Transitioning from shakes to food

[Candigrl1 152]

Question???

How did you transition from mostly using shakes to getting your Protein from food sources? I started really tracking what I am eating due to my 3 week stall. I'm noticing that due to my milk allergy that most of the shakes and yogurts I eat are a bit higher in carbs and calories than I would like and noticed I am more reliant on the shakes than food to get my protein in. How hard was the transition? Should I gradually start eliminating the shakes?

Thanks for any info you could share.

[ShoppGirl 4,789]

I was advised to slowly decrease the shakes as I was able to eat larger portions. If you can only eat an ounce of chicken you aren’t going to be able to get enough Protein from food. Well technically if you also eat a bunch of yogurt you can but you get my point. I am over a year out and still have a shake for Breakfast everyday but that’s more for convenience and cause I like the taste of it (the caffe latte by premiere protein) many people get off them alltogether. But my advice would be to calculate your protein (not counting the shakes and yogurt) for a week or so and see if you consistently get to 30 or 60 or something like that and drop a shake as you can or just calculate for each day if you eat a lot of variety and have a shake or yogurt as a late snack if you need it.

Edited July 3, 2022 by ShoppGirl

[Arabesque 7,243]

I joyfully kissed all my shakes away on day one week three. It was always my goal to rely on real food to get all my nutrients in & not depend upon supplements or Meal Replacements. My surgeon was also okay if I was not hitting my Protein goal while going through the first stages as long as I was making an effort so that took off some pressure. But as @ShoppGirl said it does depend upon how much you can eat. (I wasn’t able to eat much but usually hit 40-50g of my 60g protein goal.)

I found a good high protein yoghurt (15-20g) & a yoghurt smoothie (22-30g) to keep my protein closer to goal. I also did things like make my scrambled eggs & rolled oats extra milky to get in a little more protein. But being lactose intolerant I realise this isn’t quite as easy for you.

Were you given a caloric goal or a recommended carb intake or limit? How many extra carbs or calories are you getting in by consuming lactose free/dairy alternative products? Because we eat so little it would take a lot to really have a negative impact on your weight loss. I drink a lactose free milk because I can’t drink a lot of ordinary milk. (No issue with other dairy though.) And even though it has about double the calories, it didn’t have an impact on my weight loss.

Milk alternatives can actually have fewer calories than cows milk (per 100mls):

• Full cream cow’s milk – 281 kilojoules (67 calories)
• Rice milk – 255 kilojoules (61 calories)
• Regular soy milk – 241 kilojoules (58 calories)
• Oat milk – 213 kilojoules (51 calories)
• Reduced-fat cow’s milk – 191 kilojoules (46 calories)
• Reduced-fat soy milk – 153 kilojoules (37 calories)
• Skim cow’s milk – 142 kilojoules (34 calories)
• Sweetened almond milk – 123 kilojoules (29 calories)
• Sweetened cashew milk – 123 kilojoules (29 calories)
• Coconut milk – 95 kilojoules (23 calories)
• Unsweetened cashew milk – 73 kilojoules (18 calories)
• Unsweetened almond milk – 69 kilojoules (16 calories)

Same with carb content.

• Macadamia milk: 1 gram of carbs/cup
• Hemp milk: 1.3 grams of carbs/cup
• Soy milk: 1.6 grams of carbs/cup
• Almond milk: 1.99 grams of carbs/cup
• Flax milk: 2 grams of carbs/cup
• Coconut milk: 3.38 grams of carbs/cup
• Oat milk: 9 grams of carbs/cup
• cows milk: 12grams of carbs/cup

Have a chat with your dietician. They should be able to recommend lower calorie or lower carb alternatives if your intake is excessive for you to try.

PS - Stalls rarely have anything to do with the calories or carbs you are consuming but are a natural part of your weight loss journey. Your rate of loss is never constant but zigs & zags, ups & downs & plateaus. Your body stalls or takes a pause (as I heard a surgeon say recently) to catch up with the changes - surgery, weight loss, change in diet or activity, etc. Think of it as your body is stressed & it needs time to recover & accept the changes. Just like you do if emotionally or mentally stressed.