Meal replacement shakes

[uhit]

Was at GNC the other day with a group of friends and noticed they had this sort of protein shake that had roughly 20g carbs, 24g protein and 1g fat and was advertised as a 'meal replacement shake' and was encouraged to have twice for a serving.

I asked the person who was in charge of the store at the time and he wasn't very helpful... makes me think the people at GNC know little to nothing about supplementation/bodybuilding.

Anyway, was wondering what the basic opinion on the shakes are. Also worth noting that for a 2.2KG tub, it was about £45 (like $70-$75) which is considerably cheaper than eating the standard chicken breast and cup of rice.

Thanks in advance.

[Khazima]

I live in Australia where the chicken is quite expensive and rice is cheap just like everywhere else in the world and there is absolutely no way that a 2.2kg tub of mass gainer is gonna give me more nutrients than 75 dollars of chicken and rice.

Mass gainers might look cheaper but they have simple carbs in them like maltodextrin, or just plain sugar. If you actually look at the amount of serves you'd get, total the protein and total the carbs, then compare that to chicken breast/cutlets you'll see how much cheaper it is to eat chicken and rice.

I was using serious mass at one point, 5kg for 80 dollars with 50g protein and 300g carbs per serve (drinking half serves though) and it wouldn't last 2 weeks. There was 16 of those total serves in a bag.

I will add that mass gainers can be a good addition for some easy calories even though they're not a quality source of macros, but just buy a big bag of maltodextrin and use normal whey with it, it ends out much cheaper.

[Sebastia]

Was at GNC the other day

There's the problem..

If your goal is to build muscle you'd be better off buying straight protein and/or foods high in protein instead. And don't ever buy from GNC unless you're feeling rich..

[jimmyinkedup]

Make your own with oats and peanut butter, bananas and whey protein powder etc if you must use shakes to supplement.

[tarmyg]

My morning shake for the last couple of days is:

300ml super strong coffee
50g isopure no carb protein powder
20g creatinine
15g brown sugar
15g cold pressed coconut oil

[Khazima]

When I make my own I do:

100g oats
30g peanut butter
1 or 2 scoops protein
Usually milk skim/full cream depending on macros
Creatine
Bit of chocolate topping if I've got any

Blend it up

And my lazy version:
1-2 scoops protein
Milk/water
1-2 scoops (45-90g) maltodextrin

[kelkel]

My morning shake for the last couple of days is:

300ml super strong coffee
50g isopure no carb protein powder
20g creatinine
15g brown sugar
15g cold pressed coconut oil

Then run right to the crapper.....



My norm:

Water
2 scoops whey
Banana
Peanut butter
Creatine
No fat vanilla ice cream

[Back In Black]

Then run right to the crapper.....



My norm:

Water
2 scoops whey
Banana
Peanut butter
Creatine
No fat vanilla ice cream

If it hasn't got fat, it's not ice cream surely?

My staple weight gain shake when I was younger had ice cream in it too, together with powdered oats and weirder crash weight gain powder. I'd rather eat a banana than pulverise it personally.

Nowadays it's pretty much -

Oats
Casein
Natural peanut butter
Past your eyes egg whites
Maybe, just maybe, greens powder

[Trevtrev]

Then run right to the crapper.....



My norm:

Water
2 scoops whey
Banana
Peanut butter
Creatine
No fat vanilla ice cream

Lmao on the crapper comment!

My version is the same as yours only I add low-fat frozen yogurt. Tastes just like ice cream to me.

[kelkel]

If it hasn't got fat, it's not ice cream surely?

Ha, you're correct. Meant to say "Half-Fat" ice cream. Means I can eat twice as much in my book.