Protein shakes ... ugh!

2

Replies

  • dmanakho
    dmanakho Posts: 143 Member
    Plain no fat Greek yogurt, Low fat cottage cheese, plain Kefir are great sources of protein. I get a good amount of my daily diet from diary protein sources. If lactose is not an issue.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    version50 wrote: »
    Wow, lots of good advice and observations here. Lots of interesting links, as well. What a helpful community!

    But in the end, I think I just need to start experimenting on my body.

    No more protein powders/bars.
    No more forcing myself to eat 1g protein/lean muscle mass, just because that's conventional wisdom.

    I'm just going to eat plain ol' food (beef, chicken, turkey, pork) until I'm full. That's usually around 80g of protein a day on a 2100 calorie daily diet.

    I'm going to do this for the next few weeks, and see if there is any noticeable loss of strength, energy, weight, or composition.

    Are you maintaining weight on 2100 cals when you are 6'0 and 195lbs?
    That would be barely more than an average sized female. If you are maintaining and that is a current picture of you in your profile I would suspect very inaccurate food logging TBH.

    As a data point, I'm 6'0" and female and reasonably active and I maintain on 2100-2200 (though tbh I'm not super accurate with logging, so could be higher).

    @staticsplit

    But I would guess you aren't 195lbs.

    Put OP's stats in a TDEE calculator and lightly active is roughly 2500 - 2600.
    Moderately active is roughly 2700 - 2900.

    If his calorie logging is significantly out then so are his macro numbers. He could be dieting of course despite posting in the maintaining weight forum but guess we will never know unless he returns to his thread.
  • TEQWAR
    TEQWAR Posts: 1,616 Member
    Not all protein shakes are equally nasty. When I first started out on this, I tried the Sci MX Raspberry Ripple Ultra Whey - thought I'd love it as I'm seriously addicted to raspberries. Turns out it's without doubt one of the nastiest things I've ever put in my mouth and the only way I could get it down was to drink it as quick as possible. Switched to "The Protein Works" and the flavour and texture are sooo much better, I actually look forward to my shakes. The current one I'm on - Caramel Macchiato is really tasty - but I haven't found a bad one yet. Two scoops in 400ml of unsweetened almond milk and that's 41g of protein.
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    version50 wrote: »
    Wow, lots of good advice and observations here. Lots of interesting links, as well. What a helpful community!

    But in the end, I think I just need to start experimenting on my body.

    No more protein powders/bars.
    No more forcing myself to eat 1g protein/lean muscle mass, just because that's conventional wisdom.

    I'm just going to eat plain ol' food (beef, chicken, turkey, pork) until I'm full. That's usually around 80g of protein a day on a 2100 calorie daily diet.

    I'm going to do this for the next few weeks, and see if there is any noticeable loss of strength, energy, weight, or composition.

    Are you maintaining weight on 2100 cals when you are 6'0 and 195lbs?
    That would be barely more than an average sized female. If you are maintaining and that is a current picture of you in your profile I would suspect very inaccurate food logging TBH.

    As a data point, I'm 6'0" and female and reasonably active and I maintain on 2100-2200 (though tbh I'm not super accurate with logging, so could be higher).

    @staticsplit

    But I would guess you aren't 195lbs.

    Put OP's stats in a TDEE calculator and lightly active is roughly 2500 - 2600.
    Moderately active is roughly 2700 - 2900.

    If his calorie logging is significantly out then so are his macro numbers. He could be dieting of course despite posting in the maintaining weight forum but guess we will never know unless he returns to his thread.

    Yes, I'm 154, so that's why I was surprised at him saying he maintained on 2100.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
    edited June 2019
    @version50, age 64 man here who has well-documented his protein consumption here at MFP for two recent time periods.

