Protein Shakes & Powder - How to use?

Lots of input here, my, what to do, Lol.

I will throw in my 2 cents, and my change is in no way a larger sum than others, it's just to ration the information a bit.

Okay lets see, First off..

Alot of people say, "Take your Protein Shake RIGHT AFTER you workout," as usually Whey Protein digests quickly (quicker than say solid food, such as Chicken, Tuna, Salmon, cetera) But the fact of the matter is, (okay not FACT, but what I have come to understand) your body doesn't know you're "replenishing" your muscles AT THAT MOMENT, and if you take it a few hours before, or after, the outcome seems to average the same. The reason I would say to have one after, is because sometimes having that set in your stomach and sift through your body can upset your stomach, and make you feel a tad heavier than you like - from MY experience, shakes before don't work, I get an upset stomach when working out if I do.

As another suggested, Casein Protein is a SLOW digesting protein, enough to satisfy you at night and replenish those muscles with Protein.

(Also, Google on YouTube LeanBodyLifeStyle - he uses MANY healthy recipes, with Protein Powders from snacks, to dinner, to lunch, to breakfast to desserts! all healthy! and delicious).


As for when to work out? Work out when YOU can, your body doesn't necessarily know, "OH IT'S MORNING, I BURN MORE NOW", it's calories in, calories out, no matter what time of the day. Myself, I can't wake up until a few hours after my bed-headed pillow rises, so for me to workout on an empty stomach would be disastrous, I am incompetent in the mornings and thus.. I could see myself burning less calories as my energy would be low and my motivation, "Grr, argg" with the sleep need.


As for the cardio bit, Who is to say Ellipticals DON"T work? They do, almost every bit of cardiovascular equipment on the market (save a few "As Seen on TV!" ones) it's basic math:

Your Work + Effort + Machines Mechanics = Caloric Burn, Success and a divy of euphoria on a good job.

I think it's kind of biased to state one machine is better than another, if we were to navigate into THAT direction, I could say, "My SPIN BIKE tops ALL CARDIO MACHINES" and does it? Probably not, but I have done the Treadmill for over 8 years, and it doesn't top my Spin Bike, why? Because my Spin Bike is better? No. It is because my joints are pummelled and I can't give my all running OR INCLINE Walking, but spinning I can sweat a bucket and fill the neighbours pool.

To state that one isn't "Weight Loss" worthy, because you find it unsatisfactory isn't justified, because we are all built differently, we all think differently, we walk, talk and work out in a way that WORKS FOR US.

..Sooo.. My 2 cents...and then some.

***Ah..and as for a meal replacement, on their own? Probably not.. as Whey (not casein) is faster digesting, But throw in some Oatmeal, Spinach, Berries, Bananas, Peanut Butter.. Sky is the limit, yeah, could be a great filler.

Unless you absolutely hate the shake I'd advise against trying to cook with it. I have a few times and it results in total failure, and I end up with something that resembles and has the texture of soggy cardboard. So put it in water or milk and chug it down.

AAAnnnnnd, to be a little more annoying and in your face, (SORRY, Lol.. I'm usually mous-y on boards) with Protein Powders they help you reach your Protein Intake for the day, and for some they drink it, some eat food, some do a mixture of both, here's an example of mine today:

Breakfast
Egg Whites
Cheese
= Protein Sources

Post-Workout Shake
Protein Powder, Optimum Whey Gold Standard, Coffee Flavour

Dinner
Spaghetti + Sausages

But tomorrow I work and I want a break from Eggs, so I will have "Sweet Potato Pancakes" a recipe I acquired online from YouTube's "LeanBodyLifeStyle"

1 Sweet Potato, Sml/Medium, cooked, mashed and discarding Skin
1 Scoop of Protein Powder (your choice, Vanilla, Chocolate, W/e)
1/2 Cup Egg Whites/Substitute
1 sp Baking Powder
1 Tsp/TB or Sweetener (Honey, Sugar, Splenda, Stevia)
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Spices - Cinnamon, All Spice... Whatever

I made it the other day and it was delicious, but that's because I love Sweet Potatoes, Lol, if you don't, check other recipes, like regular Pancakes with Protein, there's Muffin.s.. seriously, great sources out there. I top mine with a mixture of No-Sugar Added Butter Flavour Syrup and a small dollop of Greek Yogurt, Mmm sprinkled with cinnamon.

