Protein shakes for breakfast? Good/bad

[PKineKilla]

Im used to not eating breakfast at all. My first meal being at 12 for lunch.
The past week or so I started taking protein shakes in the morning around 8AM. My weight lose rate has decrease(despite no additional calories).
Is there an issue with drinking a meal vs eating one? Should I try waking up earlier to cook a couple eggs? Or is there no problem with the shakes

 

[runningwolf]

Cook a actual meal is always better. A protein shake is a supplement, it’s meant to supplement your daily food intake not replace it. Try this see how you do
- Put a can of green beans in a pot and warm them up first thing then,
-3 egg whites, mix in sriracha, and cayenne pepper, scramble.
-Handful of almonds
-banana

Putting the green beans on first usually works out to them being ready about the time I get the eggs cooked. I eat half the can at breakfast, second half at second breakfast.

Check your protein powder to and see how many carbs per serving, big thing I’ve found with weight loss is carb intake, more importantly what kind of carbs and when you take them. I’m at 4 meals, low carbs (15-20g)for first two, bump up slightly (40g) meal before workout them majority of carbs after workout (60-70g). Healthy carbs, banana is healthy, donut not so much.

 

[jBravo3]

Anybody who eats green beans for breakfast is not to be reckoned with. But I'm out on that man. No way. Too tough for me! I'm a black coffee and protein shake for breakfast type of guy. Totally down with the Sriracha and cayenne too, just not for breakfast. You're a beast.

 

[runningwolf]

Regular scrambled eggs just got old so had to spice it up some. Want to go even more fancy add some salsa to it.

I definitely have to have my coffee. It and I try to chug 32oz water right after I wake up.

Not a beast, just know where I want to be, and willing to do what it takes to get there. Consistency beats intensity in this case.

 

[PM07]

When I'm able to get on a regular eating schedule, my breakfast was Egg beaters omelet and turkey bacon. Doing that consistently, I was able to lose weight but working 12s is making it damn near impossible to get back on track. I use Muscle Milk protein shakes when needed but not as a primary meal replacement. I started keeping tuna in the office for those 3 am munchies.

 

[Ben H]

Post is a little ambiguous. A lot of this depends on your end goal.

Im used to not eating breakfast at all. My first meal being at 12 for lunch. The past week or so I started taking protein shakes in the morning around 8AM.

Sounds like you might have been exercising intermittent fasting (on purpose or inadvertently)? For some people, this can promote weight loss. This helped me cut weight very quickly.

My weight lose rate has decrease(despite no additional calories).

Weight loss is only part of the equation. Has your waist size / body fat percentage changed? Are you lifting weights to build muscle? Are you exercising less? Maybe your body is approaching homeostasis with your current routine.

Is there an issue with drinking a meal vs eating one? Should I try waking up earlier to cook a couple eggs? Or is there no problem with the shakes

Since whey protein digests easier / faster, whole foods will leave you satiated longer than a shake. From everything I've read / heard, that is about the only substantial between the two.

 

[ZAMBONI]

I use a blender and put in other things like vegetables, fruits, yogurt while making the protein shake. One can get very creative in this regard. It’s a lot healthier than just the powder in my opinion.

 

[BigMcRunFast]

It's not the worst thing in the world. Intermittent fasting is a thing. Your weight loss has probably slowed because as you lose weight, your body requires less calories to maintain. Maybe try recalculating your caloric needs at your current body weight and reducing calories by another couple hundred give or take.

 

[Jeff22]

I usually have to be up for a while before I get hungry so I too have been often drinking a protein shake shortly after waking up.

I usually work the midnight shift and often have a protein shake when I get home -- I really try to avoid eating right before going to sleep.

 

[Sasquatch Hunter]

GREEN BEANS , wow, I thought I was the only one. I don't like a lot of veggies but can choke down green beans with almost every meal.

I was a personal trainer and strength coach for many years as a way to supplement my income. I am not a nutritionist but constantly had clients seeking nutrition advice. With this I've experimented on myself for many years, gaining muscle or loosing fat.
If your goal is to slim down you really have to track your calories. As stated above, the more you loose the harder it gets as there is less to loose. If tracking calories you can drop them by about 100 every few days if not getting results.
Also, as stated above protein powder is a supplement and real food is best.
What works for me is drinking about a gallon of water a day, food timing and what I am feeding my gut bacteria. Nutrient dense food that feeds your muscle and sustains good gut health is a must for me. First, I feed my gut what it needs to work. This is where you will have to find what you like or can eat. You can do kefir or yogurt but these are both dairy. I try to cut down on dairy when I cut down as dairy can contribute to bloating for some including me. I try to eat raw sauerkraut with my morning eggs. It's cheap and very easy to make, just cabbage and salt, look on youtube. This is full of good digestive enzymes, I try to eat a couple servings a day starting with breakfast. Also, every meal should have a portion of green veggies. The fiber will help make you feel full and keep the food flowing better. Make sure you're eating enough lean protein but if you cannot a protein shake can help, I have a isolate shake mixed with some kefir after resistance training.
I do find best results from fasting. To me, being able to wait till noon is a good thing. I don't eat until about 10, I wake up at 6 or so. I workout , either cardio or resistance training. Wait about 45 minutes and eat my first meal which includes my homemade sauerkraut. I try to eat lean protein, slow carbs and veggies every 2-3 hours. Lastly, I don't eat for at least 3 hours before bed.
If I can do all this and stick to it I loose fat, and I have a very slow metabolism.
One warning to this though. Depending on how hard you are training, if working out in a fasted state you can easily raise cortisol levels and this can lead to over training. It can result in low test, sleeping trouble, prolonged muscle soreness, joint pain, weak ass workouts, limp dick, constipation, the shits and a lot of other problems. I do only see this in myself when I train very hard for weeks on end or in seriously hard workers like fighters and power lifters I trained in the past. One solution to this is to do cardio in the morning fasted and resistance training later in the day after you have some nutritionally dense food. This will provide your muscles the fuel they need for a good quality workout and properly recover.

