How did you make Meal Replacement Drinks bearable?
SassyAshleigh
Posts: 78 Member
Hi everyone! I am new to the group, and had my last dietician appointment on 6/25 before scheduling my WLS. I have received a couple samples of Bariatric Advantage/Unjury Meal Replacements from my doctor's office. I am supposed to be drinking 4 servings every day for 2 weeks before my surgery. I figured trying them before actually purchasing them was a better idea. However, I about gag every time I drink one (The Iced Latte and Strawberry Sorbet are the only ones I can get down). How did you make yours bearable or to the point where you actually liked drinking them! So far, I have only been mixing the powder with 8 oz. of water. I have not tried Unsweetened Almond Milk. Thank in advance for your assistance! 
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The only brand I liked was Premier - I buy mine at costco. I could tolerate Unjury Chicken soup when I wanted something hot, but those two brands made me want to gag too! Premier is a premixed one, chocolate and vanilla - I switch up the flavors with sugar free coffee flavorings - the pump kind.0
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I wish I could do something different than the two brands I listed. My doctor's office said that I have to get the 2 week before surgery supply from them (which only includes that Bariatric Advantage and Unjury). Is the Premier's first ingredient "Whey Protein Isolate"?0
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Unfortunately, I wasn't able to tolerate them. It didn't seem to be a problem with the whey - I think maybe it was the iron, which I've never been able to stomach. At any rate, I had severe and debilitating nausea. What ended up saving me was making fruit smoothies with flavorless Isopure but that was post-op. I more or less just had to suffer through the clear liquids period.0
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*groans* No me gusta. lol I was able to put some Pink Lemonade Crystal Light with the Strawberry Sorbet and it actually made it really good.0
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I was put on Optifast for my pre-op. It wasn't too bad, however I'm glad it's over. It is available in Vanilla and Chocolate. It tasted ok but I just got tired of having the same thing ALL the time. It is all worth it though.0
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I wonder why different doctor's prescribe or tell you to use something different than someone else. My sister is going through a Center of Excellence, and so am I, and they both are telling us different things. I am following my doctor's orders, but I would rather give some of these other ones a taste.0
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There is no standard I have found even among centers of excellece. Go figure. When I was drinking vanilla/chocolate shakes I would add PB2(powdered peanut butter) and that made it better. I would talk to the nutritionist a good doctor would rather you get the protein in than be overly particular about a brand in my opinion. Unless they make a profit, which I assume they do, in which case I would be weary. Your best interest should be their primary concern 0
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You might want to swing by a GNC and try their Lean Shake 25. It is approved by my surgical center. It has a little more texture, like a milk shake, and the basic flavors are pretty darn good. I don't do milk, just ice water. You can buy a sample pouch that comes with a coupon for the tub. Also, check online. I've found numerous places that sell sample sizes of different products. It's a good way to test the market without spending a bunch of money.0
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I didn't even have to drink shakes before surgery. I just had to limit every day to 30 or less total carbs. But I did do shakes as part of that - the Pure Protein cans. After surgery I couldn't stomach them anymore but before surgery they were great.0
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What about sugar-free Carnation Instant Breakfast? I hear that it's great. I can't get it in my area but you can order it from Amazon.com.0
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They are all nasty. Some more tolerable than others, but none are "good." Try adding frozen strawberries to vanilla, or instant coffee, their are sugar free flavors you can try, there's also powered peanut butter. It sounds really grose, but it's just peanuts without the oil...not bad, I like it. Add it to a chocolate powder, tastes like a reeses shake (ok, maybe not exactly like that). You have to be creative0
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Sometimes they taste better the colder they are, so try adding some ice to the blender when you mix it up, and making sure your water or milk is super cold. Also, a tablespoon of sugar free instant pudding sometimes helps the flavor and texture, and it only adds about 25 calories. Like others have said, you can also try adding PB2, instant coffee, I sometimes add sugar free Torani syrups. I am 20 months out from surgery and I still have protein drinks regularly. It definitely took some trial and error to find some I like. There are definitely some good ones out there. Maybe check with your surgeon's office to see if you can try other brands?0
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I like the bariatric advantage flavors if I blend them with ice. I can tolerate them without the ice but with the ice it's almost a milkshake consistency.0
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You might want to swing by a GNC and try their Lean Shake 25. It is approved by my surgical center. It has a little more texture, like a milk shake, and the basic flavors are pretty darn good. I don't do milk, just ice water. You can buy a sample pouch that comes with a coupon for the tub. Also, check online. I've found numerous places that sell sample sizes of different products. It's a good way to test the market without spending a bunch of money.
That's a good idea. I know someone doing Isopure and enjoy the flavors. It's just that I have to use either Bariatric Advantage or Unjury 2 weeks before surgery. After that, they said I could do any protein supplement as long as the first ingredient was "whey protein isolate".0 -
Sometimes they taste better the colder they are, so try adding some ice to the blender when you mix it up, and making sure your water or milk is super cold. Also, a tablespoon of sugar free instant pudding sometimes helps the flavor and texture, and it only adds about 25 calories. Like others have said, you can also try adding PB2, instant coffee, I sometimes add sugar free Torani syrups. I am 20 months out from surgery and I still have protein drinks regularly. It definitely took some trial and error to find some I like. There are definitely some good ones out there. Maybe check with your surgeon's office to see if you can try other brands?
I have heard of adding the sugar free pudding before. Which kinda did you use with what flavors of protein?
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SassyAshleigh wrote: »I have heard of adding the sugar free pudding before. Which kinda did you use with what flavors of protein?
