Question about my protein concoction...

Each morning I make myself a chocolate protein shake. I use 1/2 a cup of fat free milk, 1 Premiere Protein chocolate shake and 2 tablespoons of chocolate protein powder from the Bulk Barn. My fitness pal says that this provides 62.5 grams of protein and has 324 calories.

My questions are: I drink this over the course of a few hours for my breakfast. Do you think it is too many calories for one meal? And would I really be absorbing all the protein it says? I've heard differing opinions on how much we can absorb at any given time and really don't know what to believe.

Hoping Grimm and some of the other vets can offer some guidance.

Thanks, Chris

How many calories are you eating un a day?  I try to hit 650 so thia would be alot for me. My doctor has never said anything about how much I can absorb so I am not sure. 

If I read it right, you are almost a year out from surgery (Feb, 2015).  You should be able to eat enough protein in real food by now.  Liquids flow right through us, so they don't satisfy hunger as well.  I think that is too many calories in liquid form.  Drinking calories will lead to weight gain.  

Are you also eating protein in solid form?  Most people shoot for about 80- 90 grams of protein for the whole day.  You are getting 62 grams in one meal.  That seems like a lot to me.

There are varying opinions on whether or not you can absorb all that protein at once.  To me, the problem is the fact that you are drinking unnecessary calories in liquid form, rather that eating real food that will keep you satisfied, longer.

I have always had a difficult time eating when I wake up. Not just post-surgery but also before. My stomach is off for some reason. I found that if I nurse a shake it seems to not upset my stomach. I don't have a problem with eating my protein as well but do have a problem with chicken and pork. They always seem too dry even with a sauce on them. I love steak but can only eat about 2 oz. at a time.

I'm not  vet yet but, my nutritionist said we can only absorb between 30-35 grams of protein at one time. 

There are theories about the amount of protein you can absorb at one time. I don't think anyone really knows.  I consumed a lot of protein in shakes until I started to have regain and stopped the shakes.

Thanks for your response. I'm happy to hear that I'm not totally off base by having a shake for breakfast. At this point I realize that the weight loss is down and I don't want to do anything that is detrimental. I'm just concerned that I'm using up too many calories for one meal and that I am not getting all the protein available. I'd stop adding the extra protein powder if I knew I wasn't absorbing it.

I find a protein drink satisfies me in the morning. It wouldn't be my go-to meal at other times, but for breakfast it still works for me. What I think I have more of a concern with is that your breakfast lasts several hours. Even with protein drinks my understanding is they should still be consumed in that 1/2 hour-ish time frame. I also don't drink for 1/2 hour after having a protein drink. You are in a sense 'grazing' for breakfast. Just something to think about.  My Surgeon told us our protein shakes/drinks should have 20-30g protein and not more than about 200 calories and 5g sugar. So that is what I go by.

I hadn't thought of the grazing idea...Frankly, I was just happy that I could stop stressing over eating breakfast. Thought I had found a solution. Like all things it would appear it is too good to be true. My luck sucks! LOL Thanks for taking the time to respond.

If it was me, I would cut the shake in half, and use those calories later in the day.

The maximum 30 grams of protein thing is a myth. It comes from the bodybuilding world, where the belief was you could only utilize 30 grams or so of protein to build new muscles after a strenuous weightlifting session.

Protein does a lot more than just build muscle. It grows hair, nails, repairs damage and injuries, and gets broken down to be used as energy, especially on a low carb diet.

Don't worry about the maximum protein thing. This is from the "ASMBS Allied Health Nutritional Guidelines for the Surgical Weight Loss Patient" (see link to article below and look on page S95): "One popular myth is that only 30 g/hr of protein can be absorbed. Although this is commonly found in both lay and some professional literature, there is no scienti?c basis for this claim. It is possible that, from a volume standpoint, patients might only realistically consume 30 g/meal of protein during the ?rst year."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18490202