protein shakes anyone?
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Sweat Daily
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If you eat a balanced diet there isnt much need for protein shakes. I prefer eating real food. I find it very easy to eat a lot of protein and I dont like the taste of most protein shakes.
FleurDeLis1
New member
I'm thinking about incorporating a protein shake into my daily limits. Only because I'm finding myself not eating enough protein rich foods. Still not sure if I want to, since they tend to be a little pricey.
I'm not going to waste precious calories on something that tastes gross. So if there's any great tasting chocolate shakes out there someone takes and likes, let me know!
I'm not going to waste precious calories on something that tastes gross. So if there's any great tasting chocolate shakes out there someone takes and likes, let me know!
myungsupah
New member
I've been using protein shakes since the end of high school to gain weight. I'm currently using them to lose weight. I use them right after I work out (and I work out twice a day). One after my morning run and one after my lifting+tennis session. It helped me gain about 20 pounds of lean mass my freshman year of college. It's currently helped me lose 5 pounds of fat this summer.
As for the taste, you get used to it. However, an EXCELLENT tasting protein powder is Syntha-Six Strawberry. I can't vouch for the other flavors, but if you mix it with milk, you FEEL like you're having a cheat meal because it tastes so good. Even with water, and super cold it's really really tasty. Optimum Whey Chocolate is probably going to be 80% of people's first protein. It tastes more good than it does bad, but it's not the bestttt thing you've ever tasted.
Yes protein powder is expensive, but a huge 40 dollar tub lasts me a little over a month. That's about a 50 cents PER shake. Doesn't seem too expensive. <=== still a college student.
As for the taste, you get used to it. However, an EXCELLENT tasting protein powder is Syntha-Six Strawberry. I can't vouch for the other flavors, but if you mix it with milk, you FEEL like you're having a cheat meal because it tastes so good. Even with water, and super cold it's really really tasty. Optimum Whey Chocolate is probably going to be 80% of people's first protein. It tastes more good than it does bad, but it's not the bestttt thing you've ever tasted.
Yes protein powder is expensive, but a huge 40 dollar tub lasts me a little over a month. That's about a 50 cents PER shake. Doesn't seem too expensive. <=== still a college student.
I'm not sure what people mean by using protein powder to gain or lose weight. That's more a matter of being in a calorie surplus or deficit respectively.
However, I do use protein powder. It's not magic by any stretch of the imagination. It's just a simple way of reaching my daily protein target given my crazy schedule. If time allowed for it, I'd stick with whole foods.
However, I do use protein powder. It's not magic by any stretch of the imagination. It's just a simple way of reaching my daily protein target given my crazy schedule. If time allowed for it, I'd stick with whole foods.
geekyn00b
New member
I've never looked into what's in protein shake powder, so I don't know if it's comparable, but I like adding a tablespoon of almond powder - nutmeal - to my blender drinks (you know, the spinach, orange, banana, etc kind). As for a chocolate drink, I tried adding some cocoa powder and a few chopped dates for sweetness once upon a time and it wasn't terrible, but I never had the patience to play around with the amounts.
Either way, a bag of nutmeal from my local bulk spice store runs me about 6-8 $, lasts for months, and I try to make a shake every 2-3 days. I think of 1 tbsp of almond nutmeal as equal to about 6-7 almonds, roughly 60-70 calories iirc, but I'm a round-about calorie counter and am likely off about that.
Don't know if this helps or not, but it's an option.
RadioActive
New member
I usually get enough protein everyday as it is but after strength training I always do fruit/veggie juice and 40-60 grams of my protein power in a shake. I think it tastes WONDERFUL esp. following a nice hard workout.
As far as it making you gain weight...I imagine sticking to a constant and ever increasing strength routine plus taking the power after you will make you become stronger and your muscle will grow...thus making you gain weight...but not fat, not unless you use it incorretly but that can be said anything you comsume to much of.
I love the taste and I spend a good amount of time strength training so after a workout I don't feel like cooking...a protein shake is the next best thing. Fast and easy.
As far as it making you gain weight...I imagine sticking to a constant and ever increasing strength routine plus taking the power after you will make you become stronger and your muscle will grow...thus making you gain weight...but not fat, not unless you use it incorretly but that can be said anything you comsume to much of.
I love the taste and I spend a good amount of time strength training so after a workout I don't feel like cooking...a protein shake is the next best thing. Fast and easy.
Assuming you're in a calorie deficit. Protein, without an associated energy surplus, isn't going to pack on weight... muscle or otherwise.
RadioActive
New member
So being in a deficit will refrain one from getting more muscle mass?
Unfit and/or people carrying a lot of excess fat seem to be able to gain *some* muscle while dieting. It certainly happens. But typically not to any significant degree. It's certainly not something that should be expected.
Muscle growth is a very intensive process, energetically speaking. Calories are energy. When you're in a deficit, your body doesn't have sufficient energy coming in to door to maintain the tissue that you have... hence the associated weight loss.