    Read my share and let me know if you have any questions:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10738047/intermittent-fasting-protein-consumption-and-weight-fat-loss-my-share#latest

    Will admit that recently I’ve used a chocolate protein powder added to low-sugar higher fat European-style yogurt and have learned I’m on to something I enjoy eating.
  • alondrakar
    alondrakar Posts: 67 Member
    I haven't ready other responses but yes, protein shakes are the worst. I feel like I have tried them all and none are worth it to me. Now, I try to get my protein from food and if I don't hit my target, oh well. I'd rather do that than be completely miserable everyday trying to eat/drink something I don't enjoy.
  • OooohToast
    OooohToast Posts: 257 Member
    edited June 2019
    version50 wrote: »
    Anybody else hate these things? I just turned 50, and at 6'0, 195lbs, I keep reading that I should be consuming at least 150g of protein to maintain muscle, testosterone, etc...

    I really struggle getting this amount of protein in my daily diet without resorting to shakes/powder (revolting), or protein bars (equally revolting). At best, 100g a day of real food (chicken, pork, beef, fish) is all I can really stomach. And that's forcing myself. I think I'd be happier at 70g.

    Seeking other personal observations....are any of you more senior gents (50+) hovering around 100g a day? If so, have you noticed any loss of muscle, or strength, or *ahem* drive?

    Just to answer your question - I have no love for protein powders or protein bars I've tried too ! The closest I got to not gagging was a coffee flavoured pea protein - still not worth the calories or the 'nutrition' (just for me). Taste, texture all awful.

    I try to keep all my food as close as possible to their natural form as possible but cooked - not feeling the whole raw thing either.

  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    dmanakho wrote: »
    Plain no fat Greek yogurt, Low fat cottage cheese, plain Kefir are great sources of protein. I get a good amount of my daily diet from diary protein sources. If lactose is not an issue.

    Lactose is usually a non-issue in cultured dairy products, especially Greek Style yogurt. I'm lactose intolerant and I eat yogurt with no issues.

    I don't personally know about kefir, but it is cultured.

    The live active cultures in yogurt eat the sugar (the lactose) and kind of pre-digest it. If it's broken down, it no longer gives issues.
  • lcatalan93
    lcatalan93 Posts: 45 Member
    Have you've tried doing plain Greek yogurt? That has a good source of protein and it could be like a desert for you. Maybe even add some peanut butter and maybe half a scoop of strawberry or chocolate protein powder? I usually eat that to meet my protein goals and mine are set for 158 grams. :)
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,958 Member
    I use liquid egg whites to make shakes when I need them.

    1 cup liquid egg whites
    2 bananas
    2 cups frozen spinach
    1 cup almond milk

    Tastes great!
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    Have I been doing it wrong?

    I was under the impression that the protein intake was 0.8g per 1kg or 0.35g per lbs?

    So 195lbs body weight would be 68-70g of protein.

    150g would be 0.8g per lb not per kg.
  • reversemigration
    reversemigration Posts: 168 Member
    Danp wrote: »
    Have I been doing it wrong?

    I was under the impression that the protein intake was 0.8g per 1kg or 0.35g per lbs?

    So 195lbs body weight would be 68-70g of protein.

    150g would be 0.8g per lb not per kg.

    From what I can tell, the protein requirement depends on your age and level of activity. From the Academy of
    Nutrition and Dietetics (via the American College of Sports Medicine):
    The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that the average individual should consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram or 0.35 grams per pound of body weight per day for general health.... To increase muscle mass in combination with physical activity, it is recommended that a person that lifts weights regularly or is training for a running or cycling event eat a range of 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, or 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight.

    https://www.acsm.org/docs/default-source/files-for-resource-library/protein-intake-for-optimal-muscle-maintenance.pdf

    So, 0.35 g/lb on average, 0.5-0.8 g/lb if you're trying to build muscle. Moreover, once you hit 50, the recommendation is about 0.45 g/lb to maintain muscle even if you're not training/lifting.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,292 Member
    edited June 2019
    Danp wrote: »
    Have I been doing it wrong?

    I was under the impression that the protein intake was 0.8g per 1kg or 0.35g per lbs?

    So 195lbs body weight would be 68-70g of protein.

    150g would be 0.8g per lb not per kg.

