Lets have your recipes for low-calorie protein shakes!

October 26, 2006 9:29 AM

Lets have your recipes for low-calorie(*) protein shakes!

So I'm actively losing weight by scaling back on calories. This is good.


I'm mixing in(ugh) a low-calorie protein shake for breakfast. I'm starting to tire of the 8oz 2% milk, 1 scoop chocolate whey protein + the banana shake. That thoroughly fills me up and is under 300 calories(**).

I have chocolate and vanilla protein powder at my disposal. Sometimes I mix in a little bit of Adams peanut butter but that adds another 100 calories (but its sooooo yummy!).

I'm also thinking of trying a protein shake for lunch or at least when I get hungry during the middle of the day.

Sooooo, the hive, what are some other options that have worked for you? (Approximate) calorie counts would be helpful.

* and **: Yes, I said low calorie; no I dont know if 300 calories is considered low-calorie or not. I do know that this regimen is working for me in terms of weight-loss. I am also a rather active cyclist/basketball player(albeit heavy). I'm trying to consume ~2000 calories/day. Sometimes I require additional calories because I'm just famished from riding 3 hours the day before. hope this helps.

posted by neilkod to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

Response by poster: Oh, and by the way, if anyone's interested, I'm getting inspiration from:

#1 Getting my ASS kicked (and sometimes dropped) on my cycling group rides. I'm not going to improve my power/weight ration by getting more powerful, that's for sure!

#2 The hackers diet

#3 The lose weight diet
posted by neilkod at 9:32 AM on October 26, 2006

I'm not following the Abs Diet plan, but I drink a lot of protein shakes too and like the recipes on the diet's website. They're tasty. I often add the whey powder to them. Here's one, but If you poke around on that recipe site for smoothies, or get one of their books from the library, there are more:

Atomic Smoothie
Servings:2 people

INGREDIENTS
1 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 banana, cut into small pieces
1 small kiwi, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon toasted wheat germ
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

PREPARATION
Mix it all in a blender. Drink. Wipe mouth.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Calories: 303 calories
Sodium: 140 mg
Fat: 10 g
Protein: 13 g
Fiber: 4 mg
Cholesterol: 3 g
posted by jamesonandwater at 9:50 AM on October 26, 2006

I don't know the calories on these shakes, but here are two I like:

Coffee-Chocolate Shake

skim milk
ice cubes
2 scoops chocolate whey powder
a spoonful of instant coffee granules


Orange-Strawberry Shake

2 scoops of vanilla whey powder
cup orange juice
small handful or two or frozen or fresh strawberries
1/2 banana
ice cubes
splenda packet or two
a tiny bit of vanilla extract if I remember

I got the recipes a few years ago from an exercise website I frequent. They are great tasting, and sometimes I tweak them to what I have on hand. Usually I am super-duper lazy and just do skim milk and chocolate whey powder. Congrats on your weight loss, and thanks for the links.
posted by LoriFLA at 9:52 AM on October 26, 2006

PS your second link's busted. What's the url, out of curiosity?
posted by jamesonandwater at 9:52 AM on October 26, 2006

I'm glad The Hacker Diet and that other thing are working for you, but they're both pretty shitty as far as diets go, and should be discontinued as soon as possible. You need to find a diet with an emphasis on fresh, minimally processed food if you want to maintain healthy eating habits. The diet you're on is ok for short periods like a month, though.

I go with milk, frozen fruit, protein powder, and yogurt. If you want to get fancy you can add some flax oil or EFAs to it.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 10:05 AM on October 26, 2006

Response by poster: Mr. Gunn, you're not in my shoes. I have no problem maintaining my body weight through healthy eating and exercise. I had to change my relationship with food for the weight loss to actually take place.

I try and stick with fresh, unprocessed food. However, I would eat my share and then some more. Even with all of this exercise, I still need to watch what I eat.

Those 'diets' are basically common sense ideas. Consume fewer calories than you burn. Here are some really easy things I'm doing to 'save' on calories

-Eat breakfast EVERY day
-Only eat when hungry (this was hard at first)
-Hold the cheese + mayo
-Cut down on the amount of sugar in my coffee
-Pass on the chips when eating at mexican restaurants
posted by neilkod at 10:17 AM on October 26, 2006

Those are all good tips. Everyone is different, and I'm glad you've found something that works for you to lose weight. However, it's not weight you should be worried about, but rather health and (optionally) attractiveness. Weight is just one factor that determines the above.

Once you've changed your relationship with food, come back and revisit the fact that a diet that doesn't contain predominantly fresh, minimally processed food is not a healthy diet and should not be followed long-term.

