Protein Shake Questions

SenseAtional

I'm a vegetarian and in adjusting my nutritional goals, I've realized that I've been consuming far too little protein. As a result of that realization, I've been thinking about adding a protein shake to my daily diet. Before I order the powder, I have a few questions for all of you:

1) In searching for protein shake powders, I noticed that several of the descriptions say "do not use for weight reduction," even the low or no carb ones. Will I gain weight by adding a protein shake to my day?

2) How many grams of protein should I be looking for, per serving? I know I also need to look at calories, carbs, and sugar.

3) What are the best protein shakes out there for weight LOSS? I prefer chocolate to vanilla, and I'm not going to take the time to get out a blender and add fruit or peanut/almond butter. I'm looking for something that I can add to water, milk, or almond milk.

4) Should the protein shake be consumed only after a workout? Or can I have it at any point in the day? I work out in the evenings, and usually eat dinner after I get home from the gym.

I'm looking forward to getting some answers; thanks for the insight!

Seajolly

I'm a vegetarian too and use protein shakes to help with my protein intake. I can't offer any suggestions for brands to get since I always buy vanilla flavor and you're wanting chocolate, but let me tell you protein shakes can help you lose weight as long as they don't push you over your calorie limit for the day! Protein can help your body burn fat, and you need protein to build a strong and lean body. I try to buy protein powders that have between 15-20g of protein per serving and under 4g of sugar. It's best to have them after a workout, but I sometimes have one for breakfast or lunch!

DrBorkBork

look into hemp protein. Bobs Red Mill sells some

I like to blend it with chia seeds that have been soaked to pudding consistency and blend with some melted almond butter. Really tasty!

jamielise2

I use muscle milk, and I think the reason they say "do not use for weight loss" is because they are not a complete meal, so it's not like a slim fast or anything. Usually make mine with fat free milk and possibly some fruit. No, you should not gain weight on it unless you're REALLY using a lot of it. It just helps in muscle recovery. I actually lose weight better when I use a low carb whey protein and have a shake about an hour before bed.

reneepugh

I always liked carb solutions. They have it in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. The taste is good too.

cowpacino

are you vegetarian or vegan? If you don't mind animal products I would recommend whey protein isolates, which are made from milk. There isn't much difference between different producers, but I really like double rich chocolate and chocolate mint bye Optimum Nutrition

mamagooskie

I drink a protein shake almost everyday after my workout and I have lost a lot of weight. I think they have that warning so people don't confuse the product with slimfast and those drinks.

my protein powder is strawberry banana but also comes in orange, chocolate, vanilla and has 24 protein, 1 fat, 2 carb and 115 calories.

You need protein to build muscle and through having more muscle you will ultimately burn more calories.

bmramsey0614

My Protein Shake:

2 Scops of Whey Protein Deluxe Chocolate (Made by Precision Engineered), 8 oz light chocolate soy milk, 4 oz water, and 2 tbs of PB2 Chocolate (Powdered peanut butter).

It honestly taste like a reese's drink. Through in some ice you have yourself a reese's milkshake.

ziggy55311

I use dymatize elite gourmet whey and casein blend. You can order it cheap from amazon.com and it doesn't have a bunch of preservatives and junk in it. I use it for the same reason you do, to get my protein intake up.

gp79

All really good questions! You too have come to the point where protein supplementation is an option for your diet since you are not getting enough protein from whole food sources.

As a general rule of thumb, you should be consuming 0.8 - 1g of protein for every lb of 'lean body mass'. If you need help calculating, email me your height/weight/age and if you know it, estimated body fat percentage.

A calorie is a calorie. Making a protein shake in general is going to add calories to your day, so when you're looking for a protein powder, just look at the nutrition label. Not all protein powders are created equal, as they vary by individual goals. If you're looking to lose weight, look for protein powders that are low carb, low fat, low sugar. I can only speak from my personal experiences here but here's what I recommend for weight loss (many flavors available).

GNC Pro AMP 60 Whey Protein - (expensive, but vanilla tasted pretty good to me)
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey - (better in my opinion than GNC price wise. Taste is average)
Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion - (price similar to Optimum Nutrition. Taste is excellent and is like chocolate milk. It also mixes the best with water, in my opinion. Optimum Nutrition watered down quickly, whereas myofusion did not.)

Whatever you decide to buy, check out www.bodybuilding.com as 9 times out of 10, they have the best prices around. Shipping is extremely fast too.

All of these proteins are whey, so they are going to metabolize quickly. What alot of people do is take it within an hour after your workout. If that works for you, great! but if not, just fit it into your day somehow. Since the carb content is going to be very low, you should look to consume some type of complex carbohydrate with your shake. It could be something as simple as adding a half scoop of quick oats to the shaker, or having your shake as a part of your dinner (after your workout). The carbohydrate is going to help transport the protein to where your muscles need it for repair as well as replenish your energy post workout.

SenseAtional

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

Has anyone tried Isopure? I was looking at the low carb chocolate version, which has 25 grams of protein, 105 calories, 3 carbs, 0 fat, and 0 sugar per scoop.

Also, do you think it'll work if I mix it into my coffee in the morning?

gp79

Ooo..never done the coffee thing but it sounds good. Especially with iced coffee. Awesome idea.