How long did you drink protein shakes?

At seven months out, I still have one protein powder meal per day. My plan calls for starting the day with 30 gms of protein and no way can I eat that much. When I have less than that, I get head hunger and for me that's not pretty. I use almond milk for this shake - 40 cal/3 gm fat/2 gm carb/1 gm prot/30 % daily calcium/8oz fluids. I have it hot or cold, flavored with coffee or diet (NOT sugar free) hot chocolate. Quick, easy and portable too.

 My nutritionist has encouraged me to continue with protein shakes.  I buy the Premier brand from Costco and at 30g of protein for one shake, I am already halfway to my daily protein requirement.    

3 months out and drinking 2 a day still. I kind of depend on them actually...

6 weeks.  As soon as i got the all clear I went to food. Shakes did nothing for me, i felt the same hunger wise before as after.  At 6 weeks i was eating 4 times a day between 15 and 20 grams protein each meal.  It was easy to get the protein in.  Mind you it was easy to get liquids and purees in from day 1 i had no issues with swelling. Monitor your body.

2+ years out and I usually have 2 a day. I feel and maintain best at high protein levels - so that is my strategy.

I dunno. I shoot for 120 grams a day minimum now that I'm in maintenance (it was 100 when I was losing and lower in calories) and I get a minimum of 80 of that from shakes. It's my breakfast EVERY day.

Some people hate shakes. Not me. Some people don't feel full with them. I do. So for me it works great. I know some people who've gotten off of them as soon as they could possibly get their protein from food.

Your mileage may vary. But you need to get your protein in!

Off topic, but how is your jaw doing?

Better but not great. Not as achy, but still can't open it more than halfway. Still swollen and still on soft foods...but every day in every way it's getting better and better. Could do so more quickly though, IMO.

Whine, whine, whine.

I will say all the calcium I've taken the last 10 months paid off. To land full body on my jaw and not break it, my bones must be in pretty good shape. So: Thankfully and whiny, all at once.

I'm one of the many people who stopped the shakes as soon as possible. My doctor's plan is to stop when we finish the soft food stage. I never did a shake after that. I eat a lot of tuna because I don't get full too fast from it. Ground beef goes down pretty easy too. I even have some thinly sliced pre-cooked steak that goes down well. I eat eggs easily also. I also eat nuts and cheese regularly. 

I probably stopped shakes by month 3, and I am doing pretty well without them.

I'm 3 months out and I 'm supposed to be down to one shake a day. I can't meet my protein needs without an extra shake, though. I know what my nut's goal is for me (no shakes at all) and get it that for obese people liquid calories are a slippery slope, but until my stomach can handle more food there is no way I can manage without two shakes a day.

I work out 5 days a week and the sport nutritionist wants me eating 120 grams protein per day and promotes whey isolate powder, but understands my reduced capacity and need for severely reduced calories.

I think it really depends on what works for you. You'll have to experiment within the parameters of your plan and doctor and nut's advice. That's what I'm doing and it's working for me.