Topic of the day - Protein!

We all know how extremely important reaching our protein goal is at all stages of our journey. For some, this is an easy task. However, for others, the idea of reaching that goal seems so far out of reach. So how do you do it? What are some ways you have found, or even some products you have found, that help you get to where you need to be?

For me, after surgery I could not stand the protein shakes anymore. I don't know if it was just because I drank so many preop, or that my taste buds really changed that much. It did not matter the flavor, it was all about the consistency!! And the unflavored, FORGET ABOUT IT! The only protein shakes I can really tolerate are the Atkins Advantage. They are not as bulky and the taste is light. Otherwise, I focus on foods high in protein. I eat all different kinds of meat and I try to sneak beans in all over the place. I also like quinoa which gives me a protein boost while adding some kind of variety to my meals. For snacks, I try to focus on protein rich snacks while occasionally throwing in some fruit. String cheese and cottage cheese are my usual go-to protein snacks!! I am pretty good about hitting my goal, however just like everyone else, my pouchie just has those days where she wants nothing to do with food!!

You're not unusual in the things you're saying about protein shakes, especially right after post-op. Things I loved pre-op totally turned my stomach post-op, but it does come back eventually.

Greek yogurt has a lot of protein - plain it's like eating sour cream (blech), but I add sugar-free or no-added fruit or sf jelly - it has a nice consistency and is easy to get down. I'm sure your pouch is still sensitive and even after 4 years out Miss Prissy Pouch can still give me a fit at times!

If you don't like the shakes you can always add unflavored protein powder to yogurt or pudding and it mixes in pretty well. I had a very hard time with real fruit for the first year - just hard to digest and usually caused me to dump. Much better now. Same for most meats - took me a long time to be able to digest chicken or dense beef - I stuck mostly with ground beef.

Like you, I did not much care for the protein stuff, found that making it like a smoothie, adding a few frozen strawberries or part of a banana, peanut butter and sugar free chocolate syrup helped me in the early phase of it all. . .  now I add the unflavored protein to my dreamfields mac n cheese, so that a 3 x 3 piece which is about 3/4 of cup has enough protein in it to be my meal, with maybe a little side salad for roughage, however, I am much further along than you and can eat more, meaning my pouch is not the same size it was at 4.5 months (lol). . .

I love quinoa and very often use it where I would have used rice in the past.  I always keep cheese on hand, protein bars in my purse, beef jerky in my car, in case I'm on the run and need a meal.

I recently found at Aldi's a Chocolate covered coconut bar with 1 gram of sugar, 7 sugar alcohols and 5 grams of protein, it has 12 grams of fat, but my fat intake is hardly ever an issue, it also has 19 carbs, but 9 grams of fiber, so that reduces the carb intake to actually 10.  It is touted as being an Atkins like bar.

Have a great day, thanks for another good topic

I still rely on a protein shake for breakfast, to jump start my intake for the day. I use the Premier Protein ready to drink shakes from Costco.

At other meals I do frontload with protein ` seafood and chicken mostly. I have red meat about once every 2 months or so.

I occasionally have a hard boiled egg (no other type of eggs agrees with me), cheese, and dailry such as cottage cheese or greek yogurt.

Not too exciting, but I tend to be a very simple eater!

At almost 5 years out, I have no issues with meeting my protein goals with "real" food, like meats, cheese and other dairy.  I don't use protein shakes any more because of cost and satisfaction level.  I like to chew!  LOL.  I was thinking of using protein bars again for lunches when I want to run out to an OA meeting and don't have time to eat a full lunch.
 

    I still do atleast two protein drinks a day.  One for breakfast with some fruit in it and usually have
a Syntrax Nectar protein later in the day or evening.  I still can't eat enough to get all my protein in
with food alone.