503 posts shown.
driftingtinker7 said:Maybe I'm out of the loop here, but since when did we start mixing protein with milk?
Actually—since when was protein actually better with milk than with water?
Milk is a whole food—it’s got sugars, fats, proteins, and a whole stack of vitamins and minerals.
Shakes can be made from just about anything, but whey is the standard, and it's just one of the proteins found in milk.
Look, if you mix pure whey with water, you're just hitting your system with protein. Your body still needs energy to function, so it ends up converting some of that protein into sugar just to meet immediate demands.
If you go with milk, the lactose and fats take over that job, plus you get those extra dairy proteins and nutrients in the mix.
You could always just drink it with water and toss in some added sugar—glucose or sucrose, for instance.
The bottom line is that you only really need that extra fuel if you're training hard and your body actually demands those higher quantities.
If you aren't training, nothing bad will happen—but you won't see any extra benefit either.
dustyskipper3 said:Sometimes it feels like life just doesn't have much of a point, and like there's nothing but negativity surrounding us... though, I suppose maybe one should just try to shift their perception. But how does one actually change their (spiritual) perception? I guess there are various techniques out there. Some people find enlightenment by reading Zen parables or perhaps visiting Sai baba. Meditation might help quite a bit with shifting your perspective and reaching higher states of consciousness. There are also rituals or prayers that can be used to call upon a higher awareness—which could include something as simple as attending a Catholic Mass at a local church, or for some, it might even involve an immediate, mystical, initiatory experience that alters one's perception and level of consciousness.
Gratitude is a reliable technique. There’s a whole tradition of it within Christianity.
By simply listing what we're thankful for—making a conscious effort to hunt for the good stuff—we force our focus toward the positive. If you turn this into a daily ritual, it actually starts to impact your mood.
It also recalibrates your perception; if you’re actively looking for things to be grateful for, you’ll start noticing the decent parts of life more often than if you just let them pass you by.
Well, finals week is officially here. Rather than wasting precious study hours cleaning my apartment or hitting up endless coffee shops around town, I’ll be hanging out here instead. 😬
On counting calories
Most weight loss strategies attempt to create a caloric deficit indirectly—basically, a way to avoid the hassle of actual counting. It works for some, sure. Plenty of people manage to drop body fat by following various, sometimes questionable, rules. But ultimately, the only rules that actually move the needle are the ones that force you to eat less. Some people struggle to lose even an ounce, regardless of how strictly they follow the rules.
If you want absolute certainty that the scale will move, you have to count calories. You can actually eat quite a bit compared to certain restrictive diets; you don't need to ban specific foods. Eat bread, eat pasta, put sugar in your coffee if you want, have some chocolate. As long as your total intake stays below your limit, the weight drops. Guaranteed by the law of thermodynamics.
The first step is establishing your daily limit. There are plenty of calculators online—for instance, this one (to find your BMR, or what you burn just staying alive), and then this one where you factor in your activity level. The issue with these calculated limits is that they aren't perfect. The formulas essentially calculate what someone with zero body fat would burn, so for the average person looking to diet, the suggested limit is often too high. You get a more accurate estimate if you input your lean body mass or simply the weight you want to reach. Subtract 500 from that number, and you have your starting point.
In practice, your daily limit is something you figure out through trial and error. Start with the calculated number. If you lose about five pounds after a week or two, you're on track. If the scale isn't budging, trim the limit down—maybe by 200 or 300 calories. If nothing happens after another couple of weeks, trim it again.
If you overeat one day, just eat a little less the next. No big deal.
Tracking intake can be surprisingly precise. Thankfully, we have the internet and computers to make this easier. You can use tools like MyFitnessPal (which is easy to navigate) or Lose It! (which is also solid). Most packaged goods list calories per 100g and provide the total weight, so that part is straightforward. The hurdle is usually fresh food that lacks a label, which causes many people to quit tracking altogether. Don't. The best way is to use a food scale. Weigh something once, and you'll know exactly how much that portion weighs every time thereafter. If you don't have a scale or lack the willpower to use one, just eyeball it. If you cut five slices from a pound of bread, each slice is roughly 100g. Apply that same logic to meat, potatoes, and similar items. This link shows you what 200 calories looks like, arranged from lowest to highest calorie density: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-20...-look-like.htm
Bottom line: either plan your meals for the week in advance, or spend ten minutes at the end of the day logging everything you ate so you can adjust tomorrow.
If you cook the same meals frequently, save the recipes in your log so you only have to enter the amount you actually consumed. Just make sure you account for everything—snacks, sweets, sodas, ice cream. Everything.
That's the whole secret. It feels a bit overwhelming at first, but you'll get used to it quickly, and the counting becomes second nature. The best part is that you eventually develop a gut feeling for calorie density—knowing which foods you can eat in bulk and which ones you should keep in check.
