Need some advice re. protein shake intake Atm I'm trying to cut weight but maintain my muscle and strength, i'm around 200 LBS 5"11 pretty muscular especially in my legs but I'm by no means cut and can't see any of my abs. Basically I'd say I'm still carrying around too much fat. My fitness is reasonably good. I've been training hard for about 18 months straight with no more than a week off here and there. Bare in mind my goal is to lose weight - should I continue taking shakes or will they hinder this? As I'm working out 4-5 times a week and I work a full time job, are the shakes necessary to ensure I can still work out this regularly? I've read alot online and it seems that shakes are there to help your muscles repair and enable you to train at your full potential regularly. But some people say shakes are good for gaining and if you are trying to cut weight you should avoid them.. The shake I use is a zero carb Whey Protein shake - Isopure Zero Carb. I make the shake with only water and take it in the evening as my final food intake for the day.
You're taking the right kinda shake, and hopefully post workout 5-10 mins after for recovery. I wouldn't worry about the gaining part from them. Get your muscle recovery, then look to cut cals out of your diet elsewhere for loss. Just a imo obv. Basing this on 4-5 day a week workouts and assuming they are fairly intense.
To lose weight, burn more calories then you take in. If the shake is making your total intake of calories exceed what you burn, then you need to either cut out the shake or cut out something else.
