Protein powder?
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kshimp9133
Posts: 2 Member
Hello everyone, I’ve been dieting for a little while now and thinking of switching it up and having protein shakes for breakfast and possibly for lunch. Does anyone have any objections to this and or good advice? And also what is a great tasting flavor that doesn’t taste like chock. Thank you
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Replies
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Why would it matter if we have objections? It's your eating routine. If a routine of 2 protein shakes daily helps you achieve good overall nutrition at reasonable calories, is tasty, filling and practical for you personally, it's fine. If you try it for a couple of weeks, you'll see how it goes.
Personally, I find food I can chew more tasty, filling and generally happiness-creating than something I drink. I also have a prejudice in favor of eating mostly foods humans have eaten for centuries and thrived, so eating a lot of highly-processed modern foods like protein powder/shakes doesn't appeal to me. But those are personal taste and preference things. I'm not you.
If it's not a routine you can see yourself doing forever, but you want to do it to lose weight, I'd encourage you to think about an exit plan: Eventually, you'll want (I hope) to experiment and find a way of eating that you can continue forever that makes you reasonably happy, keeps you at a healthy weight, and helps you be healthy more generally. You don't have to do that right away, though.
As you'd guess, I don't use protein shakes (ever) so I can't give you advice about which are tasty.4 -
Hi. I’ve tried several different protein shakes over the years. I’ve finally come across one that I think tastes delicious. No chalky taste at all. It’s called Orgain Organic plant based protein. I have tried vanilla, strawberries and cream and chocolate. I love them all but chocolate is my favorite. I buy it from Costco, but it’s available online through Amazon as well. Try it. You won’t be disappointed. I make mine with almond milk, 1/3 frozen banana, a dash of cinnamon, a drop or two of vanilla extract and 5 ice cubes. Mix in blender into a smoothie. Let me know what you think.5
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I drink a smoothie for supper often in the summer. Mostly when it's just too hot to cook or eat heavy food.
If I'm almost at my protein goal, I will often mix 1 serving of yogurt with milk, fruit and lots of ice. If I need more protein, I use Isopro whey protein isolate instead of yogurt. It has almost no taste, so you taste the fruit even more. It has 25 grams of protein and 100 calories per scoop,3 -
I use the Dymatize ISO 100 ones. I've had chocolate, vanilla, and fruity pebbles...all taste great and mix in well with a shaker bottle. Do you mean to add them to your breakfast and lunch -- or to BE your breakfast and lunch.
If you are wanting to use a 'protein shake' as a meal...you are looking at making a smoothie/shake with a blender and using ingredients that would make it a balanced meal re: calories and macros.
Many protein supplement powders are very low calorie and really mostly protein (with minimal carbs/fat)...so that's not a good idea for a 'meal'. Most are like 100-200 calories per serving. It's great to get a significant amount of protein in your meal, but not as a meal replacement.1 -
I like Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey (favorite flavor is vanilla ice cream). It's widely available, mixes with just a spoon (reasonably anyway) and it's good in just milk, or the flavor really blends well with frozen berries if I want it more in a psuedo "ice cream".
I use a milk/whey shake post workout or a shake with a couple pieces of fruit when I need a quick breakfast.
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Protein powder is to supplement your protein intake and are not meal replacements. Personally, not a good idea. If this is what you think you want to do and your on medications I suggest you give your PCP a call and let them know what your thinking of doing, hopefully they'll have a clue. cheers4
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westrich20940 wrote: »I use the Dymatize ISO 100 ones. I've had chocolate, vanilla, and fruity pebbles...all taste great and mix in well with a shaker bottle. Do you mean to add them to your breakfast and lunch -- or to BE your breakfast and lunch.
If you are wanting to use a 'protein shake' as a meal...you are looking at making a smoothie/shake with a blender and using ingredients that would make it a balanced meal re: calories and macros.
Many protein supplement powders are very low calorie and really mostly protein (with minimal carbs/fat)...so that's not a good idea for a 'meal'. Most are like 100-200 calories per serving. It's great to get a significant amount of protein in your meal, but not as a meal replacement.