Alex Long8 said:Look, I get it—it's Walmart. It’s not that I’m some brand snob; protein is protein, right? But picking up supplements at Walmart just feels off. If the price point is basically the same, I'm definitely going with Scitec every single time.
Walmart got a bad reputation because, frankly, they were stocking garbage—at least when it comes to protein—and they're still keeping that stuff on the shelves. If I recall correctly, this shift happened relatively recently.
Alex Long8 said:Scitec has 1kg of casein for $62 which is insanely cheap...
....I don't bother with all that nonsense about Scitec being garbage—I have a few buddies who've been using their whey since day one and they're seeing great results....
http://www.fitness-ducan.com/product...roducts_id=191
👍
Walmart has DM DasGesunde Elweiss 90—90% whey, a tiny bit of soy, and—ugh—only vanilla flavor, 300g $18 (which is basically a kilo, $62)
You really need to watch the label there; they usually stock some trash gainers from the same manufacturer right next to it, plus some "neutral" flavored whey that’s supposedly tasteless and a nightmare to mix.
The packaging is small, too—not that anyone actually wants vanilla...
Amy Morris36 said:If this is supposedly the best flavor, I can only imagine how bad the others are...
By the way—if I tried drinking this before a workout, I’d definitely end up throwing up...
Fine, it's not the end of the world if I just have it afterward... besides, it kills my appetite, so I can't eat anything else anyway.
Are you mixing it with water or milk? Personally, I find it tastes much better with milk—plus the extra sugar helps.
Just finish the tub since you already spent the money on it.
wearyotter81 said:Hey, how's it going? 🙏
Muscle Milk Banana. 😍
What else is a woman supposed to do—shove a Muscle Milk Banana down her throat? 🙄
😬
Paul Vaughn71 said:😁
Same here—haven't found anything better yet.
And I'm certainly no chocolate enthusiast. 😳
🙏
Vanilla works for me too.
Every now and then.
Jacob Chase42 said:I don't know much about the flavor profiles—that’s not really my area—but when it comes to the actual nutritional intake, I personally think it's better to just drink it. Before. It’s about the training. You want the body to actually have those nutrients ready to go when it needs them—not just sitting there waiting for some post-workout shake to kick in.
Well, it’s a bit of a "yes and no" situation. If you're actually sitting down for a proper pre-workout meal—and you should be eating properly, obviously—then there’s no reason not to include some protein in the mix.
A post-workout shake serves a specific purpose—it’s about triggering anabolism right when your body actually needs it. That's the whole point.
Need to sync up my training with my protein intake—and honestly, my whole diet.
Amy Morris36 said:The chocolate flavor 😬
is getting old... any better options out there?
Nope. It’s easily the best one.
Patrick Wright2 said:Spot on. You should be using your brain to actually find the truth, not just twisting things to back up some pre-packaged opinion or a stubborn point of view.
seeking
truth is a much higher motivation than what most people actually bring to a conversation or an argument in their daily lives. It's hard to shake those lower motives—they're baked right into how we function.
Those lower motives are usually about climbing the social ladder—elevating yourself by tearing someone else down, or both at once. Evolution hardwired this into us because status brings benefits, and all of that carries over perfectly into the digital world.
For instance, the subtext in the very first post of this thread is basically, "They’re inconsistent, I’m not; I’m better/above them."
Or take this post here: "I am explaining things to you, therefore I am superior." 😬
Subtle stuff. If memory serves, it's called meta-communication. Messages hidden between the lines.
Patrick Wright2 said:I’ve been noticing lately on this forum that some folks—and I’m talking about the ones who actually show a spark of intelligence and common sense, not the clowns who basically trip over their own feet in a single sentence 🤦—who tend to lean into logical, coherent reasoning and follow a thought process pretty selectively when they're using their brains.
For example, someone will grab a logical argument just to tear down someone else's point, completely failing to see that the exact same logic totally nukes their own argument too. So, they just pick and choose where to apply logic, staying totally blind to it whenever it hits their own side of the fence.
That kind of intellectual hypocrisy and inconsistency really gets under my skin. Personally, if I ever debunk a claim and realize it might actually mess with my own stance, I’m more than willing to pivot and revise my view if it turns out I was being illogical.
Have you guys run into this kind of mindset before, and honestly, how do you even get people to start applying the same logical standards to themselves as they do to everyone else?
The "problem" is that people often argue just to win. I don't think anyone is immune to that ego boost, even when they enter a debate thinking they're being objective. It clouds the logic—inevitably.
Another thing—this logical inconsistency is especially prevalent among highly intelligent people. They're used to winning intellectual sparring matches. Once they've built a conviction, it's usually well-reasoned, but that "certainty" can become a blind spot that overrides pure logic.
edit: which explains why most members of Mensa just bicker instead of building anything constructive. 😁
I wouldn't define "certainty" as much as an emotion—one that overpowers the rational side. Avoiding it requires specific training. 😁
Have you encountered this mindset before? And how do you force those types to apply the same logical standards to themselves as they do to everyone else?
