Weight-Loss Whey Protein

Weight-Loss

Bulliwyf

New member
Hi all,

I've been around for a while now nourishing myself from all your experiences. You have been real motivators to me.
In little less than 2 years, I have lost 15kg and I toned myself up. I am very pleased by my progess. However, it seems to me that I am now stuck at my actual weight (73kg for 174cm). I do a lot of cardio and weightlifting (combined : 3-4h/week) and I eat healthily (or at least more healthily than before !). Now no matter how hard I work, I don't loose a gramme and my body doesn't look to change anymore. I still have belly fat that I can't get rid of. My plan is to get a nice flat abdomen and not becoming a culturist.
So I am thinking about pushing my experience a step further by taking whey protein to facilitate the weightloss and the toning.
I am by no mean an athlete. I enjoy and even need my workout thrice a week but I live an extremely simple life.
So, I was wondering : Will whey protein be useful to me knowing all this ? or at my level, should the protein coming from my alimentation be enough ?

Thanks for your advices...

David
 
Hi all,

I've been around for a while now nourishing myself from all your experiences. You have been real motivators to me.
In little less than 2 years, I have lost 15kg and I toned myself up. I am very pleased by my progess. However, it seems to me that I am now stuck at my actual weight (73kg for 174cm). I do a lot of cardio and weightlifting (combined : 3-4h/week) and I eat healthily (or at least more healthily than before !). Now no matter how hard I work, I don't loose a gramme and my body doesn't look to change anymore. I still have belly fat that I can't get rid of. My plan is to get a nice flat abdomen and not becoming a culturist.
So I am thinking about pushing my experience a step further by taking whey protein to facilitate the weightloss and the toning.
I am by no mean an athlete. I enjoy and even need my workout thrice a week but I live an extremely simple life.
So, I was wondering : Will whey protein be useful to me knowing all this ? or at my level, should the protein coming from my alimentation be enough ?

Thanks for your advices...

David

Whey Protien won't help weight loss. Only reducing calories under what you need each day will
 
Whey Protien won't help weight loss. Only reducing calories under what you need each day will

^ this.

If you are still attempting to lose weight, you need to focus on a clean, balanced diet.

Cals in < Cals out


In my experience Whey is helpful to supplement protein when you are going over your maintainence calories to build muscle, but that is an entirely different monster.

Check out some of the stickys about weight loss, nutrition, and weight lifting. It should shed some light on your questions.
 
I realize that I may have expressed myself badly.
I wanted to say that now that I can't loose weight with my current lifestyle, I want to give emphasis on muscle building. my regular diet is, I think, healthy and somewhat balanced.
My question thus would be : In that case, would whey protein supplement be of any benefit ?
What is your experience with protein supplement ? have you seen any change in your body shape after regular consumption of protein supplement ? How does it compare with creatinine ?
scientific research shows a beneficial effect of whey and creatinine but I want hear from your own experience...

Thanks a lot !

David
 
David, you seem to have this mindset that whey protein is some kind of magic fix or medication that helps you to lose fat and gain muscle. I see this in a lot of people - and one of the things that I notice is that people with this mindset talk about "taking" whey - like it was medicine.

Rethink that.

Whey is a protein source. That's all. It's not a "supplement". It's protein. Using whey to add protein to your diet is no different from eating a chicken breast, or grilling a piece of fish, or eating a serving of cottage cheese.

Whey = chicken breast = fish = low fat diary = protein.

Period.

To say you want to "take whey" in order to help you in your journey is ... well ... take your original sentence and substitute "chicken breast"

So I am thinking about pushing my experience a step further by taking chicken breast protein to facilitate the weightloss and the toning.

See what I mean? No one talks about "taking a chicken breast" when they're dieting. :) It's not medicine. It's just another type of food.

So .. do you need more protein in your diet? Would it be easier for you to get that protein in the form of a powder that you can mix into a quick drink? By all means, then, add some kind of whey powder to your diet. If not? Eat a chicken breast or a piece of fish or drink a glass of low-fat milk.

