Trouble getting protein in

Hey all,

I've been having some trouble getting my protein in and I saw one of the posts regarding some protein coffee, however, I'm not sure that's going to work out well for me.  (but I will be trying here in the next couple days).

My issues, the shakes are making me naseous, I make them with a scoop of protein powder and fat-free milk.  The meats are touch and go on whether they will settle right (or go down beyond the first bite).  

I'm just trying to find something new to experiment with to get things down a little easier especially since I need to get that protein in!  Thanks for any suggestions in advance 

I am with you on the shakes...bleck!!  I'm going to order an assortment of samples from Vita Lady so that I can try a bunch of different brands.  Everyone says that it is just hit or miss with protein powders...some will taste like monkey ass to some while the same stuff tastes like Hershey's chocolate syrup to others.  You just have to try a lot of different ones until you find the ones that don't make you want to yack :) 

In the mean time, you can check out the protein shake recipes from Egg Face http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ 

She is a bypass patient but her recipes are FAMOUS for being amazing and usually very high in protein.   She limits the fat though, because she's a bypass patient, but still, AMAZING!! I've made tons of her recipes, and I post them on my own blog, and they are all just awesome.  And her protein shakes are more like actual SHAKES, not milk and powder.  

Best of luck :) 

Since you are not having lactose issues, you might wanna try an unflavored protien supplement and just build a shake around it. You have your mil**** and maybe some strawberries or some low carb fruit and some splenda. Add a scoop or two of the unflavored protein and there you go.

Or you could use some flavored SF syrup, whatever floats your boat.

Dana

Have you tried Lori's shake or major mom's(Gina) protein coffee? I am not lactose intolerant, but use coffee as my base for shakes.

Sweetie, why are you using fat-free milk?  It has more carbs than whole milk or half and half?  Try a higher fat milk product.  I like to use Light cream and then some water to thin it out.

The protein coffee.  Gina's recipe is better than mine, but just to give you an idea of how it works, I make my protein shake with 8 ounces of light cream, 4 ounces of water, toss in the protein powder and shake (I use shaker bottles.)  Then I pour in coffee (like 8 ounces) and shake again.  It's really good.  Give it a go.

I tried something new to me the other day and liked it. It's a clear beverage, very lightly carbonated, called XAPP, from Designer Whey. 40 grams of protein per can, which is the size of an Arizona iced tea can or so. I found it at a GNC, where they had a pomegranate-something flavor and a grape-apple flavor, which is what I had. It had zero protein aftertaste and was pretty tasty.

I'm also enjoying an Isopure RTD smoothie. It's kinda pricey, but a nice change from powder sludge.

I don't much like shakes either, but I found that just drinking plain WHOLE MILK can really help fill in some protein gaps if you drink enough of it. I was drinking milk instead of water whenever my stomach was too irritated to eat much of anything else.

Please don't drink fat free milk, it's crap and not good for you since you've had the DS (you need all the fat and protein you can get!)

I have a few questions:

1.  Are you adequately hydrated?  How much are you drinking every single day?  Getting dehydrated makes it very difficult to eat and for foods to settle. 

2.  Why don't you think that the coffee shake will work for you?

3.  What foods are you eating?  Remember that meat is not the only protein.  Different meats settle differently for me, even 2 years out.  Steak will ALWAYS settle well for me, always.  Egg always sit well.  Ground beef and chicken do NOT always settle well - they have to be very moist.  So maybe adding in some sauces, gravies, and/or cheese with your meat will help.  Over easy eggs are ALWAYS my go to protein when things aren't sitting well.  I even add some melted cream cheese in there with them!  Sounds gross but tastes awesome!

4  WHY skim milk?  Dump that!  You need more fat in your foods.  I use heavy whipping cream in my shakes do NOT do anything to "lighten" it!

5.  Try a different brand of protein.  I am a Champion Pure Whey Stack girl.  It mixes well, doesn't have an icky whey taste/smell and tastes great.

Here is Lori's coffee shake recipe - Give it a shot and change it up to suit YOUR taste.  I don't add flavored syrup anymore b/c I found a coffee that I love. 

Okay there were a ton of questions asked by you all for me so I'm going to try to answer as many as possible.

Fat-free milk: Unfortunately I was drinking 2% before the surgery, they wanted me to drop it down to 1% which was all right, but there was a point where only 2% and skim were available and 2% no longer tasted good (gave me that milk fat coating of nastiness in my mouth) when I was able to switch back to 1% it did the same thing.  I haven't tried recently to switch back again, and am more than willing to give it a shot, but trust me when I say there is not fat lacking from my diet. 

Protein powders: I had been using AMP from GNC and it tasted fine in the beginning, I'm not sure why all of a sudden it doesn't sit well.  It is quite possible I just need to change it up a little bit a revitalize it. Dana thanks for the suggestions I will definitely give it a try and see if it sits any better.

Lori's Shake: I didn't see the link for this one, I'll try searching for it, or if you have the link handy I would be very appreciative.

Protein Coffee: I don't have any SF syrups, was going to head over to SB and see what flavors they have and check my local supermarket as well.  I'm not a huge fan of coffee, wasn't even before the surgery, but this could be a wonderful way to change things up a bit!

Hydration: Hydration still sometimes poses a challenge for me, if I would remember that all liquids count toward my goal I'm meeting it, but I have been supplementing with a little bit of electrolytes to help keep me ahead of the game.  I got pretty dehydrated one day since having the surgery (stinking stomach flu) and decided I didn't ever wanna go down that route again.  You can't every catch back up!!!

Foods: Fish used to sit extremely well, but it is no longer on speaking terms with me.  I agree steak always settles well, however the docs have cautioned me against eating it because of the chance of blockage (although I'm not sure how accurate that is) chicken is a touch and go food, eggs are along the same lines as fish.  The only other proteins that have been consistent for me is nuts, shellfish (crab and shrimp), and cheeses.  The docs and nutritionists have said these should all level out here in the next couple months for me instead of sometimes sitting well and sometimes not.

Thanks all for your suggestions , I will definitely try these and even if it doesn't work out at least I gave it a shot.  Goodness knows us DSers need all the options we can get LOL!!

Definately switch to whole milk, even if you're taking in a lot of fat already it's hard to overdose on fat with the DS. Whole milk is ideal for DSers as long as you're not lactose intolerant.

As for blockage with red meat, as long as you chew well it probably won't happen. If it sits well, eat it :) Just make sure you chew it a lot, and then chew more just to make sure :)