It won't always work. Some people are simply closed off to changing their minds. You have to respect their perspective while pointing out where they're right and highlighting the new evidence they've conveniently ignored.
Paul Vaughn71 said:I didn't realize their ingredients were identical.
😕
I know exactly what you meant.
Look at the macros—it’s a joke. You’re looking at maybe 15g of protein per 100g in a typical mass gainer, whereas a decent whey isolate hits closer to 80g—and with a much better amino acid profile, too. It’s obvious why anyone worth their salt sticks to whey. Even for beginners, the math doesn't add up. These gainers are just overpriced buckets of carbs with barely any protein to back them up. If you're just starting out, you'll feel the difference—not just in your wallet, but in how quickly that extra fat starts stacking on. Stick to the basics.
You said it yourself—a gainer is just overpriced whey mixed with glucose.
I agree.
If you want to cut costs even further—just go with whey and saccharin. Simple as that.
It’ll yield the exact same results—especially if you're just starting out. Most gainers are packed with filler ingredients like glutamine, added BCAAs, or EFAs that honestly don't do much for you. And don't even get me started on the maltodextrin—or any of those glucose derivatives they shove in there. It's mostly just empty fluff.
Scott Ortiz3 said:Check the label on that Whey versus any standard Mass Gainer... you'll see pretty quickly that you're mistaken. 😉
You're right that the ingredient lists aren't identical on paper—but practically speaking, they are. Honestly, if you're just starting out, there’s zero real difference whether you grab a pre-made gainer or just DIY a mix of sugar and protein at home.
mellowsurfer15 said:Is soy protein actually any good? I saw some soy granules at the grocery store today meant for making veggie patties. It had 50g of protein per 100g—pretty impressive. I don't think many other foods hit that kind of ratio.
It's strange to me that nobody here has even brought it up.
Soy has been mentioned before.
But honestly, I'm not sure. I've seen people praise it and others tear it apart. Some studies say it's fine, others say stay away—you tell me. 🤷
Bottom line—when it comes to building muscle, the amino acid profile makes soy protein a step behind dairy-based proteins.
rustyowl4 said:There isn't really a per-meal limit—it's more about the hourly rate. If your body can absorb 30g of protein an hour, but you slam 50g of Whey that breaks down within that same window, then at least 20g is basically wasted...
I get the feeling you're just pulling numbers out of thin air here, though you aren't entirely off base. 👍 Whey can be absorbed at a rate of roughly 8-10g per hour—different proteins have different speeds, obviously—so it depends heavily on the specific source. It’s unlikely everything digests in a single hour; it’ll probably take much longer.
Digestion time stretches even further if the Whey isn't taken on an empty stomach (standard pre-workout protocol) or if it's paired with other foods. That actually helps utilization, since it slows down amino acid oxidation.
Of course, it all comes down to muscle mass—the more you have, the more protein you can actually utilize. Honestly, the best metric for "enough protein in a post-workout meal" is likely whatever amount doesn't give you digestive issues. 😁
-You can pull in 100g of protein in a single sitting if the food source is slow-digesting enough.
👍
The combination of foods you consume matters just as much.
Paul Vaughn71 said:Just drink a 100g scoop and you'll see exactly what kind of gas those beans produce! 😂
so if we're talking about now 😁
Fine, I’ll concede there isn't a hard cap—but 30g is still way too low.
If there were a real 30g limit, people eating just two or three meals a day wouldn't be able to hit their protein targets to sustain muscle growth—yet they clearly do. With the Warrior diet and Intermittent fasting being so mainstream right now, people are seeing decent results while cramming their entire daily protein requirement into just a few sittings. That puts them well beyond 30g per meal.
There’s zero actual proof that there's some hard cap on how much protein your body can digest in a single sitting. As far as I can tell—and I've looked into this—it's just another fitness myth. If anyone actually has some real data to back up the opposite, feel free to lay it out.
Jonathan Miller7 said:Either they’re actually swapping out real meals for this stuff—or they just think it'll give them muscles like some Hollywood action star.
👍
For me, it started as the latter, but now it's definitely the former. 😬
I'd rather skip the whole ordeal—cleaning the stove, prepping ingredients, chopping through pounds of meat—and just knock back a liter of milk, some magic powder, and fruit. 🙂
Matthew Richardson81 said:Not sure if you caught it—that last sentence, "I feel like junk."
Yeah, but strictly in terms of 'extra calories.'
I jumped into the thread because my approach is pretty much the same—and honestly, I don't see the harm in it. As long as the foundation is solid—complex carbs, lean protein, fruit, veggies, dairy, and so on—throwing in some tasty junk food now and then isn't going to ruin everything.