Protein Shakes for Newbies: What to Buy & When to Drink
Two Nerd Fitness readers emailed me yesterday asking about protein powder and shakes.
This blog is for you guys! First of all, if you are able to get your protein naturally in regular food, go for it. Chicken, steak, burgers, almonds, peanuts, eggs, fish, milk, etc. Essentially, food gets expensive when you need to eat it every three hours, it’s a pain in the ass to make, eat, and clean up afterward…Which is where protein shakes come in! I’m no dietitian or bodybuilder, so the advice below comes from personal experience and suggestions from respected people that I trust.
Things to keep in mind when buying:
- To start out, buy 100% whey protein. There are other kinds of protein powders that I’ll go into on another post. For now, look for something that says “100% Whey”
- When buying protein powders, you want to try and buy a product with minimal other ‘stuff.’ Low carbs, low sugar, low sodium, low calories, low fat, etc. The good stuff is like 99% protein. If you go into a vitamin or nutrition store, always check the label before buying.
- Pick a flavor that you like! Protein powders generally come in a few flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, etc.
- Don’t buy from GNC. Prices are outrageous, and they often have an agenda to push the stuff with the highest profit margin. BUY ONLINE, where prices are often half of what you’ll pay in a store.
- If you’re a picky eater, buy a few single servings before you invest in a 3 month supply of protein powder.
- Like the flavor? Buy in bulk when possible. Many places online will offer 5 dollar shipping or free shipping on orders over $x amount. If you’re serious about fitness and think you’ll be drinking shakes for the foreseeable future, buy a few tubs at once and save on shipping.
Most Popular Brands:
- Cytosport Complete Whey Protein: 18 grams of protein per serving, 103 servings, 40 bucks. This is the brand that I’ve been using for a few years. I picked the vanilla flavor because I’m not a fan of chocolate. Because it’s only 18 grams, I take a scoop and a half because I aim to get around 30 grams of protein every 3 hours.
- Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein: 24 grams of protein per serving, 77 servings, 40 bucks. Although this has less servings per container, each serving has more protein in it so both come out essentially the same when it comes to total amount of protein as the Cytosport. This is a big hit on all the fitness message boards (and with bodybuilders). Word on the street is the chocolate flavor is delicious and mixes really well. I’ve never tried it, but I’ve heard nothing but good things from multiple sites and hundreds of users. Also available in vanilla, strawberry, and other flavors.
- Update: Check the comments of this blog for another recommendation and differing view on Optimum Nutrition.
What to mix it with?
Personal experience: the side of the label tells you to mix one scoop in 8 oz of water and it “mixes well and tastes great!” Fail. I don’t know about the chocolate version, but the vanilla/strawberry powder mixed in just water is TERRIBLE. Instead, I mix one scoop in with 8 oz of skim milk. I’ve mixed vanilla powder with 8 oz of orange juice and it’s pretty good too. Want some variety? Add bananas, strawberries, blueberries, peanut butter, etc. Try different combinations and find something that you actually like. If you can choke down straight water & protein powder, you are a stronger man than I.
What’s that? It doesn’t taste like the best thing ever? Drink it, pansy.
What to mix it in?
Best advice: buy a cheap blender. Go to your local Walmart, Target, Kroger, Publix, Sam’s Club, Stop & Shop, etc. and buy a blender for 20 bucks. They make super deluxe models, smoothie makers, and fancy machines that will do everything. Forget that crap; buy a cheap one because you’re going to be using it every day, multiple times a day.
Nf tip: don’t let your roommates use it to make margaritas – their cocktails will taste like protein and your shakes will taste like tequila.
Your other option is to buy a cheap shaker, which has a spoke-type thing in it to break up the powder when you mix it in with milk, water, OJ, whatever. Personally, I’ve found that these things don’t work nearly as well as a blender. You could shake a mixer for 3 minutes and it still won’t be as good of a blend as 15 seconds on a blender. Spend the 20 bucks and get a blender
Your final option is to buy a BlendTec Blender (“Will it Blend?”) for like 700 bucks, but you can then mix your protein with iPhones, glowsticks, pens, golf clubs, hockey pucks, and more. I wonder, what would happen if I drank glowsticks and protein?
When to drink them?
The most important time to drink a shake is right after you exercise. This is when your muscles have been broken down from exercising and in desperate need of protein to rebuild. I always drink a shake right after exercising. However, don’t think one shake a day will do it unless you’re eating high protein foods throughout the day. You want to provide your body with protein every three hours so it always has a constant stream of “building blocks” to use on those muscles.
Looking to build muscle? If you’re a skinny guy trying to gain muscle, you’re going to be eating a lot of calories and want to aim for at least 1lb of protein per pound of body weight. Let’s say you weigh 150 lbs and you want to gain muscle, you want to eat 6 meals a day with at least 25 grams of protein in each. Try drinking a protein shake at the end of the day an hour or so before bed – because you’re sleeping and not expending large amounts of calories, your body can use the protein from the shake to rebuild your muscles.
Studies have also shown that a breakfast high in protein will result in less desire to eat big unhealthy meals throughout the day. Protein will help fill you up! Keep this in mind if you’re looking to lose weight. Eat breakfast!
Recap:
My recommendation is to buy a tub of Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein online, in whatever flavor you like, and while it’s getting shipped to your house, go to your local grocery store and buy a cheap blender for 20 bucks. Start drinking shakes after your work out, for sure, and then whenever you’re in between meals and in need of protein. Think of a shake as a way to get good protein when you can’t afford/don’t have time to make a good meal. I’ve even bought an extra blender and left it in the kitchen in my office at work. Bring in a tub of protein and a gallon of milk and I’m good to go. Sure you might get a funny look or two from a co-worker, but I guarantee they won’t be laughing when you kick their ass at the company softball game and look like King Leonidas from 300.
-Steve
Author’s note: the reason I linked to Vitacost.com is because it’s where I buy all of my stuff. They don’t pay me to promote them, I just like their low prices, cheap shipping (5 bucks), and they’ve never screwed up an order in 4 years.
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Jai
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Steve
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Sy the Paleo Guy
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Steve
