Is it possible to get your daily protein without shakes?

[Julesx]

As above..................

Is it possible to consume sufficient protein for growth without resorting to protein shakes?

Does anyone here just 'eat' good clean food and get their results.

I know shakes are easy to consume...................

Thanks

Jules

[greenamphibious]

yes it is possible.... and better

[chemystery]

It is possible, wouldn't say better. Whey protein has an amazing amino acid profile. Not all foods are "better" or more complete protein than whey shakes. It is a good goal to shoot for enough protein in your diet, but for some reason people like to think whole food is always superior to protein powder and thats not the case.

[ntrllftr]

most definitly. pretty much the key is to prepare food a day or two in advance. Chicken breast, Tuna, steak then re heat it if neccessary.

[Mr. Someday]

I do it during contest prep....6 meals/day every day with 60-70g of protein in each....no shakes. Not fun, but doable. Rest of the year I will incorporate shakes...probably two a day. Nothing wrong with it. Hell, Dorian Yates used to eat 3 whole food meals and consume 3 shakes every day.....didn't hurt him any, did it?

[Mr. Someday]

It is possible, wouldn't say better. Whey protein has an amazing amino acid profile. Not all foods are "better" or more complete protein than whey shakes. It is a good goal to shoot for enough protein in your diet, but for some reason people like to think whole food is always superior to protein powder and thats not the case.

Good point. I wouldn't say superior, but for prep I eat whole foods because it takes your body more energy to break down and process many whole foods....so thermogenisis is increased by taking in whole foods over shakes. The effect is small, though, so I only do it during prep where EVERY little detail is necessary to get to ridiculously low levels of bodyfat.

[greenamphibious]

It is possible, wouldn't say better. Whey protein has an amazing amino acid profile. Not all foods are "better" or more complete protein than whey shakes. It is a good goal to shoot for enough protein in your diet, but for some reason people like to think whole food is always superior to protein powder and thats not the case.

I take BCAAs and eat food. I would say yes... better. Most Supps are just hype IMO.

[chemystery]

Good point. I wouldn't say superior, but for prep I eat whole foods because it takes your body more energy to break down and process many whole foods....so thermogenisis is increased by taking in whole foods over shakes. The effect is small, though, so I only do it during prep where EVERY little detail is necessary to get to ridiculously low levels of bodyfat.

Good point, whole foods definately stimulate the metabolism more. A shake with a meal is a good option to this too, of course for your situation whole foods are the best choice. to OP for the average joe there is nothing wrong with shakes though.

[TANK25]

I`M lactose intolerant ,so most of my protein comes from food.

[Mr. Someday]

Good point, whole foods definately stimulate the metabolism more. A shake with a meal is a good option to this too,

Exactly, which is what I will do during a prep if I am stuck and have little prepared whole food protein.....take 35g of whole food and make up the rest with a shake. This is also a good strategy for year around, use the whey as a supplement (even though it is a food) with your meal. It's not easy getting in 2X your LBM every day in protein. Do whatever you need to to get there consistently and you will see tremendous gains.

[chemystery]

I take BCAAs and eat food. I would say yes... better. Most Supps are just hype IMO.

What makes a protein better? Outside of its profile... Do you pick protein based on its taste to be better lol. I don't know what else matters here if its not a proteins AA profile, other than the thermogenic effect whole food has on the body(which isn't hard to get around, and for a hard gainer can be beneficial). If protein powder is just hype, than certainly so is your BCAA *supplement*.

[chrisbute]

Yes!

The postives of a protein shake are they usually have fewer calories than the whole food equivalent (30 grams of protein in a steak has more calories than a 30 gram protein shake.)

The negatives that Mr Someday pointed out is that the body digests it faster than whole foods.

I usually supplement with one shake a day.

[rhollan]

Easy:

Breakfast: Lox omelette or broiled fish (sometimes ham with PB on whole grain toast) with oatmeal.

Snack: Ham or beef jerky with a banana

Lunch: chicken breast with a spinich salad

Snack: lean turkey breast or a can of tuna with an apple

Dinner: chicken, turkey, steak, or fish, with steamed veggies

Snack: FF cottage cheese or paneer.

I grill sliced pieces of turkey breast and eat the cold throughout the week.

I will have a PWO shake on workout days, but that's about it, or sub a carb/protein bar for part of some snacks.

I supplement with Vitamin C; Calcium (don't drink much milk); Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM (for joints); EPA and DHA fish oil (to keep omega3maga6 ratio healthy); CLA; and Zinc (to help testosterone production as I limit beef).

