skip shakes before competition ??

[Iron-T]

I am interested to know how your nutrition strategy changes when getting ready for a specific date ( shoot, comp, or plain looking good on the beach..) ?????
I heard from a lot of competitors about giving up proteinshakes a few weeks out..no supps, just clean and whole food protein sources versus powders !!!?
What's your take on this ???

[Iron-T]

I can't believe nobody has an opinion on this !#!??
I mean you must know if you include or exclude wheyprotein shakes before comp. and why ?!!

[BP22]

Iron-T -

I don't use shakes prior to competitions because as I get strict on my diet and cut my caloric intake, whole foods fill me up and satify my hunger better than powders. Also, I always know the nutritional values of what I am intaking. There is no question of how much protein is in a chicken breast. When I can only intake X amount of prot/carbs/fat, I want to make sure I am getting X amount of prot/carbs/fats.

This is just my humble opinion, but it works for me.

Good Luck!

[freaker]

Whole foods will feel you up more and you will also utilize more calories to digest whole foods, but I do not have the time nor the want to cook and eat over 2 pounds of meat and eat 20 egg whites on days where I need to get 300g of protein. I also hate tuna. I use shakes because it's alot easier to get my protein that way. I think 1 pound of meat is enough in a day. You might have to worry about your shake the week of if it's high in sodium, but otherwise you can drink shakes the day of the contest. All protein shakes are derived from eggs, milk, or soy. They just remove most of the carbs and fat and turn it into a powder. It's the same protein, and lets face it, eggs, milk, and soy aren't hard to digest anyway so the calories you burn for digestion of them is pretty low. I go with shakes and lean meat for my protein sources. My vegetables and complex carbs are what makes my digestive system work. Try eating 3 pounds of chicken breast for 8-12 weeks, and if you drop water, see how much it sucks trying to eat a plain chicken breast without water. The funniest is the guys who eat nothing but chicken w/ lemon and vegetables for 12 weeks. Someone needs to tell them that sodium doesn't mean **** until the week of and that's there's not an award for who had the blandest diet.

[LeBrunFitness]

Hey Iron

I like to use shakes and meal replacements because for me its important to keep track of calorie intake the closer I get to a show.

As I get closer, I reduce my calories gradually and it just makes it easier to calculate when I use meal replacements because I know for sure that I am consuming 240 calories if I mix a packet with water.

Trying to measure and calculate calories with whole food is tougher.

But I still eat whole food meals throughout the process.

It really isn't that important if it is a shake versus whole food as long as the nutritional value is there, I think its just more personal preference.
___________________
Shawn
http://www.shawnlebrunfitness.com

[MsFit]

Real food will keep your metabolism up since it causes the body to work, digest. I know a lot of the MRP's are quality, but when it comes down to the judges making a final choice, it's best to be fully prepared.
MsFit