Need to be schooled on Protein Powder/Supplements

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missmayeb
missmayeb Posts: 182 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have never done the supplement / protein powder thing. Just tried to eat healthy or start one of those crazy diets (ie South Beach) but since I have joined MFP I keep seeing protein shakes on diaries, men and women, and think "Should I be doing one too?"

I am on a weight loss / get toned journey as I do not have massive amounts of weight to be lost. My eating habits are pretty decent but I also fall off the bandwagon often. My diary is open. So take a peek. Just didn't know if there was a good option for a beginner that wasn't insanely high in calories and one that was geared more towards women and weight management.

Give me your opinions, please. Also I don't mind constructive criticism on my food choices if you see something . . . .I suppose I can take it since I need a swift kick in the a*s sometimes. :ohwell:

Replies

  • meglet175
    meglet175 Posts: 98
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    I have a protein shake for breakfast almost every day. I am not terribly hungry in the mornings and have no time to cook, but I can mix up one of these quickly and take it with me to sip while I'm in the car. I make mine in a blender and am not a fan of the expensive canned shakes with weird ingredients. I use frozen fruit, water, about 1/4 cup of milk, a scoop of protein powder, and then other add-ins depending on what I'm in the mood for. A fruit smoothie alone would leave me ravenous an hour later (too much sugar with virtually no protein) but the scoop of protein powder keeps my belly happy for three or four hours. I buy my protein powder at Sam's Club, and it lasts for months. I use chocolate powder for some recipes (a fave is choc banana PB) and vanilla for others (frozen mixed berries or peaches). You can find tons of recipes on this site and online.
  • siriusalien
    siriusalien Posts: 207
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    Hello, I am one of the people you see adding protein shakes to my diary. I am doing alot more liftinf with my PT so I have to force protein and the shake is alot easier than a steak!
    I do not like the easy to grab, commercial shakes ( i know nothing can be easy). I find them all very high in sugars and SODIUM.. I personaly settled on GNC's whey bolic (amplify). It is pricey... I do not follow the serving suggestion of 3 scoops- I do one scoop with just enough water to disolve the powder. In doing so I get a good amount of protein and cut down on the sugar and sodium...And make it all last longer. It tastes pretty darn good too
    Good luck
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    Well it is generally suggested that you eat 1g/lb LBM or Weight of protein per day if you are strength training. The effects of it are noticable, you recover better with a higher protein intake whether in a deficit or surplus, as compared to a normal american diet.

    It is hard to hit that amount every day through food alone, especially if you are in a calorie deficit.

    I would hazard a guess that most people who strength train regulaly will use protein suppliments of some type once they've been at it a little while.
  • greeneyes1014
    greeneyes1014 Posts: 21
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    i use protein powders to make shakes/smoothies for either breakfast or dinner
    its called Designer Whey (vanilla) if u go to drugstore.com i believe it goes for 28 bucks or so
    1 scoop 100 calories 18 grms protein
    1 cup skim milk 86 calories 8 grms protien
    1/2 cup berrys (strawberrys, blueberrys, rasberrys) 40 calories 2 grms protein (i freeze my fruit so its nice and cold when i blend it all)
    4 or 5 ice cubes

    it tastes pretty good, not chalkie like and its got great protein..holds me over till lunch all for 225 calories or so

    good luck on it!!!
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    For me, it's a cheap, easy way to bump up my protein intake. It isn't a requirement. :tongue:

    Welcome to MFP. :flowerforyou:
  • jfan175
    jfan175 Posts: 812 Member
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    Whey protein: Fast to digest......enters the system quickly. Good to use before and after training. Mixes well with liquid.

    Casein protein: Slow digesting.....good to use as a meal replacement for satiety and at bedtime. Chalky, difficult to mix.

    Milk Protein Isolate......Moderately slow. About 20% Whey and 80% Casein. Easier to mix than pure casein.
  • missmayeb
    missmayeb Posts: 182 Member
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    THANKS! I really appreciate the info, I will go check it out!
  • evademers
    evademers Posts: 55
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    I use Herbalife shakes which is full of awesome minerals and vitamins. I have alot of food allergies and its hard to reach my goal in calories so I have one 3 times a day. Before workout and after then one before bed, your body needs protein at night too. I put half a cup of wild blueberries frozen, 1 tbsp of flax seed ground up, splenda to sweetin it up a bit makes it more like a treat and a quarter cup of organic rolled oats for some carbs. Same after my workouts but I add a little more protein by Pure Green protein made from veggie proteins. I LOVE my shakes :) Whichever one you choose to go with its good for you! Hope this helps...Eva
  • ericgAU
    ericgAU Posts: 271
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    Your protein intake seems low. As someone else indicated here, around 1g per lb bw is sufficient. Myriad of calculators online that you can use to work this out. Good luck!
  • xarge
    xarge Posts: 484 Member
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    I'll be honest. You should start with better food choices if you're serious about eating healthy. Your diary, every single day has some sort of fried food or a pizza or a muffin or some chips or a cake, and mostly that's not one treat but a whole meal or more. Whereas I'm not a "YOU MUST EAT CLEAN!" preacher, I think you can do better than that.

    This is from your diary, yesterday:
    Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted, 0.5 breast, bone and skin removed 142cals 27g protein

    ^ Good food choices can give you enough proteins as it is.

    But if you're keen on sticking to your habits and use supplements, all I can say is that make sure you don't have intolerance/sensitivty to that specific kind of protein. Whey and casein can be hard on not only lactose/casein intolerant people but also on people with IBS. Egg protein is very light compared to that but egg allergy is also more common and sneaky and dosage is the key, whereas someone can eat one egg/day without a problem, higher amounts can get problematic. Soy allergy is also not unheard of. There are many different types of proteins like hemp, pea etc. Of all these proteins, their bioavailability aren't too different than one another. For an average athlete, it won't matter much which one you choose. I "rarely" use whey (ON double chocolate), casein (ON chocolate) and egg protein (ON rich chocolate). Having tried other flavors and brands, in my experience and personal palate it's good to stay away from tropical fruit mixed and strawberry/banana, vanilla etc. I don't favor artificial fruit flavors and can't stand too much vanilla so chocolate for me is the way to go. Coffee isn't too bad either. I still prefer regular food and supplementing when necessary.

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