What's with the shakes?

The only people on my feeds, friends list, or even people I check out on the forums who hit their protein goals for the day drink protein powder drinks all day long for their meals. Is this the only way to get protein into our diets now? Meat destroys my wallet, and cheap meats are all sodium. These shakes are at least a little cheaper, coming out to about 50-90 cents a serving instead of $2.00 or more.

Is this the only answer now?

Replies

Francl27

I haven't had a shake in ages... I guess they don't fill me up that much and I always forget to get almond milk anyway. I meet my 125g goal most days with Greek yogurt, cheese, spinach, eggs, egg whites, chicken, fish, lean beef etc.

Siriku

I'll have to start drinking shakes soon to increase my protein intake, as it's a little low for my goals. Lentils are a pretty good way of getting more in though, if you haven't already added them.

auddii

I have protein shakes, but only because I like them, and I'm usually well over my protein goal for the day. I buy 10lbs of chicken and shread it up, and it usually makes about 20 servings of chicken or so. That's about $0.85 per serving depending on the price of the chicken for the week. If I bought a whole chicken it would be cheaper, plus I could make my own bone stock, but I'm rather lazy and don't like breaking down a whole chicken.

TBoom915

If you don't like eggs, cottage cheese is decent or low fat yogurt. Not going to get near the amount but can definitely help. What you are going for and what I are going for are so far apart that you can probably get away with small things like that.

I eat yogurt and cottage cheese, but 12 isn't adding up to 120...

You sound like me where I don't like eggs except if they are hard boiled, nor do I like peanut butter, yogurt, milk, or nuts for that matter, but I get 120+ g of protein a day. I do have one protein powder smoothie a day, when I don't use the powder I use greek yogurt and almond milk for protein. Meal two is where I have a boiled egg and turkey bacon w/ low-fat cheese on a whole wheat bagel thin, meal three I have at least 4 oz of lean meat with veggies and whole grains, meal 4 I have at least 4oz of lean meat with veggies, meal 5 (post workout/dinner) I have anywhere from 6-8oz lean meat/fish with veggies. Oh sometimes my proteins come from beans/legumes. You can def eat your way to 120g of protein.

auddii

Also, this might be useful:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources

shellbatronic

Cartons of egg whites are fantastic, I mix that with a whole egg for omelettes and stuff. I also mix the whites with half a scoop of protein powder and make a pancake. That's a pretty common post-workout breakfast for me because it's not super sweet. Ground turkey is the bomb diggity for lean protein as well, I make a bunch and throw 'er in everything.

rainbow198

I make a shake in the morning with my breakfast mainly to get more vegetables in. Not as meal replacements and not necessarily for the protein - although some days I need to add it in.

To hit my protein goal I eat several of the following daily:

Protein source: chicken breast, seafood, bacon or fish (salmon, cod etc)
Carb source: potatoes, broccoli, brown rice or pasta
Dairy source: eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese (mmmmm)
Nuts and Seeds: almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, flax etc.

clareyoung80

I always wondered this - like, I really don't want to be drinking protein drinks forever. If I can't get it by comfortably eating it, then tough my little muscles, tough.

I average about 90g of protein a day.

I have about 2 eggs a day for either breakfast or lunch, I have some kind of meat for lunch (tuna, chicken etc...), I have an iced coffee quite often (milk protein), and meat for dinner. Plus bits of cheese here or there.

That's all I can do. Sometimes I may have bacon, but I'm really not prepared to do more then that. I've got to be sustainable in my diet, and be able to afford it.

