Sugar-free syrups and ready to serve protein shakes

My surgery is a little more than 4 weeks away and I'm trying to make a list of all the products to have on opti-fast as well as right after surgery. For opti-fast, I believe I can have sugar-free Torrani syrups. Are there any other brands you can recommend? I have also found a brand called MiniSyrup which is sugar, carbohydrates and gluten free. It comes in many yummy flavored like apple pie, crime brûlée and chocolate raspberry.

As far as ready to serve protein shakes after surgery go, I'm a little unclear on the nutritional requirements. I found one called Lean Shake from GNC that tastes pretty good and it has 2g of sugar, 6g of fat, 6g of carbohydrates and 25g of protein per 414ml serving. Any thoughts? I want to have a few ready to drink ones when I'm not in a mood to make them myself. Thank you.

Congrats - you're almost there!

I found Skinny Syrups at Winners, and really liked them. I had Premier Protein chocolate ready made at home, but also bought unflavoured and vanilla Diesel protein powder. I mixed the powder in with yogurt, sugar free pudding, oatmeal and of course smoothies. Lean Shake from GNC is another favourite for many people, and is pretty affordable too. I also bought Syntrax Nectar green apple flavour - as I got tired of the creamy types of protein - its more juice like.

Excited for you :)

Exciting times coming up for you!

The GNC Lean Shakes are good. The Premier Protein ones at Costco are good as well...they are a smaller serving with a bit more protein which may be easier to get down when you first get home from the hospital.

As for the SF syrups with Opti, I used the ones from Starbucks. My fave is the cinnamon dolce one. It was great in the vanilla Opti with a tsp of instant decaf. Add ice and you have iced decaf latte. Instant decaf is awesome in the chocolate as well. Be sure to use cold water and ice when making the Opti...it tastes better. (Just don't smell the stuff!) I also preferred 500ml of water instead of the recommended 300ml.

Good luck with the Opti and the surgery!

Tammy :)

Can you buy the SF Syrups direct from Starbucks? If so, how much are they? I have gotten a couple of the SF syrups, but it i**** or miss there in terms of stock...I found a salted caramel that is just amazing! Couldn't find it again. Want to buy off the shelf before resorting to mail order.

Yes, you can right in the store. It's been a while since I bought one...I think it was $11.95. And they gave me the pump as well. Sometimes they can't sell them if their inventory is low but that only happened once.

Tammy :)

I'm not sure of the price for the Starbucks syrups but they are reasonable. They have 4 or 5 sugar free ones that are very good

Good thinking to have a few on hand. I did as well...the only problem was... I couldn't stand the taste of any of them immediately post op. The overwhelming taste of artificial sweeteners was CRAZY for the first few weeks ( even though I liked them pre op !!)

I bought unflavoured unsweetened whey isolate from GNC and used Torani Syrups and that got me through until I could stomach the ready to drinks!!! You never quite know what you will like and not like after.......its very weird

You can also use things like crystal light (I've heard of someone using an orange one in a Vanilla Opti and said it tasted like a creamsicle) or baking extracts. Be prepared to experiment, not all flavours will work for all people.

As for stocking up, don't stock up too much before surgery, your tastebuds will change, and things you like now you may not like post surgery. For the longest time I would still use crystal light, but double the water as I found them too strong/sweet.

GNC Lean is said to be good, and I think you can buy individual ones. They have several flavours that you can try.

For powders, wait until post surgery and ask for samples and return policy. Same reason, you may not like what you like now.

Cathy

Thanks everyone! I will buy just a few for now in case I don't like them after the surgery.

for the Torani syrups, they sell them in any coffee stores selling individual K-cups coffee. I got mine at Personsl Service Coffee. They also sell them online at personalservicecoffee.ca