Shake based diet

[Johan]

I was surfing around looking for cheap protein and realise that if I buy protein in big ammounts from the absolutely cheapest place and realy on protein powder for like 70% of my daily protein intake I can minimize food cost while keeping a very high protein intake daily.

Is there anything realy wrong with this? To base the diet around whey protein? My diet would be something like 5-6 big protein shakes with flax, oliv or mct oil and 2-3 meals with meat and beans and lots and lots of veggies. That way I could keep protein intake above 350g/day and still survive on the little cash I have while studying.

I guess my diet(this would be a clean bulk diet) if I do this would be something like this(starting this fall when I am done cutting).

Meal 1:
Oatmeal mixed with some dried fruits.
A probiotic diary product
Couple of eggs
A big shake
Lots of seeds

Meal 2:
Big ass shake with flax/olive/mct oil combination and some seeds

meal 3: same as above or oatmeal instead of the oils if I feel I need the carbs for the workout.

Meal 4, post workout:
Protein+dextrose

Meal 5:
Rice and any lean meat/fish/fowl, lots of veggies and a nice big shake

Meal 6: some beans,meat and veggies. Maby a handfull of mixed nuts.

Meal 7. Big ass shake with some cottage cheese(or anything else with cheap slow digesting protein, hell maby even soy protein concentrate) and oil combination.

I would split it upp so I get around 350-400g protein and each meal containing roughly as much protein. Around 150-200g carbs and 100g fats. Daily kcal around 3000-3300. This would be a clean bulk also very cheap. If I want to get the same amount of protein but based around meat instead I would have to buy cheap cuts with high fat content and that would make me alot fatter since the total kcal would be much higher.

Would I need to supplement with something that is high in meat that I would miss out with a diet like this. Maby creatin Any special vitamin

 

[DOGMA]

There is a reason they call these products "supplements" they are to supplement your regular diet of whole foods. With that said I quess you could get buy with two good meals per day but I do not think it would be optimal. I think you should have a minimum of 4 solid whole food meals and supplement the rest with shakes. I would not take in more than 30% of my protien or carb intake from shakes. That s just my opinion though.

If you buy your food in bulk you can easily get whole foods cheaper than what you will pay for good protien powder's. And nutritionaly you will be far better off.

 

[Johan]

There is a reason they call these products "supplements" they are to supplement your regular diet of whole foods. With that said I quess you could get buy with two good meals per day but I do not think it would be optimal. I think you should have a minimum of 4 solid whole food meals and supplement the rest with shakes. I would not take in more than 30% of my protien or carb intake from shakes. That s just my opinion though.

If you buy your food in bulk you can easily get whole foods cheaper than what you will pay for good protien powder's. And nutritionaly you will be far better off.

Unfortunaly even if I buy in bulk the ABSOLUTELY cheapest meat I can find is 5bucks for 2,2ibs(1kg) and then its loaded with fat. If I want a bit nicer meat(like 10% fat)I have to dish out a bit over 7bucks for 2,2ibs. If I want the lean cuts(less then 3%) then it is way above 12bucks.

If I where to use every dime I have after rent is payed on the meat with 10% fat I would have enough meat to eat 350g protein/day the whole month. But then I dont consider phone bills, study material, supplements ect.

Only food choise that is economic to me is soybeans but I cant use to much soybeans in the diet either because of the high fat and carb content.

Im realy trying to find a alternative to meat/chicken that will allow me to continue bodybuild to 100% while studying. Would suck to limit gains because I cant afford the protein I need....

 

[Johan]

I guess I should phrase the question like this instead(since the 5 meals of meat option isnt possible for me).

Would it be better for gains to eat 400+g protein a day with 70% of the protein coming from whey shakes.

or

Eating around 250g-300 protein/day with 70% of the protein coming from meat and soybeans.

 

[bigbaldbulldog]

I guess I should phrase the question like this instead(since the 5 meals of meat option isnt possible for me).

Would it be better for gains to eat 400+g protein a day with 70% of the protein coming from whey shakes.

or

Eating around 250g-300 protein/day with 70% of the protein coming from meat and soybeans.

eating naturally is the best route and shakes are the extras if you don't have time for a meal...meals over shakes if you can

 

[DOGMA]

Sorry Bro I see now your in Sweden!!! Meat and chicken is heap here in the state's and I live in small town Texas where the main commerce is beef and its quite cheap but I still buy beef and chicken in bulk.

All you can do is the best you can given your circumstances just eat as much whole foods as you can and you will be fine. Take a part time job in a butcher shop tell him you would like your pay in beef!!!LOL Good luck.

 

[BigBoyJ]

Well, if I remember right, Phil recommended a diet based pretty much entirely on shakes. I tried it and my waist has shrunk a couple of inches. I'm leaner, so I think it works just fine. Sometimes I do start feeling a little flat, when that happens I'll just eat a large steak and a baked potato, that fills me out real quick and then I go back to the shakes. It's also so much easier.

 

[Johan]

Sorry Bro I see now your in Sweden!!! Meat and chicken is heap here in the state's and I live in small town Texas where the main commerce is beef and its quite cheap but I still buy beef and chicken in bulk.

All you can do is the best you can given your circumstances just eat as much whole foods as you can and you will be fine. Take a part time job in a butcher shop tell him you would like your pay in beef!!!LOL Good luck.

Sometimes(like now)I wish I lived in another country. Sweden has like the second highest food prices in the world of I remember right. Hell to be a bodybuilder here. I thank god everyday that I have a very slow metabolism and can bulk with 3000kcal/day. Otherwise I would never be able to afford this hobby.

