I understand the protein thing, I can hardly tolerate any of it. I drink Premier Protein and only in chocolate & vanilla. They are best when extremely cold! So if you haven't tried those, that's my only recommendation.

Canned tuna or chicken with cottage cheese and seaonings. High protein. For snacks, look for Ostrim Sticks. They are like slim jims but much healthier and tasty. Lean deli meats with a slice of cheese rolled up. Oikos Triple 0 yogurts. Hope that helps!

First of all, congrats on your new lifestyle decision! I'm almost four weeks out and I am feeling GREAT!
Here is my daily intake right now, hopefully it will help you:
8am & 3pm - protein shake of Integrated Supplements Whey Protein Isolate Powder (http://www.target.com/p/integrated-supplements-vanilla-whey-isolate-protein-powder-1-85-lb/-/A-26404113#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=Integated+Supplements+Whey+Protein+Isolate+Powder); it's only $29.99 at Target. I mix with water or lite soy milk and a little ice. It's such a fine powder, it goes down easy and that's 40 g right there!
For lunch lately, I've been having 5 T. hummus and a low fat mozz stick - that's another 11 g right there!
This week I'm on cooked beans and veggies, so for dinner I had 1/2c. red beans with another mozz stick - that's 14 g protein and a grand total of 65g for the day.
Hope this helps! Add me if you need any encouragement or just a friend

Genepro and Syntrax have bariatric developed unflavored protein powders. You may want to try those out. They blend well with things and require a lot less powder than the flavored ones. Genepro is 30 grams of protein for a TBS. I've not tried it, but hear it's supposed to be good. Syntrax is a little more than a TBS for 10 grams. I do have that one and like it. All "unflavored" protein has a flavor, but this is not strong or bad. I add it to soups, oatmeal (when I don't want the added flavor, usually I use vanilla), anything saucy.

Syntrax Nectar line of protein powders have some different flavors as well. My favorites are Roadside Lemonade and Lemon Iced Tea. If you search Syntrax Nectar Samples their page offers a sample pack for a pretty good price. Their Nectars have 23g of protein per scoop. I like those because I get so bored with chocolate and vanilla. I never was a big sweets person. Refined carbs and portion sizes is what killed me.

BEANS. I love beans and lentils. Lentils have about 18 grams of protein per cup. Beans vary based on type but average about 15 - 18 grams per cup boiled. (Beware of stats showing in the 40s, those are for raw beans.) Soy beans have about 22 grams per cup. With all beans, legumes, whatnot, you have to be careful with the carbs. They are low glycemic, healthy carbs, but carbs nonetheless. I know in my day to day, I am eating TOO low carb for my body and need the extra carbs, so I like adding beans or lentils for the double punch of carbs and protein.

I pay a little extra for my milk, but only use Fairlife Milk. Most milk has 7 grams per cup. Fairlife has 13. It taste creamier than most too.

Quinoa has about 9 grams per cup, but again is carby.

Nuts have about 8 grams per ounce, but are higher in fat. They are good fats, and we DO need fat in our diet, so it's something that can be used based on your nutritionist's time line. (My said we couldn't have nuts or seeds until 4 months out, so I can now add them if I want.)

Tempeh and tofu have about 15-20 grams per half cup, but that's soy. Do research on high soy based diets. Some people say it's a load of crap, but soy can mimic estrogen in the body. I don't know about you, but I don't need anything screwing my hormones. They are screwed up enough since surgery!

Two cups of raw spinach has 2 grams of protein. One cup of chopped broccoli (raw) has 8 grams.

Hemp seeds have 10 grams per 3 TBS. You can make your own smoothies using hemp, milk, fruit, extracts and ice. Between Fairlife milk and hemp seeds you can get 23 grams right there.

Along the same lines, chia seeds have 4.5 grams per 2 tbs DRY. If you've never had chia seeds before they are interesting little buggers. If you soak them they grow into these little gelatinous beads. Quite weird. But, if you look in a major grocer's yogurt section they should sell "Chia Cups" or something like that. They are individual (for regular tummies) servings. I'd suggest trying one of those before buying a bag of dried seeds. These are higher in fat and carbs as well, so again, gotta watch those.

Seitan is another meat substitute, but instead of soy, it's wheat gluten. If you are tolerant to wheat, it's a decent option. This is usually sold in the produce section by the tofu, or with the other meat substitutes in a special case (Whole Foods). The brand I like most is Upton's, but it is Chicago based and I'm in IL, so I don't know if it's a local product or nationwide. There's a man with a moustache on the label. Anyway, Seitan has 6 grams of protein per OUNCE. I prefer the ground meat type for tacos or crack slaw. I don't use it anymore because I've learned I'm sensitive to wheat.

