Protein and Vitamins

Hi Everyone. Took me a while to move over from Dr. A's forum. I'm 11 days out. Am sticking so far to 99% liquids but have a strong feeling I'm going to venture into other things in a couple of days. I raided Trader Joe's here in NY which is all natural foods. Picked up a great drink by Odwella out of California but honestly it's mainly fruits called SUPER PROTEIN but the total protein is 11g. I am looking for suggestions on protein powders or drinks that are high in grams. Also suggestions on vitamins that work for everyone? I'm going to start Wednesday - Dr. A said B complex, C, multi vitamin. Lastly, I'm 11 pounds lost so far, I walk approximately 30 minutes to an hour each day and was hoping to hear what the averages have been. Thanks!

There are Odwella drink all over here, of course I am in California, but make sure you check the sugar grams. Most of them, being made from fruit are just loaded with sugar! I haven't seen the Super Protein one but I guess I will have to check it out. On the days I know I am not eating my protein I have an Isopure in the clear bottle. You can get them at GNC. They have 40 grams of protein and are a "kool-aid" type drink. I think it's Kiki that adds sugar free Kool-aid to hers to enhance the flavor. It's not great but it's not too bad, for a protein drink anyways. BTW if you are walking that much you are doing great! I didn't start any regular walking until I was about a month out. Make sure that you don't exercise EVERY day, you need to rest at least one day a week. Congratulations.

Deborah, I have tried the Chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast Drink(Sugar Free) and it is good and high in protein. (from Wal-mart) I went to the health foods store and bought the B-12 dots Sublingual..(250 for around $20) I take the B-12's 3x a week.They are TINY...about the size of a birth control pill and you place it under your tongue and it dissolves. Also, I have been doing 2 flinstone vitamins daily. I need to start Calcium next. Should have started them already! Congrats on your 11 lb loss. That is wonderful! I think your loss is very much similar to the rest of us. Of course we are all a little different. I was down 16 lbs at 11 days but, this week I started my period and have been back and forth within 3 lbs and now for a total of 7 days I weigh the same as I did last Monday! Boo Hoo!! 26 lbs down total so I am not complaining....better than what I weighed on the day of surgery!! My sis-n-law had this surgery exactly 1 yr ago and is doing very well. Lost 117 lbs and is below her goal weight. Luckily I get alot of good info from her. She had a really great surgeon that is highly sought after in MO and AWESOME post op care!!! She was given a thick packet of info after her surgery. We are suppose to get 50 grams minimum of protein in daily. WOW that seems hard! Well, good luck to you! Jane

Jane - I didn't see the b12 dots when I went to Walmart but I might look for them. I happened to get the B complex instead of B12 then saw that was what he wrote. Is there a difference you think? As for the seesawing on the weight loss, I've not lost much in the last few days myself and it's hard to see when you know you are eating little enough to help you lose it! But then I think I just need to drink some Crystal light orange juice style drink and it will probably "eliminate" a few pounds for me! As for getting the 50 grams of protein in, I found a couple great ways to do that! I went down to the store last night and picked up a couple cans of Swanson 99% fat free chicken breast and it was a 4.5 oz can (which I am able to eat with no problem) with 150 calories and 25 grams of protein. That and the Protidiet drinks with 15 grams of protein really help bring it up quickly. On protein intake though, I was given a formula on one of my other groups that was to give you the right amount of protein for your size. Here it is: Take your weight, divide it by 2.25 Times that number by .6 This should be your daily intake of protein. Example- a person weighing 150 lbs would take 150 divided by 2.26 that equels 66.66 x .6 = 39.99 or 40 grams of protein per day For me, it would be (current) 309/2.25 = 137.33 Multiplied by .6: 82.4 grams. It does seem like a lot of protein to me, but it takes up 329 calories to eat that much protein, so there is still ample room for carbs and fat after I get that in. It's very hard to do it when on the soft food diet though, which is one reason I'm venturing out a little early. I also just don't fare well with all the carbs as I've been dumping on many of them. For me to get in 82 grams, I could have a menu like this: 1 4.5 oz can of chicken (25), 2 Protidiet drinks (I have them at once and it helps me drink my water) (30), 2 eggs (14), low carb milk or choc milk (12 grams per cup) FF/SF yogurt (9). Total: 88 grams of protein. I can eat 2 eggs for breakfast if they are fried/soft yolked. The chicken could be lunch w/crackers, the milk could be a snack as well as the protein drink, and the yogurt is optional as a snack, or I could get it in another dinner dish and not worry as much about the protein content. Like those frozen dinners...there are some that are pretty high in protein. Sorry this went on so long, but not only was I writing it out for everyone else, but just for myself to see how it worked out! LOL! Dina

Hey Debbie! So glad to see you over here. I know that orange drink I gave you probably sucked because I know I hated it but it was all I had left from a gift given to me by my friend. But the same brand (Protidiet) of the tropical flavor is brilliantly fantastic and very refreshing. I just bought 10 boxes of the stuff so I could have that for breakfast sometimes. On vitamins, I'm taking 2 generic Viactive's a day (from Walmart), 1 generic flintstone complete (reading this maybe I should bump up to 2?), 1 vitamin C chewable and the liquid sublingual b-complex from Walmart in a dropper. I am thinking of researching online for bariatric vitamins and if something combined has a good price, I might try for that. You are doing great on weight loss, but on the walking, Dr. Aguirre told me not to exercise until 1 month out, and then to go very vigorously. I know I feel at almost 3 weeks out I'm ready to start walking, so I may start gently pretty soon and then work up to vigorous at 4 weeks. I can't wait to see the loss after I start exercising. I am thinking though that you might be overdoing it for being out only a week or so. But if you are feeling really good and have lots of energy, you would know your limitations better than me. Just be careful. Dina

Hi Deborah, I spoke to the dietitian at my work and she suggested that I by EAS Advant Edge Carb Control Shake it has 15gm protein, 0gm sugar, 110 kcal, 2g fiber and you can get it in Wal-mart. And for vitamins my PCP recommended 3 Calcium Cirate a day, 2 Flintstone a day, 1 Iron a pill a day, B 12 shot once a month and vitamin C once a day. Have a nice day Julia

You guys are fantastic! Thanks so much for all the information. I can't tell you how helpful it all is. I think I'm going to have to lobby for a Walmart here -- we don't have them and yet it seems Walmart is the one-stop shopping mecca for everything! I may slow down my walking. I was putting laundry away this morning and all of a sudden had an unbelievable desire just to sit and rest. By nature, I'm an overly active person and think maybe my brain is pushing me to do what my body may not be ready for so I'm going to slow it down a bit. I'm going to go up to GNC today and get my vitamins and more protein sources and I think tomorrow I may enter an egg and chicken into my diet. I feel ready for it. Right now, I'm trying something called PURE PROTEIN drink by Worldwide - has 21 grams of protein -- tastes okay. Take care everyone.

Deborah, I like the protein drink called Unjury. You have to order it on the internet, but they will set up an automatic schedule for delivery (like once a month I think) and this cuts the delivery cost to $2.50 if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, what I like about this drink is that it isn't thick like most protein shakes. Its thin and tastes like chocolate milk. It mixes easily with a spoon so you don't need a blender. Oh and it has 20grams of protein in a scoop. I heard alot about it on the main message board a while back and decided to try it. I'm really satisfied with it. OMG if you did get a Walmart you would die! They are wonderful. I practically live there!