Protein Shakes

Hello,
Is substituting two meals a day with an organic plant based protein shake bad?? I find eating so many meals a day is overwhelming. Any opinions will be appreciated
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Replies

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    How many meals you trying to eat per day and why is that overwhelming? I personally wouldn't substitute two meals. If they're just protein shakes you will be lacking micronutrients in your diet if you try to get them all from one meal.
  • kwtilbury
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
    IIFYM
  • Sunna_W
    Sunna_W Posts: 744 Member
    Short term you could probably do it, but you need to have at least one "normal" meal (within your calorie limit) that provides enough bulk for you to pass a "healthy stool". Otherwise, you risk constipation, kidney infections, and a host of other issues if you get backed up. Make sure you include enough healthy oils in your diet from fish skin, chicken fat, beef fat.

    Ref:

    http://dailyburn.com/life/health/how-to-use-protein-powder/
    http://www.idealshape.com/blog/the-biggest-meal-replacement-shake-missteps/ (not promoting this powder; tips are good, however)
    http://www.idealshape.com/blog/meal-replacement-shake-vs-protein-shake/ (see above)

    Note: hunger blockers = fiber; you can add your own; best non-reactive fibers include psyllium seed powder, rice bran powder, and **small** amounts (NMT 1/4 teasp) of konjac root (also called Glucommanan powder).

    IMO Glucommanan powder works the best and more is not better. It literally sits in your stomach and causes delayed motility.

    While the cost is more in the beginning, I highly encourage you to "make your own" starting with a good unflavored powder. Egg white, whey, hemp are all good.

    Whey / hemp are the most complete (egg white lacks albumin); hemp takes some getting used to.

    Whey and egg white are the most "flavor neutral".

    A fairly good tasting chocolate protein shake / smoothie would include ice, filtered water, whey protein, coco powder, psyllium, rice bran, stevia (or other low calorie sweetener). I am opposed to aspartame and sweeteners like that because I don't think they are good for me.
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    Start logging your food. You'll learn.
  • Shawshankcan
    Shawshankcan Posts: 900 Member
    The organic part is a waste of money. If you want plant based, that's your choice.
  • cindyo1974
    cindyo1974 Posts: 11 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    How many meals you trying to eat per day and why is that overwhelming? I personally wouldn't substitute two meals. If they're just protein shakes you will be lacking micronutrients in your diet if you try to get them all from one meal.
    6 small meals a day with an intake of 200 or so grams of protein. I just can't consume so much food all day long even though they are small meals. : (
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    How many meals you trying to eat per day and why is that overwhelming? I personally wouldn't substitute two meals. If they're just protein shakes you will be lacking micronutrients in your diet if you try to get them all from one meal.
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    How many meals you trying to eat per day and why is that overwhelming? I personally wouldn't substitute two meals. If they're just protein shakes you will be lacking micronutrients in your diet if you try to get them all from one meal.

  • cindyo1974
    cindyo1974 Posts: 11 Member
    6 meals a day with 200grams of protein. So I just want to substitue the in between meals with a shake. It's just tooo much to eat
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    cindyo1974 wrote: »
    Hello,
    Is substituting two meals a day with an organic plant based protein shake bad?? I find eating so many meals a day is overwhelming. Any opinions will be appreciated

    Most likely - a protein shake is a protein supplement.

    Are you meeting fat goals with your other meal? How is your fiber? Are you getting micro-nutrients you would normally be getting by eating fruits & veggies?

    Besides, meal replacements (or protein shakes in your case) teach you nothing. Weight loss is just the first step. You will need so kind of maintenance strategy (before you get there).

    Why 6 meals? Some people eat 2 meals (2 snacks) others eat 3 meals (1 snack).....this is personal preference. There is no advantage to 6 meals, unless it helps you stick to your goals.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    cindyo1974 wrote: »
    Hello,
    Is substituting two meals a day with an organic plant based protein shake bad?? I find eating so many meals a day is overwhelming. Any opinions will be appreciated

    Most likely - a protein shake is a protein supplement.

    Are you meeting fat goals with your other meal? How is your fiber? Are you getting micro-nutrients you would normally be getting by eating fruits & veggies?

    Besides, meal replacements (or protein shakes in your case) teach you nothing. Weight loss is just the first step. You will need so kind of maintenance strategy (before you get there).