I did see some 'protein flakes' at the store the other day - anyone tried them? I was intrigued, I could shove them in lots of my meals. Is it necessary?!

tedrickp

I rock a smoothie each morning - for miconutrients (i hate eating fruit and leafy greens unless it is crushed into a delicious smoothie mash). I throw some protein powder into that to boost the protein (like to get about 20g per meal). Rest of my protein comes from whole foods...or quest bars

chriamaria

$25 a week isn't very much but I know exactly where you are coming from. I was there at one point having about that much per person in my family. I wasn't aware that the 1 gram of protein per body weight was the body weight that we are supposed to be at. I thought that it was the body weight that we are at now, which for me is very discouraging- I can't see myself eating over 200 grams of protein per day without blowing my calorie goals. I have just started focusing on protein and am usually hitting about 90 grams per day. That is with eggs and chicken though. One thing that is helping is some homemade chili or lentil stew that I made using dried beans. Neither has meat in it but has a decent amount of protein in it. I used a crockpot to put it together. There are some awesome recipes on allrecipes. One way we have been able to eat meat on a limited budget is to look for the pink tag specials. We have found chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, and even small steaks on sale this way. Frequently you have to go early in the morning to get in on this. I haven't been drinking any protein shaked, but have thought about it. Some of my online friends drink them but usually only once a day. I have never seen anyone who was drinking all shakes all day- that seems a little preposterous to me.

Apocalypz

270+ per day for me. 2 shakes but I start the morning with 10 egg whites so I get 50 right there. 2-3 chicken breasts a day. You can do it with food for that level just go to egg whites or eggs that is the cheapest way. I get mine at Costco and its pretty cheap to get them there.

I don't believe this quite addresses her limited budget, no? Even the carton of egg whites is "too expensive" in my book. Perhaps I should send out survey for "annual income prior to taxing" before I post my comment. :laugh:

But seriously, beans are the way to go. Filled with loads of protein and are incredibly inexpensive.

Snow3y

I have 2 shakes a day, one post workout and one before bed.. Just a preference, and also I have the best tasting whey's ever :P

MelodyandBarbells

Chicken breast, turkey, almonds, protein bars, fish, There's lots of ways to get protein aside from shakes, I use them right after my workout not the whole day.

Those things either cost a lot of money (I get $25 a week for food maximum) or don't give much protein. I want something that will give me 60g of protein for 300 calories and it just doesn't exist outside of science and fat wallets.

Google seitan? Someone posted about it and it's on my to try list. 75g of protein per 370 calorie serving.

I thought the protein requirement was 0.8g per lb of lean body mass. So estimate your fat % from one of those pictorials on the interwebs and the calculation is something like:

(100% - 30% body fat) * 158lb * 0.8 = 88g of protein per day. Maybe that's the bare minimum or something, dunno.

I have a shake but only use it occasionally. To get more protein I decided to keep it simple and just double the serving size of protein rich sources I was already eating. My typical protein sources are sausage, eggs, chicken (thighs for taste and cheapness!), ground turkey, beans. Please hang in there and know that with protein, the sources can add up throughout the day. Just keep trying the different options and see what happens. I'm not yet consistently hitting my protein goals but I do what I can. My biggest interest in protein is that it can help keep me fully longer and therefore more consistently hit my calorie goals.

PS: I just noticed yesterday that a mini snickers blizzard has 8g of protein.

jbee27

I drink protein shakes as snacks and post-run workouts.

I need to chew my main meals.
I ate nutritionally balanced meals but I never came close to my protein goals before I got my shakes.

^ Me. Right here. I eat pretty well (I have bad days of course, but I'd rather eat a bad day then listen to the mother threaten to kick me out for a week,) but I get MAYBE 30g of protein a day when I'm aiming for 100-125g.

Ditto to this. Protein shake as a post-run or snack (chocolate flavor sometimes helps stave a craving for sweets).

Also, protein on a limited budget is helped by some stockpiling at a warehouse store like Costco/Sam's Club. My friend lets me tag along on her membership and I big bags of frozen chicken breast and fish (tilapia is the cheapest, but sometimes I spring for salmon).

jenn26point2

I eat 150+ grams of protein per day and don't touch protein shakes. I get it all from chicken, beef, cheese, milk, etc

This.

MaiLinna

I got a 10 dollar protein powder with 14 servings inside, so that's 71 cents for 20g of protein. Not bad. I just hope I didn't buy a canister of breast cancer. I've always been afraid of these shakes because rumor has it they give you breast cancer.

I don't want that...