Well, if I remember right, Phil recommended a diet based pretty much entirely on shakes. I tried it and my waist has shrunk a couple of inches. I'm leaner, so I think it works just fine. Sometimes I do start feeling a little flat, when that happens I'll just eat a large steak and a baked potato, that fills me out real quick and then I go back to the shakes. It's also so much easier.

That sounds promising. I guess I have to try it and se how it works. I wouldnt be able to afford the nicer brands of whey though. Just the cheapest I can find(probably dantes).

 

[Coopie]

Last summer I did 1 month solid on nothing but shakes and bars. I dropped a ton of weight, but I did not gain any mass despite using over 1 gram per week. I would recommed this for only short-term, and only after you're satisfied with your mass. I found it almost impossible to gain any mass even though I was consuming nothing but protein.

For specifics: Labrada Lean Body Shake post workout, Worwdwide Nutrition Pure Protein Bar (every 3 hours), Labrada shake #2 in the evening, and Optimum Pure Protein shake before bed.

As soon as I started eating real food again I grew stronger, my muscless were fuller, and my pumps were through the roof. I lost 20 lbs on the shake-only diet, and when I started eating again I put back on about 10 lbs within a few weeks. Even though, I stayed lean and strong and the weight gain was mostly mass-related b/c I did not look fatter at all.

 

[Johan]

I will still get 2-3 meals with meat and soybeans so I think that will help balance out the aminoacids Im getting into my system. Atleast I hope so

 

[ELIMINATOR]

I say give it a try and see how it is, Skip Lacour and Jeff from AST use a lot of shakes in their deit.

 

[Big A]

There is nothing wrong with getting all your protein from shakes, as long as they are quality - whey isolate. Protein is protein once it's in the body, it doesn't matter if it's from shakes, meat or eggs, as long as the shake protein is high quality.

Everyone that recomends against shake protein is because they haven't used a high enough quality protein. Most protein powders out there don't meet label claims and certainly are not the best of quality.

As a matter of fact, if you use pure cfm whey isolate, you will have better quality protein in your body and your muscles will be better fed than any protein that you culd get from solid foods.

Besides, in many countries, especially european, whey is a staple food product. Whey powders are just that food but dehydrated.

 

[RicPhoenix]

Hmmm this is a tricky one...

I would think that if you choose to use shakes only...then you would want more than one type of protein supplement...whey, egg, soy, lentil, rice etc....perhaps mix up the type of protein powders that you use so that you are not getting it all from whey.

I am not sure but that might be a way to go about this. Each type of protein has various peptide fractions associated with it that may be of some benefit beyond just increasing the amino acid concentration in your blood stream.

But having said that...I think it was Bill Pearl that is vegetarian ?

Also, people who are sick or extremely obese go on liquid based diets...very low in calories but high in protein and they seem to do it without loss of muscle mass.

These are just ideas because I wonder the same things to be honest:

If bodybuilding is about building the body with optimum nutrition and nutrients why are we not eating engineered foods as the foundation of our meals ? Just as we count reps and cardio...shouldnt our food be just as controlled? If so the only way to do that is with engineered foods ie food technology.

 

[Johan]

Unfortunaly with my economy I couldnt afford isolate. It would be concentrat. Would it still work??

I would also probably add some soy protien poweder to

 

[hardkor]

Not only Phil but there are a few bb's that i've read about that rely primaraly on whey/powders for their protein intake.

Chris Duffy
Ron Coleman (the other Ron)
Ian Harrison
Skip Lacour

I guess if it works for them, it could work for you. Give it a shot and let us know.

 

[hardkor]

Well, if I remember right, Phil recommended a diet based pretty much entirely on shakes. I tried it and my waist has shrunk a couple of inches. I'm leaner, so I think it works just fine. Sometimes I do start feeling a little flat, when that happens I'll just eat a large steak and a baked potato, that fills me out real quick and then I go back to the shakes. It's also so much easier.

I don't understand how a steak could make someone "fuller" as in muscle fullness. I know because steak is a very dense protein, it could make someone feel fuller in the stomach but muscle fullness? I've heard this many times but i've never experienced that feeling.

The only thing i know that can determine the fullness of a muscle is carb intake ie glycogen. So there i could see the potato making you fuller.

 

[Crowler]

I don't understand how a steak could make someone "fuller" as in muscle fullness. I know because steak is a very dense protein, it could make someone feel fuller in the stomach but muscle fullness? I've heard this many times but i've never experienced that feeling.

The only thing i know that can determine the fullness of a muscle is carb intake ie glycogen. So there i could see the potato making you fuller.

You know how when you wake up and you look shrunk down compared to what you looked like when you went to bed? Try having some steak before going to bed and compare your look the next AM> Perhaps this seems to make a difference to me because my metabolism is pretty darn fast.


CROWLER

 

[BigBoyJ]

I think it's the combination of the beef protein, carbs and fat. When I'm getting depleted it literally swells me up within an hour. Only when depleted though.

 

[IronMike]

...

As you'll hear time and time again, whole food is superior. I've even experimented with dropping nearly all shakes from my diet when I have time etc to eat five-six full proper meals a day. The difference IS noticeable and something which isn't always noted is you will FEEL better on the whole. Not rocket science - you're probably getting more vitamins, minerals, fiber etc this way.

That said, I've also had to rely on protein shakes heavily when I was too short on time to prepare food or for whatever reason. Far better that than not enough protein. Not the end of the world. When diong this I would strongly recommend a WPC or Calc Case blend instead of a WPI.

Try looking at some alternative foods - cans of tuna, mince, eggs, catch your own fish....

IronMike