All depends on what complimentary proteins are existing in the pre and post snack meal.

My take on it. Most people are not taking in enough protein as is while they are in these energy deficient states. Couple this fact with most people deficits are too large, which creates a larger need for complete proteins.

I'd like to see even a snack in most cases around here consist of a complete protein.

Whey Protein - Chocolate, 5*lb. Powder by Precision Engineered® - VitaminWorld.com

It's cheap. I got it for like $18 for 5 pounds.

I can't find the nutritional info for that product. Let alone the ingredients, need to check for those little baddies in there.

You can get the AST product for close to that price. Is it always the sale price or is that just right now?

Bodybuilding.com - AST VP2 - Whey Protein Isolate! On sale now!

The sale price of the AST is $29 for 2 pounds. The stuff I bought was about $18 for 5 pounds during a half-off MSRP sale. At those prices, AST costs 4 times more per pound. If I knew it performed 4 times better, I'd spring for it, but earlier you said they're about all the same.

Haha, sorry, I didn't look at how much you were getting. 5 lbs.

I'd have to see an ingredients list to know for sure.

When you say whey shake, you mean a shake in the blender, right? I actually just got some whey protein powder for my husband for his smoothies, so I can use some of that too at home.

The pre-cooked meat idea may work when I'm at work. I was a vegetarian for a long time, so I don't have a lot of experience cooking meat. Chicken is good though... any suggestions for pre-cooking it (seasoning, etc)?

Thanks all for the suggestions!

FYI... most people only mixes this stuff in the blender due to it not mixing with a spoon well, which, you still have to do if you want to mix in yogurt, oatmeal, berries, or other similar items, but I've found that if chocolate milk is all you want, it's hard to beat a bike bottle. I use a Fox bike water bottle, pour in milk, pour in a scoop or two or three of whey powder, screw on the top, and shake it up. It's much more portable that way, and a helluva lot easier to clean than using the blender. I use the Fox brand because they use food grade plastics, so basically the plastic taste won't get into your milk.

You will likely not like it or feel good after eating meat for the first time in a while. Thats because of an enzymatic process that deals with the digestion of meat.you "loose" the ability to trigger this Process after going a while without meat. Don't worry, eat it a few times and you will regain the process.

Are there certain brands that mix better with certain foods? And can I mix it into other foods besides milk? I use a water bottle to mix up my fiber powder with water in exactly the way you describe!

I have actually been eating meat since December. I thought it might be difficult due to the digestion process you mentioned, but it was actually quite easy to put back into my diet, probably because I was not a true vegetarian... I would eat fish occasionally and once in a while my husband would give me a bite of whatever meat he was eating. I eat chicken or fish a few times a week now.

for eating it not hot -i'd probably marinate it in italian dressing then broil or grill it...
cutting it into chunks and then skewering it also also an easy to go option - I'm doing a chicken thing for next week that i'll marinate he chicken chunks in pineapple juice w/ some cayenne pepper and whatever sppices suit me at the time -then skewer it with pineapple chunks and broil it til it's cooked.

then it can b served chilled

I used a whey protien shake for a long time. I was a vegetarian for three years. Mostly became a vegetarian because I just don't like the taste of meat. Added chicken back in slowly and in small amounts starting last August. Always ate eggs and haven't eaten fish since my parents forced me to as a child on Friday nights.

Anyway, I had difficulties sticking to the protien shakes just because they tasted horrible. I tried whey protien bars, and although not great, are better than the shakes (in my opinion). I still eat soy protien bars occasionally now even though I'm eating chicken. I eat tons of nuts and beans and leafy greens .

Soy nuts are handy because they can be put in a little tupperware dish and taken anywhere. No need to refridgerate them or cook them or what not. But they're sort of boring. I don't mind boring, but some people might not like them because of the boring factor.

Mal, the chicken and pineapple skewers sound good! You're making me hungry here!

Michelle

it's also really good with swordfish chunks too the meatiness of swordfish stands up really well to the pinapple juice

Steve - how in the world do they get whey protein powder to have no cholesterol or saturated fat???

Hmm, not sure why I didn't think of this before, but whey may actually be a problem for me since it is a milk product. I have IBS, so it's not just the lactose in dairy that bothers me. I do okay with some dairy, but it can be unpredictable. I'll try it out and see how things go.