Hungry Boar - Loaded BBQ Sticklers (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

I always find Biltong and Beef Jerky kind of tough to eat. I'm hoping these new Hungry Boar - Loaded BBQ Sticklers will be a little easier on my old teeth.

As I'm getting older it's taking longer and getting harder to keep my exercise up and heal from injuries. It helps to add the correct amount of protein in my regular diet and balancing calories to help me heal. Most adults need 50 to 55g of protein a day. A packet of these Hungry Boar - Loaded BBQ Sticklers has only 9g of protein in it for 207 calories. Bit of a kicker when I can have a protein yogurt for 18g of protein for 92 calories.

On opening the packet, these Hungry Boar - Loaded BBQ Sticklers had a strong pork barbecue aroma. On biting in I could see the stuffed pork inside. The texture of these Sticklers was pretty soft and easy to chew. On taste there was a strong lightly spiced pork barbecue flavour. I found them very tasty and moreish, and they went very well with my Tomato Ketchup crisp sandwich for lunch.

Information on the packet; The 50g bag contained 415 calories per 100g, with 31g of fat, 7.5g of sugar, 18g of protein, and 3g of salt.

Plant, The Bar (Choc & Raspberry) [@NLi10]

Protein bars are nothing new, but now there is a definite attempt to make them less synthetically and to have at least some real vitamins available.  Here we have The Bar, Plant - which is vegetarian friendly (which I guess means it's not suitable for Vegans). 

Here are the nutrients contained in The Plant Bar - and it's a Holland & Barrett special - no wonder I've not seen these around.  Once opened consume immediately - probably because like a lot of these things it just absorbs all the moisture.

But Plant The Bar actually looks reasonably appetising, and that might be real chocolate on the outside!

And on top of the Bar, there is a layer of the chosen flavour - meaning they can just use the same mix for the base on these and add some jam so that it's not entirely protein and has some flavour variety.

And overall - it's pretty successful.  Like most of these things your body won't process this efficiently and you'll just excrete it (unless you are doing some fantastic work-outs that causes your body to digest protein at a magically faster rate), and you'd be much better off consuming plants that contain the amino acids that your body actually uses to build proteins (broccoli) as happens in all mammals.

But - as a 'gym snack' this is pretty decent - but remember to have a lot of water on standby so you don't dehydrate as a result.

Peperami Pep'd Up Chicken Bites (Asda) By @SpectreUK

I'm always looking for a bit of extra protein to have with my lunch after a session with my free weights. I usually have a tuna sandwich with some pork scratchings on the side. The pork scratchings aren't exactly good for keeping my weight down, but we do need some fat in our diets too. These 'Protein Kick' Peperami Pep'd Up Chicken Bites sound like a healthier alternative snack. They are; "Cooked, chopped and shaped chicken in a smoky tikka style glaze." They are made with 100% chicken breast, and are oven cooked, providing an extra 10.5g of Protein, and without the crunchy fat that comes with the pork scratchings. I do like a bit of spice too!

As you can see from the photograph, Peperami Pep'd Up Chicken Bites are fairly small bright red nugget sized chicken bites. On opening the packet there was a strong spicy aroma of chicken tikka. On taste these Pep'd Up Chicken Bites have a good lip smacking tangy tikka taste to them. They have a medium spice and I can imagine if I ate enough of them they may make my nose run a little, but the 50g packet was gone so quickly whilst I was eating my tuna sandwich and pieces of cut up tomato on the side, that I hardly broke a sweat. Having said that, I'd certainly have these Peperami Pep'd Up Chicken Bites again, as they are a high protein, low calorie and lower fat alternative for a protein boost during my lunch after a good session with my free weights.

Information on the packet;
Per 50g bag there are 104 Calories, with 5.2g Fat, 3.4g Carbohydrates, and 0.96g Salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Optimum Rocky Road Flavour (Degusta) By @SpectreUK

I may have been avoiding this Optimum Rocky Road Flavour Protein Bar for some time, even if it does state "high protein meets great taste' on the front of the wrapper. I've been avoiding it to the extent that I have no idea how long it's been in the Foodstufffinds' cupboard. I mentioned last week that I've been pushing it to the back in favour of everything else. However two things happened today; the first being I've run out of pork scratchings that I eat for extra protein with my sandwich and we don't have a food delivery for another few days, and secondly I forgot what I was supposed to be blogging about because it was in the fridge. I was reminded a little too late for lunch about the high in protein chicken bites, which will have to wait until next week instead.

