Photo by yatta
Stay away from store bought weight gainer and meal replacement shakes. Trust me you’ll thank me later on. When I first started my mass gain journey several years ago one of the first supplements I bought was something called Mammoth 2500. This weight gainer was designed to help supplement my diet by adding an extra 2500 calories. The sales representative did a good job of pitching this product and like a jackass I gave him $50 dollars and ran home with a big smile on my face. After taking one normal severing I immediately felt sick and spent the rest of the afternoon shitting my spleen out (Trust me that was the nicest way I could put it). To say the least it was not a positive experience.
My bad experience isn’t the real reason why I don’t recommend you take them. The real reason why I think you should stay away from Meal Replacement and Weight Gainer shakes are
- They are costly (most of us don’t have the cash to be forking out another 50 -70 dollars)
- Several Brands of Meal Replacements and Weight Gainers have low quality protein concentrate
- The majority of them are high in glycemic carbohydrates
I’ve scowered the web, local gyms, and every nutritional book ever made looking for a solid homemade Meal Replacement/Weight Gainer. Luckily for you I’ve finally found it. The guys over at Scivation have put together quite an effective recipe for Meal replacement shakes. It’s great because
- It’s cheap
- Easy to make
- Somewhat affordable
- Easy to Adjust to meet you caloric needs
The Ingredients you’ll need are:
- Whey Protien Powder
- Oatmeal
- Skim Milk
- Peanut butter
- Honey or a Banana
The Macronutrient ratio is roughly 50% carbohydrates 30% proteins and 20% fats. If you have a busy life style or just don’t have time to eat a whole meal I would highly suggest that you look into using the Meal Replacement.
You can add the shakes to your daily hardgainer diet plan. An example meal schedule could be
Meal 1 – Solid food
Meal 2 – Meal Replacement
Meal 3 – Sold food Meal
Meal 4 – Pre/Post Workout Meal
Meal 5 – Solid food
Meal 6 – Meal Replacement
Note: Caloric properties maybe differ from the one stated here due to the fact that the ingredients I used may be different from yours.
500 Calorie Shake
| Ingredients | Amount |
|---|---|
| Whey Protien | 1 Scoop |
| Oatmeatl | 1/2 cup |
| Skim Milk | 1.5 Cups |
| Peanut Butter | 1 TBSP |
| Honey | 1 TBSP |
600 Calorie Shake
| Ingredients | Amount |
|---|---|
| Whey Protien | 1.5 Scoop |
| Oatmeatl | 3/4 cup |
| Skim Milk | 1.5 Cups |
| Peanut Butter | 1 TBSP |
| Honey | 1 TBSP |
700 Calorie Shake
| Ingredients | Amount |
|---|---|
| Whey Protien | 1.5 Scoop |
| Oatmeatl | 3/4 cup |
| Skim Milk | 2 Cups |
| Peanut Butter | 2 TBSP |
| Honey | 1 TBSP |
800 Calorie Shake
| Ingredients | Amount |
|---|---|
| Whey Protien | 2 Scoop |
| Oatmeatl | 1 cup |
| Skim Milk | 2 Cups |
| Peanut Butter | 2 TBSP |
| Honey | 1 TBSP |
900 Calorie Shake
| Ingredients | Amount |
|---|---|
| Whey Protien | 2 Scoop |
| Oatmeatl | 1 cup |
| Skim Milk | 2 Cups |
| Peanut Butter | 2.5 TBSP |
| Honey | 2 TBSP |
1000 Calorie Shake
| Ingredients | Amount |
|---|---|
| Whey Protien | 2.5 Scoop |
| Oatmeatl | 1 cup |
| Skim Milk | 2 Cups |
| Peanut Butter | 3 TBSP |
| Honey | 2 TBSP |
Before you jump on the bandwagon and start shunning all Meal Replacements and Weight Gainers I think it’s important for you to that there ARE some great Meal Replacements and Weight Gainers out there but you’ve got to do your research before purchasing them. They will cost you a pretty penny so I would suggest sticking to making your own.
If you’ve tried making one of these shakes or have a better recipe that you’d like to share and enjoyed let me know by posting below
You write very well.
Thank you Chelsi
skowered? perhaps a witty play on the term ’scour’ intended here as meaning to search exhaustively..
no criticism intended – just curious about the word choice.
Thanks, this is helpful info. But a quick question, how or where to buy the whey protein powder? In half (or more? of) the cases, I believe the whey protein powder is marketed or sold as a powder that you can make a shake with (just add milk or water, the powder may or may not be flavored). And they’re still a bit pricey ranging from $15-50. That’s what I’ve seen from looking around at the gym and general/food retail stores.
Hey Dave,
I’ll post some information on Protein brands I trust and would recommend sometime this week
Protein can be very pricey but buy real food can be pricier and hard to consume throughout different periods of the day
I think investing in a good protein supplement is a good idea but i’ll touch on this later on this week
Awesome info, along with the ingredients listed above (milk, oatmeal, honey, peanut butter), when I have the money I add vanilla ice cream, 1 banana, olive oil, and cottage cheese (you can’t even taste it when it’s all blended up).
Yea I totally agree. I often add some low fat ice cream on days when I want to reward myself. The things you can add to the mix are just about endless