Ive been working out for a while and now decided i should start taking some protein... i hate the taste of ther shake and the drinks. i found that gnc offers a liquid protein you only take 3 tablespoons and get 18g. I wanted to know if this was good and if i wanted to up the amount of protein would it be safe to take 6 tbsp and get 36g?

i hope that you have already been taking protein?

its the total amount of protein that you ingest thats important, not whether it comes in powder or food. are you eating protein foods, ie chicken, lean red meat, cottage cheese, milk, etc?

use supps like these to fill in the gaps. you dont need them if you're already getting enough protein in your diet.

i havent been taking protein and dont think im getting enough in my diet. COuld this be the reason i am always tired? how much should i be taking?

the general number many go by is one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. so if you weigh 150lbs, that would be 150 grams of protein.

it could be the reason you're always tired. muscles are made of protein. if you're training hard and not eating properly, your body will look to its next protein source: existing muscle mass. this causes a catabolic state in the body.

what about your bodyweight? has it stayed the same, increased or decreased?

im 6'4" 183lbs i lost 3 pounds in about 4 days... this has never happened. So i should be taking about 150gram sof protein per day?

feeling tired, losing weight, looks like its catching up to you.

i would suggest you take a few days off from your training. take a break. then hit the weights again.

if you're no where close to 183 grams of protein, take your time and slowly start eating more. let your body get adjusted to the increase.

as a rough example, 1 can of tuna is over 30 grams, 1 large chicken breast is over 30 grams. thats 60+ right there and i didnt even mentioned the milk, cottage cheese or eggs yet.

Thanks alot, so if i dont get enough from my foodi can also add in the supplements to reach the amount of protein my body needs right?

If you are workingout hard you may need even more than 1 gram/lb of body weight. Some sources recommend 1.5-2 grams/lb. You should try to spread the intake out over 6 or more meals per day. The supplements are useful as snacks to incerase your daily protein intake. Some of the protien bars are not too bad tating these days and supply 30+ grams per bar. If you have a blender you can try adding bananas, ice cream, etc. to protein drinks to improve the taste.

yea, some use 1 or 2 servings of protein powder a day.

The thing is my mom sent me up the liquid protein which is 18grams per 3 tablespoons. it tastes like liqud jello. so instead of this liquid should i find a powder with a lot of protein, i have seen a powder with about 50grams per serving.

IMO, the powder is the best. but watch out on the amount of grams of protein.

those of us who have been doing this for awhile learn this lesson years ago with weight gain powders. the supplement companies would try to outdo each other with how many calories they could get per serving. one had 900 calories, then 1000, then 2000, then 3000. the higher the number got, the less servings you would get per container.

they're starting to do the same thing with protein powders now. i use optimum nutrtions whey. its a 5lb container with 80 servings and 23 grams of protein per serving. so just to say if you would use 1 serving a day, the container would last you almost 3 months.

those brands with 50+ grams of protein per serving probably dont have many servings available. look at how many servings you would use a day and see how long the container would last you.

thanks for all the help guys. just one more question. I got some powder with 40g of protein per serving and about 200 cal per serving. it says for best results take 1 hour after workout. I take it one hour after my workout but can i also take it before or would that be too much?

its fine

that was a very fast reply. thanks for all the help again.

I have about 10% body fat and want to lose most of it to show some cuts. I want to try some supplements, is there anything that works? I have seen that ephedra is not safe, is this true? One of the trainers in my gym recommended CLA, have you heard of this? I have been dieting and lost some weight but havent gained muscle while dieting. I want to eat food thatll help gain muscle but also show those muscles.