I still weight lift three days a week, of course not at the gym as it's still closed, I use my free weights instead in the kitchen. It's a really hot day today and my muscles are aching. I've had a tin of tuna on a sandwich and just need a little more protein to help fix myself. This Optimum Rocky Road Flavour has 20g of protein in it and no added sugar. This bar is still fairly high in calories, but I need those anyway to help fix the muscles too. I've been avoiding this protein bar for two reasons. The first reason being that I haven't particularly liked anything I've eaten or drank so far that is manufactured as high in protein, and the second being I just don't particularly like Rocky Road Flavour. So this should be interesting…

Cinabar tells me that Rocky Road is usually biscuit pieces, rice crispies (or such like), and marshmallow. I like biscuit pieces, but I'm not particularly fussed about either rice crispies (or such like) or marshmallow. This Optimum Rocky Road Flavour is dark chocolate coated, with a chocolate caramel layer and soy crispies (instead). I was surprised when I took a bite of this bar how the contents seemed to expand and take over the inside of my mouth. The light fluffy cake like centre also felt a little dry, but didn't suck all of the moisture from my body… just almost enough to worry!

I could just about taste the mildest chemical quality to the added protein, but this was so mild I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been searching for it. The mix of flavours from the caramel, freeze dried raspberries and the soy crispies more or less wiped out this mildly chemical flavour and instead gave me some fruitiness, sweet caramel, and a little crunchy soy all wrapped up in dark chocolate. I have to say that this is one of my favourites of the high protein bars and drinks I've tried, mainly because I didn't particularly like any of the others, so perhaps I've left the best until last!?

Information on the wrapper;
The 60g bar contains 202 calories, with 3.3g of fat, 1.5g of sugar, and 0.5g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Nestle Lindahls Kvarg White Chocolate (Sainsbury’s) By @SpectreUK

I'm well into the third week of my gym being closed. I've been going cold turkey on the place since then. I'm really missing the outside pool and the sauna. I also miss the people, as I like to chat with anyone and everyone there. It can be often be a very friendly and relaxing place. For someone who has been rehabilitating from a second knee operation, amongst other past operations, this passed couple of weeks has been an interesting time. Especially as my physiotherapist's last words to me in January echoed my surgeon's from before Christmas; "keep up with all your exercises and don't put any weight on". The is especially trying when I'm still quite greedy and I also like to drink the odd beer or three a week.

So I've been carrying out my latest cunning plan to do all of my regular abs exercises and stretches that I usually split between home and the gym everyday at home instead. Fortunately I have some old free weights I still use for upper body weight lifting, which I've now added in squats with weights, as well as single leg squats and calf raises three days a week. I'm still watching my calories and not overeating. I was attending yoga classes three times a week at the gym, but memorised some of the yoga moves and now do yoga at home on three of the days that I don't weight lift on. I go for a twenty minute walk and try to do a short jog almost everyday. I weighed myself at the same time I usually do last Saturday morning and I haven't put any weight on yet, and my old bod isn't looking too shabby, so my new home exercise routine is going well.

Everyday I have a high protein yoghurt with my lunch. One of the brands I usually eat are Nestle Lindahls Kvarg, which is produced in Sweden and is mainly made with quark from milk. I like Nestle Lindahls Kvarg vanilla flavour as it especially goes well with fruit, and I also like their strawberry flavour. This new White Chocolate flavour sounded quite a treat due to the fact that white chocolate is probably my favourite type of chocolate, with milk chocolate as a very close second. I've been missing out on my white hot chocolate drinks every night recently because milk is fairly scarce at the moment.

On peeling back the lid the white yoghurt inside had a smell of white chocolate and yoghurt. The problem I've found with products that claim to be chocolate flavoured is that they are often chocolate flavoured but predominantly taste of whatever they are supposed to be, such as in this occasion I'm now expecting this white chocolate Nestle Lindahls Kvarg to taste predominantly of yoghurt with a hint of white chocolate. I may be wrong, as I haven't actually tasted it yet… I know this sounds a bit nuts, but at least I'm honest, as I write blogs whilst I'm tasting whatever I'm writing about at the time.

