Which Protein for a Newbie?

musicformedia

Hi guys,

I've left myself go a little bit lately and want to get rid of the gut and tone up a bit.

I'm going to be starting kettlebell training soon and I go for a swim two or three times a week with sports in between (prob twice a week on average). I want to lose about a stone in 10 weeks

I've never bought or used protein before, so I'm not too sure which one to get - was looking at myprotein.co.uk but haven't a clue what I should go for? Do I even need protein if I'm just looking to lose some weight?

Cheers
Emmett

TommyKnocker

musicformedia wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've left myself go a little bit lately and want to get rid of the gut and tone up a bit.

I'm going to be starting kettlebell training soon and I go for a swim two or three times a week with sports in between (prob twice a week on average). I want to lose about a stone in 10 weeks

I've never bought or used protein before, so I'm not too sure which one to get - was looking at myprotein.co.uk but haven't a clue what I should go for? Do I even need protein if I'm just looking to lose some weight?

Cheers
Emmett

Hi There

Seeing as how in your own words you have "Let yourself go lately" and have a gut to get rid of, then IMHO protein supplements should be the last thing you are thinking about at this point.

I am sure that you can achieve your goals simply by cleaning up your diet and being consistent with a clean diet and your training.

Protein powder is not a magic pixie dust, it is simply another source of protein. It is only required when you cannot meet your daily protein requirements through wholefood alone, or when it is more convieient to grab a shake. But all too often it is the first thing on the mind of newcomers to weight training.


M

musicformedia

Ah cool, thats great thanks. Appreciate your help

dotty145

if you want to get the protein get it i get the true whey from my protein and its great cheap and comes within the week....
Eat well and train hard and you'll lose the weight

Mellor

dotty145 wrote: »

if you want to get the protein get it i get the true whey from my protein and its great cheap and comes within the week....
Eat well and train hard and you'll lose the weight

Ignore this. There is no point taking protein if you don't know why you are taking it.
(I'm not saying there is no place for protein shakes on a weight loss programme, but you need to be 100% sure what you are doing and why)

B-builder above is spot on.
Focus on your current diet and training. Can you post a typical daily diet.Also, swimming isn't great for weight loss, unless you are very good and pushing out some serious sessions.

musicformedia

Hiya, so what point is a protein shake for weight loss? I'm just curious about it as I never really understood it.

My typical diet is the following:

8am/9am - Breakfast:
Wheetabix/Porridge with fruit

10.30am/11am - Second Breakfast:
Bowl of Fruit

12.30/1.30pm - Lunch:
Ciabatta with turkey/salad
or
Salad with turkey/chicken

Dinner:
Chicken salad - spinach leaves, rocket, tomatoes, pepper, chicken chunks
Steamed Salmon fillet + steamed veg
Lasagne + salad
Basically meat + salad usually

Only problem is snacks and weekends. Weekends I get lazy and get pizza. I sometimes eat a bar like a double decker/twirl during the day. Need to get healtheir snacks.

Is having a second breakfast a good idea?

dotty145

Protein is used to repair damaged muscle that you would do in the gym during a typical workout... If you train more than 3 times a week your body wont have enough protein in it to repair the muscles so people take protein supplements to boost recovery time.....

THATS the reason why people take it you can get one off myprotein.co.uk thats has no carbs or sugar so theres not as many cals in it . So it can be taken with a weight loss program...

musicformedia

Ah, so it aids in muscle repair - not actual weight loss. Yea that makes sense. I do lift weights, but definitively not a huge amount - only now and again, so probably not a need for protein.

TommyKnocker

dotty145 wrote: »

Protein is used to repair damaged muscle that you would do in the gym during a typical workout... If you train more than 3 times a week your body wont have enough protein in it to repair the muscles so people take protein supplements to boost recovery time.....

THATS the reason why people take it you can get one off myprotein.co.uk thats has no carbs or sugar so theres not as many cals in it . So it can be taken with a weight loss program...

Hi Dotty145

Your statement above is not entirely correct.

Yes Protein is used to repair muscle damaged through training. However saying that if you train more than 3 times per week your body will not have enough protein is incorrect as this will depend on your diet.

