Protein Shakes: Yay or Nay?

If you are hitting your protein goal for the day, a protein shake isn't necessary. If you need a quick meal and are low on your protein goal, then a shake is a good go-to.

i like protein shakes. i am on the go alot and find they are easy to keep in my car and grab when i have few food choices. Pure Protein brand (powder) has a great one with little carbs and high protein. also, Atkins brand protein ready made have some good options with very few carbs and 15g protein.

KharismaticKayteh wrote: »

Are they primarily for workout recovery/people who work out HARD, or are they okay for meal replacements?
both. i love to have one after i work-out for added protein. but sometimes i will drink one when i'm out running errands and don't want to stop to eat "real" food.

Are they difficult to make?
no. you can buy them ready-made, or you can make in a shaker cup with water or milk. my husband puts his powder in a shaker cup in the mornings, adds water at his gym at lunchtime, and has a post-workout shake every day. if i'm at home and want one, i add frozen berries, banana, or even chocolate in a blender with the powder. done!

Are the ingredients to tasty shakes expensive or tedious ("tedious" here meaning that they're ingredients that may not usually be staples in someone's home)?
see above

they are okay for meal replacements, but don't go overboard. I agree, they are not really that filling for me. I used to drink one with some fruit every morning. Helped me hit my protein goal.

I do recommend that if you are going that route, make sure you buy high quality protein (which is actually kind of expensive). The cheaper ones will have less protein and a lot more sugar. Watch the sugar. A drink with 11g of protein and 9g of sugar is hardly a protein shake, even though they are labelled as such sometimes.

I make my own. I use vanilla protein powder and mix in my own ingredients such as fruit, veggies, etc. Take a look at pintrest and get some ideas there!

I like them, so I drink them. I mix a scoop of chocolate protein (had been using Optimum Nutrition, but just bought a tub of Cellucor) with 8 oz of cold brewed coffee and almond milk. So good.

Nay, not really filling enough for the calories, even with the protein. Prefer solid food. Blender cleanup is annoying.

I LOVE protein shakes. I aim for more than 100g of protein every day, and I find them a cheap, filling, tasty and easy way to get that in.

I have protein powder almost every morning for breakfast. I started off with just plain shakes. Now I like it blended with frozen fruit, psyllium husk powder (for extra fibre and to fill me up even more) and sometimes spinach or peanut flour. Seriously, vanilla protein powder, peanut flour, milk, water and frozen berries is like a drinkable PB&J and tastes AMAZING.

However, I do make sure that my other two meals have 'proper' protein in them and I keep the rest of my diet pretty balanced. I think there's a place for protein supplements, especially if you make sure to get a decent powder.

Protein smoothies can be made with so many different ingredients it's ridiculous. I tend to do a mixture of whey, frozen berries, and peanut butter. But you can put basically anything you want in there. A handful of spinach won't be noticeable either and you get some bonus green leafy veg.

You can also add flaxseed for fiber if you need more of that. Or if you don't want to bother with whey just some berries and peanut butter make for an excellent snack or small meal.

If you want to buy commercially prepared drinks/smoothies just take a look at the ingredients and see if it's what you want. Some are better than others, but almost all of them are going to have extra sugar compared to if you just make it yourself at home. Also individually packed drinks are more expensive than buying the ingredients and making it yourself.

As for how to eat them, it's completely up to you. I make one after every weightlifting session, but sometimes I also just have one for breakfast because I'm craving it. If you're someone who is prone to huge ice cream cravings like me you can also mix up very small smoothies just to get that taste without overindulging.

I find it hard to reach my protein goal every day even if I switch carbs to meat where I can, so a protein shake for me works, plus I like them. During work mornings I have one every day for breakfast, SmartTech FX Skinny chocolate cookie powder is the one for me, it's packed with caffeine to kick start my day and I blend this in a blender with unsweetened Almond milk and if I have the cals often add some oats or a banana, on workout days I can even add a little bit of peanut butter to the blend. This keeps me filled up allowing me to have a later lunch which in turn means I don't get that horrible knawing hunger late afternoon when I'm at my weakest and people at my work are offering me snacks.