enough protein???

[brenda01]

Hey Everyone!

I was banded 6 days ago! So far I am finding myself getting very bloated drinking my clear liquids. I was so bloated yesterday that I stopped drinking because it was very uncomforatable and woke up this morning dehydrated (feeling very weak,shakey and nauseated). Any suggestions as to why this is happening and how I can do something differently?

Also, I am starting my creamy stage tomorrow...yippeeeeeee! We are supposed to intake 30 grams of protein, but it says in our post op instructions to have only 3x a half cup serving of our creamy/protein liquids. By my calculation, a slim fast shake divides into 3 equal half cup servings...so this would mean 13 grams of protein only and I wouldn't be able to have creamy soup or yogurt????

I am sooooo confused. Help please!

[MagnoliaGurl]

Hey Brenda, I know exactly how you feel about the bloating.. I am 12 days post op and I'm still a little bloated in the evenings now, but for the first 7 or 8 days I was painfully bloated but it did go away, so I think yours probably will too. As far as the protein goes, I am definetely not getting enough protein at this point, but I don't think there is anything I can do about it. I can barely stand to smell a protein drink, much less drink one (even tho I am forcing myself), so I'm just trying to get through these 21 days of liquid. .

I've got to say that water is the one thing that is keeping me going at this point. Before this surgery, I was not on board with the whole "drink more water than a fish" idea, but now I drink as much as I can. Yesterday, I was not in a postion where I could sip on a bottle of water all day, and I could definetely tell it last night. My back hurt and I just felt like crap. So just remember to keep on sipping!!!

Probably the more experienced bandsters (i.e. Jazzyjude) will be able to tell you more ways to get your protein. Good luck and just remember, it does get better day by day!!!!!

[BrandNewDawn]

My instructions are almost a year old now but mine said: AT LEAST 30g of protein a day. It is okay if you get more than 30g of protein a day. That is the recommended MINIMUM amount. Also, I do not understand why you are saying you would not be able to have creamy soup or yogurt. Three 1/2 cup servings of food is not ALL you are allowed for the day, the 1/2c is the SERVING RECOMMENDATION, as in not more than 1/2 cup at a time to keep you from overfilling/stretching your pouch. Your body needs protein to heal. Your band is still healing in place.

As for the dehydration, try to keep sipping throughout the day. If you are bloated, check the sodium content of what you are drinking. I know broth has high sodium levels which make you retain water but you could just be bloated from the surgery still.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Maybe some of you more recently banded people can clarify what your instructions say.

Dawn

[vangirl]

I too was very bloated, water-retaining, as well as constipated following my surgery. It will pass. Try taking Gatorade or Pedialyte to prevent dehydration.

I don't know what to say about your post-op instructions. My instructions told me to take 1/2 cup at a time, but I don't remember anything about only having 3 servings a day. That seems too little nutrition to me, particularly for healing.

[brenda01]

Hey Brenda, I know exactly how you feel about the bloating.. I am 12 days post op and I'm still a little bloated in the evenings now, but for the first 7 or 8 days I was painfully bloated but it did go away, so I think yours probably will too. As far as the protein goes, I am definetely not getting enough protein at this point, but I don't think there is anything I can do about it. I can barely stand to smell a protein drink, much less drink one (even tho I am forcing myself), so I'm just trying to get through these 21 days of liquid. .

I've got to say that water is the one thing that is keeping me going at this point. Before this surgery, I was not on board with the whole "drink more water than a fish" idea, but now I drink as much as I can. Yesterday, I was not in a postion where I could sip on a bottle of water all day, and I could definetely tell it last night. My back hurt and I just felt like crap. So just remember to keep on sipping!!!

Probably the more experienced bandsters (i.e. Jazzyjude) will be able to tell you more ways to get your protein. Good luck and just remember, it does get better day by day!!!!!

Oh man...it makes me feel better that this may be a usual feeling...I was beginning to think the band may be too tight....I know I am still healing, but sometimes it's hard not to get freaked out by a new unusual feeling.

How are you drinking so much water? That makes me sooo bloated as well! I am bummed about that cause I usually drink a tonne of water (in my old life!)... could you drink that much water in the first week and a half?

