Posted: May 3, 08 4:45am

After weight loss surgery your body requires a good deal more protein than it did before. The reasons:

1. You eat a lot less

2. You absorb a lot less

That is how weight loss surgery works: through decreased consumption and malabsorption.

Foods that are rich in protein include:

Beef & Pork (difficult to digest in the newly post-op patient)

Dark meat chicken

Cottage cheese

Hard cheese

Shrimp, Crab, Lobster

Tofu

Legumes

Greek yogurt (generally have 14-16 grams!)

Strive to get in at least 80 grams of protein per day. Your body needs this protein to build and maintain muscle, blood cells and organ function. If you do not get adequate protein, your body will go into starvation mode and bad things will start happening. For instance: your hair will fall out! Whenever I hear of someone who had WLS and they complain that half their hair fell out -- well, that's a sure sign they didn't get all their protein.

It is almost physically impossible with the size of your new postop stomach to get in adequate protein from the food you eat.

One way to consume enough protein is to supplement with protein shakes. All protein shakes are not created equally, however. Look for WHEY protein. STACKED WHEY, COMPLETE WHEY are other ways of saying the protein is complete. Also, check the carbohydrates in these products. It should be very low. (under 5 grams) You do not need any type of extra sugar in your protein. This defeats the purpose. Look for a Whey that has between 20-40 grams of protein in it. There are many discussions & disagreements about just how much protein your body can absorb in any one ingestion. My thought is: do what works for you. Don't skimp, however.

I generally wake in the morning, have one protein shake (Banana Scream from VitaCost.com) (23 grams) and then about 3 hours later have a greek yogurt (15 grams) and then have another shake an hour before dinner (23 grams) This is over 60 grams of my recommended daily allowance. The other 20 grams I will eat in the way of chicken, beans or cheese.

There is also an interesting product out there called "protein bullets". I bought these for my honeymoon because there was no way I was going to stop and make 2 shakes every day. Protein bullets generally have about 40+ grams of whey protein and come in fruity flavors (orange, berry, grape) in about a 3 oz tube. I had to hold my nose to get them down as they are quite concentrated. I simply drank 1/2 of one bullet each day. Straight up, baby. Some folks mix them with crystal light or just plain water. They do not require refrigeration and travel well in your purse or pocket. I think they are too expensive for everyday use.

You may not like protein shakes or bullets. They do taste rather chalky. Sometimes your new anatomy cannot tolerate them at all. Your new tummy may protest violently. I was lucky to be able to drink them both pre and postop. Your taste buds after surgery change dramatically so it is my suggestion that you do not run out an buy several 5-lb containers of anything. Before surgery, I loved the double-chocolate flavor. After surgery, I thought it was awful! I switched to 'white flavors' (vanilla, banana.) and while I am not tickled pink about it, I can at least get them down.

Protein bars also can supplement your protein intake if you simply cannot stand the whey protein shakes. A protein bar should have at least 20-28 grams of protein and no more than 15 grams of carbohydrates. Anything with more sugar than that is merely a glorified candy bar.

Stay away from Slim-Fast and Carnation Instant Breakfast (crap-in-a-box) as these products have too much sugar and no where near the nutrition you really need. Again: Don't skimp!

Protein intake will be important for the rest of your life. Remember to eat your protein first and drink your protein shakes religiously. Protein acts as a natural appetite suppressent. Your body knows if it is getting adequate amounts. If it senses that it is not getting enough, your metabolism will slow down and probably your weight loss will stall. If your weight plateaus, one thing to look at is your protein consumption. Up it by about 20 grams and see if you don't come off that plateau!