick ot death of chewing. lol.

doenst get much denser than that.

(a few minutes later)

oh and i think i will put that on the back burner for another month or so. it is feeling heavy in my body. i am obviously not ready for beef jerky.

i think i will ask my mom to make her best pot of chili when i go to her house this weekend

thank you

My mornings are a bit hectic, so usually I have a Greek yogurt and a protein bar that get spread out over a few hours as a breakfast/snack hybrid. The protein bar has 20ish grams and the yogurt has around ten, so by lunch I'm halfway to 60. Then for lunch I'll usually have a little Tupperware of something I've made/slow cooked at home that is at least half protein (chili, egg roll in a bowl, curry chicken, beef and broccoli, etc), for a second snack I'll have an applesauce or something with a decent amount of fibre, and then when I get home I'll either have more of what I pre-made or bake a fish fillet or something. ...And sometimes I have a no-sugar-added popsicle as an extra snack before bed. XD

When I'm in a rush I'll get a microwave dinner from somewhere and just not eat the pasta/rice and try to drink a bit more water to balance out the sodium. One time I forgot my lunch at home, so I went and got a grilled chicken wrap by itself from a nearby fast food place and then took it apart and just ate the chicken.

The guide we got said to eat protein first, and then veggies and fruit and then grains and starch, but I'm pretty sure it's with the understanding that you may only end up eating the protein sometimes, so the way I try to think of it is that the protein is my actual meal, and the veggies I cook it with are like nutritional bonus points. They're not the goal per se, but they help.

That's what's worked for me so far, anyway. Not sure if you're at the point you can have protein bars yet, but at my post op class they said you could start trying them at the soft food stage. Usually one bar is supposed to be two snacks and not replace a meal, which is part of the reason why I do my weird breakfast/snack thing, cuz I don't want to leave a half-eaten protein bar sitting around for 4+ hours.

I dont eateat but still get 70-90 g a day of protein stuff i eat include:

I eat protein oatmeal (make overnight oats), skyr yogurt with berries, chickpeas, lentils, soy meatballs, 2 premier shakes a day (regardless), fruit shakes with frozen fruit, coffee shakes with egg whites, rice cakes with peanut butter, apple with peanut butter

That sounds Great Starnanae, i do eat meat but cant get shakes down. i am going to try again next week. i know they would help the protein levels immensely

the NUT suggested i stay of apples but i tell you i cant wait to have peanut butter and apple. it is a craving i have had for a while.

i was told not to just have peanut butter off the spoon. apparently i need something to go with it.

Not sure whythey advised agaisnt apples. Maybe at first peel them but i was having stewed apples on yogurt on pureed... i guess everyone is different? I eat apples with peel now lol

So my first instance with dumping syndrome was about 2 weeks after surgery and it was unsweetened applesauce. as well i think the NUT (who said steer clear) was concerned about that and the peel. so i asked if i could do the peel off she said wait a while. try fruit gradually. i have had fruit (frozen) in smoothies since then and i had a banana one day. i also had some grapes (peeled) all that went down well. i suppose i just loath dumping syndrom i get it quite disruptively. so i have been afraid to go back to apples.

Bananas made me dump at first. Only recently can i eat them again. I have two fruits a day. I LOOOOOVE grapes!! So does baby lol

At three months out, I was eating things like chicken salad, tuna salad. Some egg salad (eggs were and still can be hit and miss with me)

Cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese (you can try lactose free versions)

pork tenderloin and pork in general was the first dense protein I was really able to tolerate. Chicken was probably the last.

Firm tofu was good as well.

i was still having two premier protein shakes a day, which if you're having lactose issues, that's tricky. I tried some vegan pea based protein powders, but I found they tasted horrible.

i was also pretty conservative when introducing foods. I would have only an ounce or so, see how I reacted. The next day, try something else.

Keep trying, you'll find what works soon enough!

Thank you Insert Fitness, your words are wise and helpful.

i may have been taking it a bit fast i need to slow down.

i have grabbed some flavoured tinned tuna. i cant eat a whole tin yet but i can have about 3/4 of a small tin.

i should be having the permier protein shakes. i know. that is i think the main problem. is that i cant get that down. i am hoping that next week will change all that. and all the tips i have picked up from this thread.

so helpful

You sound like me. I had issues with food for a long time after surgery but thankfully I could handle shakes. I was having 2 per day. If you go to a place like GNC or popeyes (supplement store), they will have protein options there. There's protein pudding, protein water, lactose free types of protein powder that don't taste horrible or are gritty. I would go there to see if there is anything.

Theres also lactose free yogurt now.

I stuck to eggs and a bit of cheese. Scrambled egg and cheese - I couldn't eat a whole one either. I would eat about 1/2-3/4 of one. I got sick of eggs because that's really one of the only things I could eat. I only started eating chicken at 3 months out because it tasted nasty and the texture was brutal. I had to still gag it down because of those issues.

My NUT suggested I start beef/steak at 4.5 months out because I was having issues with chicken still.

It will get better. You have to force yourself and put a timer on. Weigh and measure everything so you don't upset your pouch. Listen to cues. :)