Ideal Protein

Do I have to eat the Bars and Shakes on this diet? Isn't there a more holsum and cheeper way?

Any diet that requires you to eat bars and shakes instead of real non processed food is far from "ideal". Eat food, not substances that mascarade as food

So Atkins? But that is too much fat.

You don't need to follow someone else's diet. You can create your own that is based on your food needs.

I strongly recommend doing something that requires you to eat real foods rather than processed food products.

The instance where I would say the shakes/bars are good or perhaps necessary is if you are working on building muscle and losing weight at the same time (which most everyone on a diet should be doing!). It's really difficult (though certainly not impossible!) to be on a high protein AND calorie restrictive diet otherwise.

Post workout recovery is key to building and maintaining lean body mass. Without an infusion of easily digestible protein and nutrients after a workout your body will be less effective at repairing the muscle damage done during the workout -- which leads to loss of lean body mass instead of fat.

Most "whole" proteins (e.g. meat) are not very good post workout foods as they take too long for the body to digest where as processed proteins (e.g a whey protein shake) will be easy to digest and more effective at helping your body recover.

That said, you really should focus on eating whole foods for everything *but* that post workout recovery meal/snack.

Personally I'm on a 2000/ca diet and my post workout meal is a whey protein shake (300ca, 42g protein) made from bulk dehydrated nastiness bought from my gym. I make it palatable by blending in fresh fruits.

I've also used commonly available "Muscle Milk", Bolthouse Farms Protein Plus shakes (a good all natural shake, but expensive!), or ready to drink shakes as well as Gatorade G3 Recover (which is by far the most disgusting option!)

If you are looking for simply protein, the best thing Ive found thats not a shake or bar is 99% lean turkey meat. Throw some spices on it and fry it up and drain off any excess fat you can and youll be pretty close to the ideal 4cal/gram of straight protein.

Disagree with Fedaykin that you need to down protein shakes after your workouts. Yes, other forms of protein take longer to be absorbed than shakes but if you have a high protein snack a couple of hours before gym time, that protein is available in your body after your workout. I only worry about post-workout protein if I'm doing strength training first thing in the morning when I haven't eaten yet and even then, I usually only have a half a scoop of protein rather than a full serving. Bottom line: A regular joe looking to add some muscle doesn't need to rely on a bunch of protein shakes and bars- you're better off eating real food.

Thanks everyone. I decided to go Atkins (kind of) diet.