EAT YOUR CHOCOLATE! In unsweetened cocoa form. Cook with it, make smoothies, whatever! 1 gram of protein per tablespoon. Not a lot, but IT'S CHOCOLATE!

Again, as I said before, cottage cheese. If you don't like the lumps, add a LITTLE milk and blend it smooth. It has 14 grams per half cup. Or, buy low-fat ricotta, it also has 14 grams per half cup. (Google "Shelly's Baked Ricotta", it's awesome during the pureed phase and beyond. I tweak it a little by adding garlic powder, and puree meatballs with the marinara and use those. Her blog is "The World According to Egg Face" if you haven't found it yet, you need it.)

That's all I got. And yes, when I'm at work on a real computer instead of my cell phone I can give more thorough answers.

is anyone else tired of the "sweet" of protein shakes and such? I like the beans ideas, but how does that play with the gas issue?

There is an awesome company called Eat The Bear (www.etbfit.com) with awesome shakes. The shakes are sweetened wither with sucralose or Stevia, low fat, low carb and 25g of protein. They mix smooth and are some of the best protein shakes I have ever had. They make them in chocolate, chocolate mint, chocolate peanut butter, vanilla, ice cream sandwich and I think strawberry. They do have promotions pretty often to discount the price.

I also just heard of a new product called Elli Quark which is like a Greek yogurt but less tangy and is actually not a yogurt but a cheese. It has a higher protein content than Greek yogurt and is also sweetened more naturally. It isn't widely available in stores yet but Target has a discount through Cartwheel and if you sign up on the Elli Quark site you can get a discount from them too. They offer a lot of flavors. I am going to order some online and try them. I am about 4-5 weeks away from surgery but want to have some options especially for my soft food stages.

Will definitely let ou know NicoleL874! Unfortunately it's not really in stores by me unless I want to drive so I may just order it online. I am very curious about this stuff! Hoping I really like it for protein and also as something to eat during soft food stages!

@NicoleL874 - I found a SuperTarget about 30 minutes from me so we went over the weekend. Just trying the bananas Foster now and it's good! Very smooth, creamy and I don't taste the tartness that you would normally get from a Greek yogurt. I would definitely recommend! I bought lemon, chocolate mint, cherry, blueberry and strawberry. I am hoping I like them all...will definitely help with the soft foods stages.

Curious - at what point post surgery were you able to eat some of the foods that you ate before - in moderation of course. Trying to figure out when post surgery I will be able to join my family out to dinner without fear of getting sick...

Ha ha that's hysterical about the kids menu, but my surgeon gives that out too.

I am not planning on eating out till I am at the stage where I can incorporate solids

My advice is to ignore the calories at that phase. First, at one week out what eating phase are you in? I was graduated to "all liquids" at that point. I added protein powder to broths, drank watered/sports drinked down Isopure juices. Those things are ROUGH on their own, but mixed with 0 cal LifeWater, Gatorade, Propel, etc...they are more tolerable. I also lived on Premier Protein shakes (still do for workday breakfast)!

Try unjury chicken soup flavored protien powder. Warm savory and yummy

I've had the same issue. I was getting so tired of the protein shakes, but was only able to get all of my protein if I had the shakes. Then I found protein water. There's one called Trusource, but it's only sold at Kroger and I've only found it at my Kroger one time. Then I found Atkins Lift at Walmart. 20 grams of protein per bottle. I'm not a big fan of Greek yogurt, but I eat that, low-fat cottage cheese, deli meat, sometimes Atkins frozen meals (but it's hard to find meals that don't have pasta). For some reason, I've developed an aversion to canned tuna. Pre surgery, I would eat canned tuna w/o adding anything to it, but can't stand the thought of it now. I know there are tons of things online, but that stuff can be really expensive.

I would look at Elli Quark - it isn't tangy like yogurt and they have plain so you can Doctor it up. I start my 2 week pre-op diet so o am going to look for different broths so I not living on sweet shakes. Eat The Bear has a good variety of flavors and they offer discounts and coupon codes. If you order put my name in the comments - the owner works at my company so maybe he will recognize my name and do something for you.

I still need to get protein powder that's not flavored too...

The Iced Tea is a brown tea color, the apple drink is green, the grape is purple. @jcavanna2