My 1st Opt Shake... Wasn't Disgusting!

Hi everyone,

I'm writing this to encourage pre-ops who haven't started Opti.

When I tried both flavours of Opti at TWH, they used warm (!) water and diluted it with only 2/3 of the amount of water the instructions recommended - and they were absolutely awful!

I started my 3 weeks of Opti today and put it off with a large mug of decaf coffee, but eventually had to prepare my 1st shake.  I used the full 300ml of cold water and a blender and the difference in taste between the samples I got at TWH and what I made was incredible.  The TWH sample made me feel nauseous.  My preparation tasted pretty good, even before I added the Da Vinci SF syrups.  I was amazed (and so relieved).

Maybe, one thing that helped me adapt to the taste of the Opti was that I had bought some Isonatural unflavoured whey isolate powder a few days ago and decided to see what it tasted like with just the SF syrups (for post-op shakes - I didn't like the flavoured Isoflex tastes much).  I think I got used to the slightly unusual whey isolate taste that is still faintly present in the Opti.

Although Allmax's Isoflex was depicted on the TWH nutrition seminar's handout, Allmax's Isonatural Unflavoured whey isolate powder is great for us RNYs.  It had no sugar, sweetener, colouring, or flavour.  One 30g scoop has 28g of protein, 1g carbs, 0g fat, 115 calories, is 98.5% lactose free, and is made from all-American cows' milk (apparently some proteins can be sourced from China). 

I got mine at a Popeye's supplement store.  A 2lb bottle was $42.99 - including a $2.00 discount, and I also got a $1.00 Popeye 'dollar' back.  http://www.popeyescanada.com/index2.php  I'm sure you could get it cheaper perhaps, but Popeye's is convenient, and they let you taste their protein powders before you buy a huge bottle.  So, I knew not to buy the Isoflex and saved myself some money there.

In short, the way you prepare the Opti makes ALL the difference, even if it's so simple to make, and preparing yourself by tasting some other whey isolate powders will make the Opti pretty palatable.

Now, the battle will be missing solid food, not dreading gagging down the Opti.  I hope this encourages someone.  :)

Jenn.  :)

I also didn't hate the Optifast shakes. I think you hit it when you said that everyone just needs to experiment to find the way they like it best.  I usually just had the chocolate ones plain but I used Crystal Light to flavour the vanilla. 

I hope that the rest of your shakes go down just as easily.

Thank you for your support!

Jenn. :)

I agree, the shakes themselves weren't horrible, I just got pretty sick of them quickly.  I made mine in my bullet with ice, cold water and usually decaf coffee granules.  They were tolerable!  Good luck on getting through the next three weeks.

I can certainly understand getting sick of the shakes quickly, and I will definitely try adding instant decaf. 

I hope you're doing well and thank you for your support.

Jenn. :)

I'm on day 4 and I'm still liking the shakes!  I keep them plain, use lots of ice and alternate between chocolate and vanilla.  I'm holding off on fancying them up until (and if) I get tired of them.  

I can also say I've not been hungry since starting them!

Good luck 

Karen 

Thank you for the support and good luck!

Jenn. :)

I quite enjoy my shakes as well and don't add anything to the chocolate!  I do have a celery stalk and a couple of slices of cucumber every day just to chew on something!  Good luck!  When is your surgery?  Mine is the 27th?

My RNY is on March 11th at TEGH.  Good luck on your surgery and thank you for the support!

Jenn. :)