Is a protein shake for breakfast enough to get your metabolism going?

[Informant X]

Greetings,

I'm doing a diet to lose weight. It's a low fat, low cal, low carb atkins diet.

For breakfast I'd have a 30g protein shake.
Snake 10g protein atkins bar
Lunch 30g protein shake
Dinner 2 Smart ones frozen TV dinners.

So all that will be under about 20g net carbs, and under 1000 cals, and low in fat obviously.
I'm just wondering if a protein shake is enough to get your metabolism going in the morning? Or do you have to have solid food intake?

 

[xboxist]

Having been a frequent user of this forum for a few months now, but not really being confident enough in my own understanding of all things "health" -- I CAN warn you that you're about to be scolded by the masters of H&F for this diet approach. Eat solid foods, only consume a protein shake to counteract a workout, diets fail (lifestyle changes work), etc.

They will also direct you to the fat loss sticky atop this forum.

 

[Informant X]

Okay, so i'll throw a couple eggs in there for breakfast too then. I'm just trying to stay in a calorie deficit, that's all. :/

Didn't know that this is really bad for you or anything. But if this is wrong then someone please let me know.

 

[xboxist]

Oh, and for what it's worth... I'm down to 295 from 340 lbs. Started asking these guys for help in March, I think. I haven't done anything entirely too tricky. I've been tracking my calories daily, and started exercising 5-6 days a week. A balance of cardio and weight training.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: Informant X
Okay, so i'll throw a couple eggs in there for breakfast too then. I'm just trying to stay in a calorie deficit, that's all. :/

Didn't know that this is really bad for you or anything. But if this is wrong then someone please let me know.

what is your height/weight/age/gender?

because I know I can cut weight at moderate activity levels (weights 3x + cardio 2x a week) eating 2300-2500 calories

trying to go below 1000 seems way too low to me not only that but you will probably end up giving the diet up or losing alot of lean mass in the process even if you do stick with it

 

[NGC_604]

..

 

[brikis98]

I don't mean to be insulting, but that diet is an awful idea for numerous reasons:

1. No fruits, no veggies, virtually no whole foods whatsoever. You are starving your body of all vitamins, nutrients and all the essentials it needs to be healthy. Eating this way long term is likely to damage your health.
2. I'm not sure what your height/weight is, but unless you weigh under ~120lbs (in which case, why would you be on a diet?), 1000 calories is WAY too little. It'll put your body into a starvation mode (so you'll probably lose plenty of muscle, not just fat), your metabolism will plummet, you'll be hungry all the time, you'll have no energy, and you'll be miserable.
3. The "Atkins" diet is not low fat. The "low fat" diet is not low carb. So, it sounds like you're totally confused about what you're doing. Moreover, getting rid of entire groups of macronutrients from your diet is completely unnecessary and difficult to maintain long term.
4. You will not be able to maintain such an extreme diet for a long time. Even if you lose weight using this crazy approach, you'll regain it all - and more - as soon as you switch back to your normal eating habits.

Please take the time to read through the fat loss sticky. All you really need is a moderate caloric deficit, which is easily attained by eating slightly less or exercising slightly more.

 

[Informant X]

Hmm...Thanks for being cordial guys. I"m male and 26 years old. I started at about 230-235ish, and am now down to 225-220. Also my height is 6'1, 6'2. I'd like to lose another 15lbs or so. My WII also said my BMI was like 29.xx or so I used to do cardio every day too, but have had to cut back for other reasons. Maybe i'll just stick to the atkins diet then, and not worry so much about cal's. Anyway for cardio i used to run 2 miles a day, along with some lifting a cpl days a week. Do you guys have some diet suggestions? If not atkins what should I do? I'm the type of person which never used to eat breakfast cuz I didn't have time so I would just grab one of those "protein meal shakes" because it's easy and I can drink it on the go.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Informant X
Hmm...Thanks for being cordial guys. I"m male and 26 years old. I started at about 230-235ish, and am now down to 225-220. Also my height is 6'1, 6'2. I'd like to lose another 15lbs or so. My WII also said my BMI was like 29.xx or so I used to do cardio every day too, but have had to cut back for other reasons. Maybe i'll just stick to the atkins diet then, and not worry so much about cal's. Anyway for cardio i used to run 2 miles a day, along with some lifting a cpl days a week. Do you guys have some diet suggestions? If not atkins what should I do? I'm the type of person which never used to eat breakfast cuz I didn't have time so I would just grab one of those "protein meal shakes" because it's easy and I can drink it on the go.

Read the damn fat loss sticky.

