Let's Play Another Round of "How I Get My Protein" post WLS

[FluffyChix 17,415]

I had so much fun reading all the responses in the first thread and hope you guys will hop in again on this one. The goal of this game is to build your day of Protein so that you limit or eliminate as many protein drinks/bars/supplements as possible and obtain most of your protein from real food.< /strong> Use the serving size guides and protein goals so they correlate to where you are presently.

For example: I'm gonna pretend that I'm post WLS by 3 weeks. At 3 weeks I'm at the soft solids. My daily protein goal is 74g for my height. My portion size is 2oz Protein/meal; 1oz Protein/snack. I'm to have 3 meals and 1-2 Snacks daily. (Because I'm so close to surgery, I'm sure I will be relying very heavily still on protein supplements and will also probably need 3 meals + 3 snacks per day...)

OK, let's play!

Edited October 20, 2017 by FluffyChix

[FluffyChix 17,415]

Ok, I'll play!

I'm gonna pretend that I'm post WLS by 3 weeks. At 3 weeks I'm at the soft solids. My daily Protein goal is 74g for my height. My portion size is 2oz Protein/meal; 1oz Protein/snack. I'm to have 3 meals and 1-2 Snacks daily, but since I'm still so newly after surgery it's really 5-6 mini meals of the same size. Meal size by volume is about 1/4-1/2cup. (Because I'm so close to surgery, I'm sure I will be relying very heavily still on protein supplements and will also probably need 3 meals + 3 Snacks per day...)

B: 1/4c 2% Daisy cottage cheese + 2tbs Walden Farm strawberry Syrup (7g P)

MS: 1/4c 0% Fat HEB Greek yogurt + 2tbsp Walden Farm blueberry syrup (6g P)

L: 1/4c salmon salad (1oz canned, drained, skinned pink salmon; 1/2 hb lg egg; 1 tbsp 2% Daisy cottage cheese; 1 tsp country dijon; 1 tbsp Walden Farm Amazin Chipotle Mayo; TJ EBBS) (8g P)

AS: Same as lunch (8g P)

D: 2oz blackened tilapia + 1 tbsp avocado + 1 tbsp mild salsa (9g P)

BS: 1/2c PBC protein pudding (homemade) (11g P)

Daily Total Before Supplementing with Protein Drinks: 401cals; 49g Protein; 12g F; 20g Carbs; 3g Fiber; 17g Net Carbs

(*Note: I will need about 9fl oz of Premier Protein vanilla to hit my protein goal for the day. I'll probably just use those in my morning decaff coffee as a coffee creamer.

(Daily Total After Supplementing with the Protein Drinks: 532 cals; 74g Protein; 14g Fat; 24g Carbs; 5g Fiber; 19g Net Carbs)

Edited October 20, 2017 by FluffyChix

[Diana_in_Philly 1,426]

B - Premier Protein - your choice of flavor 30g

snack 1 - Oikos Triple Zero - pick your flavor 15g

lunch - 3 ounces albacore tuna with 1 tb mayo - 20 g

Snack 2 - sugar free pudding 1g

dinner - 3 ounces shredded chicken breast rotisserie with BBQ Sauce to moisten used cautiously - 22g

88g Protein

I'm 14 months out and still use shakes for Breakfast because they work for my schedule

[Airstream88 361]

I had my GB (RNY) one year ago (Oct 17th). I get all my Protein from real food. I don't count carbs or calories, just Protein.

Breakfast - 1 egg (6g P) 1 slice cheese or shredded cheese (5g P), 1/2 Dave's Killer Everything Bagel (6g Protein) , salsa - total 17g Protein

Meal 2 - 3oz chicken, apple or grapes - total 21g Protein

Meal 3 - Greek Yogurt - 12g Protein

Meal 4 - 3 oz tenderloin steak, green veggie, 1 multigrain or starchy veggie - 23g Protein

Meal 5 - Sargento Balanced Break - 7g Protein

Total for the day: 80g protein. On workout days I drink 1/2 of Premier Clear or have a glass of Fairlife Milk to add another 10 - 13g protein.

[FluffyChix 17,415]

7 minutes ago, Diana_in_Philly said:

I'm 14 months out and still use shakes for Breakfast because they work for my schedule

@Diana_in_Philly My nut said that she has many patients who are multi-year out who still use a Protein Drink in the mornings or who add Protein drink to their coffees. She told me that if I went that route, it might free me up from a protein angle so that I could add more veggies to my meal rather than eating an all-protein-every-meal type of routine. (I'm thrilled about that cuz I do love mah veggies with my meats!)

[FluffyChix 17,415]

@Airstream88 Dayum! That's some menu! I want to party with you, Lee Harvey! What time is dinner?

[Berry78 4,261]

Week 1: Clear Liquids, almost no Protein except a little broth. Water, g2, herbal tea, apple juice, sugar free Jello.

Week 2: Milk, protein kefir, broth (and clears from week 1).