With the vanilla protein, you can use almost any flavor pudding, I used vanilla, banana, pistachio, lemon, butterscotch. With the chocolate protein I have used chocolate and banana. I have Quest Peanut Butter protein powder, and I have added banana pudding to that, it's pretty yummy.0 -
SassyAshleigh wrote: »I have heard of adding the sugar free pudding before. Which kinda did you use with what flavors of protein?
With the vanilla protein, you can use almost any flavor pudding, I used vanilla, banana, pistachio, lemon, butterscotch. With the chocolate protein I have used chocolate and banana. I have Quest Peanut Butter protein powder, and I have added banana pudding to that, it's pretty yummy.
Did you just put the protein in, then water, and how much sugar free pudding per 8 oz?
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SassyAshleigh wrote: »SassyAshleigh wrote: »I have heard of adding the sugar free pudding before. Which kinda did you use with what flavors of protein?
With the vanilla protein, you can use almost any flavor pudding, I used vanilla, banana, pistachio, lemon, butterscotch. With the chocolate protein I have used chocolate and banana. I have Quest Peanut Butter protein powder, and I have added banana pudding to that, it's pretty yummy.
Did you just put the protein in, then water, and how much sugar free pudding per 8 oz?
I just throw it all in the blender, sometimes with a couple of ice cubes, usually about 1 tablespoon of sugar free pudding but if it makes it too thick for you, you can add less pudding or more water, depending on your taste preference.0 -
SassyAshleigh wrote: »
Also my preop diet wanted us to eat a small banana once a day for potassium... I would freeze the banana and blend the frozen banana with the powder and water. So good! I will miss that on the post op clear liquids.
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I used Unjury for my preop. I could handle the chocolate supreme, but that was the only one. I mixed mine with Lucerne (Safeway) Plus Protein fat free milk, which was ok'd by my doctor. The milk plus a bit of ice made it do-able, but the day I was allowed to do pureed foods and start working the protein shakes out of my life was a very happy day indeed.
I haven't tried it, but Musclegen is supposedly tasteless and non thickening. You may want to ask your doc about it. Ladies on another board swear by it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K6OSDYA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AIEUZANEXEI7Q0 -
Freeze them! I put mine in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes and it makes it milkshake consistency. It was much easier to drink a chocolate "milkshake" than it was to just drink chocolate milk. I always use skim milk instead of water in the shakes.0
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THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! I will start trying the suggestions and go from there. I really really appreciate you all!0
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I also used McCormick liquid flavorings and got very creative. I use skim milk. Think banana, pineapple, coconut and rum flavorings (just a small splash when using this many). I loved my Proteincolada. Another I liked was skim milk, Vanilla Unjury, and a teaspoon of Zatarain's Root Beer Extract with a few ice cubes...not a root beer float, but I thought it was yummy. 1/2 - 1 frozen banana, skim milk, Chocolate Classic Unjury is good when you can progress to including fruits.0
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I forced those dumb bariatric advantage shakes down for two weeks pre-surgery, too. I couldn't eat the soup they sold me, so I used Unjury chicken broth. After surgery, I switched to Unjury for all my powdered shakes. I still don't like them as shakes, but it goes down fine in coffee (chocolate or vanilla) or lemonade (strawberry). When I want to get really fancy, I'll mix it with pb2 and some fruit and milk, but I rarely want to waste the calories.
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I never had any of the bariactric shakes. I used a plant based protein shake mix called RAW. It comes in many flavors but I used vanilla, chocolate and chai. With the vanilla I liked to mix some orange, strawberry or lime extract. The chocolate was awesome with the pb2 powder, caramel extract or a little instant coffee. With that said.... I hate shakes and only drink them if I need to get more protein in. Lol0
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I prefer the Syntrax Nectar brand for flavor. But I since GNC is closer than my doctor's office and has more convenient hours, I deceided to try their brand in the Lean Burn and regular meal replacement. I got the cookies and cream in the lean burn and hated the flavor! But I bought a huge jar so decided I would have to live with it because it's too expensive to give or throw away. I love coffee so added a little instant to the mix and now I really like it. The other flavor is chocolate and it's fine. I see my surgeon for my 4 year check up next month and will stock up on the Syntrax from their store! Excited to do that.0
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pawoodhull wrote: »I prefer the Syntrax Nectar brand for flavor. But I since GNC is closer than my doctor's office and has more convenient hours, I deceided to try their brand in the Lean Burn and regular meal replacement. I got the cookies and cream in the lean burn and hated the flavor! But I bought a huge jar so decided I would have to live with it because it's too expensive to give or throw away. I love coffee so added a little instant to the mix and now I really like it. The other flavor is chocolate and it's fine. I see my surgeon for my 4 year check up next month and will stock up on the Syntrax from their store! Excited to do that.
I order my Syntrax Nectar from Amazon - shows right up on my doorstep. I like the chocolate truffle the best. You can get either the individual packets or the big tub. I've also bought it from BJ's Bariatric Pantry to be able to get the sampler pack with different flavors. I like the Caribbean Cooler, Crystal Sky and Twisted Cherry along with the chocolate and strawberry.
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hockey7fan wrote: »I order my Syntrax Nectar from Amazon - shows right up on my doorstep. I like the chocolate truffle the best. You can get either the individual packets or the big tub. I've also bought it from BJ's Bariatric Pantry to be able to get the sampler pack with different flavors. I like the Caribbean Cooler, Crystal Sky and Twisted Cherry along with the chocolate and strawberry.
I've looked at Amazon but never ordered the Syntrax from them. I should really try that sometime. Thanks!
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