Talk to me about protein shakes
Linville10
Posts: 15 Member
Hello. I started working two weeks ago. Currently I'm on week two of couch to 5k and will be adding in two days of kettlebell workouts. I have various protein shakes but I don't know if I should be drinking them with the type of workouts I do. If I should be drinking them, what kind do you recommend? Any advice would be appreciated since I know nothing about protein shakes. I'm a female have about 90 lbs to lose and don't want to be bulky. Thanks.
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Various protein shakes? What kind do you have? Also you won't get "bulky" unless you start to do some serious lifting. Do expect confusion in your weight though. Kettleball workouts will likely add muscle to you body, which is relatively heavy.0
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Various protein shakes? What kind do you have? Also you won't get "bulky" unless you start to do some serious lifting. Do expect confusion in your weight though. Kettleball workouts will likely add muscle to you body, which is relatively heavy.
Not in calorie deficit. OP, put "getting bulky" aside for a moment. This will not happen if you're trying to lose fat.
Protein shakes help you hit your protein goal. If you are putting a lot of "stuff" in them, and not weighing everything, it's possible that they will not fit into your calorie deficit for the day, and weight loss will stall. Now, if you want a 600+ shake and it fits into your day, fine.
I personally choose one scoop of protein in water because I like to chew my calories.0 -
Considering she has 90 pounds to lose, sure, she'll probably see way more loss than anything else. But adding muscle does equal a gain of weight. At least in my experience. However, I lift for the goal of muscle gainzz. If she's just doing kettleball for high heart rate/weight loss, maybe she won't see any weight gain.0
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Unless you are putting in an intense workout of an hour or more, you probably don't need them at all. Even if you are, you can probably get the protein you need from normal food.0
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Considering she has 90 pounds to lose, sure, she'll probably see way more loss than anything else. But adding muscle does equal a gain of weight. At least in my experience. However, I lift for the goal of muscle gainzz. If she's just doing kettleball for high heart rate/weight loss, maybe she won't see any weight gain.
She will not. You need to be in a calorie surplus. With that much weight to lose, it's possible she will have minuscule newbie gains, but nothing that would make the scale go up or even stall weight loss.0 -
We'll just agree to disagree here. I've been in a caloric deficit and seen weight gain through muscle, where my clothes all seemed to fit more loose but my scale seemed to be very slowly and steadily climbing. Not trying to mislead anyone, just sharing my experience.
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We'll just agree to disagree here. I've been in a caloric deficit and seen weight gain through muscle, where my clothes all seemed to fit more loose but my scale seemed to be very slowly and steadily climbing. Not trying to mislead anyone, just sharing my experience.
How big is your deficit?0 -
A protein shake is just a quick and convenient way to get a lot of protein. If you can get all the protein you need from just food, there is no reason to drink a shake. Shakes themselves won't make you bulky. Being in a large calorie surplus while lifting a lot of heavy weight MAY give you some bulk. Now, since you have 90lbs to lose you might think you are getting bulky as you lose body fat, but this is just the muscle you already have "showing" itself more.0
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Quick answer... Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard. It's a relatively inexpensive protein powder, most of the flavors taste good (I'm partial to the chocolate) and it's a solid amount of protein to sugar/fat/calorie ratio. They're pretty good protein sources as well. You can get higher quality proteins on the market, and likely better tasting ones (I'm looking at you here, Syntha 6) but for the $ you can't beat the ON 100%. If you're watching carbs, maybe look to Isopure, though it doesn't mix as well in my opinion in a shaker bottle. I'd use it as muscle recovery for you, 1 scoop after a workout, since you're not looking for any sort of extreme muscle gains here.0
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You need to figure out your calorie deficit needed to lose an average 2 pounds a week. I found for me high protein and high fat (healthy fats, nuts etc.) with low carbs works best for me. Everyone's body is different and sometimes you have to try different macro breakdown and see what works for you. When I want something sweet and high protein a shake helps the cravings. Silk unsweetened almond milk is great for that and unflavored gelatin can add more protein w/o carbs. Either way don't make the diet about protein shakes no matter how you look at it it's still processed and you are always better off with real food. Good luck any protein shake in moderation won't hurt you.
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Protein shakes are just food. Like any other food, they can be fine if they fit in your calorie and macro goals, or not fine if they don't.
