Drinking Protein Shakes to Lose Weight

Everyone uses protein supplements to gain weight in the form of muscle. But did you know that they can also be used as a tool to help you lose weight in the form of fat? If that sounds like a contradiction, read on.

Protein shakes and bars, because of their ability to quickly pump protein to your muscles exactly when they need it most, are great for increasing muscle girth as quickly as possible. But not everyone wants to put on bulk. Every person’s frame is different, and some people would benefit as much from losing fat mass even more than they would benefit from gaining muscle mass. Luckily, the two can often go hand in hand.

Every pound of muscle on your body helps you to burn fat more quickly. Muscles are the most energy-hungry tissues in the body — what experts call “metabolically active” — and they’re great at burning calories and fat. Obviously, muscles use energy when you’re using them to exercise, work out, and even just walk around. But that’s not all.

Muscles also burn energy while you’re sitting down, doing nothing, and even while you’re sleeping. A full 60% of the average person’s daily caloric burn takes place while resting. Think about that. Even while you’re concentrating on working out all the time, statistically speaking, most of the calories you burn will likely take place outside of those workout windows. And the more muscle you have, the faster it happens.

In fact, researchers have found that muscle tissue burns calories anywhere between 3 times and 30 times as quickly as fat tissue does — including during periods of rest. So the question becomes, how can you best use protein supplements like shakes and bars to facilitate this kind of caloric burn?

The answer is the same way you use them to build muscles in the first place. The goal is the same: building muscle. The only difference is that in the case of overweight people you will naturally lose fat weight in the process (and afterward), and for underweight people you will put on far more muscle weight than you will lose in fat weight.

So take the normal route and time your protein consumption for right after exercise to take advantage of the magic window of protein absorption. Drink a protein shake within thirty to sixty minutes of a strenuous round of resistance training, be sure to get enough protein otherwise throughout the day as well, and watch that fat disappear while your muscles emerge beneath.