Dietary questions

So, I recently got a food scale.  It's not an electric one and I am not sure I trust it.  I put what looked like a big piece of chicken breast (cooked) onto it and it was only 2oz.  I was shocked.  It looked more like 4 to me.  I'm trying to get my protein in through mostly food with milk as needed.  I just really hate the taste of the whey,  but I'm afraid of what can happen if I'm not getting enough protein. 

Every meal I eat is protein based.  It has chicken, fish, cheese, beans, eggs, etc in it.  I thought I was doing good until I saw how much more chicken I really needed to eat to make it 20 grams of protein.  A snack usually consists of one cheese stick (mozz) and a clementine or few slices of apple or tomato.

Would I be taking in too many calories at this early out if I relied on only food and milk for my protein?

Should I force myself to drink down the whey and cut out a meal?

What will happen to me if I take in less than the suggested daily protein over a period of a few months?

Check your scale by weighing something you know the weight of. At your stage, I was only allowed 1/4 cup of anything, and getting all my protein was impssible on food alone, so I did drink at least 2 shakes a day to get my levels up. You are right that our goal is to get all protein from food sources. If your protein levels are allowed to stay too low for too long, then your body starts to consume itself ie, muscle tissue to feed your vital organs. You become weak, your hair and nails won't grow properly, and even with constant exercise, you lose muscle mass quickly. Think of what people with anorexia nervosa look like when their disease is at its worst.

You shouldn't be concerned about fruit and veggies at this point. Hold off on them until you really get your protein where it needs to be. Even your snacks should be protein.

I have a hard time with the protein drinks. The one that I have no trouble with is Ensure High Protein. It provides 25g of tasty protein. The drawback is that the calories per can is 210. Good luck,

Hattie

I agree with weighing something you know how much it is to verify.  If your scale is off,  invest in a digital scale. They are not expensive and easy to use.

3 oz of meat is about the size of a deck of cards.  If it was less than than it was probably  2 oz.  It it was more it was probably 4 or 5 oz.  A normal split chicken breast is normally more than 2 oz.

Every surgeons's eating plan is different, but I was told at my 4-week checkup yesterday to work on getting my 50-60 grams of protein per day from food and try to avoid the protein drinks from now on. The nurse said it's OK to have a shake occasionally but I should stop relying on them for a significant part of my protein intake.

I was surprised tht she said 50 grams of protein is adequate and asked her about that because I thought it should be higher. She said 50 g is enough for now, and that I should work on gradually increasing it as I am able to eat larger amounts.