Can you help me out?

Good Evening! I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me out. I wanna get an idea of things that each of you eat at certain meals. Whats a good breakfast, lunch, dinner? How often do you drink protein? What is your favorite protein shake, bar, etc? Also, where is your favorite place to buy the protein. I tried one of the protein bars that someone gave me yesterday and I loved it! I am trying to get as much knowledge this week and trying to incorporate more post op way of life before hand. Thank you guys in advance! Love ya's! Nicole

Hi Nicole, I drink my protein mixed in the a.m. with International House Coffee, sugar free/caf. free. I mixed a scoop of Unjury unflavored. It's kinda on the expensive side. But I like it best so that what I use. In the eve. I mix it with Mocha/Latte Mix made with splenda that I order from Bariatric eating.com. I also eat a Southbeach bar that has 10 grams of protein at 3 pm everyday. The other sources come from the food I eat. It's always nice to see what other things people are eating and where they get there supplies from. Sometimes I feel like I am in a rut and sharing can really help. Susan

Nicole, Alot depends on what stage of eating you are at. Most folks are on pureed foods for a while post-op. I was for 10 weeks, I think. Early on, I ate a fair amount of tuna salad and chicken salad. Since it can be pureed easily and it's nice and moist. Moist food is a good friend. Once I got passed the pureed phase and onto solids... here are examples of my meals: Breakfast: Usually hard boiled eggs, deli meat and/or cheese, tuna salad, chicken salad, omelette, scrambled eggs Lunch: Usually leftover protein from previous night's dinner, deli meat and/or cheese, tuna salad, chicken salad, taco meat, chili, cheeseburger, etc, salad w/ meat on top Dinner: Protein (chicken breast, turkey, cheeseburger, chili, fish, pork, etc) usually with a marinade or gravy to keep it moist and a side of vegies (green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, etc) I don't do protein bars very often. The sugar alcohols can cause alot of painful gas for me. The Power Crunch bars don't have sugar alcohols so those work better for me. They are tasty. I do 3 protein shakes a day. I start the day off with one on my way to the gym or work. Then one mid-afternoon and one before bed. If I have a snack, it'll be afternoon timeframe...celery with some PB, a piece of cheese, something small but something to stick to the ribs and tide me over to dinner. Dpsnutrition.com has some of the best prices online for protein powders - also allstarhealth.com and they have flat shipping no matter how much you order. For protein samples, go to vitalady.com or bariatriceating.com or enjoyhealth.com - best to try samples to see what you like. My best advice on protein shakes is that what others like, you might not like and vice versa. Tastes are very personal and like you've probably read - what you like before surgery... you might not like after surgery. Often folks cannot handle sweet things (like shakes) right after surgery. It is interesting. Be creative with protein shakes. Some I don't care for by themselves but add additional things and I love them. Here are my favorites: Nectar Lemon Tea (mixed with water) Nectar Fuzzy Navel mixed with Crystal Light Orange Sunrise (bottled) Multi-Pro IDS Cinnamon Vanilla mixed with leftover chilled decaf coffee, half and half and a pkg of sweet-n-low (can you say latte!) Isopure Zero Carb Dutch Chocolate mixed with Hood Carbcountdown Chocolate "milk" (hubby mixes in a banana or PB with it for fun) Nectar Cappucino (mixed with water) Good luck to you, Kathy

For breakfast I either have low carb yogurt or cheese or rolled up ham, sometimes protein yogurt Lunch I try to eat protein meat and a little bit of veggies Ex: chicken salad or deli meat, leftovers sometimes,small salad w/ cheese and lunch meat Dinner has to be meat, chicken usually or hamburger, some fish and tender beef(this is after a couple months, before that i could not do it), small salad w/ lunchmeat in it and some cheese for protein. I have 2-3 protein shakes per day. Usually early morning, mid afternoon and bed time. I use supplementmarket.com to order Dymatize Elite. They have great flavors and it is 23 grms protein per serving. 77 servings is 26.95 w/ shipping. Cafe Mocha is my favorite. If i need a snack I am using celery w/ or w/o cheese. I was having a problem w/ chips and salsa so this gives me a crunch. Sometimes i have a few nuts. Hope this helps. I am still learning too so I cant wait to read all the responses. SHannon

Hi Shannon, What web site do you order you Cafe Mocha? I suppose you drink it warm? Rally need to find and alternitive source. Susan

I order it from supplementmarket.com. It is Dymatize Elite brand. I drink it cold w/ milk. It is like a treat for me. 30 gms of protein when mixed w/ milk. I may try heating it to see how it works. I have mixed w/ coffee before and it was good. PS good to hear from you roomie. Shannon

I have Nectar Fuzzy Navel for breakfast. I fix 32 oz of ice water at work (7:45) at 10 a.m. I fix another Nectar with left over icewater and drink it until noon. At lunch I have 1/2 c refried beans, OR 1/2 c cheesy grits, or 1 slice turkey roll and gravy (if work has it). I tried taco salad at work last week and I ate about 1/2 c mixed chips and chili. Some days I only have the Nectar and a few saltines. TODAY I am going whole hog and having some tuna/mayo at lunch. For dinner, I repeat the above. I recently added string cheese. I also really enjoy 1/2 c cottage cheese with a few olives and some V-8. I drink V-8 every day. I recently started eating Quakes and Soy crisps as a meal. I eat lots of sf jello w/some fat free yogurt w/splenda. And last night I had 1/2 hamburger patty in 2 installments. I LOVE Power Crunch bars! They are terrific! I also really like AchievOne drinks, but they are pricey. I also use Unjury in Crystal Lite as a change up from the Nectar. I like Matrix chocolate, but will not buy it anymore because I mix it with soy milk and end up with 170 calories. The Nectar and the Unjury are only 90, and 80 respectively. Good luck and nice seeing you this weekend! Lois

Where do you get a power crunch bar? Thanks Susan

I get the Power Crunch Bars at: store.bariatriceating.com NO 'www.' Lois

I like the protein powder that I buy at Wal-Mart. They are not bad at all. I am only 3 weeks post-op and can't get scrambled eggs to stay down. but poached eggs do well for breakfast. Cottage cheese in the blender does well to. I am still in the stage of trying out things. Threw up twice so far. Deli Turkey doesn't do well. And cat fish got stuck to. But bay shrimp with ****tail sauce does well to. So it's just trail and error. Good luck. Just go slow...... And drink your protein powder..... Hugs Ellie