[Drotar]

Quick backstory.<br><br>
-Started being a vegetarian 2.5 weeks ago.<br>
-I eat very unhealthy, but I did so even before I became a vegetarian. Now I just don't have to kill animals to do it.<br>
-Every April I get membership at a local gym<br>
-This year I'm considering getting a protein supplement to help my workout/gain muscle.<br><br>
This year it may be even more important because I don't know if I am getting enough protein. I used to get way more than I needed, but now that I'm vegetarian, I'm unsure. I basically have no idea how much protein I'm supposed to be getting, or that I even actually am getting.<br><br>
So lets just assume I am not getting anywhere near enough. Will drinking one of those workout protein shakes daily, after a workout, help me get what I need, or am I completely wrong?

 

[Mrs. T]

It's pretty hard to not get enough protein if you're getting enough calories and are not a junk food vegetarian.<br><br><a href="http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/protein.html" target="_blank">http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/protein.html</a><br><br><a href="http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/green-glossary-protein-myth.html" target="_blank">http://planetgreen.discovery.com/foo...tein-myth.html</a><br><br>
One of those protein shakes would probably give you more than enough, which isn't necessarily a good thing.

 

[SomebodyElse]

Here is one example of what I might eat over the course of a day. I will have four bananas, two oranges, four small apples, eight ounces of strawberries, two grapefruits, the juice of one lemon, a head of romaine lettuce, two tomatoes, half a hothouse cucumber, a few slices of onion, a clove or two of garlic, two cups of broccoli, eight ounces of spinach, one cup of green peas, and one tablespoon of a mixture of equal parts of ground flax, sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds, and a brazil nut, and I get fifty two grams of protein from eating like this. That's without eating any beans or grains.<br><br>
You can figure out what you are getting from plugging what you eat into a site like Fitday.com or Nutridiary.com. It'll set your mind at ease when you see for yourself exactly how much nutrition you are getting from your foods.

 

[Doktormartini]

Just eat food you don't need a protein supplement. Eat a meal that has a little higher amounts of protein in it you should be fine. You probably don't even need to make sure it has higher amounts of protein in it. I'd suggest making a green smoothie with chia seeds because you're getting greens (you said you eat unhealthy) and chia contains protein, calcium, and omega fatty acids.

 

[New England Vegan]

I work out a lot and particularly focus on weight lifting. I eat Clif Bars (the Builder Bars = 20 grams of protein) like they're going out of style. Today for instance I lifted for two hours so I ate a Clif Bar before I went and one when I got home, had a Tofurkey Italian Style Sausage and soup for Lunch and I was looking at about 80 grams of protein by lunch time. By the end of the day I'll be topping of at 95-100 grams of protein. I certainly wouldn't worry about taking in this much protein if I weren't feverishly working out all the time. Every now and then I take 5 days to a week off from the gym and during those times I typically take in about half that amount of protein. I thought about protein shakes before, but I have no problem getting enough protein through my diet (and I'm a Vegan) for my body to recover and build muscle so I figured why bother?

 

[SeitanWorship]

It's probably unnecessary <i>unless</i> you're intentionally trying to gain a lot of muscle mass. Back when I was doing heavy weightlifting 5 times a week, I did have to start drinking protein shakes to get myself over a plateau.<br><br>
But if you're just doing a normal level of exercise, I wouldn't worry about it. You only need about 50 grams of protein a day, and that's not hard to get at all. Before you add them in, you might want to figure out how much protein you're getting in a typical day.<br><br><a href="http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm" target="_blank">http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm</a>

 

[WonderRandy]

I'm vegan, and on a high protein regimen at the moment, and consume 150-175 grams of protein a day. Protein shakes are critical for me to keep those levels going.<br><br>
I know a lot of people have issues with high-protein diets, but it's working for me, and my progress is being carefully supervised.

 

[Dewski]

<div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>New England Vegan</strong> <a href="/forum/post/2848479"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style=""></a><br><br>
I work out a lot and particularly focus on weight lifting. I eat Clif Bars (the Builder Bars = 20 grams of protein) like they're going out of style. Today for instance I lifted for two hours so I ate a Clif Bar before I went and one when I got home, had a Tofurkey Italian Style Sausage and soup for Lunch and I was looking at about 80 grams of protein by lunch time. By the end of the day I'll be topping of at 95-100 grams of protein. I certainly wouldn't worry about taking in this much protein if I weren't feverishly working out all the time. Every now and then I take 5 days to a week off from the gym and during those times I typically take in about half that amount of protein. I thought about protein shakes before, but I have no problem getting enough protein through my diet (and I'm a Vegan) for my body to recover and build muscle so I figured why bother?</div>
</div>
<br>
It's great that you're looking out for the vegan type of bars but are you aware that they are not gluten free? I use a vegan/gluten free protein powder & make my own protein bars (no bake <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/wink3.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="">) Since you said you eat them like they are going out of style, maybe going this route would be cheaper for you?