protein

I am two weeks out, just about to soft foods.
I am having a terrible time with protein drinks. I am gagging with all of them.
I am wondering what are the best protein packed foods?? Maybe I can get protein in that way.

I'm not sure how soon you can try it, but tofu is pretty soft depending on which texture you buy.  It takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with.  I buy the light firm tofu from Nasoya and a serving is 3 oz (my sleeve is bigger so that is not an issue) and it is only 45 calories!

Good luck.

I can't drink any shakes apart from what I mix in coffee. Have you tried that? Also using a shaker cup with the steel ball inside and a very small opening for sipping helps as it is pretty much closed so I don't smell the protein. The ready to drink premier protein shake in chocolate, diluted with water or milk tastes just like chocolate milk to me. Have you tried that?

High protein foods for the soft stage ...you will have a really hard time getting your protein in through just food at this point. Greek yogurt, eggs, tuna, soft fish, ricota bake, cottage cheese...

Hi,

I couldn't stomach the sweet protein drinks either, but I found that mixing unflavored protein powder in chicken broth, jello and sugar-free, fat-free puddings worked well for me.  Another idea is cottage cheese - you could try mixing protein powder in that as well.

I found that I could only eat an ounce of dense protein foods at a meal when I started, and its really hard to get protein in when the quantity is so low.

Good luck with this transition.  It is challenging, but it does get easier every day.

Carol

Try faf free greek yogurt, maybe mixed with sugar free torani syrups.  Lived on that in the early days.  I would mix unflavored protein powder with it too, but even without it the protein will help just from the yogurt. Try high protein hot chocolate.  Drinks like regular hot chocolate.  High protein soup.  Both are available on Amazon or Netrition.com.

I can't drink protein shakes at all, so most of my protein has come from real food from day 1 (well, week 3 actually as I was on clear liquids until then, so got no protein for the first 3 weeks).

I ate a lot of eggs, cheese, tuna, minced beef and cauliflower cheese once I was on mushies as they are relatively easy to eat. Denser things like chicken or a piece of meat were not until about 6-8 weeks out.

I did find a drink, which is like juice, at my local body builder supplement shop. It's called Protein Ice. Most of the flavours are pretty strong, but Blue Rasperry is ok. That is a US made drink, so my supply in New Zealand is a bit erratic (I was out for 3 months recently as they couldn't get it, so I do ration it somewhat!).

http://www.nutrientscience.com/ProteinIce.html

But you could try and get that , or GNC Isopure is similar, in that its a juice rather than a thick shake. I havent tried that as I can't get it in NZ, but others on the board drink it, so maybe ask on a thread for some flavour recommendations from the team.

I have a friend who also recently had VSG. She made me protein for breakfast this week. It was made with 1tsp of peanut butter, chocolate flavored protein and enough almond milk to mix. It was more icing consistency. Warm in the microwave for about 20 seconds. It was pretty good. More like eating something than drinking.