Protein shakes?

I have been taking a protein shake (USN pure protein) each morning with some yogart and a bannana as breakfast. Now I don't know if this is my imagination but before I started to take the shake I lost around 10kg's, since taking it, I feel like I have been gaining weight as in fat percentage. Surely the protein shake should help build muscle and in doing so push my metabolish up which will encourage weight loss, or do I have things backwards here?

You over do anything and you gain fat, you most likely are eating to much protien like most people. protien needs are very easy to meet without adding the protien shake.

so true, you need to really hit the aerobic zone. if you have a HRM make sure you sit in your fat burning zone if you want to have them once a day.im a triathlete and i'll have a shake mabye every second day otherwise i blow up like fat albert!!

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Why Do I hit my hand with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop.

Mmmmh...maybe I should cut down to one shake every 2nd day as well. Or maybe only after gym workouts which is twice a week.

When you work out you tear the muscle. It gets bigger in the repair process this is how muscle grows, after a big workout if you could look at your muscle under a microscope it would be full of little micro-tears. Protein just helps the repair process. if you have not done enough work (heavy weights of a long ride > 60KM) to rip the muscle..dont bother with the shake as the excess protein has nothing to do.

you may want to look at the type of protein your injesting, you can get different types, some gain weight, some help recovery and some build muscle. i have the Full spectrum WPI powder, that just helps my speed my recovery after intense sessions so i can get back into training cos i 150KG muscle bound hulk will always be at the back of the pack in a triathlon!! Look on any body building site to see the differences in your protein

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Why Do I hit my hand with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop.

Mabye its the bananas!!??!!
Make sure its not a weight gainer, with protein. Also WPI is for fast recovery as Iron Man said and only take Isolates after really strenuous ride or Weights Session when you have shocked your body.

If your just trying to supplement a meal maybe think about getting a Whey Protein Concentrate(WPC), as they are absorbed slower than the Isolate(WPI).

And if you can really be bothered, might be worth while to figure out all your calorie calculations. And remember your body can only utilize a certain amount of proteins and carbohydrates and its a very exact job to bother doing after a morning cycle. If I were you i would try get my protein out of natural sources, milk, eggs, tuna etc and balance with complex carbos such as, rice, pasta, oats... yeah we all know out dietary pyramid. :P

For more info try here http://www.bodybuilding.com/ and go into the super-site.
Hope this helps,
Nick.

(no food makes you gain unless you go over calorie needs.)


The mathematics of calorie balance are simple: To keep your weight at its current level, you should remain at your daily caloric maintenance level. To lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit by reducing your calories slightly below your maintenance level (or keeping your calories the same and increasing your activity above your current level). To gain weight you need to increase your calories above your maintenance level. The only difference between weight gain programs and weight loss programs is the total number of calories required. adding the protien wich he probly doesn't need is just adding useless calories.

The protein and bannana is setting off a red flag for me. I have read that eating high glycemic foods (banana 65 GI) and protein together will turn the body into a Fat Factory.

Can anyone verify this ? I can't seem to come up with anything on the web but I recall that one should avoid simple carbs for 2 hours after high protein intake.

Lw

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I was only joking about the bananas, sorry bout the misunderstanding.

Not true, it's good to eat protien and fat along with a high Gi food. protien helps lower the GI. point of doing so is to keep blood sugar levels stable. by keeping them stable you feel fuller longer and don't get the sudden hunger strike.

Nick, thats simply wrong! WPC and WPI are essentially the same things 'whey protein' WPI being a more concentrated and 'pure' source of protein as opposed to WPC. whey protein is a fast absorbing protein used specifically after a workout to get protein to the muscle fast. casien protein is the slowest absorbing protein (found in dairy - cottage cheese and milk)

Umm, no WPI and WPC are not the same things, Isolate is absorbed by your body very quickly and is good as a post workout recovery drink, if you are just looking for protein supplementation, then look for whey concentrate, or a mix of whey and casien. There is also whey hydrolysate which is supposed to be the quickest absorbed.

***edited to add, I am sorry andy141, I was wrong about WPC and WPI, you are right, there is no difference in abosorbtion rate, but whey hydrolysate is the quickest absorbing oral protein known at this time due to the fact that it is broken down into smaller "chunks".

"the key seems to be this "infusion" concept where amino acids are very rapidly delivered to the blood. Again, whey hydrolysate is the quickest orally available protein for the blood unless you want to go ahead and hook up to the amino-acid IV drip."

taken from this article

http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle....e=body_142post

This article has to do with weight training and power based sports so all of the facts may not directly apply to us endurance people.

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I am not a health nazi.

hi, im new to this forum just joined today to be precise! well anyway i was reading up about the whey protien but one thing im confused about is when to take the shake? ive purchased USN's 100% whey protien and ive learnt that you are meant to take the shake before a workout? but everyone here seems to take it after? can anyone tell me the best way to take the shake and at what times? cheers

p.s does this stuff assist in jogging?

Whey protein is best taken immediately after training.

Whey protein can be used as a supplement to the diet when a person has difficulty meeting the daily requirement of protein from natural food sources.

If you are a person that eats 6 or more small meals a day like myself it is easier to drink down 1 or 2 of those meals rather than trying to eat solid food.

The question will it help jogging.
I often get asked, "will whey protein give me more energy" or will it help as a supplement to enhance other activities and the answer is no. It is just another source of protein that has a high BV rating compared to other protein sources. There are studies that say that a study group that used a protein / carb drink had better endurance during the event than the group that had only a carb drink, but I cannot vouch for those studies.

Everybody has different protein requiremens (from memory for men it's generally 100 - 150g or more if you exercise alot). If you consume too much protein and don't work out enough yes you would most probably gain fat. I think that timing also pays a key role (when you consume the shakes relative to your workouts).
What are you making your shakes with? Using skim milk or soy milk may be a good solution.
I've recently started a business, and from the products I sell I know that our protein shakes can be used either to loose weight (meal replacement) or bulk up and gain weight (as in muscle). I've been taking the shakes myself to trim up and have lost a couple of kg so far. According to the BMI chart though it reckons that I haven't changed bugger all in my fat %, but I can evidently see that my tummy (where I wanted to loose the fat) is smaller. So my other question would be - are you sure you've gained fat & not muscle? The other thing that comes to mind is wether the protein shakes you are using are loaded with alot of carbs - studies show that

"Consuming a carbohydrate/protein supplement ten minutes before your workout will enable you to have a better workout."

"A carbohydrate/protein supplement in liquid form is very effective in turning on the muscles anaerobic machinery following a workout."

but I imagine too much carbs wouln't be as good.



Pebble