Would appreciate your opinions, please! Protein!

Hi all

I am just about 4 months post- op and have lost 49 lbs since surgery. I am 54, 5'9". Throughput this journey I have been fortunate to have little or no appetite, have followed plan (98%) of the time, working out 2x a week doing weights, and walking each day.

My challenge has been getting in enough protein. I have been about 35-40grams of protein daily, 400-450 calories daily. Water has been a bit shy of the goals.

Only weight loss has slowed to about a pound a week and I am concerned my honeymoon is over already. This week, after some kind advice from Ginny and shirAl, I have tried to up my protein. I am now at about 60-65 grams a day, also adding more water.

My mind is struggling though to be eating more and feeling like I am falling back into old habits. ( I know it is really not more) and I am trying to understand the reason why my body needs more protein to lose more. I am also feeling so full.

Can anyone help me with this. Did you find adding protein increased your weight loss? Did you feel like it was too much? Am I eating enough? How long does the honeymoon last? Will I start losing again?

thank you all, I think I may be panicking. Any advise / words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

You are not past your honeymoon if you are losing a pound a week. There is a Post Op Planner in the Resources tab at the top of this page that will give you realistic expectation of what weight loss to expect each month.

Adding more protein will not make you lose more weight. More protein and more water will help your body to stay healthier.

Many people drop to about five pounds a month after the first few months of rapid loss after surgery.

Thank you for your quick response and the reassurance. I looked at the op planner, I am hoping to exceed the "averages" , I see other on this forum have done so well. Thanks so much.

At 4 months out there is no reason you shouldn't be getting the required 60/80g of protein in. Most people aim for the higher end and eventually I was at around 100g a day.

I drank a protein drink or shake daily the first 2 years. I always made sure they had 25-30g protein.

If you have a shake and then three more meals with 15-20g protein you would easily make your numbers

your calories are pretty low for 4 months out, so there probably isn't enough to get it in if that is a number you are trying to stick to. My protein number was always first priority even over my calories.

I suggest visiting the daily menu threads to see what other people are eating for suggestions.

Thank you for your reply and thoughts. I really hate protein powders and shakes but I have been sucking it up this past week and drinking them anyways. You are right, it should be easy to get it in. I just need to do it.

I will start posting my menus on the forum, I do read it every day and there are some great ideas and lesson to be learnt.

I am definitely trying to focus on the protein and not the calories I am fortunate is some ways that I really struggle to eat much, my sleeve is working!

thanjs for you advise it is really appreciated

About the protein powders and shakes. I hated them too. In the beginning I would mix them with just enough water to make them liquid and then just slam them like I would a shot. So there is always that option.

Also though I eventually found a shake I completely LOVE and was able to stick with that one. I still will have one occasionally.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but there are a couple of OH members who have their own web pages/businesses. I believe they both have different ideas for shakes but Bariatric Foodie had a motto: "There's no excuse for bad protein shakes" or something similar. I'm sorry I don't have the link, hopefully someone can provide it. The other one is "the world according to eggface" which has a LOT of helps as well. Melting Mama or Bariatric Bad Girls used to also be helpful but I haven't been there for many years so not sure it is even active anymore.

Hopefully someone can help me with the links. I can't grab them from here. But the bottom line is don't give up. Help is out there but sometimes you have to dig a bit =)

Thank you so much. I will search around and see if I can find other options. I agree, there has to be a way around this. Appreciate your message and follow up.

While the protein isn't going to spark faster loss, it is needed by your body to be healthy. But I have found that I lose more and feel better when I get 80-100 oz of water a day. Some of that is tea and I could in my shakes that I make with water. It just helps to keep things moving in your body.

Thank you so much for your response. I will try some protein in tea. And more water. Appreciate it.

Early on I had trouble with room temperature liquids (everybody is different) so I drank alot of herbal tea and ate alot of SF popsicles. They count as liquid and may be easier to ingest.