[brenda01]

My instructions are almost a year old now but mine said: AT LEAST 30g of protein a day. It is okay if you get more than 30g of protein a day. That is the recommended MINIMUM amount. Also, I do not understand why you are saying you would not be able to have creamy soup or yogurt. Three 1/2 cup servings of food is not ALL you are allowed for the day, the 1/2c is the SERVING RECOMMENDATION, as in not more than 1/2 cup at a time to keep you from overfilling/stretching your pouch. Your body needs protein to heal. Your band is still healing in place.

As for the dehydration, try to keep sipping throughout the day. If you are bloated, check the sodium content of what you are drinking. I know broth has high sodium levels which make you retain water but you could just be bloated from the surgery still.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Maybe some of you more recently banded people can clarify what your instructions say.

Dawn

On the last page of my post op instructions (the one that looks like a calander) it says "Do Not drink too much full liquids, three glasses a day is the average"

The way I am feeling drinking gatorade and water, I'm not sure I could down any more than that anyway, but I am defenitly concerned about the protein.

[MagnoliaGurl]

It's like I just woke up on day 8 and all my bloating was gone. My stomach had gone down a ton and I could see my ankles again. In my case I felt like all the bloating was a combination of the surgery, all the traveling and all the sodium filled broth. Even though it felt kind of odd to drink all that water when I was obviously retaining so much of it, it still made me feel better to drink it.. Trust me on this one...

As far as the post op instructions, they are very vague in their meaning and can be interpreted different ways.. To me "3 glasses a day" means 8oz x3, because an average glass is 8 oz. (not that I could eat this much right now) Who knows if I'm right or not, but that's personally how I interpreted it.

[JazzyJude]

Hi Ladies ~ ok, the bloating you are feeling is from the surgery as they used C20 to pump up your chest and stomach area to do the surgery. Trust me, it WILL go away, give it some time. Remember to continue to sip, sip, sip (no straws, to eliminate more air inside you) and do LOTS of mini walks throughout the day, not just a long walk. This will keep any gas bubbles moving and eventually they will go away. Also, don't sit for too long and the gas bubbles likes to hide in the joints and just hang on! When sitting down watching TV, raise one of your arms towards the ceiling and stretch upwards and then do the same for the other arm, just to keep moving. Rolling your shoulders and neck, forward and backwards, seems to help too.

Since you are doing liquids, it is clear (hahaha...no pun intended!)...that you are not taking too much daily protein. You need a little help in which you can add unflavored protein powder in your clear broth or soups AND, take those wonderful "whey liquid protein bullets". These bullets have 42 grams a proteins and they are GREAT! They look like a tube-like vial and comes in 4 flavors (orange, fruit punch, grape, and blue raspberry). You can drink it as is (kind of like a thicken gel) or mix it in with a Crystal Lite, Gatorade, or even water. If you drink the whole thing all at once, you will definitely feel kind of strange with all kinds of tingling effect. But what I do is take 1/2 in the morning and the other half in the early afternoon, to spread it out a bit and this works well for me. Protein is the key here and it helps with the weakness, nausea, fainting, headaches, etc. Also, GREAT for hair and nail growth as well help your skin glow. also, I drink those yummy Special K20 water as well, which has 5 grams of proteins.

BrandNew Dawn is correct is saying the recommendation is to have 1/2 cup serving of broth or creamy soup at a time, as many times in the day you want. There's no limit and there are no calorie counting the first 21 days.

YOU CAN DO THIS! Stay on tract with the guideline and go forward with your own journey and keep coming here for questions and concerns or ideas. Check out the recipe sections for ideas of menus to have for your creamy soups days and then plan for your solid food stage.

Good Luck! ((HUGS!))

[ckiki]

take those wonderful "whey liquid protein bullets". These bullets have 42 grams a proteins and they are GREAT! They look like a tube-like vial and comes in 4 flavors (orange, fruit punch, grape, and blue raspberry). You can drink it as is (kind of like a thicken gel) or mix it in with a Crystal Lite, Gatorade, or even water. If you drink the whole thing all at once, you will definitely feel kind of strange with all kinds of tingling effect. But what I do is take 1/2 in the morning and the other half in the early afternoon, to spread it out a bit and this works well for me.

