getting in the protien

I had surgery 3 weeks ago today. I am on soft foods and I can't seem to get enough protein(60 grams) without shakes. My doctor recommends to get protein from food rather than shakes whenever possible. I try to portion out 2 oz of protein per meal and I can never eat that much. I usually end up eating only 1-1.5 oz. example today eating turkey lunch meat 4 slices is 2oz. I could only get in 2 so instead of 10 grams protein I only get 5.  It's extremely frustrating. 

Hi,

I am a pescotarian so I don't eat meat at all.

My normal protein intake is about 60 but I have to do a Premier protein for my morning snack.

I am 3 weeks out as well.

Breakfast:

Egg - 1 egg scrambled or hard boiled - 5g protein

Sometimes I add in Tofu if I can which has more protein... but has higher fat.

Morning snack - protein drink = 30g protein or two cheese sticks (both are 160 cal but the drink has 30g and the cheese has 14g)

Lunch:

Either salmon, tunafish or tofu but I aim for about 15g of protein - about 100 cal. (I make it more interesting by adding Siracha or other pepper sauces..) 

Afternoon snack is general the 2nd part of my lunch - I buy extra and that is normally about 15g protein - about 100 cal

Dinner:

I have been lately having tofu with some small type of pureed veggie like spinach to make it creamier. Last night I made a chili wtih tofu & black beans..  and it was about 10g for about 120 cal.

Totals are generally:

500-650 cal/day

45-60g protein/day

I am concerned because my surgeon wants like 90g protein per day with 80oz of water.. Interesting stretch goal!!

I'm 2+ years out and still use a protein shake to top off my protein almost every day. :)  At only three weeks out, I don't think I'd worry too much about rushing to get off protein shakes - it will be hard to eat that much solid food for several months (at least it was for me).  Under-eating your sleeve is better than pushing yourself to eat until it's uncomfortable. Your doctor's recommendation is a good one for long-term, but maybe he didn't mean it literally for this stage in your recovery.  Get your protein no matter how you have to get it!

"Get food from protein instead of shakes" is a great rule... once you're onto actual amounts real food. NOBODY can do it less than a month or so pre-op, as far as I've seen.

You won't be able to eat 2oz for quite a while. Take advantage of it.

I had the same experience at 3 weeks out.  I felt so frustrated because there was no way to get the protein or water in every day.  My solution was to do the best I could, and not sweat it. 

I did add unflavored protein powder to anything I could stir to get my protein in.  As the swelling went down in my tummy, and I was able to eat more, I phased out the protein powder.  I'd put protein powder in chicken broth, cream of veggie soups, yogurt, sugar-free jello and puddings, cottage cheese -- basically anything I could stir. 

The swelling went down at 7 weeks post op, and then my capacity doubled.   It does get easier, but I'd keep using the protein powder or shakes until it does,  just not in place of solid foods.

best wishes,

Carol

Thanks for putting my mind at ease everyone. I just want to make sure I get everything I can out of my sleeve while I can. I will add a shake back in until I can go on regular food.

I love helpful recipes if anyone has any. I tried the ricotta bake and found it quite heavy and  kind of dry. Next time I will add more sauce. 

I am also 3 weeks out (as of Monday).  I just started being able to handle an entire protein drink - was only able to drink 1/2 previously.  My surgeons office said not to sweat it for the first 4 weeks (we stay on mushie food for that long).  They said:  water #1 and as much protein as you can through whatever means but again not to worry about it at this point.  I go for diet "advancement" on 4/27 - it will be interesting to hear what they say then (though I've heard they feel one protein drink a day is good at any time).