Whey protein tends to be about the best available for those of us with re-arranged guts after weight loss surgery. And typically, you don’t have to worry about the chemicals and GMO issues that tend to come with soy based proteins. And if you’ve read any of my other posts on protein powders, you should know one of my personal favorites is the unflavored, unsweetened Whey Isolate CFM from TrueNutrition (formerly TrueProtein). They recently put together this nice video explaining the difference between the more popular forms of whey proteins and the filtration types.

Don’t forget, if you order from them, use my discount code (RBP224) for 5% off your order!

When you’re a bariatric patient, you can count on two things. First, you’ll hear all the time how you’re not supposed to drink your calories. And second, protein drinks are a fact of post-op life. But, sometimes that life gets a bit hectic, so making up your favorite protein shake or smoothing using whatever powder you prefer can be a hassle.

Sure, there are single-use packs out there. There’s even some good products that come pre-measured in a bottle where you just add water. But with those packs, you still need some sort of shaker like the Blender Bottle to keep from getting those protein powder lumps and the bottles work, but they can be a bit on the bulky side at times.

Well, thanks to one of the vendors I met out in Vegas last month I now have just the thing. Gotein.

Think of Gotein as Crystal Lite on steroids. Gotein is a powder you shake up in a bottle of water and drink… it’s that simple. Really. I’m going to keep this short and to the point. Here’s what you’ve gotta know.

Flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry.

Nutritional Stats: 17g protein from a mix of whey isolate and whey concentrate, 110 Calories, 6g carbs with just 1g of those carbs from sugars. They also throw in a decent mix of vitamins, a bit of artificial flavors, but mostly natural stuff including actual cocoa powder and real strawberries. Check out the product page for full nutritional stats.

Mixing it up: Just like those Crystal Lite packets it’s easy. Dump in a bottle of water, put the cap back on, give it a good shake, drink. BUT – these packets won’t fit in your pocket. There’s just over a quarter-cup of powder in each. You’ll need to make sure you have LOTS of room in the bottle before adding the powder and mixing it up. You screw this part up and you won’t be happy. You’ll either spill half the mix out of the bottle or you’ll end up with a lumpy mess.

Taste: If you’re looking for something to curb a sweet tooth, at just 1g sugar, this ain’t it. It’s smooth, it’s mild, and there’s no blechy protein after taste or anything.

This may be just me, but I like it a LOT better with ice cold water – and in fact when I can, I just use my own bottle with water and a couple of ice cubes to keep it nice and chilled.

Cost: At $25 (well, $24.95) for a carton of 12, this ain’t the cheapest stuff out there, but it’s not the most expensive either. But given the quality of the product, the taste, and the convenience – it’s well worth the cost. It’s very easy for me to keep a few of these in the Jeep and my laptop bag all the time so I have one handy no matter where I’m at.

The cost still bugging you? Fine… I have a discount code for ya. MED05 - enter that when you make a purchase of individual carton to get 20% (basically $5) off per carton. Or if you’re gonna order at least three carton anyways, just use the Pick your own Combo option and you automatically get $5 off per box.

If you’re still a bit gun-shy, hit the home page and get the “free” sample pack. You get one packet of each of the three flavors, you just pay bout $3 to cover shipping. Shipping is extra on any of the orders by the way, but they have a number of retail places that carry Gotein around California, so if you’re out west you may be able to get it local.

I had written to Laura, who was working the booth in Vegas, and when I ordered a carton of the strawberry for myself she was nice enough to throw in some samples of all three flavors for me to pass out to the people in my support group… I’ve received nothing but positive feedback from them, and I know at least one of them has ordered some of their own since.

If you don’t mind, if you do order, please use the links I have here on my site – I did join their affiliate program so I do earn a bit of a commission if you buy something via my link. Not much, but hopefully something to help off set my hosting costs and such. If doing so is an issue for you, search Google for Gotein and you’ll find their site on your own easy enough.

Oh, the only other thing I would add is that I wish they could come up with some Crystal Lite type flavors… some tropical, or fruit punch or citrus type flavors maybe? And keep them low sugar! Not everyone wants a super-sweet drink. That’s bout the only thing I could think of right now that would make this product any better. If you’ve tried them yourself, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

On this episode of Protein Cooking I share my home made protein bar recipe.

Check out the full recipe on the BTV forums and leave a comment there or here with your favorite variation!

Originally published March 29, 2009

Ok, I’m bout 10 days from my surgery. Lots of little details coming all together, and for as much as I’ve read, learned, etc over the last few months… and I keep coming up with more and more information. I thought I would share a few things.