    From what I can tell, the protein requirement depends on your age and level of activity. From the Academy of
    Nutrition and Dietetics (via the American College of Sports Medicine):
    The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that the average individual should consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram or 0.35 grams per pound of body weight per day for general health.... To increase muscle mass in combination with physical activity, it is recommended that a person that lifts weights regularly or is training for a running or cycling event eat a range of 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, or 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight.

    https://www.acsm.org/docs/default-source/files-for-resource-library/protein-intake-for-optimal-muscle-maintenance.pdf

    So, 0.35 g/lb on average, 0.5-0.8 g/lb if you're trying to build muscle. Moreover, once you hit 50, the recommendation is about 0.45 g/lb to maintain muscle even if you're not training/lifting.

    those small amount of protein (0.35 and 0.45) are for sedentary people eating at maintenance. once you exercise more or are in a deficit or both, your protein requirement increases, to the 0.5-0.8, and more than that doesn't hurt, and since that is 0.5-0.8 per lb not per lb of lbm, I would assume the 0.5 is for overweight individuals that have less lean mass as a % of total weight.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    @version50 Understood and appreciated. The longer I go the less I care for protein powder and glorified candy bars. They're made with denatured proteins created in a lab and manufactured in a plant. I can buy a dozen eggs for pennies on the dollar, foiled fish, olives, jerky, hard boiled eggs and eat them on the run.
  • asochable
    asochable Posts: 43 Member
    I highly recommend Ascent protein powder (I don’t find it chalky AT ALL— first protein powder I actually look forward to!), especially the lemon sorbet flavor and the chocolate peanut butter. I also highly recommend Built Bars for protein bars. The consistency is more like a candy bar with real chocolate coating and a light, chewy/nougat kind of center.

    Honesty both products are game changers for me. Neither one is heavy like other protein products and I find them both to taste really good. Worth a try if you like the idea of the convenience of protein products but didn’t like the flavor or texture of most products out there. They do cost a little more but it’s well worth it!
  • brottishluv
    brottishluv Posts: 5 Member
    I lost all my weight without upping my protein, was at 50-60 grams a day, wasn't looking at protein/fiber.

    Now I want to build muscle. At first I found it hard. I tried whey protein bars, but they clogged me up big time. I remembered about cottage cheese and it's high protein content. I got a breakfast bar with 10 grams of fiber/protein. I snack of pistachios and peanuts. It's really easy for me to go over 100 grams of protein when i'm eating 1800 calories a day without any protein supplementation. Sometimes I try to go to hard and am like woah, you can eat something for fun now, you already had enough protein for the day. For me it was vital to up my fiber content with my protein.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,971 Member
    edited July 2019
    I'm male, 68, 5''8 and 155# and my heath and sex drive is fine only eating about 80-100g of protein/day currently, thank-you. :)

    BTW, my BF level based on DEXA & hydro was recently measured at about 12%.

    My current exercise activity is limited to rowing only 5k meters a day but when I was lifting heavy in order to gain strength and muscle, I was eating 120-180g of protein a day BUT, while I did get stronger and gained some muscle, I did not feel any better then than I feel now.

    In order consume that much protein, I supplemented w/protein bars, drinks and shakes. Bars and drinks were/are more convenient but more expensive. I had no problem w/the taste of the protein powders that I used (Muscle Milk & MyProtein, both in chocolate) when mixed w/vanilla flavored soy milk. Got 40-60g of protein in 2 cups of soymilk this way.

    Hard to get that much protein per serving for less $ in any other way.

  • theobaldpw
    theobaldpw Posts: 8 Member
    Got a very experienced trainer that says most people do not need protien powder and it is only for competion type training. Not needed for an average healthy body.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,292 Member
    theobaldpw wrote: »
    Got a very experienced trainer that says most people do not need protien powder and it is only for competion type training. Not needed for an average healthy body.

    even those in competitions don't need them... essentially they are good if you have trouble hitting your protein goal from your "regular" diet.