I got a great deal on some protein! Muscle monk period for 2016 begins!

Hey to anyone out there reading :)

I got a killer deal on 33lbs of protein from www.myprotein.com - they had a crazy flash summer sale the other day, and I managed to get 11lbs of micellar casein protein and 22lbs of whey isolate for about $70 shipped. Legitimate, quality, thoroughly tested and reviewed, and now I can add "and I've personally tried it, it's good!" Their usual sales are fantastic deals, but that was a discount that felt almost too good to be true. Only lasted the weekend or I'd have tried to let y'all know, I found out late about the "good" coupon code!

I feel confident buying from them because they're a UK business and their protein is thus subject to regulatory oversight. The supplement industry is a carnival here in the U.S. and there effectively are no rules up front about dietary supplements; the only time the FDA gets involved is when there's an alarming amount of suspicion that a supplement is hurting or killing people. This has lead to all sorts of insanity, including high heavy metal levels in a lot of protein shake brands over the years, and even a ton of companies spiking protein powders with tons of cheapo BCAAs and creatine that look like protein on a nitrogen test but aren't going to help your body build muscle or recover effectively.

Getting a non-US supplier for your protein isn't 100% necessary, I just prefer it myself until or unless we get some kind of regulatory oversight here in the states.

I honestly don't recommend a too-much-protein-shake dietary intake. Whey or casein, you're not going to get all of your body's requisite nutrition from these shakes. They state on the packaging that you should not use the product for weight loss or maintenance, and I think that's their effort to try to not have a bunch of swole and terribly malnourished customers. Not to mention, if you think you can do low-calories with shakes, think again! Our bodies really, really don't like just getting liquid nutrition in my experience and it's a recipe for binging at the first moment of weakness since eating real food will feel like getting back to dry land after being lost for weeks at sea.

I personally only do them in the morning and early afternoon, and switch to real food for dinner, with plenty of vegetables ideally. If you're getting a lot of calories from one source like I am with these shakes, it becomes especially important to make sure you're getting variety and quality in your proper food - you're counting on it to keep you going. A multivitamin alone won't do it, or at least that's the suggestion I've seen from research. Not totally pointless but far, far from the right conditions for your body to absorb and get the most out of each ingredient.

Shakes get really simple with this blend - 10g of micellar casein, 20g of whey isolate, and 2/3 of a cup of milk. Total about 200 kcals, over 30g of protein in the shake with some carbs and a bit of fat as well. Casein and whey are both great protein sources, and it really does not matter in my experience or opinion which you take or how the intake is timed. Our digestive systems are great at what they do, eat your food, get your rest, trust it will work. But I do like how casein doesn't have me feeling hungry again quite as quickly as whey - makes it great for me for weight loss supplementation, but I don't really recommend this approach to everyone. You have to be able to be ok with a lack of variety and psychological discomfort from not as much solid food as it takes to keep a body fully happy in a day.

Still keeping at it hard in the gym, y'all. These shakes are powering some great workouts. I still consider myself to be physically rehabilitating my body, and I think it's coming along great. My weight loss should be coming along well, too, but I have been carrying some water since I started my NSAID again. I got off the stronger one and am trying just some OTC advil for a bit, and it's working pretty well.

I'll update with a progress photo later this week.