[blues4miles]

I know many of the people on this board swear by protein powder and it is getting to the point where I think I need something else to keep my protein levels up. My question is, what powders do people use? What brands, and approximately how many calories is a "serving" of the powder, and how many grams of protein in that serving?

Also, what do people mix their powder in? I don't want to add a lot of food to my diet (I'm having a bit of a too-much hunger lately). Does anyone add chocolate powder to coffee? Does that work? I usually use a no-cal sweetener, and sometimes a bit of creamer or chocolate creamer but I'm beginning to think the calories in the creamer could be better spent on something with protein. Please let me know all you think you can tell me about protein shakes, I am quite uninformed on them and it is really time to start looking at my protein (I can't eat dairy, so a lot of protein "snacks" are out of my reach).

[srmb60]

I use soy protein that I buy in a bulk food store. You can click on my fitday link to have a look. 25 gms is the size of the scoop. I whiz it in the blender with fruit, water and crushed flaxseed.

[curlylocks]

I use the whey protein by GNC, it has 120 calories and 4 carbs, 1 gram of sugar.. I mix mine into skim milk at nite and add cocca powder for hot chocolate.. or add it to crystal lite with ice for a smoothie..

or mix it into skim milk

GNC makes vanilla, chocolate, berry, chocolate caramel, and a few others that i cant think of right now

[DishyFishy]

I use Living Harvest Hemp protein: 2 tablespoons (1 serving) contains 2½ g unsaturated fat, 8 g fibre, 14 g protein, 110 kcals.

I zuzz it in the blender with fruit/juice and crushed ice, or a banana and plain yogurt.

As for coffee, I don't sweeten it, and either take it black, or add a tablespoon of half & half (18 kcals) to a cup.

[tobetheman]

I have tried many protein powders. Soy I would personally stay away from, but that's me. the only one I have not tried is met-rx which I keep hearing is good as far as taste, so if u can afford it go for it. The last one I bought was Vitamin World's store brand which was on special and I got a two for one deal. It is actually pretty good. Two words of advice on this one and from all the others I've tried, is that most of the time u got to make sure not to add too much water to the mix if u use water. This is why many suggest milk because it is better at covering up the incident of using too much liquid over powder in the mix. The vitamin world one is very low cal and the other stuff like carbs is less than a gram or at zero I believe. Some people use them as occasional meal replacements others as a snack alternative (in which case keeping them low cal is very important). Unless u are going to go on a liquid diet I would not recommend using them as an actually meal replacement too many times out of the week. Maybe at most 4 times replacing 4 meals, but u can use them for snacks much more often. It's just my opinion cause these things can go through u quick and u could cause ur body to go into a starvation mode even if u don't feel hungry. If u are going to add fruits try berries or maybe something else low cal with fiber. Bananas are good but are not recommended. Especially important, use substitutes. Vanilla, Choc., and other extracts are very good ways to make these things taste so SO SO much better. Don't add a lot only like a few drops of the stuff to half a blender full cause they are powerful enough. Trust me on this one. The worst thing to add is OJ so don't do it unless u can't stand the milk nor the water, use sugar free low cal stuff. Also very important is to make sure u choose a flavor u like - powder wise, and to recall that what u add to it needs to match ur taste tolerance. Adding vanilla extract to choc. is okay but i don't like adding strawberry to choc for example. In truth in all times, exept one, that I have bought protein powders the best one to choose is choc. cause the vanilla is weak (unless u are going to add to it, and at times but not always u may need to add way to much to get a good taste), and the strawberry is usually not good at all. U can add peanut butter, ice cubes (watch out if u are using water it may end up being too much and taste bad), heck u can even add vegt. but I don't do it personally - terrible taste - i can't stand the v-8 drinks either. Adding fiber can make u feel fuller for longer and if ur drinking it only to keep calories down then its a good idea, add some metamucil or some other supplement, if u want - I don't anymore though, if u do add it u can add it in the blender for a better mix, but the fiber can clump up - that's why I don't take it anymore- harder to clean all those times. Don't addd the fiber unless it is already in a fruit (that's okay) if u want to take in the protein and absorb it properly for ur body and muscles - u get the idea. Hope this helped. Good luck. Whey protein is very good by the way, and is usually more easier to find with less sugar at cheap prices, and is considered the superior protein. There also more research seperating various forms of whey and how it's manuf. that u may want to take into account if it's for anything else except weight lose, than in this case it matters less, in all truth.

[tobetheman]

Sorry, but on an extra note to the last part of ur question, I find that adding art. sweeteners like equal or sweet and low or even splenda can make the protein shake taste worse. IT is much better to add an extract for a sweeter taste. Some extracts add from 5 to 15 cals per teaspoon or tablespoon (i'm not sure) but u should be using this amount or as I do, less than this so it is about a 3 to 7 cal addition. I hear adding yogurt is good, but most yogurts I see are bad in either calories or sugar, from the ones I have found at a few local supermarkets. I have add ice cream just to see the difference and it is good but can increase the total cal count too much if it ain't a meal. Don't add too much the first time and only add what u like. By the way, so u can know how crazy u can go in adding stuff in, I've seen people add eggs and even egg beaters to there shakes. Coffee too. I drink diet cokes so that's my fix.

[charliekay]

i use protein powder from herbalife,i mix it in herbalife chocolate shake mix,it is soo good.

[blues4miles]

Thank you all for your ideas I will be doing a little shopping and looking around this week!

[lizzbabe]

I have that chocolate caramel whey protein from GNC and it is really good. I had some this morning mixed with FF cottage cheese and a dash of atkins SF choc syrup topped with all bran. my boyfriend didn't look all that impressed but I enjoyed breakfast thoroughly!

[Mel]

Take a look at this thread on Protein powders.

Mel

[jules1216]

How well would a protien power smoothie hold up if made in the morning and taken to work to be drank in the afternoon?? Would it be better to drink it fresh in the morning and have like a soy sausage & egg wrap at afternoon break instead of at breakfast???

[blues4miles]

Ahh Mel, thanks. I was searching back for powder threads but somehow I missed that one!

[sportmom]

I make my smoothies in the morning in one batch and consume and save one for lunch. It works fine with the soy, but I have seen my whey container (designer whey brand) say not to do it beyond a few hours. They recommended against any overnite storage of a smoothie just because the protein is a "bacteria rich" environment, as they state it on the container.

Someone here said they would not try soy, is that just personal preference, or some research out there? And to stay away from bananas? I imagine that's due to the binding quantity, or something else? I was having one banana a day in my smoothies and it did seem to really plug me up, but how can one a day be bad for you?? Thanks....