Hi JazzyJude, thanks for jogging my memory about those protein bullets, I have been trying to figure out how to get more protein in for the day. I do have a question about those, how many calories do they have? Also, I am sure you mentioned this before, but where do you get them (which store, not online), I checked the grocery store, walmart and target, and they didn't have them. Would the Vitamin Shoppe or GNC sell them, or what about Henry's Market? Ok thanks

[JazzyJude]

Hi JazzyJude, thanks for jogging my memory about those protein bullets, I have been trying to figure out how to get more protein in for the day. I do have a question about those, how many calories do they have? Also, I am sure you mentioned this before, but where do you get them (which store, not online), I checked the grocery store, walmart and target, and they didn't have them. Would the Vitamin Shoppe or GNC sell them, or what about Henry's Market? Ok thanks

Hi ckiki! I get those at the GNC store and sometimes there's a discount and you can get 12 for $25 and this is what I do. They have 176 calories. I don't have them everyday, mind you...just when I need to up my proteins on my down days. Either this or a couple of protein shakes (which I LOVE the creamy ice cream shake flavor/texture of AmazeRX...go to www.AmazeRX.com for them, as seen on TV).

Hope this helps you!

[ckiki]

Hi ckiki! I get those at the GNC store and sometimes there's a discount and you can get 12 for $25 and this is what I do. They have 176 calories. I don't have them everyday, mind you...just when I need to up my proteins on my down days. Either this or a couple of protein shakes (which I LOVE the creamy ice cream shake flavor/texture of AmazeRX...go to www.AmazeRX.com for them, as seen on TV).

Hope this helps you!

Whooo, expensive little things..lol. Thanks so much!!

[Smiley]

Once a person is past the liquid phase, I found the Snickers energy bars to be a great source of protein. These are not your normal Snickers candy bar, but they are the next best thing and they do have good tasting chocolate associated with them. I sometimes have one for breakfast and it holds me until lunch. If I have a 10 gram one I also eat a banana with it, but if I have a 20 gram one I have it by itself - why? no idea other than I just do.

I have found the 10 gram Multigrain Crunch (or something like that) one to be good. For the 20 gram one I prefer the Caramel Nut Rush. I did not care for the peanut butter one at all (texture issue) and the one with dark chocolate is not even on my list of things to try. The calories are about a fourth of your daily allotment, but if used as a meal replacement just like a protein shake you should be fine. I don't even pay attention to how well I chew them and have never had a problem getting them down, regardless of the time of day or night. Maybe I have tricked my body into thinking I really am eating a candy bar. You can buy them individually which I would suggest while experimenting to find what you like, or you can buy them in boxes of 6. I get them at Wal-Mart or most any pharmacy or grocery store. They are found in the energy/protein bar section.

[sawdawg]

Hi JazzyJude do you still do the protein bullets on a daily base?

quote name='JazzyJude' date='Feb 9 2009, 05:00 PM' post='64691']

Hi Ladies ~ ok, the bloating you are feeling is from the surgery as they used C20 to pump up your chest and stomach area to do the surgery. Trust me, it WILL go away, give it some time. Remember to continue to sip, sip, sip (no straws, to eliminate more air inside you) and do LOTS of mini walks throughout the day, not just a long walk. This will keep any gas bubbles moving and eventually they will go away. Also, don't sit for too long and the gas bubbles likes to hide in the joints and just hang on! When sitting down watching TV, raise one of your arms towards the ceiling and stretch upwards and then do the same for the other arm, just to keep moving. Rolling your shoulders and neck, forward and backwards, seems to help too.