It's just food.
 
Thanks Kara for your precisons.
I do know that protein is not a magic pill that will allow me to grow stronger in a fingersnap :).
As far as I know my diet is well balanced providing the necessary nutrients I need. I was just wondering if adding an extra source of protein (increasing the protein part aver the other nutrients) will help me in my workout. I insist that I never believed that whey protein was like a medicine.
I just wanted to know if in the case of an already healthy diet, a protein supplement is of any use.
The thing is I am a little bit reluctant to those supplements but if it is proven useful by some members of this forum I might consider it for a try.

Thanks :waving:

David
 
I just wanted to know if in the case of an already healthy diet, a protein supplement is of any use.
The thing is I am a little bit reluctant to those supplements
Well again ... in the case of an already healthy diet, would getting more protein in your diet aid you?

If it would, then eating whey would be one way to add protein to your diet.

It's not about the whey - it's about the protein.

Do you need more protein? Would getting more protein help you achieve your goals? Only you can answer that. Saying you're reluctant to use "supplements" says that you're still thinking of whey as a medicine. Would you be "reluctant" to eat chicken breast? Would you be "reluctant" to drink milk?

If you need more protein and a whey protein drink helps you with that, go for it. Or eat a chicken breast. Or have some milk. Or eat some fish. If it doesn't then don't.
 
Hi Kara,

I see your point...
From what I feel and what you're saying, I don't think it's necessary to take protein supplement...as you said : a glass of milk will do it.

But I insist ! I don't see whey protein as a medicine ! I know it's a food...with a high content in protein !

I won't bother you anymore with this matter and I thank you for having taken time to chat with me...

David
 
I don't think it's necessary to take protein supplement...as you said : a glass of milk will do it.
Ok. :) I think you're still missing my point, but ok. Good luck with your plan.
 
I do but is it the word "taking" that is bothering you ? I use it because it's not a usual thing to do in contrast of having a glass of milk. In both cases, it's just food but one is more "natural" than the other : it's not considering whey protein as medecine

David
 
I think the point being driven across to you is do you actually need the added protein? Take a look at your diet and you will be able to tell. If you do, then it is suggested to do something other than the whey like chicken.

The main reason is you are talking about how you aren't losing any more weight. If that is the case, adding more food isn't likely to change that. You need to take a look at your current calorie intake and figure out if it is too much. It likely is. Instead of adding whey protien, you need to be removing something.
 
Thanks for your reply Jericho,
You know I already count my calorie intake and I try to keep it around 1500-1800/day even if I don't really freak out about it. So it will become difficult to me to remove something.
My (new) plan is now I give up the idea of loosing weight. Instead, I want to "transform" (for the lack of a better word) my resistant fat into muscle.
So you replied to my question : whey protein is not really necessary if a glass of milk or two are sufficient to help me reach my goal.

Thanks a lot !!

David
 
Thanks for your reply Jericho,
You know I already count my calorie intake and I try to keep it around 1500-1800/day even if I don't really freak out about it. So it will become difficult to me to remove something.
My (new) plan is now I give up the idea of loosing weight. Instead, I want to "transform" (for the lack of a better word) my resistant fat into muscle.
So you replied to my question : whey protein is not really necessary if a glass of milk or two are sufficient to help me reach my goal.

Thanks a lot !!

David

hmm...you can't. Fat doesn't turn into muscle...any muscle you build will be under the fat. I don't know what more to suggest than reducing calories for the weight. You might be underestimating what you are eating, I don't know. Good luck :)
 
Heh. Ok, what I'm saying is still not getting through and I'm not sure how to put it.

You say there's no need to use whey (let's remove the word "take" from the equation) if milk will do.

It's not a question of "if milk will do". You have asked if consuming whey will help you build muscle. There is no answer to that becuase it's not the WHEY that builds muscle.

