New Ice Cream Protein Shake Recipe Added

A recent visitor to Protein Bodybuilding.com suggested a new homemade protein drink recipe made from supplement powder combined with ice cream and fresh fruit. Tony's recipe is a mixture of banana, peach and strawberries with ice cream which makes a very tasty shake - I tried it and will be adding it to my personal list of favorites.

In my opinion, the shake recipes that use fresh fruit are my favorite because, as the author noted, you get more fresh fruit in your diet without having to stress so much about making yourself eat it at some other time during the day. You are also getting all the vitamins and energy fresh fruit provides.

Living in a tropical country as I do makes me feel luck as I can get great fruit cheap which makes for some pretty exotic protein shakes. Some of the more tropical fruits here like pineapple, mango and so on are SO sweet and SO juicy that the drinks I'm able to make are fantastic - sorry if I'm bragging a little too much.

So, give Tony's Banana, Peach and Strawberry Ice Cream Protein Drink a try today! Follow his example and get creative with your bodybuilding recipes and if you come up with something special, please, please share it with us and the rest of the bodybuilding world by submitting it to our site!

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You Drink Protein Shakes to Gain Lean Muscle or Mass According to our Poll!

First of all, thanks to everyone who took part in one of our recent polls 'What Do You Want Most From Your Bodybuilding Shake?'. At the time of this post, we had received over 260 votes and I think the results very clearly demonstrated that most people (in fact more than 80% of you according to the poll) purchase protein supplements and take protein shakes/drinks to either Gain Lean Muscle or Gain Mass / Bulk.

Results of this Bodybuilding Poll

The precise results we gained from this simple poll showed us that of the 267 votes gathered at the time of writing this post, your main reason for taking protein supplements was as follows:

1. Gain Lean Muscle - 41.9%
2. Gain Mass / Bulk - 40.4%
3. Lose Weight - 15.4%
4. Increase Energy - 2.2%

Clearly you can see that most visitors to the ProteinBodybuilding.com site (probably more than 80% of you) are interested in getting bigger! I'd say that the results of our poll show that almost the same number of people consume protein drinks to gain lean muscle as people consume protein drinks to bulk up or increase mass. Depending on what you put in your shake, you can of course tailor it to be a 'lean-muscle-gainer' or a 'mass-gainer'.

We also see a significant number of you (just over 15%) taking a leaf out of the bodybuilder's diet book because you understand how high protein shakes can be an integral part of the high protein diet many people pursue to help them lose weight.

Only a very small portion of you are looking to create shakes that increase energy but then that is expected because the energy a protein shake provides you is not really going to be dependant on the amount of protein but rather other ingredients added.

Remember this is predominantly a bodybuilding website and so results in this poll are naturally going to be heavily slanted towards a bodybuilder's stand point.

If you want to participate in this poll, please place your vote for this and the other polls here. Don't forget to check the results after you have voted.

Bodybuilding Breakfast; Vital Meal

We have all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This makes perfect sense because you have been sleeping for the past 8 to 9 hours (hopefully if you are lucky to get that amount of rest) and your body needs to be fed adequately to make up for the time you spent asleep.

Why I Need My Bodybuilding Breakfast

Personally, I used to suffer from headaches and suspected my diet had something to do with the problem. I did some research and discovered that headaches are often triggered in some people if they aren't eating regularly enough during the day. Sometimes I wake up with a headache and so I get some breakfast down me as soon as I can and my headache soon clears. I found a statement on the Tylenol headache medication website that suggests your meals should be less than '5 waking hours' apart and 13 'nighttime hours apart'. This would mean that the 8-9 hours sleep added to the time between my evening meal and falling asleep may be a large enough gap to trigger my headache. So, make sure you are getting your bodybuilding breakfast soon after waking up!

What Makes a Good Bodybuilding Breakfast?