WLS is not a cure, it’s a tool… but like you need saw blades to use a saw the surgery as a tool needs “blades” to go with it.

Ok, while I am going to be eating a lot less, I’ll still be eating. Since McDonalds will be out of the picture I will need to be cooking. I heard about this book.. Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery. My sister ended up getting it for me for Chritmas. Another one I found was Recipes for Life After Weight-Loss Surgery. In browsing through these, they both have some intesting recipes that look really good.

My biggest issue though is the whole cooking for just me. Even in these books, the recipes are geared towards cooking for two-four people. I am going to have to go through the recipes that look the most promising and figure out which may freeze well and such and maybe mark others for having some company over or share with Mom for when we do family dinners or something.

Getting enough protein is going to be a huge deal. 60-70g a day. For the first year, it will be really tough to do that by eating along. Enter protein powders. Travis, the son of a good friend of mine works at Nutrition City, a local supplement retailer. I stopped in the other week to see what he would recommend. I know he’s not a doctor or even a nutritionist, but based on what I’ve already read, I was looking more for something that fit some specific criteria… decent tasting, could be used in drinks or cooking, and low-carb. He recommended Champion Nutrition’s Pure Whey.

I picked up the 5# container of the vanilla flavor. It’s got 23g of protein per scoop, and there’s just over 70 scoops in the container… or about two month supply if I add one scoop per day to my diet. Whey is a dairy based protein, so I will need to see how I react to it after surgery as the lactose (milk sugars) could cause issues. I’m hoping it’s ok, cause it does taste pretty good. I’ve made a couple different smoothies with yogurt and things like orange juice (think dreamsicle taste), blueberries, and banana. I also mixed some up in applesauce and it was not terrible. But, to get enough in to the small amount of food I will be eating… not sure that will be an option. I’m going to try adding a scoop to just water and drinking it over the course of a day I think. About four-five days after surgery this may be my main shot at getting my protein.

Travis also gave me a bottle of a protein water to try that he said a lot of WLS folks pick up by the case. Isopure, zero carb dietary supplement. I tried the Alpine Punch flavor. Each 20oz bottle has 40g of protein, under 200 calories (the Orange is listed as 260calories on the web site), no aspartame or preservatives, and is made with filtered water, whey protein, flavorings and sucralose. I’m hoping that the sucralose (a form of sugar as all “lose’s” are) is low enough to not cause issues. It’s a 0 carb drink, so we’ll see. It tasted pretty good, but did leave a sort of after taste in my mouth… and I could feel it on my teeth. If I get more of this, I may try mixing it half-n-half with water and see how that goes. I’m not sure if it is worth the price of over $4 a bottle or about $40 for a case of 12, but it may be worth keeping on hand for days I know I’m just not getting enough protein in my meals. We’ll see.

So, these are some of the first few tools to go in my new tool-box. I’ll write about more of them in the days to come. Oh yea… the links to the two cook-books are Amazon affiliate links. If you’re interested in them… great… if you get them through Amazon… spiffy… and if I get a few bucks to help defray my web hosting costs, all the better. Just wanted to be up front about it.

Originally published March 18, 2009

No… not of winter. Of waiting.

The psychologist finally submitted the paperwork to my surgeon last week and they called me Monday to let me know they have it all and will be contacting the insurance company for approval.

The nurse said it could take two-four weeks to hear back from them, at which point I’ll be able to get the surgery scheduled, and it’s typically a couple weeks for that. So I could be going under the knife by the end of April… or earlier (hopefully).

I have not been as focused on losing… I’ve lost more than enough to meet the pre-op requirements. I’m trying to focus on habits. Things like no drinking during meals, getting exercise, and just trying to make better decisions in eating.

I have not been doing so great overall this last month… but continue to make small steps in the right direction. I just bought a mountain bike last night. Not a cheap one… hopefully it will give me all the more incentive to be using it (hopefully my knee will cooperate!). Instead of one-step forward, two-steps back… I think I”m more along two-steps forward, one-step back.

Had an informational meeting at the surgeon’s yesterday. Sort of a review of all the stuff I’ve been going through the last few months. I did have to re-read my hand outs cause there was a quiz on things like what vitamins I’ll have to take (B-12, multi vitamin with iron, and calcium) the rest of my life, at what point do I start taking them (at week four after surgery), identifying signs of dehydration, and such. I got 100% right (yay me). Then had to sign a statement about my committment to changing my habits and such when it comes to eating, excercise and junk.

