Protein Shakes & Powder - How to use?

I like to use almond milk with my protein powder. Sometimes I add in a tbsp of sugar free butterscotch pudding mix for added flavor. Or I put it in a smoothie to get fruits/protein together.

If I have it in the morning I have to have it in smoothie form or I feel sick. If I have it at night after a workout I can have it with the milk and feel fine.

How is that Almond Milk taste wise? I've never tried it, I've just stuck with skim milk myself.

Oh I love it. It takes like a vanilla shake w/out the ice cream texture.

You could google the body by vi shakes and get all of their recipes. I don't use the shakes but I do use some of their recipes. I know people that sell it and they were wanting me to buy but I am sticking with the regular protein powder. But they do have some good ways of making tasty shakes.

Hmmmmm, I have an extremely hard time believing 400 calories in 20 minutes on the elliptical.. I'd love to see an uploaded pic of your elliptical machine after you do your cardio on it to see those kinds of results.

It all depends on how fast and how high you have the resistance set. Personally I average 130calories per 10 minutes on the elliptical at a steady 5mph. I'm not sure how to gauge the resistance I use - but I keep the resistance to the point where I feel a decent burn in my legs. The same I get from walking on an incline on the treadmill. I usually do 30 minutes, which puts me around 350-400 calories.

I can't get those numbers on a treadmill. I can't go as fast, as long, with as much resistance. Forget it. My knees give out at 10 minutes, no incline.

Cardio is cardio is cardio. It's not what you're doing, it's how you're doing it. And puh-lease. My trainer never had me on the treadmill. It was the elliptical, strairmaster or stationary bike for cardio.

Protein shake preferably within 30 minutes after your workout. I mix mine half and half with water/milk.

Does milk and water mixed not taste terrible? I might have to try that, I just use water.

It's actually not that bad. I don't care much for milk so watering it down tastes better to me. Either way, I just slam it anyways. If I'm at the gym and having it right after I just use water.

I find myself doing the same thing, just slamming it down quick. I haven't found a very good tasting protein shake yet in 6 years of working out, well with just powder that is. Add in some peanut butter and a banana and you can make any shake taste great.

Oh man I agree. Peanut butter and a banana makes it taste real good. I actually used to enjoy the taste of ON extreme milk chocolate when I would throw ice in the shaker with it for the first week, but besides that I've never found one that I've enjoyed the taste of either.

Hmmmmm, I have an extremely hard time believing 400 calories in 20 minutes on the elliptical.. I'd love to see an uploaded pic of your elliptical machine after you do your cardio on it to see those kinds of results.

I'm using an FT60 to measure the calories burned for better accuracy than the elliptical (which I'm not even sure calculates calories burned). I was actually being conservative, I have seen over 700 from 30 minute sessions before when I was really pushing it. And going only 20 minutes I could go harder, theoretically I could hit 450-500 in just 20 minutes.

Think about it. You've got an exercise that uses upper and lower body both. You can even get your core involved if you grab high up on the handles and twist with the motion. You can increase the resistance while still remaining very low impact. This means joint pain is not a limiting factor. You can produce some pretty incredible burns on an elliptical.

At the end of the day it all depends on the amount of effort you put forth so doing what you like and can sustain is most important. I am only trying to clarify that using an elliptical isn't some pathetic method that no one uses. It is probably one of the best overall cardio machines you can use, in fact.

The only problem I have with Optimum Nutrition is how dang expensive it is, definitely not cheap that's for sure.

True! I usually wait for it to pop up on slickdeals.com when it's on sale and stock up. Any recommendations on a cheaper alternative?

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with the cheap stuff you find at Walmart. You can find a good size tub for only $15, as far as I'm concerned protein is protein. For the price of one tub of ON you can get like 4 tubs of the Walmart stuff, if you ever do decide to try it they have a chocolate peanut butter that's pretty good.

Protein shakes can be used as a "meal replacement" if you wish to do so, the most important time to have a protein shake is right after a workout. I personally do both, I have one protein shake as a meal replacer and one shake immediately after a workout. If you have Casein protein that is what you would want to take before going to bed. For your cardio I'd suggest stop using the elliptical, that's cheating yourself and not much of a workout at all. Get on the treadmill, raise the incline to around 12 degrees to start, put the pace at a brisk walk level, and do this for 40-60 minutes. You will burn more calories than the elliptical and it isn't very strenuous for beginners at all.

I've lost 26 pounds since March doing a "cutting" phase with this kind of cardio and eating healthy, if anyone tells you that you have to run in order to lose weight then ignore anything they have to say and don't take their advice because they're clueless and feeding you crap.

Strange advice, no machine automatically burns more calories than another. It's all about level of effort. If you're just mailing it in on the elliptical then of course the dreadmill is going to burn more. And likewise. For me personally I find that the elliptical is much better because it engages upper and lower body and you can adjust the intensity too. So you can get a bigger burn in a smaller amount of time. Plus it's lower impact. Win/win situation.