You build muscle by (a) consuming sufficient protein and calories and (b) stressing the muscle.

So ... are you consuming enough protein? If you are, then there's no need to consume more.

If you aren't, then whey is one option for a way to add more protein to your diet. I have a whey based drink after my workouts becuase it's fast and easy and tastes good and adds a little more protein to my diet. I could just as easily drink a glass of milk or eat a chicken breast, but the whey powder is something I can keep in my gym bag and not have to refrigerate. It's FOOD. Just like anything else I consume.

So for you .. the question you need to be asking is this: DO I NEED MORE PROTEIN.

If you do, then sure, have a whey protein drink. Or not. Whatever you want.

Whey is not the magic ingredient. Protein is. Do you need more? Then get it from somewhere - whey, chicken, whatever.
 
Whey is not the magic ingredient. Protein is. Do you need more? Then get it from somewhere - whey, chicken, whatever.

:iagree: This, as long as you realize that whey isn't a magic bullet. Taking it won't guarentee weight loss. In fact, if you're over your calorie limit the excess could go towards fat storage.

Some of the stickies at the top of this forum will help you with the fundamental ideas of weight loss vs muscle gain. You can't do both. Fat doesn't become muscle. You need to pick, and each has its own goals and objectives.

Do you know your lean body mass?
 
Hi Andy,

I don't know my lean body mass...
All I know so far is that I've lost a significant amount a weight and that my body looks firmer. I am happy with the progress but I'm not done...I would like to look more toned. That's why I wanted to hear from people who use protein supplement (like whey or anything else) if they have seen an improvement in the efficiency of their workout.

Thanks

David
 
^^
I take whey protein. Protein from food such as chicken breast is usually what's recommended, because it has the nutrients you need and is said to take longer to digest thus keeping you fuller longer. However if you need to get a good dose of protein in and don't have the calories or stomach space to spare then whey will do the trick.

Some people think whey protein will increase the efficiency if you consume it during your workout, because of the BCAAs it contains. That's really getting into the nitty gritty though, the biggest factor of the efficiency of your workouts is going to depend on what you eat as a whole. IF you are dieting (in a caloric deficit) your workouts are still being done in a catabolic state, by this I mean it doesn't matter what you take or how much of it you take, because you will not gain much strength or muscle without eating above maintenance calories.

Simply put, dieting is NOT the time to be trying to increase your efficiency in the weight room. If you want to look more toned, eat around 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass you have, and keep lifting weights while maintaining a caloric deficit. This will burn off the fat, and keep the muscle. This is essentially what is happening to you now, you may have had some initial strength and muscles gains if you were completely new to weight lifting, those will mostly stop now. Your muscles may appear to get bigger, but it's actually the fat burning off them. Like if you were trying to dig an object out of the sand at a beach, the object is not changing shape, the sand around it is just coming off. If you want to be putting on muscles or lifting more, you need to be eating at a surplus (ie the opposite of dieting) with more protein and a progressively higher load on your weights.

I find the best use of whey protein by the way as a post workout drink, drink it right after you workout
 
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I assume that the heavier you are, the more protein you need... not that I've actually found that information. I was thinking of making smoothies for desert, and maybe putting in 1/2 a scoop of whey protein to boost my protein intake. Or do you think I could taste it if I put it in my oatmeal? Can someone direct me to a site, or tell me the number of grams I need. At best in a day I've been getting 98 grams, and the right number for the average woman is 46, so 98 is good, right?
 
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How much protein you need is going to vary, but the average estimate for someone who is trying to lose fat is 1g of protein per pound of lean body weight. For most women of average weight, that's going to be somewhere between 100-130g per day.
 
How much protein you need is going to vary, but the average estimate for someone who is trying to lose fat is 1g of protein per pound of lean body weight. For most women of average weight, that's going to be somewhere between 100-130g per day.

Wow, really? So I should eat like three times as much protein? I didn't eat that much off my diet, lol. Or maybe I did, as I didn't count anything.
 
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