Since you are doing liquids, it is clear (hahaha...no pun intended!)...that you are not taking too much daily protein. You need a little help in which you can add unflavored protein powder in your clear broth or soups AND, take those wonderful "whey liquid protein bullets". These bullets have 42 grams a proteins and they are GREAT! They look like a tube-like vial and comes in 4 flavors (orange, fruit punch, grape, and blue raspberry). You can drink it as is (kind of like a thicken gel) or mix it in with a Crystal Lite, Gatorade, or even water. If you drink the whole thing all at once, you will definitely feel kind of strange with all kinds of tingling effect. But what I do is take 1/2 in the morning and the other half in the early afternoon, to spread it out a bit and this works well for me. Protein is the key here and it helps with the weakness, nausea, fainting, headaches, etc. Also, GREAT for hair and nail growth as well help your skin glow. also, I drink those yummy Special K20 water as well, which has 5 grams of proteins.

BrandNew Dawn is correct is saying the recommendation is to have 1/2 cup serving of broth or creamy soup at a time, as many times in the day you want. There's no limit and there are no calorie counting the first 21 days.

YOU CAN DO THIS! Stay on tract with the guideline and go forward with your own journey and keep coming here for questions and concerns or ideas. Check out the recipe sections for ideas of menus to have for your creamy soups days and then plan for your solid food stage.

Good Luck! ((HUGS!))

[jhawkchick75]

I do the protein bullets daily. I do 1/2 of it around 10am and the other 1/2 around 3pm which helps around the time of day I get really hungry! I get mine from the following site:

http://wholesalesupplementstore.com/newwhey.html

They aren't cheap, but they do me well. I purchase several boxes at a time to save on shipping.

[PAMMIE]

Hey Everyone!

I was banded 6 days ago! So far I am finding myself getting very bloated drinking my clear liquids. I was so bloated yesterday that I stopped drinking because it was very uncomforatable and woke up this morning dehydrated (feeling very weak,shakey and nauseated). Any suggestions as to why this is happening and how I can do something differently?

Also, I am starting my creamy stage tomorrow...yippeeeeeee! We are supposed to intake 30 grams of protein, but it says in our post op instructions to have only 3x a half cup serving of our creamy/protein liquids. By my calculation, a slim fast shake divides into 3 equal half cup servings...so this would mean 13 grams of protein only and I wouldn't be able to have creamy soup or yogurt????

I am sooooo confused. Help please!

LOOK AT BEAN SOUPS, THEY'RE HIGH IN PROTEIN AND FIBER

[JazzyJude]

Hi JazzyJude do you still do the protein bullets on a daily base?

Hi Kiddo! NO, I don't do these daily, only when I don't get in all my protein intake due to tight restrictions, skipped a meal due to work, or just plain need more energy. I would say, I would do a protein bullet about once every 10 days or so. I do, however, do more protein shakes after a hard core exercise to help replenish the muscles nurishments and I do this within 30 minutes right after exercising.

Hope this helps you...

[JazzyJude]

LOOK AT BEAN SOUPS, THEY'RE HIGH IN PROTEIN AND FIBER

DITTO! I totally LOVE beans! I have beans just about every other day. I make bean soups, cook a variety of beans together for a side dish, Campbell's Beans and Bacon soup is awesome!, and even have those wonderful Taco Bell's pinto beans with cheese...YUMMY!

NOTE: If you are making bean soups at home, don't add salt while burping or cooking them as they won't be tender or soft. Add salt, if needed, at eating time. They have some wonderful Bean soup spices in grocery stores that takes the place of salt and takes real good. I like to go to Quartzsite, Arizona for there annual Bluegrass festival and they have those HUGE, GIGANTIC swap meets for MILES ~ literally! There is a vendor who sells these variety of bean bags that are out of this world and a few bean soups already preapred and all you have to do is just add water and if you desire, some chicken or ham or extra bulk and fullness. YUM, YUM, YUM! Now I am hungry! LOL

[vangirl]

We don't get protein bullets here in Canada, but I still make my own protein shake concoction almost daily, which gives me 23g of protein, 170 calories, and a whole lot of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fruit/vegetable extracts, and other good stuff in one shot. Occasionally I will have protein bars to get that protein in, but I have to be very careful, because they go down very easily and are chocolatey, so it's hard to stick with just one. I'm trying to get a system in place so that I have them just at work (where it's hard to take time away for a proper lunch) or only have one or two lying around the house at any given time.