Good point about protein powder not being a meal replacement. Here's what I added to mine to include fat, fruit, veggies, and fiber. I did this in the summer when I could get the greens from my garden.
I eventually burned out on first the chocolate protein powder - I developed an intolerance for stevia - and then got sick of my plain whey PP as well, and the raw veggies.
I might try going back to the breakfast smoothie, using plain PP plus cocoa mix to make chocolate PP.
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I like LeanFit whey protein chocolate flavour. I do not use it as a meal replacement.
I use it as an afternoon snack to boost my protein intake.
Taste is subjective. When I mix a scoop with 8-16oz of water, I generally just chug it down. To me it tastes pretty good, but not the best thing I’ve ever eaten.
If I’m hungry and am looking for more, then I blend a scoop of it in the blender with the following:
1 cup of water
1-2tbsp of flax
Half a frozen banana
A generous dollop of natural peanut butter. Or a handful of actual peanuts. Call it 2tbsp of peanut butter
3-4 ice cubes
A little cocoa. Maybe a tsp — I don’t measure the cocoa.
To me, this is like a chocolate milk shake. It is really good.
It is also about 350 calories — so can easily be considered a meal.
It is up to you if you want to go this way.
Good luck
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Thank you everyone for your help and advice! Greatly appreciate it0
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The stats are that people that use protein/meal replacement shakes for weight loss are usually the first to regain weight back pretty fast once they reintroduce solid foods into their diet.
My stance is unless you're competing, there's no reason to embark on a diet that you're not going to do for life.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I've been using Keto Chow as a meal replacement for the last couple months. This was mostly a decision made for convenience, since I'm also in school, and it takes food based decisions out of my daily calculus. I also really wanted to get off medications for diabetes, and I've been able to achieve that goal partially (I'm off insulin with the goal of getting off metformin in the next couple months, supervised by my physician).
I like the taste, I like the way I feel using it, I like the weight loss, and I like the direction that my health markers are heading. I also have an exit plan for how I want to transition to eating more solid food. I imagine that I'll keep the shakes for one or more meals each day long term, because I actually do like them, and as I move into the clinical phase of my education they're going to be really easy to take with me to the hospital and store during long shifts.
Even though this is how I'm choosing to eat, I don't think there's anything magical about using shakes versus regular food. I'm using them because they allow me to closely control my carb intake and still have something sweet. I struggled with glycemic control despite losing weight and a low carb diet while on insulin and metformin, so I wanted a change, and I have my doctor's full support on what I'm doing, which includes close monitoring of bloodwork trends to ensure that I'm staying healthy.
I think if it works for you in regards to your health there's nothing wrong with using protein powder or meal replacements, just make sure that you're using them in a way that's sustainable for you.3 -
I've been using Keto Chow as a meal replacement for the last couple months. This was mostly a decision made for convenience, since I'm also in school, and it takes food based decisions out of my daily calculus. I also really wanted to get off medications for diabetes, and I've been able to achieve that goal partially (I'm off insulin with the goal of getting off metformin in the next couple months, supervised by my physician).
I like the taste, I like the way I feel using it, I like the weight loss, and I like the direction that my health markers are heading. I also have an exit plan for how I want to transition to eating more solid food. I imagine that I'll keep the shakes for one or more meals each day long term, because I actually do like them, and as I move into the clinical phase of my education they're going to be really easy to take with me to the hospital and store during long shifts.
Even though this is how I'm choosing to eat, I don't think there's anything magical about using shakes versus regular food. I'm using them because they allow me to closely control my carb intake and still have something sweet. I struggled with glycemic control despite losing weight and a low carb diet while on insulin and metformin, so I wanted a change, and I have my doctor's full support on what I'm doing, which includes close monitoring of bloodwork trends to ensure that I'm staying healthy.
I think if it works for you in regards to your health there's nothing wrong with using protein powder or meal replacements, just make sure that you're using them in a way that's sustainable for you.
It sounds like you are consuming more carbs, and I suspect this isn't fruit but more refined carbs that include sugars than you should on your low carb diet and "keto chow" is giving you the sweet taste you want but in a more controlled carb and calorie fashion making it more sustainable and achievable for your goals which is to come off medications and lose weight?0 -
It sounds like you are consuming more carbs, and I suspect this isn't fruit but more refined carbs that include sugars than you should on your low carb diet and "keto chow" is giving you the sweet taste you want but in a more controlled carb and calorie fashion making it more sustainable and achievable for your goals which is to come off medications and lose weight?
