To drink a protein shake or NOT drink a protein shake??

My nutrition coach wants me to keep a 2 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein and I can only eat so much meat throughout the day. I totally agree with Dawn that it is quick and easy. I have one every morning with my breakfast. Sometimes I mix it with cold water from the fridge or other times with skim milk. I buy mine from bodybuilding.com. I bought the sample pack first and am so glad because I really only like about 3 of them. I have bought from them several times since and have always been satisfied.

You're gonna eat something, right? Eating protein won't actually make you gain muscles, but excess protein won't really harm you it'll just be like excess carbs in that it'll be used for energy or stored as fat, etc. But here's the thing, if you're working out, even doing cardio you are exercising your muscles and your muscles need protein, in general, your body needs protein (essential amino acids), needs some fats (essential fatty acids) but doesn't ever need carbs, your body has the machinery to convert protein to use as enegry (in leu of glucose) so you could live off of protein alone if you ever needed to (not that I'd recommend it - you'd need to eat allot of fiber for digestive health).

Here's a really good and easy read on the value of protein: http://www.bodyhealth.com/html/biobuilde/key.asp

But here's the thing: Protein is expensive, it will always be more expensive than straight-up carbs, also carbs are usually tastier b/c of the sugars...so you need maybe 1g of protein for your weight in kg for your body's needs, if you have it then you don't need to eat more unless you think your muscles need it to grow - your free to choose whatever you want to eat to satisfy your hunger, but generally people pick protein after workouts b/c it's said that's the time when the body needs it the most, and you also don't save up protein:

...from the link above:
Protein is what makes up your ligaments, tendons, muscles, hair, nails, skin, teeth, tissue, organs, and bones. About half of the non-water mass of your body is made up of protein.

Since most of the body's proteins are continually broken down, the body needs to manufacture thousands of proteins every day to replace them.
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Protein cannot be stored for later use, like fat or carbohydrates can, so the body needs daily replenishments.
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Daily protein/amino acid intake is required to maintain or normalize cellular turnover and optimize the body's protein synthesis. Without sufficient protein, the body either lets cells die or breaks down other muscles and tissues to get the protein it needs for repair and other functions.

The body may actually "eat itself" to acquire the necessary amino acids, or borrow the amino acids from the immune system or body functions to meet its protein needs. If you workout and don't have enough protein to rebuild your body, instead of getting stronger, you will become weaker and be subject to injury.

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Basically you don't want your body cannibilizing it's muscle in search of amino acids, you want to ensure that it's got enough. You can lose weight by losing muscle or fat or both, people don't want to lose muscle (even women, muscle is what makes you healthy and your metabolism fast - keeps the fat off) so they make sure to get in enough protein.

Some of you ladies buying your protein at GNC are getting had, much cheaper protein powders out there. You don't have to take a protein shake, but some type of post work out nutrition is recomended.

I like ON powder which you can get 10 pounds for $50, but even Walmart brand whey is perfectly fine. GNC just tends to over price everything. If you are like me and whey doesen't agree with your stomach check into Isopure, it has 0 carbs and is a highly refined protein powder that is much gentler on the stomach.

Protein is a must have for your daily diet, so a protein shake/drink is one of the best methods of getting this intake. What you really want is WPI (whey protein isolate, which is the purest form of protein). There are a bunch of great priced options out there for you, depending on what quality you want to purchase. I have five protein drinks per day, and I have to re-buy the 5lb container about every 2 - 3 weeks for about 40 dollars shipped, not too bad.

There are so many different kinds of proteins out there, not just whey.
I use a combination of garden of life Raw Meal and Plantfusion Chocolate. I love them both

I like Jay Rob's Vanilla. I mix it with unsweetened almond milk and frozen raspberries, chia seeds, and ice blend it. Sometimes I do unsweetened almond milk, dates, peanut butter, unsweetened cocoa powder and a scoop of the Jay Rob vanilla. Very delicious.

I like Syntha-6 Chocolate Milkshake Protein Powder. I've done the Pure Protein vanilla creme too. It's OK but doesn't taste as good as the Syntha.

I like plain whey powder (Bluebonnet and Tera's Whey are good), and add my own unsweetened cocoa powder (LOVE ghirardelli's, it is very dark and rich and only has 20 cal per tablespoon, 3g carb, 2g fiber, 2gfat, and 1g protein). Then I can add my own sweetener to taste (I can't stand the taste of stevia, which is what a lot of the whey powders seem to have).

I put whey protein in my food to repair the muscles after a particularly vigorous workout. I don't use shakes myself but I'm not against them. I use a brand called Pulsin', they just make pure whey protein without flavouring. So I can add it to anything!