Almost time to go through the cupboards and ditch a bunch of food stuffs again. I need to start putting together a shopping list. For a day or so before through three weeks after surgery I’ll be on liquids only. Clear liquids (broth, juice and such), then slowly adding a few other things like strained cream soups and V8. Week four is when I get to start adding a few soft foods like apple sauce, yogurt, maybe some soft cooked egg.

Been getting a lot of support from friends and family, which even if I forget to say so, I really appreciate it. Oh, I need to find a protein powder too… by the end of the first week I’ll have to start adding that to my water and such.

It’s coming down to crunch time.

I just placed another order of protein powder through trueprotein.com and decided to check out something new (well, new in that I just found it…).

I got my usual unflavored, unsweetened whey isolate cfm, and while I enjoy having the unflavored for cooking with and like making up whatever flavor shake I’m in the mood for, there are some flavors I just can’t really do on my own.

So if you’re like me, or just don’t like having a bunch of these HUGE jugs of protein around in order to have some variety, True Protein has you covered with flavor packs.

Their basic flavors include Banana, Cherry, Chocolate, Kiwi-Strawberry, Mango, Orange, Pina Colada, Pineapple, Strawberry, Tropical Blend, Vanilla and Wild Berry in either artificial sweetened (Aspartame) for $3.99 or Natural (Stevia). They say each packet is enough to flavor between 10-15 pounds of protein mix.

You can also get the premium flavors in artificially sweetened or natural for $4.49 for a 50g package. These flavors include Banana Bash, Bananas N Creme, Chocolate Banana, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, Citrus Lime-Ade, Coconut, Coconut Banana, Coconut Creme, Concord Grape Juice, Cookies N Cream, Creamy Peanut Butter, Double Chocolate Mint, Dutch Chocolate Fudge, Forbidden Fruit Punch, French Vanilla Creme, Kiwi Strawberry, Luscious Peach, Old-Fashioned Lemonade, Orange Creamsicle, Orange Juice Indulgence, Peaches N Creme, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Strawberries N Creme, Strawberry Banana, Tropical Hawaiian Punch, Very Berry Strawberry, Watermelon Wave, and Wild Berry Blast.

Yea, they do a lot of mixing of some basic flavors, but all in all that’s a lot to choose from.

You can also get a sample pack of premixed premium flavors to check out, and don’t forget to use the code RBP224 to get 5% off your order.

I’ll let you all know just how well this works when my Cookies N Creme gets here next week.

Protein, protein, protein. That’s one of the key mantras for a WLS post-op. Getting enough protein is a constant battle, and especially the first year or so it can be hard to do by eating alone.

Enter, the protein powder.

Finding a protein powder you like is key. If you don’t like it, you won’t use it. I tried a variety of stuff, found some I liked a lot, some I thought were ok, and some that were just plain nasty. Then I found trueprotein.com and discovered their unflavored, unsweetened, cross-flow microfiltered whey isolate protein. It’s been the only protein powder I have bought for the last four months now.

I like the fact that I don’t need to have a bunch of flavors around, I use this for everything from adding to my morning oatmeal to baking in to protein bars. Like I said, if you find one you like, buy it, but maybe give this one a shot, and if you do… I can get you 5% off your order.

Just use the code RBP224 at checkout.

Now, in the interest in full disclosure, if you make your initial order using that code, I get something out of it too. For every $300 in product that is bought using that code, I get 8 pounds of protein mix for free.

So please! Use my code… but I’ll even do you one better. If you contact the folks at trueprotein.com you can get your very own discount code.

See, the way this works, yea… I can use my own discount code and get 5% off, but it doesn’t count towards my earning free protein powder. So I use a code from another blog I found out about trueprotein.com from. So while you can get your own code, if you use mine I earn the credits, but you can publicize your code in the hopes of earning your own free stuff.

See… pay it forward.

And I’m not greedy either… I could see using some of the free protein I get for give-aways and such. Course, then I get ya hooked on it! heh. Oh.. this only works for new customers. Well, you can use my code to get the discount, but if you’re already a customer nobody gets the earnings off the code. Oh well.

Here’s a rundown on the stuff, 30g serving gives you bout 110 calories, 27g protein and 75mg sodium, and  160mg of calcium with no fat, sugars or cholesterol (in the unflavored, unsweetened version). There are a variety of sweetener options and flavors you can get, and they even have flavor additives you can get separately.  You’ll get about 15 servings per pound for about $11 plus shipping.

Their basic shipping is about $10, so even if you order just one pound, you’re looking at about $1.33 per serving. Order at least three pounds and that drops to under $0.90 a serving. If you really want to stock up, you’ll get another 5% off an order of 16 pounds or more and brings it down to about $0.70 a serving.

