Advice on protein shakes please :)

IMO for weight loss you should try to get all of your protein from food. Shakes just don't seem to fill me up as much or for as long as solid food. So it really depends on the rest of your diet. For instance if you are a vegetarian or something and struggle to fulfill your protein needs, but can spare a couple hundred extra calories than it may work for you. But if you have a more normal diet I would try to get more protein through food instead.

You really don't need to use protein shakes unless you're not getting enough protein in your normal food diet. The good news is that there really isn't any difference other then flavor when it comes to individual types of protein. That $30 jug of Optimum Nutrition whey protein is the same as the $5 bag of bulk whey protein.

That said, there are differences in different types of protein, but someone else would have to explain that to you because I don't have a good enough understanding as to what those differences are.

Personally, whenever I use protein shakes, I get Optimum Nutrition because it has the best flavor, and I can afford to pay for something that won't make me want to vomit the second it hits my tongue.

So, use whatever fits into your own life, and budget.

You can really take them whenever as the whole "meal timing" thing is broscience. If you're losing weight, I'd suggest taking one as a quick meal replacement, but as long as you get the required amount of daily protein for your meal planning, you'll be set.

I use Bodylogix whey protein powder because it doesn't contain artificial ingredients, I enjoy the flavors, and the calories are low for the amount of protein you get.

As a small girl who lifts, I struggle to get enough protein to meet the 0.82g protein/pound of bodyweight and not go over my calories. You don't have to use it in shakes only. I mixed a scoop into my morning oatmeal today, and I frequently use it to make some of the protein muffins from recipes I've found in Yoni Freedhoff's The Diet Fix (it's not a diet, it's a book about how to make diets of any kind actually work for you).

Additionally, there is the benefit of using stevia leaf as sweetener because studies show it actually helps nourish your gut flora microbiome, which as you probably know is key to your good health.

I get mine from Meijer's because I live in the upper Midwest. Bet you can get it from Amazon though.