Question for all you nutritional experts

I'm just over three weeks post op and still on puréed foods. I hate Protein shakes, but I love tuna fish. Can't I just eat more tuna instead of drinking more Protein. It has less calories, no fat or carbs and is a little higher in Protein. I'm happy eating it plain so I'm not even adding anything to it. Am I missing something?

One more thing. Since the liquid and puréed diet I have been under 500 calories a day. I could eat more, but now I'm terrified I will those even less weight if I do. Is 500 to low?  I think I need a one on one with a nutritionist but in the meantime any and all input is appreciated. 

I'm not a nutritional expert by any means.  I'm 2 months post op.  My surgeon said to eat 3 meals a day and drink 3 protein drinks.  I was having a really hard time drinking those shakes and was trying to get my protein in with food alone.  It was difficult but I was getting 60 grams a day.  My weight loss started to slow down so I thought maybe adding some more protein would help.  I bought some protein shots (most people on here say they are a waste, but my nutritionist recommended them and the ones I bought have whey protein in them) and I also bought some Isopure plus drinks that taste a lot like Gatorade.  It isn't fabulous, but it has 15 grams of protein in an 8 ounce drink and it doesn't leave that awful after taste most of the shakes I've tried do.  So, that being said, I have lost 4 lbs in 4 days since I started adding more protein.  Before that I was losing about 2 lbs a week for the last 2 weeks.  As for the calorie count, my doctor said not to worry about calories at all right now, just to worry about protein.

I hope that helps!  Good luck!

Thank you. I will look into those and see if that helps. It sounds like I can really use a nutritionist.  

@wyo_sarah - Good job!  I'm also 2 months post op and teetering between 65-75 grams of protein per day.  I always seem to drop 2 lbs and then stall and then drop 2 lbs and stall again.  I'm only drinking 1 protein shake a day.  With the added protein into your diet, how many total grams of protein are you now taking in?

By my doc's plan that would be fine - they encouraged real food as tolerated as their experience has been that people tend to do better with real food over supplements, assuming that they can tolerate it (a big YMMV thing there!) My wife didn't get along with the shakes, either.

Your weight loss will naturally slow down some around the third week (whether or not one has the dreaded third week stall,) as that is when our bodies are getting the idea that you are in a long term caloric deficit and shifts from burning its short term supply of glycogen (basically stored carbs,) to burning its long term stores of fat, which burn slower (but that's what we are really here for - to burn off the fat!) So, don't worry if you slow down a bit here - we all do and it has nothing to do with what phase of eating that we are in.

Good Luck,

Thank you for the reply. It's good to hear from those with more experience under their belt. 

This is definitely a good question for your nutritionist.  However, I took advantage of drinking as many protein shakes as I could in the beginning before I could eat solid food.  Not only does it contain tons of vitamins and protein but it also counts towards your liquids for the day.  My shakes contain 30 grams of protein.  Without at least 1 a day now I would never get 70 grams of protein in.

At 2 months post op I range between 550-650 calories a day.  I agree with the comment above though that my NUT is more concerned about my protein and liquid intake.

Thank You. Sounds like I need a NUT of my own to help me thru. 

Most programs encourage dense protein and try to limit, or eliminate, protein shakes. Tuna has about the most protein per calorie, is dense, and will keep you satisfied longer than a shake. It's a great choice, with maybe one caveat. Some sources caution against seafood too often because of possible mercury problems. I don't eat it often enough for it to be an issue, so I don't know if it's true or not, but you might want to check.

I eat steak every day. I feel like I can keep doing it forever. If tuna works for you, go for it.

It's exactly what I did.  Although, I will warn you, two weeks of canned tuna burned me out on it completely, and I only ate the best kind.  I will never eat canned tuna again.

You're on the right track though.  As soon as you're cleared for solid food, switch to good salmon (not the flash frozen ones) and make that a base of your diet.  Eat real meat 2-3 times a day and stop drinking shakes as soon as possible.  It will probably take a few weeks before you really get off the shakes, but as fast as you can manage you want to discontinue shakes, and any liquid calories, and eat only real food.

Paleo has a lot of good ideas that are pretty bariactric friendly if you need some ideas on how to start.  Not saying you need to go paleo, only that it makes starting a clean diet easier.  I don't follow paleo per say, I still eat dairy, but I'm generally lurking around their neighborhood.