Not quite. I was eating a very low carb diet without added sugar and struggling with glycemic control. The goal is certainly getting off medication and losing weight, but even without refined sugars in the low carb diet I wasn't meeting that goal. The Keto Chow has been very helpful in the glycemic control, even thought my total carbs are still about the same. I suspect it's a shift in the macro nutrients from more protein to more fat, but I'm honestly not sure. As I continue on this journey I'll continue to learn what works for my body and continue to work with my doctor.1 -
It sounds like you are consuming more carbs, and I suspect this isn't fruit but more refined carbs that include sugars than you should on your low carb diet and "keto chow" is giving you the sweet taste you want but in a more controlled carb and calorie fashion making it more sustainable and achievable for your goals which is to come off medications and lose weight?
Not quite. I was eating a very low carb diet without added sugar and struggling with glycemic control. The goal is certainly getting off medication and losing weight, but even without refined sugars in the low carb diet I wasn't meeting that goal. The Keto Chow has been very helpful in the glycemic control, even thought my total carbs are still about the same. I suspect it's a shift in the macro nutrients from more protein to more fat, but I'm honestly not sure. As I continue on this journey I'll continue to learn what works for my body and continue to work with my doctor.
Why would your blood sugar be increasing while eating a very low carb diet, where basically there are no sugars?0 -
Are you using MCT oil with your keto chow?0
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Why would your blood sugar be increasing while eating a very low carb diet, where basically there are no sugars?
Great question, for which I don't have an answer. I just know that I wasn't seeing the results that I wanted and needed. I was still seeing spikes even after a meal that was exclusively protein and fat like bacon and eggs.Are you using MCT oil with your keto chow?
No, I'm not using MCT oil. I've been using heavy cream exclusively to mix it.0 -
Why would your blood sugar be increasing while eating a very low carb diet, where basically there are no sugars?
Great question, for which I don't have an answer. I just know that I wasn't seeing the results that I wanted and needed. I was still seeing spikes even after a meal that was exclusively protein and fat like bacon and eggs.Are you using MCT oil with your keto chow?
No, I'm not using MCT oil. I've been using heavy cream exclusively to mix it.
What your basically seeing is an insulin response (spike) to a meal and protein will spike insulin to different levels every time, even in the absence of carbohydrates. Fish for example really spikes insulin. Anyway, the reason why insulin is elevated is because it helps shuttle amino acids into muscle and stimulates protein synthesis while protecting muscle breakdown and if there was sugar in the meal it would also either store as glycogen in muscle tissue or in fat cells. Anyway, your blood glucose isn't actually increasing from eating a meal like bacon and eggs for example and the more fat that's in a meal will tend to blunt the insulin response as well and probably why you saw a shift downward with more fat. I've been very low, low and ketogenic over the last decade and this is my understanding of the process. I hope you meet all your medical goals and low carb is definitely the right course of action imo. Cheers1 -
One thing you must want to consider is a powder that contains all essential amino acids (complete protein). Plant-based proteins don't always do. Pea protein, chickpea, etc., do.0
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My wife and I drink protein shakes almost daily as a part of our overall intake. Our protein powders of choice at the moment are Garden of Life as a good plant-based protein powder and Levels for a good whey protein powder. They each have a variety of flavors. We typically combine them with almond milk or coconut water along with a banana as a base. From there we might add blueberries, strawberries, spinach, avocado, Greek yogurt, or peanut butter powder, depending on what we are in the mood for. We also like bottles of Owyn protein drinks (plant based) and Jocko (whey based). As someone else mentioned, your diet should not consist of ONLY protein drinks. Our body needs a variety of nutrients from good quality whole foods as well.1
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I use Jarrow Foods chocolate protein powder. Minimal crap in it and tastes good. Mix with skim milk. I usually have one a day. I couldn't just survive on protein shakes though, it would get boring and you'd be missing a lot of nutrients.0
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