Ok, not to sound too harsh here, but your surgeon is being stupid. In this one (and only this one) thing, ignore him. There's nothing wrong with shakes. And you should be eating 4-5 times per day, 3 hours apart. I do 3 meals and 2 snacks. For my snacks, I do things like colby jack cheese cubes and pepperoni slices. Or pepper jack cheese sticks and salami (or roast beef) slices (sandwich meat). I tend to make my own protein shakes in the morning, mostly because I've never been big on breakfast foods, so making a protein shake works well for me.
I get my protein shakes from Arbonne (so so many vitamins in it, 20g of protein, mixes well, not grainy, and really yummy flavors). I'll put in 16oz of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 2 scoops of whatever protein shake I'm doing that day, 2 tbsp of avocado (no flavor, makes the shake creamy, added healthy fat), 1 tbsp mct oil, 1 tsp black seed oil, 2 tbsp "triple seeds" (flax, chia, and hemp seeds), 1 scoop Arbonne protein boost (10mg protein), 2 scoops Arbonne probiotic fiber booster, 2-3 tbsp Jordan's skinny syrup (whatever flavor I want to add, it has no calories, no carbs, no sugar), sometimes I add frozen fruit (depending on the flavor shake I'm doing), a few icecubes, blend, and YUMMY!!!!!
When eating meals, you want to make sure they are protein first, then veggies, then carbs. Too much protein isn't good for you. That's why, in general, you need between 60-80g protein. I tend to be in the 80-90 range on heavy work out days, and 60-70 on rest days. If I know I can't get my veggies in, I drink my greens. I get the Arbonne super greens powder (blend of 36 fruits and veggies), and I make sure to add the Arbonne GutHealth (digestive enzymes with pre and pro biotics). Drinking greens is a good way to supplement getting in your fruits and veggies without adding all the extra calories, carbs, and sugar. But it's not meant to completely replace eating veggies. It just helps if you're struggling to get them in, or if you really don't like to eat them all that much.
You stomach is much smaller than it used to be, so you need to eat more often. I tend to get protein in 2 of my meals and both snacks. The 3rd meal usually has more veggies (I love salad, so I've been known to have a salad for a meal and have very little protein in it) but with my shake, my snacks, and 1 other meal, I get the protein I need. I like to add veggies to my salad (green peppers, olives, cucumbers, shredded carrots, etc) so I try to balance my needs with protein and veggies that way (and drinking a greens drink at least 3-4x per week). I drink A LOT of water (84oz typically per day) and that actually helps with hunger. So does drinking tea (I love green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and yerba mate tea). It's true that protein helps you feel full longer, but you can't fill up on just protein. Your body needs a variety of foods, vitamins, nutrients, and minerals to be balanced and healthy.