It is possible to get sufficient protein from whole foods without resorting to protein powder. Portein powder is only another type of protein.

The point I was making in my first post what that a new comer of weight training, whose goal is to drop body fat most likely does not need to be buying protein powder. The first thing they should do is clean up their diet.


Best Regards,

M

dotty145

Ye possable if you eat loads of tuna chicken and eggs like live on the stuff i train 5 times a week and take up to 3 shakes a day. all i was saying is it is possable to take protein on a weight loss program. and if your looking for an alternate snack a shake is your man

Patdusty2010

musicformedia wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've left myself go a little bit lately and want to get rid of the gut and tone up a bit.

I'm going to be starting kettlebell training soon and I go for a swim two or three times a week with sports in between (prob twice a week on average). I want to lose about a stone in 10 weeks

I've never bought or used protein before, so I'm not too sure which one to get - was looking at myprotein.co.uk but haven't a clue what I should go for? Do I even need protein if I'm just looking to lose some weight?

Cheers
Emmett

Hi Emmett,

If you want to lose a stone in ten weeks then you should focus in on High Intensity Interval Training - HIIT training.

Try and do some of the following during the week:

Rowing Intervals - Row 80 seconds flat out and have one minute recovery. You can look on youtube to make sure you have your technique right.

Skipping - Try and do 3 5 minute sets. This is very hard at the beginning..

Cycling - Try and sprint 1km on a gym bike/spinning bike, recover and try it again a few more times.

If you do this sort of training you will lose a stone quite quickly imo. If this is your short term goal to lose one stone then you must do HIIT training. I only went onto Protein shakes when I had gotten my body fat % down to 12%. I am not mad about them either and if you eat enough protein like fish,steak etc. you don't need to take protein shakes.

If you want to eventually get into bodybuilding in the future then take protein shakes etc.. but for now I would just try and eat more fish/clean up my diet and get focused on HIIT training!!

Only do HIIT training 3-4 times a week at most as you could burn yourself out if you did it everyday.

This routine worked for me which is why I am posting this.

Mellor

musicformedia wrote: »

Hiya, so what point is a protein shake for weight loss? I'm just curious about it as I never really understood it.

Protein is one of the cleanest sources of energy. 150 cals of protein is considered better than say 150 cals of sugar.
A lot of what was posted previously by dotti was wrong.

Protein does however contain calories. So you can't just add it into you diet and a weight loss drink, it needs to replace something else. Which is why both B-Builder and I advised against it for a beginner. Find a source of decent whole food to snack on, time shouldn't be an issue. If at later date to feel like changing it up switch to a shake. FYI I switch to shakes after 10 months of healthy eating, mainly for a change and to remove the carb based snacks I was having.

My typical diet is the following:

8am/9am - Breakfast:
Wheetabix/Porridge with fruit

10.30am/11am - Second Breakfast:
Bowl of Fruit

12.30/1.30pm - Lunch:
Ciabatta with turkey/salad
or
Salad with turkey/chicken

Dinner:
Chicken salad - spinach leaves, rocket, tomatoes, pepper, chicken chunks
Steamed Salmon fillet + steamed veg
Lasagne + salad
Basically meat + salad usually

Only problem is snacks and weekends. Weekends I get lazy and get pizza. I sometimes eat a bar like a double decker/twirl during the day. Need to get healtheir snacks.

As diet thats very good. However, meals are only as food as the portion size and cooking method. Chick or turkey alad for lunch is great. As long as its baked or grilled.
and its not exactly great if you are eating huge portions covered in a dressing (most of which are oil based)

dotty145 wrote: »

Protein is used to repair damaged muscle that you would do in the gym during a typical workout... If you train more than 3 times a week your body wont have enough protein in it to repair the muscles so people take protein supplements to boost recovery time.....

THATS the reason why people take it you can get one off myprotein.co.uk thats has no carbs or sugar so theres not as many cals in it . So it can be taken with a weight loss program...

Sorry but thats wrong. most people on a weight loss diet have no problem in getting enough protein (exception would be well built people who are looking to drop BF%).
Gram for gram, protein has the same calories as carbs.
If you are going to take protein for weight loss you need to replace something with it. Not add it in.

Also, why do you keep shilling myprotein.co.uk????