    Why 6 meals? Some people eat 2 meals (2 snacks) others eat 3 meals (1 snack).....this is personal preference. There is no advantage to 6 meals, unless it helps you stick to your goals.

    I eat six small meals most days because it keeps my blood glucose even. My dad has T2 diabetes (likely due to agent orange since no one else in his family has it or ever did) and my mom had hypoglycemia. I don't want either problem so I do six small meals. One of them is often a protein shake or protein bar.
  • cindyo1974
    cindyo1974 Posts: 11 Member
    I was told to eat 5-6 small meals with the right amount of protein veggie n carbs, so that my body burns the fat obviously excersising as well.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited July 2017
    cindyo1974 wrote: »
    I was told to eat 5-6 small meals with the right amount of protein veggie n carbs, so that my body burns the fat obviously excersising as well.

    Okay, but this is not true. You lose weight from a calorie deficit. There are people who lose weight eating just one meal a day (OMAD).....this wouldn't be my preference, but it does work.

    Eating less helps you accomplish a deficit, and moving more helps you accomplish a deficit......meal timing does NOT help you accomplish a deficit.

    I agree with Spliner1969....I thought the protien looked high too (but maybe you are really tall or something).
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    As @TeaBea said.. the protein seems high for you. What are your stats? Height/weight/age? What's your current weight and your goal weight?
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    If you want to eat that much and aim for that much protein (are you vegan?), that's fine, but neither is necessary.

    I'd find it frustrating and pointless to try to eat that often, and for me it's much more satisfying to eat just three larger meals. A bunch of small meals/snacks tend to just make me think about food all the time and are a huge hassle, or involve eating things less satisfying for me.
  • cindyo1974
    cindyo1974 Posts: 11 Member
    My weight is 245 height is 5'7 and goal is 190/200. By the way thank you everyone your help is greatly appreciated.
  • fatvegan88
    fatvegan88 Posts: 71 Member
    As a vegan who hates protein shakes but has no choice but to drink them daily for protein all I have to say is no. One chalky terrible shake a day is enough for me other than that I want tasty food filled with fiber. Drinking protein shakes is kinda miserable, mental health is just as important as physical health.
  • grinning_chick
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    edited July 2017
    Sunna_W wrote: »
    ...and **small** amounts (NMT 1/4 teasp) of konjac root (also called Glucommanan powder).

    IMO Glucommanan powder works the best and more is not better. It literally sits in your stomach and causes delayed motility.

    The standard label dosage is 1/2 teaspoon. And can be taken up to two, if not three, times a day even as long as they are well spaced. The important thing to take it with plenty of water. I down a dose in 8 oz, swill the glass with another 8 oz to pick up the stragglers, and usually drink another 8 oz of clear water on top of that as a chaser. Probably overkill but I've had zero problems so far as a result.

    It does not cause delayed motility. In fact the studies I've seen are it increased stool frequency, the exact opposite of delayed motility. And some of konjac's marketing websites tout the fact it decreases total transit time as a way to prevent those nefarious, nebulous, never named, "harmful substances"/"toxins" (:open_mouth:) from being absorbed.

    OT?

    If two shakes and one meal a day is a sustainable way to eat for you, possibly for the rest of your life, OP? Then that's probably fine. I currently drink two shakes a day myself, but I also have three meals a day. I do so because it's the only way I can hit my protein goal of 135-144 grams/day and stay with my current max daily calorie limit of 1415. And it's temporary as my protein requirement will go down as I lose weight. Eventually I should not need them, or perhaps one at most as part of a snack.

    Unless there's a medical/ethical reason why you prefer plant based shakes there's really no need to spend the extra money for vs. the cheaper milk based protein source, imo.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    edited July 2017
    cindyo1974 wrote: »
    My weight is 245 height is 5'7 and goal is 190/200. By the way thank you everyone your help is greatly appreciated.

    Using iifym.com, and assuming your age is 43 (you didn't specify so I took a guess based on your username being your birth date?), your TDEE is 2071 calories before exercise. That would be the calories it would take to maintain your weight of 245 pounds. Setting yourself at a 2lb per week loss would be far too aggressive in my opinion so I'd go with 1lb per week max. That's a 500 calorie a day deficit. So 2071 - 500 = 1571. So you'd set your daily goal without exercise at 1571 calories a day to lose 1lb per week. Adjust this every 5 lbs lost (basically the calories will go down slightly.