 

[StageLeft]

It would be for a normal person, but unless you're really light that diet is poor. It's all extremely processed, non-fresh food for one and for two too low in calories. If you're eating ok you need not worry about "getting the metabolism going". It goes by virtue of your heart moving blood around your body and keeping it alive.

Now that I see your weight. First of all, of course you have time for breakfast, don't ever tell anybody ever again you don't. Breakfast doesn't have to be fresh fruit and cooked ham and an omelet. Just some decent food.

Forget the Fatkins diet. It's garbage. You can believe everyone who will tell you that or you can find it out for yourself, but I recommend saving yourself the pain.

At your weight, depending on where your maintenance is, I'd try doing some moderate cardio each day and eating 2000 calories. A highly active person at your weight doing moderate cardio could potentially lose weight on many more calories, but some people do have pretty low maintenance requirements.

So for food you should eat oatmeal, eggs, milk, chicken, vegetables, fruit, nuts, etc. Just real food. I do recommend counting calories, btw. Protein powder is fine. I have a lot myself, but only as a protein supplement for meals and never the basis of them.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: Informant X
Hmm...Thanks for being cordial guys. I"m male and 26 years old. I started at about 230-235ish, and am now down to 225-220. Also my height is 6'1, 6'2. I'd like to lose another 15lbs or so. My WII also said my BMI was like 29.xx or so I used to do cardio every day too, but have had to cut back for other reasons. Maybe i'll just stick to the atkins diet then, and not worry so much about cal's. Anyway for cardio i used to run 2 miles a day, along with some lifting a cpl days a week. Do you guys have some diet suggestions? If not atkins what should I do? I'm the type of person which never used to eat breakfast cuz I didn't have time so I would just grab one of those "protein meal shakes" because it's easy and I can drink it on the go.

this is what I stick to

Category I
veggies/ fiber
lean protein
monounsaturated fats +OFA
fruit (not fruit juice)
low GI carbs

Category II (limit)

saturated fat
high GI carbs

Catoegory III (avoid)
anything processed - (fast food, tv dinners)
trans fat - (snack food isle)


the best way to change your diet is go to a diet you can stick to all the time so you don't feel like you are dieting because as you stop dieting you are gonna gain all the weight.

Also change does not happen overnight so don't go changing your diet all in one day.

If you are not accustomed to eating lots of fruit and veggies than work them in and ease yourself into it.

IE try to get 2 to 3 servings of fruit a day and 1 veggie.

Work your way up to 1 veggie every meal, ween yourself off of processed food and transfat if you are are eating a ton of it.

You can pretty much eat as much category I as you want. Moderate in II and don't touch III or if you do make it less than once a week.

 

[Deeko]

way too low in calories, way too low in vitamins, likely too low in carbs as well.

Don't do atkins. Forget that he ever existed.

 

[MrMatt]

Originally posted by: brikis98
I don't mean to be insulting, but that diet is an awful idea for numerous reasons:

1. No fruits, no veggies, virtually no whole foods whatsoever. You are starving your body of all vitamins, nutrients and all the essentials it needs to be healthy. Eating this way long term is likely to damage your health.
2. I'm not sure what your height/weight is, but unless you weigh under ~120lbs (in which case, why would you be on a diet?), 1000 calories is WAY too little. It'll put your body into a starvation mode (so you'll probably lose plenty of muscle, not just fat), your metabolism will plummet, you'll be hungry all the time, you'll have no energy, and you'll be miserable.
3. The "Atkins" diet is not low fat. The "low fat" diet is not low carb. So, it sounds like you're totally confused about what you're doing. Moreover, getting rid of entire groups of macronutrients from your diet is completely unnecessary and difficult to maintain long term.
4. You will not be able to maintain such an extreme diet for a long time. Even if you lose weight using this crazy approach, you'll regain it all - and more - as soon as you switch back to your normal eating habits.

Please take the time to read through the fat loss sticky. All you really need is a moderate caloric deficit, which is easily attained by eating slightly less or exercising slightly more.

Pay attention to this. I was thinking the same thing. 1000 calories/day probably isn't enough to maintain ANY muscle.

 

[Informant X]

Alright thanks for the atkins input.
I'll scrap that right now

Breakfast will be 2 scrambled eggs on whole wheat toast, with a half a serving of protein powder
Lunch I'll have a turkey and cheese sammich on whole wheat, again with half a serving of protein power.
Dinner i'll try to have something healthy as well.

Should I have small snacks during the day too? Maybe like one of those special K 90 calorie bars or something? I heard you actually want to eat more that's why. Still gonna be hard to sneak in fruits and veggies, just not a fan. Would a multivitamin be a good idea then?

