Hi! I'm a newbie to PP with a question. Can I use protein shakes to fulfill my protein requirements for the day when I'm not really hungry?
Thanks

Protein shakes should be ok as long as they fall within acceptable carbohydrate levels for the particular meal.

Glen

Try this recipe to make your own proein shake. I love this one! It is based on the "Protein Power Plan Cookbook and Food Guide" with a few of my own changes to lower the carbs!

Fruit Smoothie
Serves 1

Ingredients
Strawberries 1/4 c.
Sour cream 2 tbsps.
skim milk 1 cup
protein poweder 2 heaping tbsps.
Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp.
Sweet & Low 1 packet
Juice of 1 lime
dash of salt
3/4 c. ice cubes

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a blender and drink immediately.
* Use which ever fruit you prefer at a 5g. serving!

Absolutely yes. Just be sure when purchasing a protein powder, preferably from a healthfood store, that you read the nutrition label. I get a 2 lb. container or Whey Fit Isolate" by Fitness Labs. It contains only 2 carbs, 25mg. of protein per serving. This is using 2 scoops of the powder into the blender with water and crushed ice. Sometimes I'll add 2-3 large frozen strawberries. Buy the strawberries fresh, wash, dry and place in freezer bags. The whey protein, contains a full chain of amino acids, which give me a real boost to jump start my day. And eating a half a cucumber or a stauk of celery along with my shake, adds lots of fiber (bulk) to make you feel full, plus the fiber is so important to daily regularity.

I bought "Carb Solutions" rich chocolate powder from Walmart. For an 8 oz serving, it has 4g carbs, 2g fiber and 19g protein. You use 2 scoops to 8 oz water. I have only had it once so far. I did a double serving (16 oz) when I was running out the door at lunchtime and didn't have the time to make a big lunch. I actually blended it up in the mixer, with the required water AND a touch of ice. Very good! Actually smells/tastes like YooHoo, sort of a carob smell. Still good though.

I found it was cheaper to buy at walmart, than the health food store. I found it on the shelf next to the slim fast, which incidentally, is the exact opposite (how are you supposed to lose weight with that??) Slim-fast had about 4 proteins and 19 carbs per serving. UGH!

I use Carb Solutions as well. Its funny how it actually under advertises itself. It says it has four gram carbs when it really only has 2 ECC due to the fiber content. It also adds alot of vitamins and minerals. And the other great thing about it is that its alot cheaper than health food brands.

Glen

I just read the label and found out that Carb Solutions uses partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. These are trans fats which have been shown to be very harmful (although almost every processed food these days is made with them). For this reason I would advise avoiding Carb Solutions. I am now using One Gram Carb from Hi Health. So far it tastes pretty decent and 25g of protein instead of 19.

Glen

Hey Glen,

Where can I get this "One Gram Carb from Hi Health"? Is that your local health store or something online?

Although if I use it only once a week or even once every 2 weeks, wouldn't that be alright? I mean, I already own IT and don't really want to buy something else... What do you think?

One Gram Carb is Hi Healths brand, so you'd probably have to buy it there. We have plenty of them in Arizona although I'm not sure where else they are. When I lived in Virginia there werent any there. Just find a health store near you and see what they have (but avoid GNC like the plague!) As for finishing the rest of the protein powder I doubt there will be any long term harm. I've been eating trans fats for 23 years and made it this far. But long term use is what you want to avoid. They havent been around long enough to really know exactly what will happen long term but studies are already showing that they alter your cell membranes in very undesirable ways and contribute to hardening of arteries. The good news is your body is constantly replenishing its cells so if you stop eating them it wont take long before they are taken out of your system.

Glen

I never get my whey protein powders from the Health food store. I order mine from "Nutrition Express" most all there protein powders are in a 2 pound container ...price range from $19.00 to $26. Sure beats paying $12.99 for just a 13.5 ounce can of Carb Solutions. Order at NutritionExpress.com (no overhead, no middle man, and they carry all the major competitor brands, but at 1/3 the price.

Thanks, sounds like a better deal than I'm currently paying. I'll check it out.

Glen

Hey Glen. Heard on the news tonight, the Phoenix area got hit hard again with Mr. Monsoon. Sure wished we could get some of that rain here in Lake Havasu City, AZ. I used to live in Phoenix. My husband and I reside in Havasu now. Oh, you're welcome. Nutrition Express carries such a wide variety of protein powders and they list the nutrition panel in full for each, such as all ingrediants, grams of carbs, sugars, protein, etc. They can probably send you a free product catalogue by emailing them. They also carry a wide variety of vitamins...Nature's Way, Twin Lab, Schiff, SolaryRay, etc.

Yep, my house got hit pretty hard. More dust than rain though I think.

Glen

I ran the figures on Deborah Anns shake recipe. That shake runs about 18g carb even without including any carb from the protein powder. Theoretically, this would be about a 20g carb shake.

Skim milk is what makes it so high. One cup has 11g carbs.
Juice of one lime is 3 carbs, strawberries 3 carbs
Protein power wouldnt support this in phase one or phase two.
If you were maintenance it would be fine.

Even in phase two, they dont want you going over 15 carbs per meal.

Gina

That's why I like to get "Whey Fit Isolate" protein powder by Fitness Labs. It contains only 2 grams of carbs per serving (scoop) for making the shake. I only use water and ice with this too, but do add about 3 large strawberries. So, no milk carbs.

To order Nutrition Express free catalogue with all there protein shakes at discount prices, and lists all carb, nutrient ingrediants. Just click onto:

www.nutritionexpress.com