Week 3: all of the above plus yogurt and cottage cheese.

Week 4: purees.. all of the above plus blended tuna salad and refried Beans

Week 5: I don't remember as well, but still relied HEAVILY on cottage cheese and yogurt and beans and introduced eggs (sulfur, yum! Sounds like I'm joking but I'm not. I really liked that..I must have needed it).

Weeks 6-8: I really started eating. meats without blending, cashews, smoothies, eggs, cooked veggies, a little fruit. Chili, potato Soup.

Week 9 to present: cottage cheese, yogurt, milk, eggs, beans, nuts, meat, fish, fruit, veggies, potatoes (white and sweet). Coconut water and V8. Rarely cheese. Grains and sweets are reserved for special occasions.

Everything I buy is single-ingredient. So fish is just fish, not breaded. (I occasionally splurge and get it pre-marinaded). I hate mayo now, but like chik fil a sauce. I put that into tuna salad. Salsa is great with beans and eggs and potatoes.

My goal is 70g protein, and have been able to reach it most of the time since week 2. No Protein Shakes or bars. I used to count carbs, but stopped. I'm pretty much always under 100g. The most important things to measure are added oil/fat, and nuts/seeds. You could eat 2 whole potatoes for the calories in an extra handful of almonds.

(I know that sounds like I load up on potatoes, but I don't. I eat 3.5oz about once or twice a week).

[FluffyChix 17,415]

@Berry78 At this point I just laugh at how different our surgeon's plans are. LOL. It's almost as if they say, "I need to put my own spin on this thing, so I'm gonna do xyz and blah blah blah abracadabra! this week, then go to this in week 6..." Just seems so arbitrary!

I just got my post-op plan on my last visit with the RD. Here's mine for grins and giggles:

Week 2: Full liquids (All clear liquids + Protein Drinks, Tomato or V-8, sf fudgesicles, skim or lactaid milks, strained cream Soups made with skim milk, plain yogurt (I'm guessing the non-Greek variety), sf pudding, cream of wheat thinned with skim milk or Protein drink.

Week 3: Soft Solids (All things from clear liquids and full liquids, soft scrambled eggs, low fat cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, flaked fish: tuna, salmon, white fish, canned chicken, starches (yeah right), fruit without membranes/skin or canned in natural juice, fats (limit to 6g/serving), limit sugar to no more than 4g/serving. No liquid calories. Ideally 3 meals + 1 snack. Try to get as much protein from food rather than supplements.

Week 4: Start slowly introducing Regular Food, 1 new food at a time: 2 milk servings, 3 meat servings (1-2oz/s), 4 fruit/veggie servings (1/4-1/2c/s cooked), 2-3 fat servings (1tsp/s) (Sounds an awful lot like a WW plan...right?)

[Berry78 4,261]

I took to heart the "big picture" stuff with my surgeon's plan. The idea that things need to be liquid, or pureed, or thick/smooth, etc. What I listed wasn't termed in the same way that my plan was.. it was termed in the way that I followed my plan. I didn't introduce things earlier than permitted, but I just left things in a simple, limited way that I could meet my goals without having to make things "look" like real food. Sheesh, what's the point? I get into the fridge, weigh out 2oz cottage cheese, take 10 minutes to eat it, and that is a "meal". But it only has 6g protein.. so now I need to do that 12 times during the day to meet my goal. Until I could eat 4oz at a time, I drank a lot of my Protein (milk and kefir).

The concept of "meals" is just now beginning to make sense (7 months postop!). I can finally eat enough at a time that I can meet my protein goals with 3 meals and a snack. I would love to cut out dairy altogether (on principle, except that I like it!), I have, at least, cut it down to a couple servings a day.

What was very good was my plan did progress exceptionally slowly.. because truly, I wouldn't have been ready for it to go any faster than it did!

[FluffyChix 17,415]

@Berry78 You know, you just make excellent points!

"I didn't introduce things earlier than permitted, but I just left things in a simple, limited way that I could meet my goals without having to make things "look" like real food. Sheesh, what's the point? I get into the fridge, weigh out 2oz cottage cheese, take 10 minutes to eat it, and that is a "meal"."

(This is really important IMHO. I've observed that overall, the most successful people here have been content to work their progression very slowly. I think it really capitalizes on that honeymoon period where you have zero to little hunger. I really want to glom onto that plan--and remember it. When things are tough and the learning curve is steep in those early days after surgery, instead of focusing on the pain or perceived deprivation, or whatever, I want to focus on how lucky I am to have this time where I do not have to think too deeply or interact too deeply with food. I want to capitalize on that caloric deficit in the honeymoon period! In those early days, my prayer is that it becomes only about filling the tank--not making things "look" like a meal of real food. Just get 'er done and progress to the next thing on the to-do list titled, "Get Your Ass Movin' and Healthy." Thank you for really highlighting that in this post!)