 

[NGC_604]

Become a fan. There are tons of fruits and vegetables out there, there has to be some that you can somewhat enjoy. For snacks, raw almonds make a great snack that you can easily eat during the day.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Informant X
Alright thanks for the atkins input.
I'll scrap that right now

Breakfast will be 2 scrambled eggs on whole wheat toast, with a half a serving of protein powder
Lunch I'll have a turkey and cheese sammich on whole wheat, again with half a serving of protein power.
Dinner i'll try to have something healthy as well.

Should I have small snacks during the day too? Maybe like one of those special K 90 calorie bars or something? I heard you actually want to eat more that's why. Still gonna be hard to sneak in fruits and veggies, just not a fan. Would a multivitamin be a good idea then?

If you really want it simplified, try the following:

1. Track calories on a site like thedailyplate.com or fitday.com and ensure you're eating ~500 less calories per day than you burn. Don't overdo the caloric deficit as too much will lead to all the issues mentioned in my first reply (hunger, tiredness, crashing metabolism, etc).
2. Take in sufficient protein (~1g per pound of lean body mass) and do weight training to help prevent loss of muscle mass. The idea is not to lose weight, but fat, so you need to convince your body to not burn up your muscles as fuel.

What to eat and how often is up to you as long as you follow the above two rules. Don't avoid any macronutrient groups. Just get the minimum amount of protein you need (#2) and split the remaining calories between carbs and fats. Having said that, you will probably be much more successful if you base your diet on "whole foods" as much as you possibly can. That is, eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meat, fish and whole grains. Avoid foods that are highly processed, have long ingredient lists (or ingredients you don't recognize), have lots of added fats, sugars, HFCS, etc. Eating whole foods is significantly healthier and will often also help you manage hunger levels.

BTW, there are countless types of fruits & veggies and many ways to prepare them: if you care about your health & losing weight, stop being lazy and go spend some time finding ones you like.

 

[StageLeft]

I don't think snacks make a huge difference either way. I swear by them because, especially when dieting, I cannot go hours without eating. Something has to go in my mouth (wtf!), so beyond water, I eat small bits of food.

Make sure to get some fruit/veggies. Also not a bad idea to get a final bit of protein just before bed. You could also do 100% fruit juice (be careful with calories, though) and V8 (be careful of salt). I really like a plateful (literally) of raw broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and then dip them either in hummus or a light ranch dressing because it's healthy, not high in calories, and takes a long time to eat.

 

[Redfraggle]

That diet makes my body feel bad just thinking about it. Get a juicer or something and make your own juice mixes. It can get expensive though, so depends on your budget for this. There are so many fruits and vegetables, start trying them. In fact, you can make it a part of your diet. Try a new fruit and/or vegetable 3 times a week. Even if you turn out to hate it, you'll get some good nutrients, and learn something. Read up online as to how best to prepare each fruit/veggie you try. It's actually a much more fun way to diet. Also, the more raw food you eat, the better your body digests it. Many raw foodists consume more calories and still lose weight.

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: Informant X
Alright thanks for the atkins input.
I'll scrap that right now

Breakfast will be 2 scrambled eggs on whole wheat toast, with a half a serving of protein powder
Lunch I'll have a turkey and cheese sammich on whole wheat, again with half a serving of protein power.
Dinner i'll try to have something healthy as well.

Should I have small snacks during the day too? Maybe like one of those special K 90 calorie bars or something? I heard you actually want to eat more that's why. Still gonna be hard to sneak in fruits and veggies, just not a fan. Would a multivitamin be a good idea then?

Try using this formula to plan meals: 25% lean protein, 25% starch/carbohydrate, 50% vegetable (non-starchy). That's what I would consider a balanced meal. Snacks should generally combine protein and a carbohydrate sources (e.g. PB&J, nuts & fruit - trail mix!, yogurt, etc.) but don't necessarily need to include a vegetable. A plan like 3 meals/2 snacks usually works for most people with weight loss. Generally, to stave off cravings, you want to be eating SOMETHING every 3-4 hours. It doesn't have to be a meal, just something.

Don't like veggies? C'mon...there's got to be at least ONE veggie you like, right? For example, if you like carrots, go down the root vegetable path. Look at sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, beets, root vegetables. Then branch out to other stuff. You have to be willing to have an open mind and experiment, experiment, experiment. If something doesn't taste good sauteed, it may taste better steamed or doused with salsa and hot sauce. There are some pretty neutral-tasting vegetables out there, like some of the summer squashes and/or zucchini. Most conventional supermarkets stock the same old stuff - lettuce, cabbage, carrots, asparagus, blah blah blah. Asian supermarkets tend to have this and a lot more.