Gives you a good Carb source, protein and flavour, and you get guilt-free (for the most part, 'pends on the toppin' Pancakes

Some good stuff in this thread. One thing that has not been mentioned is that MFP sets protein goals lower than what most people in the fitness community consider adequate. A commonly sought after goal is 1g of protein per pound of lean bodyweight. That's roughly 200gs/day for me. I basically had to change my eating habits to make sure my protein is adequate. Meals are much more centered around a big hunk of lean meat, usually chicken breast.

I too like Optimum nutrition whey mix, specifically the Chocolate deluxe. Mixed with skim milk, it is very good, but it is not bad with water either. When I'm on caloric restriction I'll use protein mix as a milk in cereal- much more nutrition bang for the buck than milk. The muscletech sold at Sams club tastes bad in my opinion. . I finally finished the bag after nine months. The cytosport at Sams is only marginally better. Pay a little extra for one you will look forward to drinking.

I too prefer real food and have drastically reduced my whey intake. If you are careful what you pay for them, chicken and egg whites (egg beaters)are more satisfying to me and have roughly the same and calorie efficiency and cost per gram as whey protein mixes. Costco is a good place to pick that stuff up, with chicken breast at roughly 2.25 lb here locally.

You can get decent tasting protein bars at walmart that are lower in sugars, the detour brand is not bad. The supreme protein brand tastes really good IMO. They are not as calorie efficient as drinks but I still eat them on occasion when I want a relatively healthy treat.

Casein is a slower acting protein that many people eat before bed. You can buy casein mix, but a lower fat greek yogurt has roughly the same calorie efficiency and is much more satisfying to my appetite. I buy plain and mix with crystal lite or other sugar free drink mixes. You can also mix in a sugar free jelly.

One final suggestion- along with plenty of protein, some basic weightlifting will help you retain muscle mass during weight loss. You will probably lose some muscle anyway, but it will be minimized with some effort on your part. So consider adding at least one resistance training workout a week, two is better, and three would be great if you have the energy for it and feel like it while on caloric restriction.

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 %..

I actually tested this last week as I was curious. I use a Garmin Forerunner 210 with HRM (strapped to chest). I did 20min on the elliptical (using arms) and 20min on the treadmill (not counting warm-up and cool down). The goal was to have my HR steady at 150bpm for the entire 20min on both machines.

Results: Effort was the same, so calorie burn was within 8cal (I call that a margin of error).
Elliptical: Level 8, 2.15miles, 63RPM (this is what was required to keep me at 150bpm)
Treadmill: 5.6mph, 2.02miles (this is what was required to keep me at 150bpm)
The kicker was what the "machines" said I burned. Elliptical (which has quite an accurate HR reading) overestimated calorie burn by 45%, while treadmill (which only takes into consideration weight) overestimated by 20%. (obviously, this is based on my stats, so someone that is less active would probably have a higher effort at these levels and thus %variance would be different/lower.

Conclusion: What pretty much was said already: it's not the machine, but the effort you put in. BUT, don't trust everything the machine tells you...cause it might be setting you up to think you've burned more than you actually did...

Oh, and about the actual topic from the OP:

I use Promasil Whey Powder (vanilla is by far the best) and have 2 scoops with only water about 20min after my workout. If I find I'm low on protein during my day, I might have an extra scoop in a shake with half a banana, a cup of milk (half almond and half 1%) and a tbs of all natural peanut butter...yum.

Which ON Whey flavors have you tried? I haven't found one that I find to be that great for my tastes. So any recommendations would be great.

Cake Batter is outta control and Extreme Milk Chocolate, is really good too.

When looking for a protein powder, look for one that has 20-26 grams of protein and no less than 3 g of sugar. I loooooove the protein shake by six star triple chocloate.

I have a recipe you could use:

1 scoop protein powder
1 Cup Almond Milk (Preferrably unsweetened)
1 tbsp of instant coffee
5 ice cubes

Mix in a blender, serve in a chilled glass. Enjoy!!!


or the Peanutbutter cup:

1 Scoop Protein powder
1 Cup Almond Milk (less calories than real milk and better tasting in my opinion)
1 Tbsp Peanut butter (or I like Wow!Butter (which is a soy substitute and tastes just like peanutbutter)
1 stp no sugar chocolate syrup
5 ice cubes

blend in blender and Enjoy.

1 tbsp of instant coffee

Can't believe I never thought of this!!!!

I tried to mix some into hot coffee and it cooked it into a soggy lump.