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"The concept of "meals" is just now beginning to make sense (7 months postop!). I can finally eat enough at a time that I can meet my Protein goals with 3 meals and a snack. I would love to cut out dairy altogether (on principle, except that I like it!), I at least have cut it down to a couple servings a day."

(I can see where this will be the case. At this point you're what? Eating about 1/2-3/4 cup of food per meal? Much easier to make a protein, veg meal from 1/2c of food by volume--getting a good amount of protein in per meal than it would be to try to do that on 1/8-1/4c of food. LOL. So it really makes logical sense looking at it this way.)

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I think in the early days my goal is gonna be to strive for protein from food sources, but not make myself go crazy (although that would be a short, but interesting trip). Like a "meal" will be just a fill-up of the tank with protein and maybe a bite of fat and a bite of something saucy to make it go down easier (i.e. 1 tsp/tbsp of avocado and 1 tsp/tbsp of salsa). Cuz you know, let's face it. Doesn't EVERYTHING taste better with avocado and salsa? And cheese. God bless all the cheeses. God bless cheeses. LOL. I will look at completely eliminating dairy tomorrow. Scarlett and I will work on that tomorrow.

I really love playing this game because it allows me the great opportunity to see how everyone approaches eating and gives a snapshot into their days at different stages in their journey! I am counting on my future self being able to do a quick search on the post-op food forum to find all of the How Do I Get My Protein threads.

[Berry78 4,261]

Day 2 out of surgery I was brought my first tray of clear liquids. I was prepared for what was gonna happen. (1 sip. Full.) So, I took 1 sip, was dutifully full, and pushed the tray away.

A couple hours later I met my nut.. she came in, took a look at that tray (that was still full of various liquids, since it was only missing 1 sip), and she says.. nuh uh. You have to FINISH that tray, and there will be more coming! And you'll have to drink that much every day after you leave here.

I don't know, somehow I missed that part! LOL! So, there I was, sipping and sipping and sipping. And finally.. the tray was empty.

I dunno.. do they have a camera in the room? Because no sooner did I finish that last sip, then within 10 minutes they brought ANOTHER tray that was just as full as the first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A third tray came that day, and so I worked on that one into the night. There is no deprivation postop, only pushing, pushing, pushing to meet goals.

Can you imagine HAVING to eat 12 times a day? That's what it is immediately postop (for me, anyway).

When my son relinquishes the phone I'll take a picture of what I ate at 9 weeks and now.

I love avacado and salsa. Got tired of avacado turning, so don't get it often. But I use salsa all the time. Tomatoes took the full 2-3 months before I could tolerate them. They were too acidic during the healing period (for me).

[FluffyChix 17,415]

@Berry78 Holy cowabunga!

Ok, gotta wrap my head around that scenario. The surgeon made me up my cals over these past months from the 4-600 (when I started my whacky practice wls diet) to 1500cals. Jesus. That set off alarms and head games and big trips. The nut then made me break those 1500cals up into 3 meals + 2-3 Snacks. And literally, I feel so full all the time, I've no idea how I'm not gaining like a hot air balloon. Before I started all this and also got on thyroid and T1, I would gain serious weight each week eating WW at 1200cals/day. This new reality feels very surreal. So I actually eat when I'm still full from the last meal and I hate it. I'm actually looking forward to post surgery where I don't have to hit an artificial caloric number. But the nut wanted me to get used to eating 6 times a day to get my nutrients in.

She told me I was a malnourished obese person. Before I went back into diet mode, I was so used to only eating 1 meal per day and it wasn't even that big. But it was fat food and so devoid of goodness. I would eat Whataburger chicken strip dinner (2 pieces and give the 3rd piece to Mr. Fluffy for extras) with the gravy and a small fry. Some days I'd splurge and get a side salad. I did this for months when I was feeling so bad and was WTD (waiting to die). I put on almost 50lbs during that time. Sigh. So I do deal with some issues with food.

Ok, so I will just start working on this part now. Thanks for bringing this up! I'd no idea. Cuz you know, it's liquids. Derp. Gotta get to work on it!

[Berry78 4,261]

Ok, the stuff on the plate and drinks were at 9 weeks. The stuff around the plate I've gradually added since then.

4oz chicken, 4oz cottage cheese, 3.5oz Beans, 1 egg, 1oz cashews, 1 small banana, broccoli, and butternut squash.

[Berry78 4,261]

We are coming from VERY different places, metabolically. I was eating 3000-4000 calories a day before my preop diet. And I wasn't putting on much weight.

My metabolism was on overdrive, so I can handle more food during the losing phase than some patients. If you gain on 1200 calories (which is about how much you see in the picture..about 1100 unless I add oil to veggies.), then your postop calories are gonna have to be more strict.

I was gone all day, so still need to eat everything on the plate. Made it halfway through the chicken and am stuffed. *sigh*

[Berry78 4,261]

Have your thyroid meds helped your metabolism?