Tricks and Tips for Getting Your Protein in After Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass patients are typically advised to get 60 to 80 grams of protein a day, sometimes even more than that. Especially in the early days after surgery, it can be hard to get all that protein in. Here are some tricks and tips to help you with your task.

1. First thing in the morning, put one scoop of unflavored protein powder in a dish on your kitchen counter. Every time you get something to eat, try to put a little bit of the protein powder in it. Just start with a little pinch in your yogurt, pudding, soup, sugar free hot chocolate, anything you can mix it in. Just add a pinch, stir well and see if you think another pinch will still be edible. Even using just a little pinch at a time, by the end of the day you'll have gotten an extra 20 grams of protein or so. And if you are really just using a pinch at a time, it should not affect the taste or texture of your food at all.

2. Eat Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. For the yogurt, buy plain and mix in something for flavor. If you mix in a spoonful of sugar free cheesecake flavor pudding mix, it will taste like real cheesecake. You can use other flavors of sugar free pudding mix, no sugar added jam, or fresh fruit and Splenda. (You can add a tiny pinch of protein powder, too, and you'll never even know it's in there).

3. Make protein ice cream. See theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com for lots of yummy recipes.

4. Go to Vitamin Shoppe or GNC and buy some ready to drink shakes. Just get single bottles so if you don't like them you aren't stuck with a whole case. Try these, if you can find them: Oh Yeah! brand in chocolate, cookies n creme and/or banana (lots of people seem to like those flavors, though not everyone does, of course); Isopure smoothies; Cytosport, which I think resembles Gatorade; Atkins ready to drink, especially the mocha one if you like mocha stuff; any others that look like they might be good.

5. If you haven't tried hot protein drinks, try them. You can find tons of recipes at bariatricfoodie.com but basically, if you want to make protein hot chocolate, you mix the protein powder with a little room temp liquid until you get a paste, then pour in hot water/milk and the hot chocolate powder and stir. Make it warm enough to be hot chocolate but don't add boiling water.

6. Try the Unjury chicken soup protein mix, if you haven't. Get a sample on their website.

7. If you like coffee drinks, I have found that a spoonful of instant decaf coffee makes almost any vanilla shake taste better. Covers up the protein smell, too.

8. If the smell of protein drinks bothers you, try drinking from a cup with a lid. That makes it harder to smell what you're drinking.