Of course, I'm small, so 150g of protein a day is plenty for me. I try to get 1.25*LBM.

[greggamma]

Depends on how you handle food. Eat lots of flesh if you have a low or average cholesterol. Otherwise casein, whey, egg shakes are great when you get tired of eating. Depending on your CPU in the digestive tract you may not be able to breakdown and absorb all the protein anyway. If it isn't used it's stored as fat after conversion or simply pooped out. It's not how much protein you eat its more the bioavailablity of protein in your bloodstream.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albumin
Also see..http://www.drkaslow.com/html/protein...lobulins_.html

Total Protein

Because the total protein represents the sum of albumin and globulins, it is more important to know which protein fraction is high or low than what is the total protein. Ideally, the total protein will be approximately 7.5 g/dl.

Optimal Range: 6.5-8.0 g/100ml

Albumin is the largest measured protein in the blood. If you really want to tweak your protein levels see where you peak in your albumin levels versus your eating. Like tuning a car, to rich and it just blows out the tailpipe.

[bgnb]

well, define 'shake' ...

Mine: breakfast and at bedtime

2/3c orange juice with pulp
2/3c water
1/2c whole oats (uncooked)
2/3c frozen strawberries or blueberries
2 tbs low/no fat yogurt
1 tsp fish oil (at night not at breakfast)
1 scoop zero carb whey protein

This has protein, good fats (4 grams of omega oil!) and slow
digesting carbs with lots of fibre (oats and berries)

nothing here that's not good for you and it is like a meal!

[bodyhard]

Yes it is possible, both ways! You can get your protein with food and no protein shakes and you can get you protein without eating a **** load of food and rely heavy on the protein shakes.

[Jules Verne]

well, define 'shake' ...

Mine: breakfast and at bedtime

2/3c orange juice with pulp
2/3c water
1/2c whole oats (uncooked)
2/3c frozen strawberries or blueberries
2 tbs low/no fat yogurt
1 tsp fish oil (at night not at breakfast)
1 scoop zero carb whey protein

This has protein, good fats (4 grams of omega oil!) and slow
digesting carbs with lots of fibre (oats and berries)

nothing here that's not good for you and it is like a meal!

If one thinks this is a 'shake' then what if you just replaced the whey with chicken?

A chicken protein shake! Why not?

One reason I don't really consider 'whey' as a supplement. It's just another protein source, that happens to come in powder form and is processed. Has particular properties and is convenient. Powdered milk is similarly convenient if you wanted the carbs and mix of protein.

[greenamphibious]

What makes a protein better? Outside of its profile... Do you pick protein based on its taste to be better lol. I don't know what else matters here if its not a proteins AA profile, other than the thermogenic effect whole food has on the body(which isn't hard to get around, and for a hard gainer can be beneficial). If protein powder is just hype, than certainly so is your BCAA *supplement*.

not getting into a pissing match with a 20 year old in the OV35 forum. BCAAs are a supp. Yes MOST are hype but I feel BCAAs and creatine do what they promise. So it works best.... maybe just for me. I read through your posts and you stike as a "I think I know it all" kinda kid. You'll learn with time that you don't. If I have ya wrong then so be it... but again not getting into a pissing match. maybe if you had a pic in profile then I could guage if you really knew what you were talking about I guess.

[amoreno]

well, define 'shake' ...

Mine: breakfast and at bedtime

2/3c orange juice with pulp
2/3c water
1/2c whole oats (uncooked)
2/3c frozen strawberries or blueberries
2 tbs low/no fat yogurt
1 tsp fish oil (at night not at breakfast)
1 scoop zero carb whey protein

This has protein, good fats (4 grams of omega oil!) and slow
digesting carbs with lots of fibre (oats and berries)

nothing here that's not good for you and it is like a meal!

Whole oats, uncooked? I thought uncooked oats could make people sick.

[greenamphibious]

Whole oats, uncooked? I thought uncooked oats could make people sick.

dry oats can because they expand in your stomach. I am guessing since they are added to his shae that it already expanded

[chemystery]

not getting into a pissing match with a 20 year old in the OV35 forum. BCAAs are a supp. Yes MOST are hype but I feel BCAAs and creatine do what they promise. So it works best.... maybe just for me. I read through your posts and you stike as a "I think I know it all" kinda kid. You'll learn with time that you don't. If I have ya wrong then so be it... but again not getting into a pissing match. maybe if you had a pic in profile then I could guage if you really knew what you were talking about I guess.

