Day 28: 5 Tips For Choosing Protein Powders

Hurray and huzzah!

Let's talk a bit about protein powder. I wasn't a big fan of including protein powder meal replacements in my plan because I believe eating whole food is usually better for you. However, there are a few points to consider when selecting a product that can make it work for you. P.S. I am not a nutritionist, I just play one on the internet.

1. Use
What are you trying to achieve? Do you want a meal replacement or a meal additive? For a meal replacement, you'll need to have a protein and carb component, but an additive (as in, you're making protein bars, muffins, ice cream, whatever) can (and probably should) be straight up protein.

2. Goals
Are you trying to cut weight? Put weight on? Where do you lack in your daily macros? If you find you're often over on carbs, make sure your supplement doesn't have too high of a carb count. If you find you can never hit your protein levels, look for products that will help you achieve your numbers. Is your diet low in carb? High in protein? Balanced? I recommend breaking out a day's worth of food on a tracker program like MyFitnessPal.com so you can see which products will work best with your eating habits.

3. Preferences
I am very sensitive to consistency. A powder that doesn't dissolve well is not for me. Also, consider what you're mixing it with; if you plan to mix with milk, the taste may be masked somewhat, but in water, all you're going to taste is the powder flavour. I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners, so I look for products that don't use aspartame, sorbitol, or sugar alcohols (or that are at least low in them).

4. Sensitivities
I'm lactose-intolerant (or sensitive, or something), so I look for powders that are low in lactose. Based on trial and error, I know I have trouble with whey protein unless it's an isolate or isolate-blend.

5. Don't Switch Unless You Have To
I learned this one this week. I switched flavours (not even brands) and hated the new one. Once you find a brand and flavour that works for you, only switch if something changes, or you get so sick of it you can't stomach having it anymore. Ideally, your supplement provider will let you test out the flavours in store before you buy (like Reflex does) or have a good return policy (like GNC does).

If you're curious, I currently use the BSN Syntha-6 powder as a meal replacement in the Chocolate Milkshake flavour and GNC Whey Iso-Burst in French Vanilla for making protein bars/ice cream (apparently this product is no longer on their site?).

Day 27: I Loves Me Some Cheat Day

Starting Weight - 152.4lbs
Day 6 - 148.1 (-4.3lbs)
Day 13 - 147.7 (-0.4lbs)
Day 20 - 146.6 (-1.1lbs)
Day 27 - 145.8 (-0.8lbs)

Total Lost = 6.6lbs

Tom's Weight - 216lbs
Day 20 - 206lbs (-10lbs)
Day 27 - 206lbs

Total Lost = 10lbs

Day 20: Cheat Day and Weight Update!

Wooooo cheat day!

Starting Weight - 152.4lbs
Day 6 - 148.1 (-4.3lbs)
Day 13 - 147.7 (-0.4lbs)
Day 20 - 146.6 (-1.1lbs)

Total Lost = 5.8lbs

Tom's Weight - 216lbs
Day 20 - 206lbs (-10lbs)

Total Lost = 10lbs

Day 18: Does Living Clean Mean No Social Life?

Yesterday we went to a dinner party at our friends' new house. This is one of the hardest parts about living clean: socializing. It was a BYOM (Bring Your Own Meat) barbecue, so I could control that. I offered to bring salad, so I could control that. But when you're actually there and the lovely hosts have out snack food and keep offering you wine, beer, whatever you like, it's hard. Really hard. And these are people who get being on a clean living streak - she was until very recently a national level athlete. But even the people who get it can't make it easy you on. It takes a lot of dedication and, to be honest, deciding on an acceptable level of cheating.

We went and I did not have a drink. I ate the food I had brought with me, in the portions I had planned, but I did have probably five tortilla chips with the guacamole the hostess made. Not exactly on script, but I did manage to avoid dessert.

Just have to keep on truckin'

Day 15: Protein-y Recipes

First, a quick weight update!

Starting Weight - 152.4lbs
Day 6 - 148.1 (-4.3lbs)
Day 13 - 147.7 (-0.4lbs)

Blech, the dreaded weight loss plateau. Trying not to think about it too much.

I tried this recipe today: Protein Packed Super Fudgy Brownies. I modified it to leave the icing out and subbed vanilla protein powder for the sugar. They turned out fluffy and cake-like, but not very chocolatey. I think it needs chocolate protein powder and maybe a bit of Stevia (although I hate using sweeteners).

Tomorrow I am going to try Protein Ice Cream because it sounds AMAZING. The quest continues to find high protein, low carb, lactose-free recipes.