Need Advice, Please

ok, I'm 5 weeks out since surgery, i have good days and bad days. The thing i find the most difficult is getting all the protein (40 - 50g). according to my doctor's plan this week i should start getting 50 - 60g of protein - i'm lucky if i can eat 30g. does anyone have any tips on how i can increase my intake without throwing up?

also, i feel puny in the morning and don't feel like drinking or eating anything - any helpful tips to overcome the morning nausea? (no i'm not pregnant.) and when will i start to feel normal again? doctor says about 3 months, is he right?

and one last request - any food suggestions that are HIGH in protein? chicken and tuna make me sick so far, i keep falling back on the protein shake to get some protein in me.

any advise will be greatly appreciated.

I drink a ISOPURE protein drink every day. The bottles are 20 oz have 40 grams of protein.

Adding a protein shake is the easiest way to increase your protein, I think.  But you can also add a high protein snack or two.  Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are very high in protein and usually easy to eat early post op.  I usually don't feel very hungry in the morning so I do a protein shake for breakfast.

You can also add unflavored protein powder (or flavored, depending on what you're eating) to foods to boost the protein.  If you put a whole scoop of protein powder in a small serving of something, like yogurt, it changes the texture and I think it's icky.  But I can sneak a pinch of protein powder in just about anything - yogurt, pudding, oatmeal, applesauce, mashed potatoes, refried beans, scrambled eggs, soups, stews, chili, ricotta cheese with pasta sauce, egg salad, etc.  If you put a scoop of protein powder in a dish on the kitchen counter in the morning and add a little bit to everything you eat all day, but the end of the day you'll have gotten an extra 20 grams or so.

Have you tried scallops, crab or shrimp? They sat well for me 99% of the time, though every dense  protein I have eaten has been a bit iffy for me at least once. I always give things another try a few weeks later if something made me feel very full, very fast or did not sit well once I was done eating. 

I am awake sometimes several hours before having breakfast, but I do set an alarm on my phone to remind me to eat if too much time has passed. 

Isopure protein drinks are at GNC stores. They come in glass bottles and look like koolaids sort of.  I would get one of each before buying a large pack  They taste good chilled.

I used to have trouble eating in the morning too.  But I found that my pouch was (and still is) soothed by warm liquids.  So have you tried doing some sort of warm protein drink in the morning?  If you like coffee, there are some coffee flavored protein powders and I've heard some people mix them with Decaf coffee to up the coffee flavor.  When I last bought some protein powder samples from Nashua Nutrition, they send me a sample package of Health Smart Hot Chocolate (and it looks like they have several flavors).  You just mix it with water.  It wasn't bad and had 15 grams of protein.

Personally, I start each day with a Premier Protein drink from Costco which has 30 grams of protein.  I have grown to like them a lot and since I've never been a big breakfast person, that works perfect for me.   I'm almost 3 months out, so I do try to get the rest of my protein for the day from nutritious food.  But like Kelly I often add a little unflavored protein powder into things to up the protein levels.  (Though don't make the mistake I did yesterday - I added a full scoop of Unjury protein powder to a package of instant oatmeal --- yuck!  The powder overpowered the oatmeal and really changed the taste and texture.  But a tablespoon would have probably been fine and mostly unnoticeable.  I don't do oatmeal often, but I was actually in the mood for a breakfast with a little more substance yesterday and oatmeal sounded good.  But I know it's not very high in protein.  I could only eat about 1/2 of it because I didn't like the taste/texture with the extra protein powder).  

Early out I also ate a lot of the protein soup from both Unjury and Bariatric Advantage.  I actually liked the Bariatric Advantage one best and would often mix it with some chicken broth.  The warm sat well in my tummy and that helped me get my protein in early on. 

Erik - i too enjoy Costco's Premium Protein drinks. but please tell me, how can you drink all 11 ounces at once? i'm lucky if i can drink 4 ounces at a time.

You are too soon out to be able to finish a whole shake. Keep measuring so you dont overdo it and get sick. 4 oz sounds right for your stage, anymore and you will be sick.

~Maria

That just isn't true I've been drinking 8-12 oz shakes since week one after the surgery. Our pouch works like a funnel and liquid goes right through.

Maybe we are all a little different, I had a hard time even with liquids at first not being able to drink too much at one time, even water when I would forget, could get painful if I was thirsty and drank too fast.

After about the first 9 months then it got alot easier for me.