The one with all the protein...

For quite some time now I've been collecting, trialing and glugging my way through various offerings of protein shakes. Why? do you ask...Because getting married means getting comfortable, a lot of eating out and slipping into a vicious cycle of sitting-on-the-sofa-snacking while in a little loved up bubble!  And that means gaining a bit of a 'marriage tyre' and nobody wants one of those.  So I've begun operation 'lose the marriage weight'!

So after a long conversation with the better half about various protein shakes and their uses I took to the interweb, found a few companies selling various different flavours of the stuff.  I have been drinking mine post workout mixed with 200mls of water and 100mls of skimmed milk.  Generally you can mix your shakes with whatever you feel like I just prefer to add a bit of milk for creaminess and added calcium.

My Protein - My Protein offer a wide range of flavours, of which I ordered chocolate smooth, white chocolate, choc nut and toffee.  Each sample is 25g which is enough for one use.  Each sample costs £1.49 and delivery is charged at £4 or thereabouts which is a bit of a pain when you think I could have had another couple of samples with that!!!  Delivery timing was adequate but when I received the package one of my samples had somehow opened and subsequently went all over me when I took everything out, I wouldn't have minded so much if somebody from My Protein would reply to my emails...I did after all pay for a sample I ended up wearing instead of drinking!  As for taste they are gorgeous with a slight proteiny after taste.  They are sweet and creamy when mixed which makes them much easier to consume.

Bulk Powders - I can't praise Bulk Powders enough.  The delivery was on time if not slightly early, always a plus.  Each sample only costs 99p and the flavour range is incredible.  I ordered chocolate cookie, chocolate peanut and peaches and cream.  Each one tasted like heaven but my absolute favourite was peaches and cream and another order of a 2kg's of the stuff is on the cards!  Each sample contains 25g of product which is again enough for single use, they are well packaged and they even reply to my tweets!  I think I've developed a slight obsession for these powders.  Their flavour range makes the whole protein shake experience which I used to dread so pleasurable and something I even looked forward to in my sweaty panting breathless state.  For anybody new to protein shakes and a bit dubious I would definitely recommend Bulk Powders as you can try before you buy and there's so much variety...

Gold Standard - These shakes just seemed standard to me.  I picked these samples up for £1.30 each in Holland and Barrett which meant no delivery charges but the only flavour choices were French Vanilla, Double Chocolate and Strawberry (which you can most definitely pass on, I did not enjoy the strawberry nearly as much as the other two)  As you can probably tell I'm a bit of a chocaholic and have picked up the chocolate version of every kind.  The Gold Standard shakes weren't bad at all but they didn't wow me, it was just your average protein shake and thats not a bad thing.  I just found the Bulk Powders shakes a bit sweeter and pleasant to the tastebuds.  If however you don't like your shakes too sweet and prefer a bulkier shake I would recommend Gold Standard.

PhD - Now I'm probably not the best person to review this company, (the hubby swears by PhD and has regularly ordered multiple 2kg tubs of the stuff).  I only managed to pick up one flavour from an independent health store being white chocolate which I did not like at all.  The 25g sample had a very distinct aftertaste which was not pleasant.  I will let the hubby give you his take on the very popular brand...

Hubby's POV - so my opinion on PhD is..... it works! that's the whole point right. I use PhD Synergy, an all in one protein shake. It has hardly any fat and lots of protein and also contains creatine, amino acids, BCAA's Zinc, Calcium, Vitamin C, all of the things you need to build strong lean muscle. PhD Synergy used to taste nice and smooth but now that they decided to stupidly change their formula it doesn't taste as good but it does what it says on the tub! My verdict if you're looking to build muscle fast, then PhD is the way to go. I use the strawberry flavor so others may taste better...

And there you have it...