Are "liquid" calories really that bad ?

[GuanacoJuicer]

I try to eat whole meals to meet my caloric requirements but prepping chicken, fish, rice, etc can be a hassle and sometimes not possible for every meal. I try to limit myself to one shake post workout but sometimes I find myself being in a deficit and end up filling caloric gaps by adding another shake during the day as a matter of convenience.

I've heard it's better to get your macros from whole meals but is it really that bad to supplement your nutrition with shakes ?

[cousinmuscles]

My opinion on this is that it depends on the source. Whey is not that bad for a fast protein. But stuff like maltodextrin are not really quality stuff and makes for a bad meal replacement. I use shakes not just for the easy macros but also for micros and other beneficial stuff like berries, fruit and yoghurt. Or peanut butter and cocoa. A pre bed shake I liked a lot is 300ml skim milk, 250g quark, lemon juice from half a lemon and a type of sugarfree lemon/lime juice. I use flaxseed oil for fats.

Just make sure you get the macros you want and try and use real foods. You could grind up oats but the texture wont be the best when drinking it though it is good stuff

[almostgone]

My opinion on this is that it depends on the source. Whey is not that bad for a fast protein. But stuff like maltodextrin are not really quality stuff and makes for a bad meal replacement. I use shakes not just for the easy macros but also for micros and other beneficial stuff like berries, fruit and yoghurt. Or peanut butter and cocoa. A pre bed shake I liked a lot is 300ml skim milk, 250g quark, lemon juice from half a lemon and a type of sugarfree lemon/lime juice. I use flaxseed oil for fats.

Just make sure you get the macros you want and try and use real foods. You could grind up oats but the texture wont be the best when drinking it though it is good stuff

LOL, when I read "quark", my mind went straight to the definition of quark as a subatomic particle. I had to fire up Google and see what type of food item it is.
It sounds kind of like plain, fat free, Greek yogurt or skyr (from Iceland)?

[cousinmuscles]

LOL, when I read "quark", my mind went straight to the definition of quark as a subatomic particle. I had to fire up Google and see what type of food item it is.
It sounds kind of like plain, fat free, Greek yogurt or skyr (from Iceland)?

Yeah it has a funny name we call it Kvarg here. It's a cheap curd cheese. I buy the fat free one, gives me 12g protein, 3,9g carbs and 0,3g fat per 100g. Costs $2.5 per kg, cheapest casein I can get. Far from being as good as real greek yoghurt but it gives a nice sour in shakes and is definitely palatable.

[Clove1234]

I’m a believer in the fact that calories are calories when it comes down to it. Although you can obviously have healthier calories with less added non sense. With that being said, i still try to eat all of mine. I supplement whey protein to meat my protein macros

[ScotchGuard02]

I take two shakes a day when I'm getting close to competition. I just add psyllium husk in the shake for fiber. I'm not dead yet. LOL

[Kay kay]

You will get a lot of people saying liquid calories are bad but it’s fucking nonsense. There is nothing wrong with drinking raw egg whites, or blending oats with protien powder and water vs making the oats and mixing in protien powder.

As long as your still including natural food like oats and egg whites etc it doesn’t make a damn difference if you have to chew or not.

[Couchlockd]

You will get a lot of people saying liquid calories are bad but it’s fucking nonsense. There is nothing wrong with drinking raw egg whites, or blending oats with protien powder and water vs making the oats and mixing in protien powder.

As long as your still including natural food like oats and egg whites etc it doesn’t make a damn difference if you have to chew or not.

Yes, but I count my chewing as cardio.

So my cardio will be ruined.

[Bio-Active]

You will get a lot of people saying liquid calories are bad but it’s fucking nonsense. There is nothing wrong with drinking raw egg whites, or blending oats with protien powder and water vs making the oats and mixing in protien powder.

As long as your still including natural food like oats and egg whites etc it doesn’t make a damn difference if you have to chew or not.

There is a difference. A calorie is not a calorie. Your body will process liquid in about 30 minutes we’re real dense food takes 3 hours. You burn more calories digesting calorie dense food

[Kay kay]

Perhaps but that’s an absolutely minute difference. If blending your oats and egg whites in a shake allow you to hit that 5.5k cals you need per day on a bulk then go ahead and consume 3k of those cals that way.... that’s better than coming up 1k cals short of your goal.

I am looking at things from the perspective of achieving real size not refining a 200lb body weight, but I think most of us are still striving for our max muscle gain anyways so I believe it’s relevant.

If you’re sticking to completely balanced and ideal micro nutrient sources of whole foods you are going to have a hell of a time hitting your calories at higher weights. My last bulk my macros were 350g protien, 1100g carbs, under 85g fats. Good fucking luck getting that down without eating any sugars or liquid cals, although sugars were an intentional part of my diet in conjunction with insulin.

Sorry if that came across harsh. I also want to point out I’m advocating whole foods being processed by you into a liquid, not a supplemental drink to replace meals. I’m talking things like oats egg whites olive oil etc

[Kay kay]

I mean with that logic should we all up our protien macros because it’s more thermogenic and therefor burns more calories to digest...?

[GearHeaded]

I mean with that logic should we all up our protien macros because it’s more thermogenic and therefor burns more calories to digest...?

I agree . the idea of going with solid food over liquid foods simply to burn more calories is a bit more relevant for soccer moms then bodybuilders or gym rats , imo. burning calories is one of the easiest things for us to do . consuming enough calories (even when cutting) is sometimes the more difficult thing to do

[Bio-Active]

Perhaps but that’s an absolutely minute difference. If blending your oats and egg whites in a shake allow you to hit that 5.5k cals you need per day on a bulk then go ahead and consume 3k of those cals that way.... that’s better than coming up 1k cals short of your goal.

I am looking at things from the perspective of achieving real size not refining a 200lb body weight, but I think most of us are still striving for our max muscle gain anyways so I believe it’s relevant.

If you’re sticking to completely balanced and ideal micro nutrient sources of whole foods you are going to have a hell of a time hitting your calories at higher weights. My last bulk my macros were 350g protien, 1100g carbs, under 85g fats. Good fucking luck getting that down without eating any sugars or liquid cals, although sugars were an intentional part of my diet in conjunction with insulin.

Sorry if that came across harsh. I also want to point out I’m advocating whole foods being processed by you into a liquid, not a supplemental drink to replace meals. I’m talking things like oats egg whites olive oil etc

I mean with that logic should we all up our protien macros because it’s more thermogenic and therefor burns more calories to digest...?

I agree . the idea of going with solid food over liquid foods simply to burn more calories is a bit more relevant for soccer moms then bodybuilders or gym rats , imo. burning calories is one of the easiest things for us to do . consuming enough calories (even when cutting) is sometimes the more difficult thing to do

It all just depends on your personal goals

[Kay kay]

Agreed.