Your body isn't going to make matters worse by adding a bunch of metabolically expensive tissue, such as muscle, while it's short changed.
RadioActive
New member
Forgive me for hyjacking but with minimal or no mass gain during weight loss what is the benefit of stength training during this fat loss phase. If the muscles never get bigger to burn even more calories why do it? The more weight you loss the more fat and muscle is gone. The less muscle you have the less calories you burn so does one strength train to have minimal muscle loss during weight loss? I am sure this is meant for another section but since we were on the topic, i figured i'd ask.
No problem asking here.
And you hit the nail on the head. While growing a bunch of muscle while eating hypocalorically isn't going to happen... what strength training does help preserve muscle.
You'll never stop muscle loss completely... the ratio of fat to muscle lost while dieting is heavily dependent on genetics. But things that in our control - eating sufficient protein and strength training - definitely have an influence.
And be careful what you read about the number of calories muscle burns. Not sure what you've seen... but it's not all that much. Maybe 6-8 cals/lb. And fat also have a metabolic cost as well... without pulling out the paper I recall it being somewhere around 2-3 cals/lb.
RadioActive
New member
Thanks Steve! From what I have read and seen, espcially on this forum is that muscles burns more than fat (obviously) but the words extreme, vastly more, large amounts have been thrown around. Now that your saying 6-8...it puts it into perspective. Not to say that it doesn't help but...everyone seems to make muscle out to be the end all be all of fat burning. 6-8 sure doesn't seem to be the end all lol.
The most commonly thrown around figure I've seen on forums such as this is 50 cals per pound. Which is pretty ridiculous.
I'll use myself as an example. And it doesn't matter if you're a woman or a man. Muscle is muscle with the same physiological and metabolic properties.
When I started this journey, I was 170ish pounds. I am now approximately 205. That's 35 lbs gain. If you saw my pics, I'm lean.
But I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say 10 lbs of that was fat. That's 25 lbs of muscle I've put on.
With these illogical numbers, I should be burning 1250 more calories per day.
Hint: I'm not. Not even close.
I've worked with a bunch of people and anyone who realizes appreciable hypertrophy doesn't automatically get to eat thousands of calories more per day with out facing the consequences of fat gain.
Now let's throw another major loop into the equation here. This is a forum dedicated to weight loss. As noted above, in order to to lose weight, a calorie deficit MUST be in place. And when a deficit is in place, it's pretty much going to be impossible to pack on slabs of muscle. At least enough to make an iota of difference... even assuming 50 calories per pound.
Dieters don't have the energetic capacity to maintain what they have currently. So there's no friggen way they're going to be gaining a bunch of tissue.
And just for your knowledge, I dug up the paper I was referencing... research puts the number at 5.89kcal/lb/day
**source being --
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2001 Mar;4(2):143-7. Links
Dissecting the energy needs of the body.McClave SA, Snider HL.
Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, 550 South Jackson Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA. samcclave@louisville.edu
I'll use myself as an example. And it doesn't matter if you're a woman or a man. Muscle is muscle with the same physiological and metabolic properties.
When I started this journey, I was 170ish pounds. I am now approximately 205. That's 35 lbs gain. If you saw my pics, I'm lean.
But I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say 10 lbs of that was fat. That's 25 lbs of muscle I've put on.
With these illogical numbers, I should be burning 1250 more calories per day.
Hint: I'm not. Not even close.
I've worked with a bunch of people and anyone who realizes appreciable hypertrophy doesn't automatically get to eat thousands of calories more per day with out facing the consequences of fat gain.
Now let's throw another major loop into the equation here. This is a forum dedicated to weight loss. As noted above, in order to to lose weight, a calorie deficit MUST be in place. And when a deficit is in place, it's pretty much going to be impossible to pack on slabs of muscle. At least enough to make an iota of difference... even assuming 50 calories per pound.
Dieters don't have the energetic capacity to maintain what they have currently. So there's no friggen way they're going to be gaining a bunch of tissue.
And just for your knowledge, I dug up the paper I was referencing... research puts the number at 5.89kcal/lb/day
**source being --
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2001 Mar;4(2):143-7. Links
Dissecting the energy needs of the body.McClave SA, Snider HL.
Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, 550 South Jackson Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA. samcclave@louisville.edu
Yes, I totally agree. But also, I use Optimum Nutrition Strawberry, blended with all different types of fresh fruits, a little Very Vanilla Silk soy milk, and some Splenda to make it even sweeter, so it ends up tasting freaking AWESOME !
Always makes me feel like I'm cheating, with some kind of fancy milkshake from a premium icecream store Funny thing is, the calories end up being pretty high.... maybe not quite as high as an actual milkshake, but 98% as tasty, and WAAAY healthier. In fact, after not eating any real junk food for two full years, I can't imagine it tasting any better !Anyway, I only eat about 3 protein shakes a week, but they are good sized shakes, which probably work out to about 500-600 cals each.
Peace,
Fish