I'm not a nutritionist but as I understand it, you need your breakfast needs to quickly 'refuel' you for the day ahead. Of course, a bodybuilder is going to need more fuel than the average person. Fuel is going to come in the form of carbohydrates. On top of this you will need to get a decent amount of protein to make up for the protein that your body did not get during the night. I think one of the perfect breakfast foods is oatmeal because it naturally contains carbohydrates and protein. Then all you need to do is add the supplementation and maybe some fresh fruit. You could make this into a shake or eat it as you would normally eat oatmeal (in a bowl?). The great thing about this idea is the simplicity and speed with which you can make it - perfect if you are rushing out the door to work. Here are two examples of bodybuilding breakfast recipes (note the second that I found on the About site that was recommended by a professional ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer):

• Protein & Wheat Bodybuilder Breakfast
• Anabolic Oatmeal Recipe (from the About: Bodybuilding website)

Of course, if you have more time in your mornings, you can make all sorts of bodybuilding recipe delights like pancakes, eggs, grilled bacon. etc, etc.

Please let me know what you think makes a good bodybuilding breakfast!

Cheap Protein Bars - Are they worth it?

First of All, What are Cheap Protein Bars?

Okay, this post is not about good discounted prices on reputable brands of protein bars available on the internet or your local sports supplements store. What I'm talking about are those cheap protein bars you sometimes find at wholesale supermarkets and the like (I'm not going to refer to any particular name or brand).

Nutritional Benefits of 'Cheap Protein Bars'

It stands to reason that the cheaper bars may be cheaper for a reason. If the manufacturer is cutting corners, you may be getting a bar that does have high protein in but also gives you too much of other factors you are avoiding - high calories might be one of these factors you are concerned with.

If you get into the science, and I do not claim to be someone who understands all of that, you find documentation about how the reputable supplement companies manufacture their protein to maximize muscle-building or weight loss benefits. Note, this documentation is provided by the manufacturers themselves so you should take that information as you see fit.

The Taste

I've tried a couple of cheaper protein bars and was not impressed with their flavors. Also, I found the ones I tried a little hard to get down my throat. Apart from the fact that their taste wasn't good enough, half way through eating them, I felt I was having to force them down because they were so 'heavy'.

My Opinion

If you get the chance, try a few different samples (you can buy a selection of single bars) and also do some background reading on the internet and then you will be able to find a bar that suits your nutritional needs and taste buds. Then stick with it until you find something better.

Why Not Make Your Own Cheap Protein Bars?

Of course, if you are on a strict budget, you might consider making your own bars. Using protein powders you already buy you can mix them with other ingredients (oats, honey, dried fruit, nuts, etc) to make your own very tasty bars. If you are interested in this, check out some protein bar recipes.

High Protein Diets: Using Supplements in Recipes

If you have read any of the Protein Bodybuilding blog (and indeed the rest of the site) you will already know that the focus so far has been on using protein supplements in your homemade recipes to help you meet your own high protein diet requirements.

Do I Need To Use Supplements?

This is a very popular question and at the end of the day it depends on your goals and your current diet. The average person eating a balanced diet probably does not need any supplementation because they are most likely getting the basic nutrition their body requires.

However, if you are reading this, you are likely to be someone who is on or considering a high protein diet. Most likely you are not going to be meeting the protein amounts you are looking for. Whether you are on a bodybuilding, fitness, weight loss, etc program, protein supplements can help you. It should be clear that protein supplements must not replace you current protein intake (that comes from everyday foods like meat, fish, dairy, etc, etc) but rather supplement your existing protein sources.

Bodybuilders know that protein is a fundamental building block of new muscle and so it is extremely important to make sure, as a bodybuilder, that you are supplying enough protein in your diet. Supplements make life a lot easier for maintaining this required high protein diet. This is why protein shakes are so popular - protein shakes are very convenient sources.

If you are on a weight loss diet, again, you are going to be pursuing a higher protein intake and supplement powders are going to make life easier for you.

Can I Use Protein Supplements in Recipes?

Sure, why the heck not? Anyone who has used powder supplements to create health shakes will know that flavor can be very disappointing. This is why you need to try different ways of using protein supplements in your diets. Get them in your recipes for drinks, snacks, bars, desserts and anything else you can think of.

One warning though, when you heat protein powder too much, I think the necessary properties are 'killed'. Please post a comment below if you know more about this.