Protein shakes

[hats123 67]

GNC lean shake

A couple of posters have mentioned these -- Total Lean from GNC. They are my favorite too, and I want to note that they also sell Total Lean Natural. They sell a third one that I believe is vegan. The packages are nearly identical, so look closely, but the difference is that the "natural" one is sweetened with stevia rather than sucralose. To some people, stevia tastes much better, and some people get headaches from sucralose or (especially) aspartame.

Long way of saying I'm another cheerleader for GNC Total Lean, natural edition (something tells me not much is natural about it...that's just what they call it), vanilla and chocolate. I keep a few packets on hand in case I have to mix one up during the day if I can't find appropriate food, but mostly I rely on big tubs of the powder that I keep at home.

I rely on GENEPRO unflavored Protein powder. It's very Protein efficient (a tablespoon has 30 grams protein, just over half a gram of carbs, and 56 calories) I use it to make my own shakes adding various liquids and flavors - Water, ice, nonfat greek yogurt, sugar-free flavored syrups, stevia, whatever.

Another thing about the full liquids phases: you don't need to be on all shakes all the time. If you use GENEPRO -- or any unflavored powder you find you like, you can mix and hide it into foods in the pre and post op liquid stages and later post op food phases too. I like Protein Shakes, but at times, both pre and post op, I just wanted something savory, not sweet. When I was on liquids I was craving Soup, mixed in two teaspoons of the powder and boom, my Soup had 20g+ protein.

So when you're thinking about what to consume during the full liquid stages, don't forget that there are options other than sweet shakes. (You can also order savory protein Soups for the full liquid stages and skip the step of adding your own protein powder; I didn't do it so can't offer any advice!)