Do I need a protein supplement

J

jbedford

0
Hi all I am fairly new back into fitness but am desperately trying to lose weight and tone up. i keep reading about protein supplements and my hubby takes these regularly when he works out. Do i need them. I work out 5-6 days a week, I get to the gym 2-3 times a week, whilst their i do 45 minutes cardio, consisting of the bike, cross trainer and hill walking on the treadmill, I also do 2 lots of leg exercises with weights and 2 lots of arms and also about 200 sit ups. The other days I do a mixture of 45 mins to 1 hour free weights or a 35 minute cardio fitness DVD. i am also going to be adding in some cycling or ??running. I eat fairly healthily at least 8 portions of fruit and veg, nuts and seeds, quinoa, leen meat etc but i do pinch the kids sweeties occasionally and like a glass or 2 of wine at the weekend. I havn,t lost any weight for about 5 weeks now although people are telling me I have so i must be dropping inches. How else can I speed up the weight loss.
I am also dairy, gluten and egg intolerant so any supplement would neeed to take this into consideration. I currently only take L -glutamine. Thnaks Joy
 
From one Bedford to another, steer clear of supplements! They are unregulated, so they may not even be safe. They certainly don't have to be effective. Study after study has shown that isolating nutrients in a pill or powder just doesn't produce the same results as consuming them in food, in concert with all the other phytonutrients present in natural, whole foods. They certainly cannot make up for a poor diet. So my advice is just to eat good food.
 
Unfortunately Joe's post is much too generic.

Sure, supplements are not regulated by the FDA...but you cannot lump someone's 'Testosterone boosting' supplement in with 'whey protein'.

that's like comparing apples to oranges...

while you don't NEED a protein supplement, they often ARE beneficial and useful in your food intake strategy (it can be hard to eat enough protein, or costly at times...or just plain boring).

i do generally recommend a protein shake once per day, usually post workout.
 
joebedford said:
From one Bedford to another, steer clear of supplements! They are unregulated, so they may not even be safe. They certainly don't have to be effective. Study after study has shown that isolating nutrients in a pill or powder just doesn't produce the same results as consuming them in food, in concert with all the other phytonutrients present in natural, whole foods. They certainly cannot make up for a poor diet. So my advice is just to eat good food.
Click to expand...

How cosy. Mr Bedford and Mrs Bedford have both signed up to the forum. ;)

However your advice that supplements are "unregulated" is not strictly true. Look at the FDA's page on . If you look at my posting history you will see a post I made about a popular BBing site being busted by the FDA for selling steroids as "food supplements".
 
Protein intake is important but probably not where your head needs to be yet. If you have bodyfat you wish to lose, the chances you are not getting enough of things are probably unlikely. Adequate whole food protein consumption helps blunt appetite and keep you full- a shake doesn't do as long a job of it in most cases but if you use it as a snack and keep the shake in the 150 calorie and below range you are going to be fine.

Mr. Bedford was a bit overzealous in his supplement danger assessment. I am sure you would be safe getting whey protien from a reputable seller online or in a market. Stay away from any street corner vendors of such. :) Good luck!
 
Do you need protein supplements? No. Will they help you to gain lean muscle mass? Yes. It sounds like you already have a pretty decent diet, and a few sweets now and then aren't a bad thing. Your workout plan also sounds great. You may not think you are losing weight, based on what the scale says, but chances are, you are losing fat and gaining muscle. Don't worry so much about "losing weight." Don't gauge your success by what the scale says. How your clothes fit is going to be a much better indicator of your success than any number you will see on the scale. The reason for this is that muscle weighs more than fat. That's probably why the scale number is staying the same while people are still commenting that you look like you are losing weight.

With all that being said, adding a protein supplement to your diet and workout routine won't hurt. If nothing else, just consume a protein shake post workout, to better help your muscles repair and to avoid muscle soreness. I use whey protein daily, in the morning with breakfast and post workout. I can't prove it for sure, but I feel it has help me in my goal to lose fat and gain muscle. If you are looking for a good protein powder, I recommend bulkfoodsdirect.com. The protein powder they offer is great for cooking with, as well as making shakes with. And it has just the right amount of protein per serving to be easily absorb by your body.
 
u din't mention how much water u drink...drink atleast 3 litres of water..it'll boost weight loss..5-6 days a week is too much work out...u don't need more than 4 days.. u r not giving ur body time to relax..which is why u r not loosing anymore..also try different exercise and intense training one day a week..hit da gym for 30 minutes and don't take any break..do everything as fast as you can...u'll burn more calories like that and fat..

I read somewhere that women loose weight by intense training...while men loose doing in slow motion
 
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