I have heard many of my friends (male) use protein shakes (ready to drink or Powders) as part of their weight loss. I am not sure if women use them as well and does just drinking them result in muscle gain..

I definitely want to try them but do not want to bulk up my muscles or become muscular (you know what I mean).. Can someone help me here and share your experiences and advice

I will be more than happy to know if I can use them as part of my weight loss without it creating any side effects other than losing weigt..

Not sure if I am clear here... Guess that shows how confused I am

Protein shakes are used by body builders to often get extra meals/calories in. Some people use them or meal replacements as a means to have a low calorie meal. The only reason they would result from weight loss is if they are replacing a higher calorie meal that you would normally have. I don't care to eat in the morning but sometimes I'm hungry so I will make a meal replacement shake. It is low in calories (200 or so with the added fruit) and will sustain me for a few hours.

As with all things in weight loss, it is about consuming less calories and moving more.

Weight training + adequate protein intake = muscle gain

You need both to add muscle. Drinking protein shakes will not add muscle unless you're also weight or resistance training.

Even with weight training and a lot of protein, women do not have to worry about bulking up. The woman "body builders" have to work a gazillion times harder than the men, and the really bulky look is often only acheivable with steroids.

Unless you're extremely fit and lean, already, muscle gain will make you leaner (if you're not eating extra calories) not bigger.

I have been drinking 1 scoop of whey protein powder in either water or water diluted skim milk.The whey protein powder is 110 calories per scoop and if I use water that is all the calories ,1.8 gm carbs and 25 gm protein.I find that most days that drink will hold me till lunch.Sometimes when I am hungry at night instead of a snack I have another protein drink and it holds me overnight.I also drink lots of water when I feel like snacking.I have been doing this for the last 3 months and have lost 20 lbs.
I would like to lose 5 or 10 more lbs to weigh 135 to 138 lbs.
I have not noticed that I have bulked up and feel the amino acids in the whey powder contribute to the production of serotonin and dopamine and all those good neurotransmitters.

Hey thanks nelie, kaploids and apo9 for your inputs.. can you guys also tell me how to choose one to buy.. I see there seems to be a lot of options out there...

My personal preference is unflavored, cold-filtered (also known as cold-processed or icrofiltered) whey protein isolate. It's a bit more expensive than the more common heat processed and flavored whey protein powders.

I get mine from a local cheesemaker, but many brands are sold online. Syntrax medical (unflavored) is the only specific brand I know. Syntrax flavored whey protein powders are also made with cold-filtered whey protein isolate.

Cold-filtering results in a protein powder that dissolves easily and tastes very mild (more like milk) with no noticeable aftertaste and no gritty or powdery texture.

I use a personal blender (like a Magic Bullet) and add a scoop to skim milk or almond milk and frozen fruit.