If you're trying to get more protein into your day and struggling to do so via food, protein shakes can help you do that. But if you're getting enough of protein via food, there's no need for supplements whether you're working out or not.0 -
My coworkers and I all drink the Premier Protein shakes. You can get them at Costco for the best deal, but Walgreens has them too. They are 160 calories each with 30 grams of protein. They taste pretty good too, and are low carb and low sugar. My main reason for drinking them is that I have a hard time getting enough protein from food. I don't care for a lot of meat, so the shakes help me out.0
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are you lacking in protein? if yes drink them, if no dont.0
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My deficit at the time was something between 200-350 calories. No cardio, only heavy lifting.0
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when you are lifting weights or doing any exercise you can retain water which can make the scale numbers go up.even though you may be losing inches and fat.The more I lift the more water I seem to retain which does show on the scale but its not muscle that much I do know. I lift heavy too and have never bulked up while in a deficit. it takes a woman a lot longer to build the muscle than it would a man,a woman also wont bulk like a man either because we dont have the testosterone a man has0
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We'll just agree to disagree here. I've been in a caloric deficit and seen weight gain through muscle, where my clothes all seemed to fit more loose but my scale seemed to be very slowly and steadily climbing. Not trying to mislead anyone, just sharing my experience.
If your weight is steadily climbing you're not in a calorie deficit.0 -
Op I like protein shakes as they are a low cal cheap way to help me hit my protein goal.
I like them mixed with spinach and fruit in the morning. I also use optimum protein, I like rocky road and mint chocolate just with milk. Double chocolate with raspberries.0 -
Protein shakes are just a supplement...they're great if you have trouble hitting your protein goals...but they don't have any magical properties.0
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Thanks for all the replies. I know I have a whey protein shake and a couple other tubs of shakes that my husband has bought at one time or another. I'm doing kettlebell workouts to lose weight and tone my muscles. I have my settings at losing 2 lbs a week so I'm allowed 1200 calories.0
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Linville10 wrote: »Thanks for all the replies. I know I have a whey protein shake and a couple other tubs of shakes that my husband has bought at one time or another. I'm doing kettlebell workouts to lose weight and tone my muscles. I have my settings at losing 2 lbs a week so I'm allowed 1200 calories.
Are you eating back some of your exercise calories as you should be.
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Let me know you are doing I'm in the same boat good luck to you0
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We'll just agree to disagree here. I've been in a caloric deficit and seen weight gain through muscle, where my clothes all seemed to fit more loose but my scale seemed to be very slowly and steadily climbing. Not trying to mislead anyone, just sharing my experience.
Mathematically, that should be possible. Fat has 3500 calories per pound while muscle has 800 calories per pound. If you are building muscle while eating at a deficit, the weight of the muscle built from a smaller number of calories could exceed the weight of the fat lost. However, possible and likely are two different things.
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@Iron_Feline, I usually don't eat every calorie back. I usually eat about 50-80% of them back but there have been a couple days where I'm starving and do eat all of them, but that's not very often. My workout/nutrition knowledge is very minimal and I never know if I should eat back the calories burned or not.
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Linville10 wrote: »@Iron_Feline, I usually don't eat every calorie back. I usually eat about 50-80% of them back but there have been a couple days where I'm starving and do eat all of them, but that's not very often. My workout/nutrition knowledge is very minimal and I never know if I should eat back the calories burned or not.
That sound like a good plan. And if you discover you're losing too fast or slow after a few weeks you can adjust accordingly.
Good luck.0 -
Thanks Iron_Feline.0
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without going through all the replays (and I apologise if ive quoted someone else)
It will simply help you recover quicker. Mix it with water to keep the calories down and you cant loose0 -
Ah, I phrased that stupidly. I meant to say that 20 pounds of muscle and 20 pounds of fat look the same on a scale, but highly different on a body.0 -
And I could be wrong, maybe it was water weight. All I know is that the scale was rising and I was in a deficit. Not complaining or anything, I was looking and feeling great.0
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Various protein shakes? What kind do you have? Also you won't get "bulky" unless you start to do some serious lifting. Do expect confusion in your weight though. Kettleball workouts will likely add muscle to you body, which is relatively heavy.
NO. With the exception of newbie gains, one does not build muscle in a deficit.0
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