 

[LoidLiu]

Hello everyone, can anyone here recommend a good blender? I wanna start shakes, but there are tones of different comparisons (like this one for example). It would be a lot easier for me, if I would get some recommendations from real people who use it.

 

[CHAOS16]

I have a BS in nutrition, Soldier and .mil contractor, and I use the ninja listed in your link almost daily for a lot of different types of shakes - and to make baby food.

It will suit your needs.

 

[BenNL]

Some studies show that intermittent fasting can lead to muscle growth. https://www.shapescale.com/blog/fitness/intermittent-fasting-muscle-gain/ (just a quick Google search). Apparently your body gives you an extra stimulus to go out and hunt / gather food. Remember until about 10k years ago, you needed to find your breakfast before you could eat it.
Apart from that, shakes are supplements to a healthy diet. Varying what you eat and eating the right amounts of (healthy) carbs, fats and proteins is essential.
The internet is full of knowledge, but it basically boils down to: fresh and natural beats processed and chemical.

 

[Diz]

I think shakes are a good item to add to diet, but it has to fit in an entire system of diet, exercise and rest.

I like "recovery" shakes, heavy with protein, but that's only after a work out. So it depends on when ya work out. If you hit the gym/road early in the morning, I will have a light snack first, like wheat toast, almond butter and 'nanners. Then afterwards a good protein recovery shake for breakfast. Later in the morn, I might then do a snack of English Muffin, Canadian bacon, and egg. Then lunch say tuna with spinach on wheat. Afternoon snack of yogurt, then carbo load at night with pasta, chicken, and a salad.

So it depends on how you schedule all that shit together. If I work out in the afternoon, then I have a protein shake right after that, and switch the snacks around. Sometimes I have a heavy carb shake, like frozen mango and gatorade before a long cardio in the afternoons. So it's really work-out dependent, depending on sched.

And water. Lots of water. You can still eat a lot; you just have to eat clean fuel. No need to starve, just can't eat fun stuff. Check out Fitzgerald's "Racing Weight Cookbook". Lots of good recipes in there. You have to make it a new lifestyle of eating, not a crash diet. Takes about a year to make it a new habit. But you'll be glad you did. It's just like smoking, dipping, or anything else; you still get the cravings, but you learn to ignore them.

 

[MockErman]

I think shakes are a good item to add to diet, but it has to fit in an entire system of diet, exercise and rest.

I like "recovery" shakes, heavy with protein, but that's only after a work out. So it depends on when ya work out. If you hit the gym/road early in the morning, I will have a light snack first, like wheat toast, almond butter and 'nanners. Then afterwards a good protein recovery shake for breakfast. Later in the morn, I might then do a snack of English Muffin, Canadian bacon, and egg. Then lunch say tuna with spinach on wheat. Afternoon snack of yogurt, then carbo load at night with pasta, chicken, and a salad.

So it depends on how you schedule all that shit together. If I work out in the afternoon, then I have a protein shake right after that, and switch the snacks around. Sometimes I have a heavy carb shake, like frozen mango and gatorade before a long cardio in the afternoons. So it's really work-out dependent, depending on sched.

And water. Lots of water. You can still eat a lot; you just have to eat clean fuel. No need to starve, just can't eat fun stuff. Check out Fitzgerald's "Racing Weight Cookbook". Lots of good recipes in there. You have to make it a new lifestyle of eating, not a crash diet. Takes about a year to make it a new habit. But you'll be glad you did. It's just like smoking, dipping, or anything else; you still get the cravings, but you learn to ignore them.

I consider protein shakes as a good addition to the main meal. I've once tried to drink shakes before breakfast or instead of it and I remember I felt really bad... It was like drinking cola in a hungry condition... Brr.

However, as an addition to a meal -- shakes are good. I have recently found an article (https://unimeal.com/blog/10-homemade-high-calorie-protein-shakes-to-gain-weight-and-build-muscles-86) about 10 different protein shakes, so want to try each of them... Apart from the main breakfast

 

[Andy Mahina]

I think you should also consider basing your taking of supplemental protein off of when you workout/exercise. Some studies have shown that taking supplemental protein is ideal after working out. Like, within 30-45 minutes. If you are not working out before breakfast I would suggest avoiding protein shakes especially if you are supplementing an actual meal for them.

Food will always be the best way to fuel your body.

What are your health/nutrition goals?