Why Protein shakes???

charliebird

I see lots of people saying you should / you must have a protein shake after a workout.

Well I don't !!

I understand the concept that it helps repair muscles ect - but when I look at my daily intake I tend to be slightly over on my protein most days - so would I still need a protein shake?

What are the advantages of having a protein shake? I don't think they help with weight loss (unless your doing atkins) - or do they? And surely they eat into your calorie allowance - so am I not better to have "real food"??

I would really like to hear your thoughts - I am not trying to be awkward I genuinely am not sure what the benefits are!

Thanks folks

Pandorian

First question, is your protein set to what MFP set for you? Their default I find rather low at 15%, I had to up mine to 30% to get my protein where I wanted it, (0.5 grams per pound of body weight)
I make my own protein "shakes" I don't know about the pre-mixed and probably expensive on a per serving basis "meal replacements" IE slimfast I'd rather have real food than that! I take my protein powder and add it to my eggs, or yogurt or juice when I mix up a smoothie in the blender...
It's an easy way to boost your protein I use whey powder unflavoured, i'm not sure I could eat all the steak / eggs it'd take in a day to get my protein levels up there.

taso42_DELETED

This is not a should or must thing. Of course you can get everything you need from real whole food. If you're getting all your nutrients from real whole foods, then don't worry whatsoever. The main benefit of shakes is convenience. It's fast and easy to mix up a shake compared to preparing a meal. Some folks, like myself, eat 6 times a day. It's difficult to prepare 6 nutritious meals a day and still keep up with other life responsibilities. So shakes come in as a tool of convenience.

whateverdamnit

That's more for gaining weight, I think.. my boyfriend and my brother drink a protein shake before and after a workout and they're looking at gaining body mass.

dragonbug300

Agreed with taso42. Whole foods would be much lower in sugar and more satisfying. If you want real protein replenishment: eat some animal muscle fibers. Thar ye go.
But sometimes a girl's gotta get her blueberry-strawberry-rice protein-kale-vanilla-soymilk-smoothie on.

charliebird

Hi Pandorian - yes my protein is set by MFP. OK this is probably a dumb question but is whey powder a "real food"? It sounds like a derivative from milk?

Why do I need to increase my protein to more like 30%? Sorry I feel like I'm being awkward - I just trying to get some information around what the advantages are. You say 0.5g per pound - and thats the same for women as it is for men?

Still not sure why I should increase my protein :blushing:

Pandorian

For me it was because I was aiming at decreasing my carbs, and making sure the ones I was keeping were more whole-grain and as little processed as possible instead of the old white refined flour. Decreasing carbs meant increasing protein or fat so.... protein went up.

Whey is from milk, I eat cheese I eat yogurt, whey just gives me more dairy so, no biggie for me.

ETA - it was also a recommendation in the fitness magazine I used to read ALL the time, while I'm working on changing the diet 0.5 grams per pound of body weight is my target, when I add more strength training I'll increase my goal to 1 gram per pound of body weight.

Protein isn't going to bulk you up (or make you fat) itself, as long as you are within your calorie range.

It takes strength training, repeatedly, with heavy (to fatigue in your 9-12 reps) rather than being able to use a given weight for 15+ reps per set. Eating extra protein isn't going to work your muscles to cause them to bulk up.

jenilla1

Protein helps your muscles regenerate and repair after a workout. You don't have to get it from shakes - it's just easier for some people to get it that way. I get mine from food. I still have my protein set at MFP recommended levels because my body doesn't have carb issues and I mostly avoid highly processed carbs anyway...

ramseyrose

I have my protein at about 30% because protein is what fills you up and helps muscle repair after exercise. Higher muscle mass burns fat quicker. I do lots of weights, and although the scale moves slowly; I am a lot more toned and have dropped a dress size. I am in this for the long haul and want to lose the weight slowly and not have flabby bits by the end

I don't use shakes apart from an occasional Diet Chef shake that I have left. Mainly I will have almonds or a babybel light or a couple of slices of ham.

HTH

xraychick77

depends on what you are doing..

if you are trying to build muscles then protein right after a workout is optimal. its in the journal of nutrition that its the timing of protein not the amount that is key to building muscle. meaning its more important to have protein right after up to two hours after a weight lifting session. it helps with protein synthesis..since when you were lifting you depleted your gluco stores and tore some muscles and used some protein for energy. when you lift heavy you tear muscle fibers..and they need protein to help rebuild..its called protein synthesis. and the optimal time is right after to 2 hours to intake protein.

now if you just do cardio or aerobic exericses you dont need to worry about protein. since this is a whole other neurological beast. this is muscle endurance, not muscle building.

women please stop using the word TONE..its meaningless..all TONE is is muscle definition..and to get this you must lose fat. and you CAN NOT build muscle while on a big calorie deficit. (unless you are a newb) just simply working out people wont grow you muscles!

its important to incorporate a weight lifting plan in your weight loss journey..simply to maintain what muscle you do have. but eating protein wont make you grow muscles. to grow muscles..you need to lift heavy, cut the cardio and EAT! and muscle doesnt burn as much 'fat' as people think it does..its really negligable. look it up in the journals and learn the truth

ivyjbres

As far as a post workout recovery, all you really need is 100 calories, so most protein shakes overdo it if you're just looking at calories. I think a lot of what you hear is marketing people repeat because they've been convinced. I have a can of protein powder sitting on top of my fridge, when I use it regularly, I tend to gain weight if I'm not very, very careful about watching my calories. I have it (soy protein) to use as an iron supplement since I'm iron deficient anemic. I have to say, the most muscular I've ever been was in high school athletics, and I hadn't even heard of protein shakes, we had crazy coaches that made us work ridiculously hard. It doesn't matter how much protein you eat or drink, it matters how hard you work.

charliebird

Thank you guys this has been really helpful. I don't think for me there is any need to include a protein shake. However, I might include a little more protein in my diet. At this point in time I'm not including a weight training program - mainly as I have a shoulder injury, so I find it a little difficult to do any upper body strength. But hopefully in a couple of weeks I will be able to include this.

Thanks all for taking the time to reply.