Find recipes online. Talk to female family members to get recipes. Like something at a restaurant? Ask for the recipe - if they won't give it to you, ask what's in the dish. Goooooooooood luck!

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Kipper

Originally posted by: Informant X
Alright thanks for the atkins input.
I'll scrap that right now

Breakfast will be 2 scrambled eggs on whole wheat toast, with a half a serving of protein powder
Lunch I'll have a turkey and cheese sammich on whole wheat, again with half a serving of protein power.
Dinner i'll try to have something healthy as well.

Should I have small snacks during the day too? Maybe like one of those special K 90 calorie bars or something? I heard you actually want to eat more that's why. Still gonna be hard to sneak in fruits and veggies, just not a fan. Would a multivitamin be a good idea then?

Try using this formula to plan meals: 25% lean protein, 25% starch/carbohydrate, 50% vegetable (non-starchy). That's what I would consider a balanced meal. Snacks should generally combine protein and a carbohydrate sources (e.g. PB&J, nuts & fruit - trail mix!, yogurt, etc.) but don't necessarily need to include a vegetable. A plan like 3 meals/2 snacks usually works for most people with weight loss. Generally, to stave off cravings, you want to be eating SOMETHING every 3-4 hours. It doesn't have to be a meal, just something.

Don't like veggies? C'mon...there's got to be at least ONE veggie you like, right? For example, if you like carrots, go down the root vegetable path. Look at sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, beets, root vegetables. Then branch out to other stuff. You have to be willing to have an open mind and experiment, experiment, experiment. If something doesn't taste good sauteed, it may taste better steamed or doused with salsa and hot sauce. There are some pretty neutral-tasting vegetables out there, like some of the summer squashes and/or zucchini. Most conventional supermarkets stock the same old stuff - lettuce, cabbage, carrots, asparagus, blah blah blah. Asian supermarkets tend to have this and a lot more.

Find recipes online. Talk to female family members to get recipes. Like something at a restaurant? Ask for the recipe - if they won't give it to you, ask what's in the dish. Goooooooooood luck!

I'm just curious: other than your mention of nuts in snacks, where do you plan for fat? I've seen nutritionists use that plate method quite a bit and have never really discovered where they expect fat to come in.

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

I'm just curious: other than your mention of nuts in snacks, where do you plan for fat? I've seen nutritionists use that plate method quite a bit and have never really discovered where they expect fat to come in.

Variety is also stressed by most dietitians, so as far as fat would go you could either get it from cooking methods, fish, meats, poultry, dairy, avocados, and as always, legumes or straight up use oils in preparation (which everybody does - hopefully). Whole grains and certain vegetables would also contribute, although perhaps not to as great a degree.

It is VERY easy to cut your intake of fat too much if you eat out frequently and choose low-calorie options (e.g. salads, lean sandwiches), especially so with all the "fat free" products out there and the fat scares of the 80s. But virtually every single cuisine uses fat to some degree in cooking so you really have to be eating a fairly boring, tasteless diet to get fat-deficient (in which case you wouldn't have much variety, so you wouldn't be following recommendations).

 

[Turkish]

Dude, I am about 210 lbs, eat around 2500-2700 calories a day and still lose weight. And I have a desk job. I just eat healthy stuff and do cardio and lift weights 2 times a week each. One rule of thumb for me is that I try to stay away from any processed food whatsoever. In the supermarket, I just go to the fresh section to buy any veggie, fruit and meat I want + pasta. Also, I don't use any sort of oil except for olive oil... but that's a given for me as I am a Mediterraneano. Good luck...

 

[StageLeft]

Still gonna be hard to sneak in fruits and veggies, just not a fan. Would a multivitamin be a good idea then?

Of course not. A multivitamin will always be inferior to a good diet unless you have some specific medical need for a particular vitamin. There are more in foods than the macro vitamins/minerals in multivitamins. You're not a fan of fruits and veggies because they don't taste as good as junk food. All things equal I'd also always opt for a chocolate bar over a piece of fruit, but if you want this bad enough you will make sacrifices.

Get a juicer or something and make your own juice mixes.

Grocers also sell puree pure fruit juice now, like "smoothies" but minus any additional crap. They are not that cheap, but save money elsewhere and they're good.

 

[KoolDrew]

Low cals, low fat, low carbs, low protein.

You don't see a problem here?

 

[senseamp]

Nice (low sugar) bran muffin in the morning keeps metabolism going till lunch with slow burning cabs...