Again, I'm glad you've found something that is working for you now, but please don't lose lose the forest among the trees like so many people do.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 10:32 AM on October 26, 2006

Think about what you are eating when you are riding, too. It always boggles my mind how many overweight distance riders I see and meet. All that LSD riding means that your body acclimates and becomes more efficeint and just doesn't require as many calories. But people just shovel in the sports drinks and sports bars because they once bonked.
posted by fixedgear at 10:41 AM on October 26, 2006

Response by poster: Ok Mr. Gunn now we're really off-topic here but what the heck.


My health is not in question. I ride 5-hour-centuries(moving), which is respectable. I dont think my attractiveness is at question either. My goal is to be a more effective cyclist by increasing my power/weight ratio. All cyclists want to improve their p/w ratios. Some want to gain power, some want to lose weight. I'm no slouch on the power side :)

Prior to making changes to my eating habits(and amounts), I have been at the same weight for about two years. This is with a 100 mile/week cycling habit. During this time, I tried to eat (mostly) natural, non-processed, easily-digestable food. However, I have come to the realization that I've been eating way too much of it. I needed to change my relationship with food.

Usually I would 'load up' on food by riding. Sometimes I would drink way too much sports drink AFTER a ride. Those two examples alone pretty much negate the calorie burn of a two hour ride. So did the constant (sometimes nervous) snacking, even if it was nuts/trail mix/etc.

I dont plan on being in weight-loss mode forever, but I am picking up some nice habits along the way. Lifelong habits. I've eliminated sugar from my coffee. Dont miss it. I'm learning to listen to my body and only eat when hungry. That has to do something for the ol' discipline. I'm paying a ot more attention to the caloric values of certain foods. I'm learning to eat better on the bike instead of eating to 'fuel up' before rides.

Now, back on topic, explain EFA's and flax seed oil please. Are there health benefits, or are those for taste?
posted by neilkod at 10:50 AM on October 26, 2006

Response by poster: Heh fixedgear, yeah that was part of my issue. I dont do a whole lot of LSD, I'm usually pushing it with an occasional 'easy ride' every 2 weeks or so (yes, i know). Most of my rides are at tempo (or up a big-ass canyon) so I'm working hard.
posted by neilkod at 10:51 AM on October 26, 2006

Response by poster: doh, load up on food BEFORE riding, not by riding.
posted by neilkod at 10:53 AM on October 26, 2006

Ah, well! That clears things up. I didn't realize this was a training question as opposed to a more generic weight loss question.

Essential Fatty Acid's are the main nutritional ingredient missing when you make fat-free protein shakes. EFAs are essential components of the diet, and can moderate the type and severity of inflammatory responses as well as improve your recovery time. Wikipedia's pretty good on the subject.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 11:35 AM on October 26, 2006

Frozen blueberries added to your standard vanilla protein shake are yummy.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc. are also good when you need a change of flavour.

Ground flaxseed adds some fibre along with your EFAs.
posted by sarahw at 1:07 PM on October 26, 2006

All right, this is how I got my protein for a time (before the hassle of taking the bus to Trader Joe's to get the protein powder got in the way). The taste is . . . Well, look, I was trying to get protein. I don't have a particularly refined palate so it didn't bother me. And man, it filled me up.

3 servings Trader Joe's soy protein powder
1 cup lowfat yogurt
1.5 cup skim milk/lowfat soy milk
Random fruit mix'ins

~575 calories, 9 grams fat, 93 grams protein

I was a strict vegetarian at that point and trying to gain significant muscle mass, so I was depending on this shake for most of my protein intake since my later meals were less calorie and protein-heavy. If you're getting plenty of protein from other sources (fish and whatnot), then go ahead and decrease the number of servings of powder and a bit of the milk to get the calorie intake you're looking for--each serving of powder is about 110 calories, 23 grams protein.
posted by Anonymous at 1:44 PM on October 26, 2006

1 scoop of whey protein
1 cup chocolate soy milk
1 cup blueberries
1 cup ice

blend. yumyum.
posted by duende at 2:07 PM on October 26, 2006

Oh, if you want a simple and delicious low calorie chocolate shake, use unsweetened cocoa, a banana and low fat milk. Pop it in a blender and let it run for quite a long time. The banana sweetens everything and makes it thick, and it's quite surprisingly good for you considering how damn tasty it is!

I used to have these for breakfast, and would sometimes throw in a handful of bran to make it even better for me (but a bit gritty to drink).
posted by tomble at 4:41 PM on October 26, 2006