I'm not trying to get into an argument either. If in my posts i seem like a know it all it is probably because when i post in ov35 i try to know what im talking about so im not tossed aside based on my age(like you seem to be doing). I am simply saying how do you judge the quality of a protein if not by its profile.

Simply put, tell me how. Protein has an AA profile which is what your body takes out of them. If you don't take the AA profile into account i simply don't know how you judge protein.

And i don't think your creatine and BCAA's are hype, but i would have to put whey protein in that category also.

[greenamphibious]

I am simply saying how do you judge the quality of a protein if not by its profile.

price and output. If I eat lean beef and eggs and muscles are fuller and I gain easier. Chicken for maint. and fish to be lean. I am not judging, I am saying that you can do the same thing with food, and I get better results..... perhaps I should throw I GET BETTER instead of just BETTER. I rely on eating more than miracle pills. there are only a handfull of protein supps I would even touch. Beveryly International, and Dymatize at the top of that list. BUT even with supps how do you "judge" by what a company writes on the label? I'll roll the dice on food

[StartinOver-68]

I'm thinking cost wise ounce for ounce, protein powder is more efficient than chicken, tuna, steak, etc. I also think that it is a very complete protein even though it is termed accuratly as a supplement. I even supplement that supplement with non fat powdered milk in my shakes and use two scoops of protein powder to boot. I'm probably getting too much all at once but it makes for a tasty shake. Since I can tolerate and afford it, why not.

[Joog]

As above..................

Is it possible to consume sufficient protein for growth without resorting to protein shakes?

Does anyone here just 'eat' good clean food and get their results.

I know shakes are easy to consume...................

Thanks

Jules

IMO, yes. I believe you can.
On training days I take in 320g Protein, 320g Carbs and 60g Fat. I occasionally use only whole foods for this but, working 10hr days, starting the day at 4:30am, and usually going non stop most of the day, I just cant take 15mins to half an hour off to eat every 2 hrs.
I usually have 3 protein drinks a day, only takes 2 mins to throw one down and means I don't miss a meal if I'm busy.

[bgnb]

Whole oats, uncooked? I thought uncooked oats could make people sick.

urban myth ... if you look at most 'granola' on the market it is
comprised of ... wait for it ... uncooked oats!!!

you still get the same nutrition benefit as cooking them
and i find i get less 'bloaty' eating them raw than cooked.

[TheAsianMan]

It is very possible i gain around 22 pound without anything except food.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=5928171

[Julesx]

I love this forum.....................so much knowledge & enthusiasm! Thanks!

I can usually find time to eat small, regular meals but I must confess that I struggle to consume enough protein this way.........................so I too take the odd 'shake'.

I'm only 170lbs but I suspect that if I were to ever get a big as some of you guys I would have to 'live to eat' to get enough protein................................and life is too short for that!!

Maybe I'll change my mindset and use the protein shakes as 'liquid food' in addition to 'proper food'

Cheers

Jules

[drjoe]

You can definitely give your body enough protein without using shakes. There are plenty of clean high protein foods to eat that will allow you to reach your protein goals for the day. Of course, if you are like some, who feel the need to take in crazy amounts of protein per day, then you would most likely need to supplement with shakes. I train with only one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. Seems to work for me. Good luck!!!

[samori]

due to lactose intolerance issues, I rarely use protein shakes.
I manage about 1.25 grams per pound of body weight with proper planning on my food intake. It works for me.
I'll drop a shake if the day's events cause me to have to go off course on my food intake. But, I'm not pleasent to be around afterwards.

[someday]

I love this forum.....................so much knowledge & enthusiasm! Thanks!

I can usually find time to eat small, regular meals but I must confess that I struggle to consume enough protein this way.........................so I too take the odd 'shake'.

I'm only 170lbs but I suspect that if I were to ever get a big as some of you guys I would have to 'live to eat' to get enough protein................................and life is too short for that!!

Maybe I'll change my mindset and use the protein shakes as 'liquid food' in addition to 'proper food'

Cheers

Jules

it's not hard at all........i'm 170 right now, but i compete around 135 and i only have one 25 gram pwo shake a day. i strive to eat 1.5-2 grams of protien depending on whether i'm off season or prepping for a show. it takes planning to do the cooking, but if you want big muscles you need not only need to lift big weight you need to give your body the proper nutrition. i realize shakes are convient, but i know i didn't build my muscles with them.