So check it out, if you decide to try it, don’t forget the code RBP224 to get your 5% discount, and feel free to get your own code and spread the wealth.

I recently read on another forum about a bariatric supplement company that came out with some new protein products. Right away people were asking about samples and the company rep said they don’t have any at this time in order to keep production costs, and thusly cost to the buyers down.

By the time I got through the entire thread, something struck me… nobody had asked for a FREE sample.

Sure, maybe that was in their minds at the time they asked, and from the reply by the rep it is how they took it, and while free is always good it is not always what we want.

We all know protein shakes can suck. I’m sure we’ve all gone through powder after powder looking for the one or two that we can not just tolerate, but actually like. Or maybe we suffer with one we tolerate for weeks, because it’s not like most of us can be shelling out bucks to buy another 2 or 3 pound tub just cause we didn’t care of the last flavor.

So yea, give us sample… sizes.

Like I said, I love free stuff as much as the next guy, but I don’t NEED free stuff. Package your flavors in single-serve packets that I can buy… and not just one or two flavors, all your flavors.

Ok, yea… I know about production costs. Where in bulk you may be able to get something for as little as a buck a serving, you start individual packets and that cost is likely to go at least double. So while I’m not asking you to take a bath on it by giving it to me for free, at least price it at or maybe just above cost so I can order some to try out. If I find one I really like, odds are I’ll be back to buy the larger containers.

On top of that, I may even keep buying some single serve packets for use when I travel, take to work, etc…

The same goes for vitamins and such, though I think most of the major players out there do give free samples and sell sampler packs of that stuff.

So yea, if you make stuff for use WLS types… steal this idea! Please!

Photo by andvic

There are a LOT of different protein powders out there. A lot.

Some are great. Some not so.

The problem is, personal tastes are just that, personal. And on top of that, surgery can sort of mess with your taste buds to the point of things you liked pre-op you may not once you’re post-op. And personally, I’ve found very few pre-flavored protein powders that I liked.

So I was glad when I found trueprotein.com – they custom mix your proteins to the flavors you want, but on top of that they will mix up … well, unmixed protein powder for you. We’re talking unflavored, unsweetened, nothing but whey protein powder. Actually, if you mix it with some water it does have a very slight milk taste to it, after all it is whey protein… but it’s like if you were to stir a tablespoon of milk in to a cup of water or something.

I’m not knocking the various flavored powders out there – the biggest thing is to find one YOU like. Cause no matter what, if you don’t like it, you won’t use it, and that is no good.

Before I found trueprotein.com I was using a vanilla flavored powder. It was good, I wouldn’t drink it straight or anything, but it was a mild enough flavor and taste that I could mix it with just about anything.  And that’s basically what I do, rather than have an assortment of protein powder flavors around taking up space and needing a rather hefty investment, I am sticking with the unflavored, unsweetened, and mixing up my own flavors.

So I figured I would share some of my favorites for those that might want to try some. And like most of my recipes, these are more guidelines than rules, so feel free to experiment a bit on your own.

Fruit based shakes are my favorite. Last summer when different fruits were at their peak (and on sale!) I would buy a bunch and stock up by freezing them. So my “typical” shake is done with a cup of soy milk, maybe 1/2 a handful of frozen fruit, about 1/4 of a frozen banana, and a scoop of my protein powder. The bananas add a bit of sweetness, and when blended up in the Magic Bullet, they help thicken the shake up a bit. If you don’t want the calories from banana, try a tablespoon of Splenda or other sweetener… or sometimes whatever other fruit you are using may be sweet enough for your tastes. In the off seasons, buying frozen fruit is a good way to keep your selections stocked, they’ll actually taste better than buying “fresh” fruits that are trucked to you from half-way around the world.

Chocolate is always good too (and pairs very well with some banana!), but rather than keeping a chocolate protein powder on hand, I keep Sugar Free Nestle Quik in the cupboard. Besides shakes, I use it for baking and the occasional glass of chocolate milk. Oh… also try dropping in a tablespoon of peanut butter for a “peanut butter cup” flavor. Or add the Quik to either a cherry or strawberry shake for a “chocolate covered…” flavor.

Quick side note on milk. I had gone from using soy milk back to regular milk at one point because I didn’t see a huge difference between the two nutritionally, and figured I would save some money buying regular milk – but, I soon started getting a sort of mucussy cough. Personally, I’ve found if I drink only about 2-3 cups of milk a week, I don’t get the cough, but more than that (I often do 5-6 shakes a week) and I get this irritating cough. It basically makes me feel like I constantly need to clear my throat. Anyways, I switched back to soy milk and the cough is gone. Take that for what you will.

