protein shake challenge - who wants to play?

1. What brands of protein shakes have you tried so far?
Unjury, Atkins Advantage and Jay Robb. Jay Robb wins hands down.

And what flavors? Vanilla, chocolate and Tropical Dream.

2. What are you mixing your protein powder with (skim milk, soy milk, water)?
I mix mine with 2% or 1 % milk. I mix the Tropical with milk or orange juice.

3. How are you mixing your shakes (in a blender bottle, in a blender)?
I have used the blender/shaker bottle and the blender. But I just prefer the shaker bottle. I'll even use gatorade bottles for shaking because it(the Jay robb) mixes so easily.

4. What other ingredients have you tried adding to your shakes? Bananas if I blend it. Cinammon, Coffee.

5. What specifically have you not liked about the shakes you've tried?
With the Atkins some seem a little too thick so I would add water or milk and ice.


6. What sort of flavors do you like? Do you like chocolate, or dislike chocolate? Do you like coffee? Do you prefer fruity flavors? All of the Above.

7. Have you tried protein powder in warm drinks? Yes coffee, every morning. With the mix I use I use a kitchen thermometer cause the instructions says not over 135 degrees to avoid clumping.( I found that out the hard way)

Oh dear Lord! You don’t have to go through all that!

Protein can be made as hot as you want it. You just have to temper it first. You do that by adding about an ounce or two of room temperature water and making a smooth paste (be sure to get all the lumps out or else they’ll clump up in your drink), then SLOWLY add ho****er (I do so in thirds, stirring after every addition). At that point if you want it hotter you can nuke it to get it piping hot. And no the protein is not diminished by doing this. But it may take some practice to get it right. I drink my protein drinks hot, hot!

1. What brands of protein shakes have you tried so far?
Bariatric Advantage (vanilla, chocolate), Unjury (plain, chicken soup), Isopure (Dutch chocolate, strawberry), Syntrax nectars (several flavors--fruits, plain, chocolate), Jay Robb (chocolate), Oh Yeah!, EAS.

2. What are you mixing your protein powder with (skim milk, soy milk, water)?
1% milk, water, or a combination of the two.

3. How are you mixing your shakes (in a blender bottle, in a blender)?
Blender bottle or blender, depending on if I use ice/fruit/etc. or not.

4. What other ingredients have you tried adding to your shakes?
Bananas, strawberries, PB2, ice, SF syrups, pumpkin puree, spices

5. What specifically have you not liked about the shakes you've tried?
Smell, flavor, too sweet!

6. What sort of flavors do you like? Do you like chocolate, or dislike chocolate? Do you like coffee? Do you prefer fruity flavors?
Love chocolate, love peanut butter, HATE coffee, love fruit, but only if it tastes REAL.

7. Have you tried protein powder in warm drinks?
Tried SF hot chocolate.  OK, but I'm still not loving the hot chocolate yet.  The sweet thing again.  I even don't like one of my favorite pre-surgery things, hot milk with SF vanilla syrup.

About the only protein drink I actually enjoy is to use plain yogurt, real frui****er/mil**** and unflavored protein.  That tastes like a regular smoothie and not like a protein shake.

I can tell you what to do about the smell.  Drink it from a cup with a lid.  You can't smell it nearly as much that way.  And actually, the way things smell really affect how they taste to us to a big degree, so if it smells bad you might think it tastes bad but if it smells good then you might think it tastes OK even if the taste is really exactly the same.

A lot of people think a lot of protein shakes are too sweet.  You'd think someone that makes protein shakes would pick up on that and start making some that are less sweet, huh?  Nik suggested earlier than you could use half a scoop of whatever flavor you want and half a scoop of unflavored to get the same amount of protein but less sweetness.  You could also just use less protein powder altogether.

But it sounds like the smoothies you are making are working for you, so that's good.  You can make so many different flavors, too.

You are correct about the smell thing!  How many times have I told myself, "why don't you just pour this into your covered mug and try it that way?"  But do I?  No.  The next time I do a "regular" protein shake, I'm going to pour it into my covered cup with lid and straw or into my covered mug.  When I do a real taste analysis of my shake, I decide that the flavor really isn't that bad and wonder why  I still don't like it...then decide it must be the smell.  Unfortunately, I never take it farther than that.  Next time I will.

Sometimes little things like that seem like too much trouble to bother with, but they can really make a difference.

It might also help if you add something to your shake that has a strong smell.  I think you said you don't like coffee, but what about peanut butter?  You might smell something like that more than the protein smell.

Or cinnamon........................................

First off I have 4 words- About Time Birthday Cake!!!! Love that one!

1.  What brands of protein shakes have you tried so far?  And what flavors? I have tried EVERYTHING! Pre-op I went on a sample binge and tried every major brand. I fell in love with the Chike and Isopure (w/ lots of ice), but after surgery they made me sick.

2.  What are you mixing your protein powder with (skim milk, soy milk, water)? Almond Milk or water as I'm lactose intolerant and soy doesn't sit will with me either.

3.  How are you mixing your shakes (in a blender bottle, in a blender)? Blender Bottle

4.  What other ingredients have you tried adding to your shakes? SF syrup, SF pudding, Fruit, coffee, ice, spices, extracts.

5.  What specifically have you not liked about the shakes you've tried? Ones that have the protein-smell, things that don't mix well and leave chunkies!

6.  What sort of flavors do you like?  Do you like chocolate, or dislike chocolate?  Do you like coffee?  Do you prefer fruity flavors? Yes, Yes, I like both fruit and chocolate/vanilla

7.  Have you tried protein powder in warm drinks? yes, but I prefer my shakes COLD! The more ice the better, sometimes I put them in my ice cream maker and eat them that way cuz I've always been a big ice person ever since I lived in Mexico where I couldn't have ice.

Bottom line, for the Calories, amino acid profile, TASTE and mixing ease- it's About Time all the way. They are my absolute fav and esp. the Birthday Cake and Cinnamon Swirl flavors...YUMMMO!!!