Hi all, i am just wondering if i should be using protein powder with meals, or if it is really necessary. I eat a lot of chicken and sometimes eggs, but will it hurt to have more? or is it totally unecessary. I was told to take multivits... which i started a month ago, but really wondering if i even need those! what do you guys think. What do you guys take as supplements if any?

Why do you think you would need to supplement your food-source protein?

I get, on average, 100 grams of protein a day, which comes from dairy sources like greek yogurt, peanut butter, fish, chicken, beans, etc.

I do not take a multi-vitamin, although since I have started tracking nutritional information beyond what is provided by WW, I have noticed that I am consistently below the healthy range level for calcium, despite eating lots of foods that are good sources of calcium, so now I take one of the calcium chews to supplement.

I personally am of the mindset that I would rather get my nutrients from food when possible, and think that multivitamins aren't giving me much that I don't already get, and may be giving me more than I need in some respects.

I eat chicken probably every day... it seems like "the safe" meat to me as far as being one of the leanest. I dont eat fish or peanut butter, i dont care for nuts or beans although i know there is protein in a lot of other items i probably eat. I had heard some random people in the meeting room while we were waiting for people to get weighed in, say that they take supplements, protein powders, multivitamins and stuff. Since i am new to all of this, i wondered if it was something i should be doing too. Something about keeping muscle mass and losing only fat since if you eat less than needed amounts of protein you will also lose muscle mass with fat. Sounds scary! lol.

Calcium is great to take anyway for us ladies, so i think thats one to take reguardless of any diets, but the others i was curious why they were taking em, and if i should be too.

I can see the reasoning behind taking a multivitamin but I think for most people, taking protein powder supplements is at best unnecessary and at worst, harmful. There's such a thing as too much protein.

An article arrived in my email inbox this morning, and I thought you might find it helpful. Even though you don't eat nuts or beans, there are a bunch of other non-meat food sources for protein you probably do (or can) eat:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/...les.asp?id=158

Hope this helps!

i eat chicken almost every day. I eat eggs, cheese and stuff daily. My protein still low. My dr said that chicken is not a great sourse of protein. Reather you need to take red meat stuff.

awesome thanks, i will check this out!

Hmmm interesting. No i definately am not eating any red meats right now. I guess taking the powder is debateable at best.

Honestly? I don't think you need the protein powder. Cottage cheese and yogurt is awesome for protein and you could add it in pretty much anything! You could even make some sort of sauce with the yogurt to go on top of your chicken. I make a cottage cheese dip with some dabs of hot sauce, red pepper and black pepper - great with carrots, celery and cucumbers!

Chicken IS a good source of protein. I know you said you don't care for beans but what about making a bean dip like hummus?? Just a thought.

As for the multivitamins- that's totally up to you. I do take calcium chewables and "half* of a multivitamin pill- just to make sure I get all of the good stuff in me because sometimes when you cook food, you lose some nutrients, ya know?

*half because a whole pill makes me sick.

Thanks Amandie. I think i am going to just reach out and see what other items i can make or enjoy that i havent thought of, or havent tried and may like that will have higher protein. I didnt really like the idea of tipping an ounce of chalky powder into my milk and consuming some liquid that resembles chunky wall paper paste anyhow! Id much rather get nutrients i need naturally from the food to eat.

Great help guys thanks