Dreamsicles are a great treat. I love that creamy-orange flavor. Some companies sell this flavor, and I wanted to see if I could duplicate it using my unflavored protein powder, and I think I found a way. Kool-Aid.

Every once in awhile I freeze some soy milk in my ice cube tray so when I do a shake without frozen fruit, I can pop one or two of these in there before blending. This helps keep the shake nice and chilled without watering it down using regular ice cubes.

So anyways, try half a packet of the unsweetened Kool-Aid mix (orange in this case) with your cup of milk (put the ice cubes in first, then add more milk to get to the 1 cup), and your protein powder. If you stock up when they’re on sale, you can often get the packets for a quarter a piece, that’s enough to flavor eight shakes for just a buck!

Most of the shakes I drink make use of my Magic Bullet to blend up. But what about if you don’t have access to a blender? Blender Bottles are a great thing, they’re shaker bottles with a wire ball that you use to hand shake your drinks. The wire ball helps mix things up as you shake, all but eliminating those nasty clumps of powder in your drink. I’ve found that in a pinch, sometimes just tossing in an ice cube or two works almost as well. I use the mugs from my Magic Bullet and the lids… just make sure it’s noe the shaker lid with the holes in it.

I’m working on some ideas for shakes that I can pack dry and take with me traveling, camping, on paintball days, etc. Something I can pour in to a bottle of cold water, give a shake and down for a tasty protein boost.

Using Quik to make chocolate is a no-brainer, but just the chocolate mix and water? eh.. no thanks. I keep powdered milk on hand for a variety of things, I use it in baking and sometimes even with my morning oatmeal. So try mixing a scoop of protein powder, a tablespoon or so of the Quik, 1/3 cup of powdered milk. Add this to a cup of water and shake it up good. If you don’t have Quik, I bet a packet of SF cocoa mix would work in a pinch too.

How about banana? Reach for the instant pudding, sugar free of course. They come in a variety of flavors… how about cheese cake? I often will take the powder out of the original package and mix up just a serving of pudding at a time (about 2-3 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of water), store the rest in a zip top baggie or something. Label the bag with a Sharpie so you don’t forget what flavor it is. To make a shake, at 1 tablespoon of the powder, 1/3 cup powdered milk, and a tablespoon of Splenda. I know, the pudding has sweetener, but sometimes it seems to need an extra boost. Your tastes may vary. You need to shake these up really good though, and right away. I’d add the pudding powder last, cause it will start to thicken on you in to little pudding drops otherwise.

Other things you can do to add some variety – try adding a tablespoon or two of malted milk powder (chocolate-banana malts, mmm!). If you’re a coffee drinker, use coffee instead of some or all of the milk. I’m not… so can’t really give you any tips here, but I have used both green and black tea – iced, not my favorite, but a nice change once in awhile. And of course there are the sugar free versions of the flavored coffee syrups. I have a berry one I keep on hand to add a little flavor boost if my fruit is a bit bland. Oh, and the caramel one is worth having on hand too.  I have used a packet of SF apple cider and some of that for a “caramel apple” drink.

Bottom line, don’t be afraid to mix and match either. Experiment with different combinations and such when you’re at home. Worst case, you don’t like it and have to start over… and if you don’t want to get the stuff at trueprotein.com, you stick with a basic vanilla that you like and build from there.

This is based on a recipe from over at Small Bites, modified a bit to up the protein, and as another bonus, it’s flourless!

You do need a decent food processor to do this, I have a small 3cup capacity one and it barely handles this. This will make about 10 small bites the size of large grapes, depending on your protein powder they’ll be 3-4 grams protein each.

1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup protein powder
1/3 cup pitted dates
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar-free chocolate syrup (Torani or DaVinci)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened, shredded coconut

Start out by grinding up the walnuts in the food processor and add the protein powder, then the dates and continue chopping up. Add the cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, vanilla and salt and mix a bit before adding the coconut.

It’s going to look kind of dry at first, then suddenly start getting all thick and gooey like. You may have to open the processor up once in awhile and push the mix down to keep it mixing up.

Once it seems all combined, ball it up and put in a covered container in the fridge for a couple hours to firm up before eating.

If you don’t have dates, try raisins. They should work fine, but may not be quite as sweet. As for the protein powder, use chocolate if you have it. I use an unflavored one myself. If you don’t have any Torani or DaVinci type syrups, try adding a bit of water. This is mostly for some moisture, so I figured I’d use the chocolate syrup for a lil more flavor as well.