Whey protein while dropping weight?

sitnspin · 07-05-2007, 09:59 PM

It's rare that I'm the one asking a question of this nature, but I'm honestly not sure of the answer and I'm asking for opinions.

As most of you know, I'm currently dropping weight. I'm lifting a few days a week still, but it's paired with major cardio -- I basically alternate days where I do a 3 mile run with days where I just do sprint intervals.

I'm currently at 195 (down from 238), and I'd like to make the last push to where I'm walking around somewhere between 185-190. The thing is, though, I haven't been supplementing with whey protein for about... three months. I'm not trying to build mass, but I'm lifting to try to preserve most of my muscle and strength in the midst of all this dieting and cardio.

So here's my question. If I'm generally eating light and clean, and busting my hump like a maniac at the gym and (now) the MMA school, how much harder will it be to keep dropping weight if I go back on regular protein supplementation? Say, an additional 50 grams per day.

I know that increased muscle will help with the fat loss, but will it also work against my goal of getting down to 185?

Thanks.

GSPALLTHEWAY · 07-05-2007, 10:05 PM

yup! im trying to get from 190 to about 182 and i add protein powder to my shakes in the morning

if your working hard, adding protein to help maintain or build muscle will help to burn fat... since your not lifting heavy you wont bulk up, but you also never want to lose muscle...
i say morning because you have all day to burn off any unwanted effects, while still having protein in your system on a regular basis... you dont HAVE to do it at all, but you certainly can

sitnspin · 07-05-2007, 10:08 PM

Right -- I know it'll help to burn fat, but if I'm purely talking about the number when I step on the scale, that could be another matter altogether.

GSPALLTHEWAY · 07-05-2007, 10:14 PM

true... but again you want to retain muscle because it burns calories, which will effect that number... for the number to drop watch your carb intake, but take enough in so you can work hard... experiment with how much that is for you, but whey protein, especially earlier on shouldnt hurt that one bit

The-Iceman-Chuck-Liddell · 07-06-2007, 12:20 AM

I heard somewhere that you only gain about 3 pounds of muscle in a month or two if you workout WAY hard and use protein. and BJ don't yell at me if i'm wrong. But I think it won't be a prob if that is true.

MTKrav911 · 07-06-2007, 04:26 PM

I think medically you'd just be more muscular and you should see if you can get a BMI test done when you muscle up (Body Mass Index) like I did about 8 years ago when I was a total lardass of 267

When I leaned down to 220, the doctor measured my BMI and it was far more normal and fat was down. That was with whey protein supplementaion, plus she said protein is always good for the heart, liver, and of course muscles because of its healing property.

I guess it'd depend on what you want Sit. If you want a muscular lean frame with little to no fat, or if you simply want to look lean with no fat would be the answer, because you will bulk up with whey protein. If my old fat ass could, anyone can.

Kaledonia · 07-06-2007, 05:17 PM

BMI's are useless though krav, if you want to know that your healthy for your size to height ratio then get your body fat percentage checked out via skin fold calipers.

Sit we do very similar workouts, I use a protein recovery shake after I leave the gym, just to make sure am getting enough good protein in my diet to 'maintain' lean muscle mass. You will still drop weight whilst taking it as long as your doing definition training, but as soon as you start gaining muscular size via strength training then obviously your going to gain weight quite rapidly, and then its the hard slog of training towards hypertrophy and cutting protein out your diet.

As long as your intensity is high all the time you got nothing to worry about, whilst doing the weights.

GSPALLTHEWAY · 07-06-2007, 05:24 PM

im pretty sure sit doesnt do any high weight low rep movements especially now, so the protein will not have any impact on weight gain at all.... im trying to lose about 10lbs while keeping all my muscle (kinda hard) but if i shave off 4% body fat im hoping itll reach there... whey shouldnt stop me from that at all, and in the long run should help by maintaining that muscle so it can BURN off more calories at rest

FatCat · 07-06-2007, 05:46 PM

Protein is essential. Don't think of whey as a muscle building supplement, think of it as a tool to aide recovery. Whether you're bulking or cutting or maintaining, whey should be part of your supplement plan. Most whey powders have less than 100 calories per scoop so that is rarely a problem either. You aren't going to gain any muscle while you are in a caloric deficit, and you're going to need that extra protein to help salvage the muscle mass you do have.

So to answer your question: In no way will supplementing with whey hinder your progress toward 185.

Trbowrx71 · 07-07-2007, 12:24 AM

BMI is not useless, it can be quite effective to losing weight, it will tell you how many calories you need to intake a day to maintin your current weight.

It is best to to stager your low cal though, 300 one day then 500 another thenn 700 another(less on all). If you do a steady number your body quickly becomes use to the depletion, and moving it around prevents your body from getting use to it.

Protein wont hurt ya at all and is essential in a bulking or cutting scenario.

Just watch the type of protein you get, some of them, espically the cheaper one's, are usually full of sugar's and carbs as fillers for the cheaper protein your using.

Isopure zero carb is great, if you can stomach the taste and the fact it's 50$$ for 8lbs.

Crashsti · 07-11-2007, 10:34 AM

hey Sit, not often you have a question. here is a link to Designer Whey brand protein's home page. while its not an independent site it still has alot of information on Whey protein and its uses, including dropping weight. Whey protein is just another nutrient and source of calories. its just also happens to be a very precise and healthy way of getting your protein. get what you can from it.
DESIGNER WHEY | America's #1 Protein Since 1993

texmo · 07-15-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaledonia

BMI's are useless though krav, if you want to know that your healthy for your size to height ratio then get your body fat percentage checked out via skin fold calipers.

Not true, Its unhealthy to have a high BMI even if you are pure muscle as it puts a lot of strain on your heart to pump all that extra blood around your body. You still got to take it into account.

06_ryan_06 · 11-03-2007, 07:48 AM

if you want to build muscle you will have to eat more calories to to get the protien into your muscles to build them up.
if your not putting the protien in to build them you cant make them bigger.
when i first started i eat normally and had no gains.
when i did reaserch and started eating 3 eggs and a protien shake before training with a protien shake in the middle of training then one as soon as i finished with protien all day long,i found there were lots os building blocks to build up my muscles and my gains were impressive.