2 questions

1.) Where do you shop at for high protein foods? Is there a specialty store anywhere in our area? I have been everyone and picked up a few odds and ends everyewhere, but I wasn't sure if there was 1 good place to go. 2.) Does anyone else have very bad morning breathe after this surgery? I have never really had any issues with this, but since about the 3rd day post op- I can't seem to brush my teeth enough to get this gone, and it is driving me insane! LOL! ok not insane, but it is rather annoying. :)

Happy Sunday, 1) Vitamn Shoppe-I get Whey Protein power to put in fruit smoothies (1 scoop=24 grams)  It is a great snack and the calories are between 280-300n for the whole smoothie.  Now my doc wants me consuming about 1200-1400 calories a day because when I work out I burn about 600-800.  When I first got out of surgery I was lucky to consume 300. 2) Bad breathe is a sign of dehydration, so I have been told, but as soon as started drinking more water that problem went away :)

Hi. My nut wants me to get 123 grams of protein in a day so I am always on the look out for high protein foods that are low in carbs. I have my best luck at wal mart and Martins/Giant. I do rely a lot on frozen products. I found 2 that are very good and will post later when I remember what the are called. LOL The second is because you are in ketosis and as Jen said you need to up your water to wash the ketones out of your body.

In the very beginning I relied a lot on protein drinks to keep my protein intake high.  After I was able to eat more I eat a lot of chicken, fish and beef.  I can tolerate the beef whick I am happy about.   I also by cheese snacks (string cheese) and protein bars.  I also a variety of nuts. As for the second I had that issue for the forst month 1/2 I was in ketosis and it does that to you.  I brushed my teeth constantly tried to up my fluid intake and I bought sugar free mints to help. I also had a nasty flavor in my mouth.  Thank goodness that goes away.   Best wishes!

I still go in and out of Ketosis constantly. My Dietitian recommended a cup of 100% juicy juice grape juice, it helps with the taste and thats usually what I do. Of course everyone's surgeon/nut recommendations are different so I don't know if it's something you can have or not.

Thank you all. I thought I had been getting enough water- but  I will certainly make sure that I am focusing on getting more in every day. The problem I am having with the protein is this. I, for some reason, have a major adversion to certain textures. The smoothness of yogurt and the protein shakes that I have tried also, cause me to gag and vomit. It's not so much the taste as the texture. However, the tastes havn't been that good yet either. Chike has been the best I have tried so far.  But that one I still had issues with. I was using the "syrup" that I got from the DR. I can't remember what that was called. I have finished that, and it too was pretty nasty.  Most of the healthy meals in the freezer section have mushrooms, I am allergic.  Chicken is good on some days and not so good on others. Red meat is so not happening right now. I have tried lunch meat 2 x's now, with not so good results.  I have been using cheese, but my belly is beginning to get upset with that. SO- I have been using some of the protein bars, but my eyes bout jumped out of my head when I saw the calories on them. SO now I am not sure what to do. I go back to the DR Jan 15th- But I need to get some protein until then. I have heard that Bariatric eating has some diferent snacks and such that are enriched with protein. I will check into that, but I was hoping that there was a store in our area that carried some of these things. I did go to trader Joes and got some soy crisps. Those were YUMMY! But that too- gets old after 3 days.  So I welcome any advice you all may have to offer.

I learned to use my crockpot and make soups and stews. That would soften the meats enough for me to digest. It also made it easier for cooking.  I still make my own shakes. I mix milk, protein powder, and yogurt into my shaker cup. I have found that making my own shakes gives me a good breakfast to last a while. Don't forget about Carnation Instant Breakfast. It is also a complete nutrition.  You are still early out so don't rush things as yet.

Instead of buying the protein shakes ahave you tried making them with whey protein powder.  I can't drink the EAS or any of the drinks, so I bought whey (24g)  a scoop and started mixing fruit smoothies....with ice, strawberries, oj, bananna and sometimes yougurt.  I am actually addicted to them now for a snack and they are between 200-280 calories for 32oz.

There is a great place called the Center for Health & Weight Loss.  They are located in Woodbridge, VA but also have a great website - www.MyDietShopz.com .  I get my high protein hot chocolate from them but they carry lots of food & drinks with really good protein amounts.   I enjoy their protein bars too.  My favorite is the toffee or peanut butter bars.  If you can ever get to their store (they are about a one hour drive from my house in Columbia) they will give you a huge bag of free samples.  They want to try stuff before you buy so you will be buying what you like.  They might also be willing to come to one of your support group meetings with samples to give away and some recipes made with their products.  They came to our support group at Walter Reed.  Of course that was a closer location that somewhere here in MD but it is worth asking them.  I hope you can find some stuff you like there.  The store hours, info about the business and maps are in the "about us" section of the website.  Hugs, Robin

I haven't found a protein shake that I love either, they all either seem to have a weird chemical flavor that I just don't like, or else they are too sweet for me. I drink them anyway because I know I need to, though! I've tried Unjury, EAS, Boost Glucose Control, and Designer Whey. I recently went to MOM's (My Organic Market) in Columbia, though and they had a whole shelf of sample packets (one serving) of lots of different kinds of protein and meal replacement shakes. I didn't get any at the time, but I do plan to go back and try some others.  Something I did find that has been great is from Shaklee....a direct market company that my sister is a representative for. They have a great reputation for high quality nutritional supplements and other products for healthy living. They have an unflavored instant soy protein mix that I really like. Two tablespoons of the powder has 16g of protein and no sugar. It dissolves quickly and can be used in baking and cooking too, as heat doesn't destroy the protein like in other powders. It's a little expensive, but worth it to me. I've used it in shakes, puddings, soup, etc. It is called "Instant Protein Soy Mix" and can only be ordered through Shaklee or a Shaklee representative. You can check out the label and recipes at: http://www.shaklee.net/members/shopNowProd/20661. Let me know if you have trouble accessing it, or if you'd like to contact my sister to order. One note: my nutritionist did say that whey protein is usually better tolerated than soy, as soy can sometimes cause more gas. I really haven't found that to be the case, but just thought I'd mention it! Michelle :)