    So if you go back to their calculator, and adjust for your goal weight of 190 lbs.. assuming you'd want .9g/lb of protein you'd set that around 156 grams. If it were me I'd put that as my daily goal and consider it a minimum. As long as I hit that I'd not worry about more protein. The rest of your calories when you adjust the percentages (if you're using the free version you'll have to play with it a bit because it'll only do increments of 5% adjustments) can be whatever you want. I'd put fat around 65g and leave the rest in carbs to make up your 1571 calories. Then, as you enter exercise MFP will (assuming again that you're using the free version) add calories you can eat, and it'll auto increase your macros. Just always keep in mind the starting amounts of your macros and try to hit that. Even if you do a ton of exercise each day try to hit your 169ish grams of protein. If you do a lot of exercise and enter it in to MFP, you'll want to eat some of those calories back, but you don't have to eat more than the 169g of protein. You can if you want, as long as you stay under your calorie goal. Most of us will agree (not all of us) that you can start with eating back about 50% of your exercise calories on top of your starting goal of 1836/day.

    Hope all that made sense. That's how I would start it out. I would not set my goal at 200g of protein, it's more than is needed. Remember, in a deficit you aren't going to gain much muscle. The goal though is to lose as little as possible so that's why most of us like to keep our protein goals around .8-1g/lb of our target body weight.

    Again, my opinion only. Hope some of it helps.

    For your reference, at your height and age and current weight your TDEE without exercise calculates (according to iifym.com) as 2071 calories a day. At your goal weight, your TDEE without exercise will be around 1784 calories a day. This is why I suggest adjusting your goals every 5lbs lost. Calories will go down over time so that you don't plateau.


  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    cindyo1974 wrote: »
    My weight is 245 height is 5'7 and goal is 190/200. By the way thank you everyone your help is greatly appreciated.

    Using iifym.com, and assuming your age is 43 (you didn't specify so I took a guess based on your username being your birth date?), your TDEE is 2071 calories before exercise. That would be the calories it would take to maintain your weight of 245 pounds. Setting yourself at a 2lb per week loss would be far too aggressive in my opinion so I'd go with 1lb per week max. That's a 500 calorie a day deficit. So 2071 - 500 = 1571. So you'd set your daily goal without exercise at 1571 calories a day to lose 1lb per week. Adjust this every 5 lbs lost (basically the calories will go down slightly.

    So if you go back to their calculator, and adjust for your goal weight of 190 lbs.. assuming you'd want .9g/lb of protein you'd set that around 156 grams. If it were me I'd put that as my daily goal and consider it a minimum. As long as I hit that I'd not worry about more protein. The rest of your calories when you adjust the percentages (if you're using the free version you'll have to play with it a bit because it'll only do increments of 5% adjustments) can be whatever you want. I'd put fat around 65g and leave the rest in carbs to make up your 1571 calories. Then, as you enter exercise MFP will (assuming again that you're using the free version) add calories you can eat, and it'll auto increase your macros. Just always keep in mind the starting amounts of your macros and try to hit that. Even if you do a ton of exercise each day try to hit your 169ish grams of protein. If you do a lot of exercise and enter it in to MFP, you'll want to eat some of those calories back, but you don't have to eat more than the 169g of protein. You can if you want, as long as you stay under your calorie goal. Most of us will agree (not all of us) that you can start with eating back about 50% of your exercise calories on top of your starting goal of 1836/day.

    Hope all that made sense. That's how I would start it out. I would not set my goal at 200g of protein, it's more than is needed. Remember, in a deficit you aren't going to gain much muscle. The goal though is to lose as little as possible so that's why most of us like to keep our protein goals around .8-1g/lb of our target body weight.

    Again, my opinion only. Hope some of it helps.

    For your reference, at your height and age and current weight your TDEE without exercise calculates (according to iifym.com) as 2071 calories a day. At your goal weight, your TDEE without exercise will be around 1784 calories a day. This is why I suggest adjusting your goals every 5lbs lost. Calories will go down over time so that you don't plateau.


    I didn't read all of that but you know TDEE includes exercise. I don't see how 2 pounds per week is aggressive. She weighs 245 pounds.
  • fatvegan88
    fatvegan88 Posts: 71 Member
    I can't do 2 lbs a week. I feel miserable on 1400 calories a day. I need at least 1600 to feel ok.