At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what you use, do what you like and as long as you're putting in the effort.

Lol I didn't say that one machines burns more calories than the other. Doing the treadmill on an incline like I said also engages the upper and lower body, and you can also adjust the intensity. Sorry, but the elliptical is not even close to being better for losing weight, if that were the case than fitness models and bodybuilders would use them, but they don't.

With the elliptical you said you can get a "bigger burn in a smaller amount of time", after 20 minutes on the elliptical how many calories do you burn? Just curious

20 minutes, usually 400-ish calories at a fairly moderate pace (I don't push too hard, save the effort for lifting).

Hmmmmm, I have an extremely hard time believing 400 calories in 20 minutes on the elliptical.. I'd love to see an uploaded pic of your elliptical machine after you do your cardio on it to see those kinds of results.

I wasn't going to jump in on this conversation, but this argument popped up in another thread... like someone else said, its all about effort. If you put a treadmill at a 0.1 incline and walk at 15 minute miles, it will be hardly any effort, with no calorie burn.. the same is true for an elliptical.... no resistance equals no effort which equals no calorie burn... but, increase the incline, or the resistance, and the effort needed to walk, or move will increase, so the amount of calories burned will increase.... Simple.

If the effort is there, then it should not matter what equipment is used. Maybe you should try using an elliptical with a very high resistant level and see what it does

SilMarillion.

I don't disagree with that and never did... But you are wrong about burning no calories from a treadmill at .1 incline for 15 minute miles... Every single thing we do requires energy, calories are energy, more specifically macronutrients. You can pick your nose for an hour and burn calories doing so.

Also, the "burn" doesn't matter when it comes to losing weight, being in a caloric deficit at the end of the day is what matters. I do the treadmill at 3.0 speed (20 minute miles) at a 15 degree incline for an hour and burn around 850 calories every single time. That isn't strenuous at all and there's no drastic heart rate elevation, I've been doing this since March and have lost 27 pounds... There's a reason bodybuilders do that kind of cardio as well, because it works and it doesn't cause the body go into a catabolic state like fast paced cardio that elevates the heart rate...

don't disagree with that and never did... But you are wrong about burning no calories from a treadmill at .1 incline for 15 minute miles... Every single thing we do requires energy, calories are energy, more specifically macronutrients. You can pick your nose for an hour and burn calories doing so.

Also, the "burn" doesn't matter when it comes to losing weight, being in a caloric deficit at the end of the day is what matters. I do the treadmill at 3.0 speed (20 minute miles) at a 15 degree incline for an hour and burned around 850 calories every single time. That isn't strenuous at all and there's no "burn", I've been doing this since March and have lost 27 pounds... There's a reason bodybuilders do that kind of cardio as well, because it works and it doesn't cause the body go into a catabolic state like fast paced cardio that elevates the heart rate...

Agreed... what I should have really said is: A calorie burned\used\spent, is a calorie burned\used\spent... doesn't matter how it was used..

Just out of curiosity, how many calories would you use on an elliptical for 20 or so minutes, but keep your heart rate to around where you are when using the treadmill? I think they would be the same, or within a very small %..

Yeah I agree, a calorie burned is a calorie burned regardless of how it's burned. I'm not sure how many calories it would be honestly, I don't think you can accurately put the difficulties at the same level; treadmill has incline and ellipticals have resistance so I'm not sure equivalencies for the two. Plus at that low level of speed for the elliptical the momentum from the pedals would do a lot of the work for you, so accurately calculating the amount of calories burned wouldn't be as easy.

Hmmmmm, I have an extremely hard time believing 400 calories in 20 minutes on the elliptical.. I'd love to see an uploaded pic of your elliptical machine after you do your cardio on it to see those kinds of results.

It all depends on how fast and how high you have the resistance set. Personally I average 130calories per 10 minutes on the elliptical at a steady 5mph. I'm not sure how to gauge the resistance I use - but I keep the resistance to the point where I feel a decent burn in my legs. The same I get from walking on an incline on the treadmill. I usually do 30 minutes, which puts me around 350-400 calories.

I can't get those numbers on a treadmill. I can't go as fast, as long, with as much resistance. Forget it. My knees give out at 10 minutes, no incline.

Cardio is cardio is cardio. It's not what you're doing, it's how you're doing it. And puh-lease. My trainer never had me on the treadmill. It was the elliptical, strairmaster or stationary bike for cardio.

Possibly not.... To give a test from a metabolic chamber, 70% VO2max, 155bmp heartrate = 100cal/10min give or take. 30cal more /min would mean you're prob close to pushing anaerobic threshhold.

I originally got some protien powder so I can drink my shakes after I work out. But it was a little bit of a hassle since I don't work out close to home. So I just started drinking my protien shakes in the mornings when I eat my cereal.

Bump....