High Protein Shakes

Happiness Experiment 23: High Protein Shakes Day 4

May 032012

I’ve decided to skip adding the milk to my high protein shakes. I must admit, it’s taken a few days, but this vanilla bean whey protein flavour is actually growing on me.

If you’re just joining me, or want to refresh yourself on what happened yesterday, take a peek at day 3 of the high protein shakes experiment.

High Protein Shakes Day 4

So far in this experiment, I haven’t noticed a substantial change in my energy levels, craving levels, or anything else since I started consuming these high protein shakes.

So, yesterday I put the shakes to the test when I went to my hot yoga class after a few weeks off due to a head cold.

When I come back to an exercise like hot yoga after a few weeks off, there’s always pain. I’m not a naturally flexible person, so pushing my body for that flexibility requires me to stretch my muscles, and that pain I feel the next day is them healing.

My theory was that the high protein shakes would supply me with more protein and help moderate the pain. Protein is what your muscles use to heal themselves. If I wasn’t getting enough protein, then I would likely hurt more than I needed to.

Well, as of yet, my aches and pains are minimal at most. Somehow, even after missing a few weeks of hot yoga classes, I’m not hurting as much as I normally would.

This suggest that the protein shakes have a beneficial effect, and could definitely have a positive impact when it comes to things that cause a LOT of muscle strain, like HIIT Training or Tabatas Training.

This definitely has me thinking about doing that Tabatas Training experiment I mentioned in the past. In theory, with a more intensive workout set, I should hurt MORE than I did in the HIIT Training experiment, but these whey protein shakes might be a critical component to making the experiment work without feeling like I lost a fight with a Mack Truck.

Happiness Experiment 23: High Protein Shakes Day 3

Experiments 2 Responses »

May 022012

Lesson to be learned, the perfect plan to make a whey protein shake with milk doesn’t work well if you don’t have milk.

If you’re just joining me, or want to refresh yourself on what happened yesterday, take a peek at day 2 of the high protein shakes experiment.

High Protein Shakes Experiment – Day 3

As I mentioned, I was out of milk, so I had to mix the whey protein with water again. However, as I mentioned earlier, mixing it REALLY well helps make it far more palatable.

I’m still not really seeing much of an impact with the protein powder. However, perhaps the next couple of days will tell a different story. I’ve missed Hot Yoga for a few weeks because I’ve had a head cold, but I’ll be going back for the late class tonight. I anticipate hurting… a lot. If these high protein shakes will have any impact at reducing muscle pain, I should see an indication of that soon! If it does help, I’ll think about combining the whey protein shakes with tabatas training of HIIT Training in a future experiment.

Happiness Experiment 23: High Protein Shakes Day 2

Experiments 1 Response »

May 012012

Well, the taste of the high protein shakes is still not spectacular, but when I mixed it up thoroughly, the taste was at least a lot more tolerable.

If you want to see why I’m drinking whey protein shakes this week, take a look at the explanation behind my high protein shakes experiment.

High Protein Shakes Experiment – Day 2

I think as this experiment progresses, I’ll need to play around a bit with the mixture. It says to mix with water, but I’ve seen some that say to mix with milk, and this whey protein shake mix might taste a bit better with some milk instead of water.

I haven’t felt much of a difference in two days of drinking protein shakes yet. It’s possible that this experiment would have a much greater impact if I were to be doing HIIT Training like in my previous experiment. Perhaps I’ll bring out some protein powder if I do tabatas training

Happiness Experiment 23: High Protein Shakes

Experiments 2 Responses »

Apr 302012

Judging from the number of high protein shakes that I see when I go to the local drug store, I’m pretty much the last person in the world to get on the protein shakes train.

To start off with, let’s show you what I drank today and will be drinking for the next 6 days:

The high protein shakes I will be drinking for this experiment.

Yes, that picture doesn’t lie. The next 7 days will be in the flavour country that is manufactured French Vanilla Bean. Well, at least it’s not fake chocolate flavour, right?

Why am I drinking protein shakes this week?

Well, quoting straight from the LiveStrong website regarding the daily requirements for Protein:

The National Strength and Conditioning Association states that the average adult should consume 0.8g of protein per 1kg of body weight. Due to increased muscle breakdown and repair, athletes and strength training individuals may require up to 1.5 to 2g of protein per 1kg of body weight daily. Although the average American diet provides adequate protein, vegetarians may require extra effort to maintain protein levels.

Based on my weight of 235 pounds at the end of the last experiment, that says my daily recommended protein intake is 85.6g.

While I don’t think I run into any major shortages of protein in my daily diet, I don’t think I hit that recommended protein intake on a regular basis.

Also, I’ve noticed I’m back on the path of random snacking, and since protein is supposed to help you feel full (and my experience in other experiments helped prove this out) then a protein shake each day should help me cut down my cravings.

So, out of this experiment, I’m looking to reduce food cravings, increase energy, and reduce my aches and pains from training as these high protein shakes give my muscles the materials to rebuild.

As this is the first day in, I can’t draw any conclusions yet, except perhaps that I need to work on mixing the high protein shakes better! We’ll see how it goes!

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