Protein Shakes for Women

little miss

Hi all - sorry if this question has already been posted but I couldn't find it.

I'm a 26 year old woman, need to lose 2 stone. I go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week - mixture of cardio and weights. Also watching my diet but as I have a hormone inbalance the weight is difficult to shift. Would anyone recommend that I start taking protein shakes, and if so, what type and how often? Could they help? Any advice would be appreciated. I just feel stuck at my current weight. Its so frustrating!

rubyred

Hiya. You'll see my post a page or two back called "Protein Shake Diet". I did it all last week and I lost six pounds. It was easy peasy - never went hungry. I had a protein shake for breakfast, protein shake and a little tuna salad (ie. can of tuna and lettuce, tomato and cucumber) for lunch and then a healty dinner (ie. lean beef or chicken with salad or a little pasta). I also had an apple on two of the days. I know I'll get lectured - but I know how you feel (i've a hormone imbalance too) and it's working for me. Oh yeah and I drink at least two litres of water a day.

wasabi

All protein shakes are is a supplement that helps you get some protein in when whole food isn't handy. They're not a weight loss aid in themselves.

Your diet in general is really going to be what makes the difference. There's a sticky thread at the top of the forum that covers it pretty well, have you read it? Any questions?

You can post up a sample day's diet and get some feedback on it, as well.

little miss

Thank you - I'll check those out now! Much appreciated...

rubadub

rubyred wrote:

Hiya. You'll see my post a page or two back called "Protein Shake Diet". I did it all last week and I lost six pounds.

You are exerting 6lb less force on a weighing scale but I doubt you lost 6lb of fat. To do that you would need a 3000kcal deficit per day. Unless you did serious exercise you did not do that.

Protein is used to supplement where it is hard to get it in a normal diet. People doing weight training will want more protein in their diet for muscle building, and protein shakes are easily/quickly absorbed. Protein is also a appetite suppresant so can help in that way.

Aim for 1-2lb fat loss per week, it can appear you have lost a lot if you are dehyrdated or were bloated before going on a decent diet.

Do the weights before the cardio in the gym. You can lift more as you are not tired and hence promote more muscle growth.

rubyred

I didn't say that I lost "six pounds of fat" I simply stated that I lost "six pounds". Whether it was from fat or bloating etc, it still doesn't change the fact that the scales now show that I weigh 6 lbs less than I did a week before.

rubadub

rubyred wrote:

I didn't say that I lost "six pounds of fat" I simply stated that I lost "six pounds". Whether it was from fat or bloating etc, it still doesn't change the fact that the scales now show that I weigh 6 lbs less than I did a week before.

Exactly the point I was making, I didnt want the OP or others to read it and think drinking protein shakes will make you loose 6lb of fat in a week. I can lose 8lb of "weight" in 24hrs. Over the course of a year a person could lose several lb but actually be fatter than before they lost it.

Kinetic^

Yep I agree with rubadub, the sooner the better people start watching their bodyfat percentage rather than body weight the better. You could be 18 stone and be solid muscle or 15 stone and pure flab so weight is not what people want to watch.

You often hear people saying how they've been working so hard but haven't lost weight.....it's due to the fact that the muscle to fat composition has changed. Although their weight has stayed the same, they've more than likely lost a lot of fat but put on muscle at the same time.

flogen

Kenny 5 wrote:

Yep I agree with rubadub, the sooner the better people start watching their bodyfat percentage rather than body weight the better. You could be 18 stone and be solid muscle or 15 stone and pure flab so weight is not what people want to watch

What's the best way to get an accurate figure for this?

rubadub

flogen wrote:

What's the best way to get an accurate figure for this?

before & after pictures and measurements and a mirror

Those BF weighing scales are crap. The floation tanks are too much bother and not readily available. The most practical is calipers. I have a slimguide calipers, this has a spring so the tension is the same no matter who uses it. You measure in various places and plug the figures into a forumla. BUT depending on which forumla I use I could be 8-19% BF. So it is better just to keep track of figures. Also some forumlas ask for areas where you would need a second person to measure, like your back.

So really I just measure in the same 7 places and add them up to give a number in mm, if this goes up or down I know I have lost or gained fat. I have been 12-12.5 stone for almost a year now yet have steadily lowered jean size which makes sense since my mm readings have dropped. I am obviously losing fat and gaining muscle at about the same rate.

When people say they want to "lose weight" most mean they want to be slimmer, not a goal to be able to say "hey I might be fatter than before, but look! my gravitational force on this weighing device now points to a lower number"

Kinetic^

If you've no calipers then take a picture of yourself now and then in about 4-6 weeks take another and compare, you should notice a difference. If not then your diet isn't up to scratch and you're not exercising correctly (correct exercises and intensity).