Intro and Protein Shakes vs. Protein in Food

July 17, 2002

I'm new to the group. I will be one year post-op on July 26. I hope

everyone doesn't mind me posting 9 days early! A little background

on me... I've lost 144 pounds but need to lose about 56 more to reach

my personal goal. My doctor would like me to lose a little more than

that, but I'll be happy with a 200 pound loss.

Now for my question... I've been reading the protein shake debate and

I just don't understand it. If someone can explain, I'd really

appreciate it.

If I eat a can of tunafish packed in water (no mayo), I get 150

calories and about 33 grams of protein. If I drink a protein shake,

it is comparable in terms of calories and protein. The differences

for me are that a.) the shakes taste terrible, while the tuna tastes

good, and b.) the tuna fills me up, while the protein moves right

through me and I experience no satisfaction to my hunger.

So why do so many people say the shakes work better? I can

understand that if you cannot eat meat at all or cannot eat enough

meat to get in the protein you need, but for someone like me that CAN

eat enough protein, why should I do the shakes? Why would it speed up

my weight loss? What is this magic formula that protein shakes have

that protein in food doesn't have?

Are those that drink protein shakes sure that the weight loss isn't

just being sped up because the calorie intake has decreased once

protein shakes start taking the place of real food? I ask this

because I developed gall stones a couple of months ago and had to

wait a couple of weeks between my first attack and my surgery. During

those couple of weeks I ate primarily mashed potatoes and jello

because everything else made me have an attack. This broke my 2 month

long plateau and I lost about 15 pounds in two weeks. I wasn't

drinking protein shakes though. I was just eating very few calories.

I'm not questioning anyone's experience here, I am just curious as to

why the protein shakes *seem* to work better. What is the real

reason for it? I'm just still not convinced I should spend the money

and go through the torture of choking them down when I get the same

protein values in my food. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

Amy W.

Open RNY - Distal

July 26, 2001

Minus 144 pounds so far!

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