I was also worried that this white chocolate Nestle Lindahls Kvarg would possibly taste like the vanilla flavour. I like the vanilla flavour, as I mentioned earlier, but I've previously had crisp flavours from the same brand claiming to be a different flavour and they ended up tasting exactly like the original flavour. Here we have an example of a yoghurt that does taste a little of white chocolate, I'll grant it that, and it also doesn't taste like their vanilla yoghurt, but it does taste predominantly of yoghurt. This is not a bad thing, but an actual white chocolate bar has more of a creamy flavour to it, so the yoghurt pulled my tastebuds away from that creaminess. On a blind taste test I'd probably pick this yoghurt out as a less flavoursome vanilla yoghurt from a different brand, and not as white chocolate flavoured. Don't get me wrong, I'd have this Nestle Lindahls Kvarg white chocolate flavour again, but if it's scarce then their vanilla flavour is just as good if slightly better, as at least it tastes of what it's supposed to be.

Information on the pot;
The 150g pot contains 95 calories, with 0.3g of fat, 4.7g of sugar, 0.15g of salt, and 17g of protein. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Huel - initial order + granola (@NLi10)

In early Jan I bought a sample of the Huel drink that acts like a more science based version of Slim Fast.  You have the drink for lunch and that's your nutrition and calories sorted.  As it was decent enough (and my sandwich shop at work closed) I decided do do a months trial and got a box.

The box cost £40 with the referral code from a friend (shared here for you too) which gave me £10 off and he gets the same.  I'm sharing his again not mine as I'm still not convinced I'll use all this!

I got a free t-shirt in the brown envelope (presumably so they know what size I am and can target the advertising appropriately) and a smokey shaker with my wicked black powder.  We'll deal with that another day though - as I want to talk about the cereal first.

So far so good, plain simple branding and a lovely foil sealed bag means you get what they intend you to get.

And there are an awful lot of nutrients in here - how can this be anything other than a great healthy breakfast - right?

Decent grain size and a mix of the Huel pellets and actual grain is promising too.

It just tastes really nothingy.  There is a big feeling like you are eating the dry powder with some bites and the crunch of the cereal feels off too.  Maybe I'm just used to the Lizzi granola and some of the stores own ones that rely on seeds and pizzazz to make me reach for those over the crunchy nuts?  Who knows.

Flooding it with the (almond) milk helps, as does adding fresh fruit (I did order the fruit version of the granola too but they gave me a credit instead of sending it later).  Its still not quite as I'd thought it'd be.  I expected the box to be far too small and to absolutely demolish it within a week.  Now I suspect there will be more than enough for my Huel using friends to try some, and give it back for me to finish.

It's not a £5 a box cereal by any stretch, and compared to the (spoilers - really quite enjoyable) milkshakes this is a massive miss.  If I do end up using my store credit on a follow up order it won't be on this.  For die-hard fans of the brand only.

UFIT Crunchers Sea Salt & Vinegar (@DegustaboxUK) By @SpectreUK

I had a UFIT Chocolate Flavour High Protein Milkshake back in September last year that I remember wasn't big on taste, but it was useful for fixing muscles after a long workout. However I'm hoping these UFIT Crunchers Sea Salt & Vinegar Popped Protein Chips will be big on saltiness. I do like salt and vinegar flavoured crisps, especially if they're pretty salty, so I am interested to see if these protein chips will match other crisps brands on the market for tastiness.

These UFIT Crunchers Sea Salt & Vinegar Popped Protein Chips are made with soya pieces rather than potatoes, so they're also an alternative snack to regular crisps and also nuts. I had a rogue nut that must have fallen in with my steak meal in a pub the other day. I haven't eaten a nut for years due to dietary reasons, and it shouldn't have been there. It strangely took me a moment to realise what it was, as I thought it had broken off the end of one of my thrice cooked chips! Even though it was pretty much half a peanut it showed that I still can't eat them…

Anyway, on opening the packet these high fibre, high protein popped chips have quite a strong salt and vinegar aroma, with a hint of soy. They look like little rounded poppadoms in the packet. They have a very good crunch that compliments the name of these 'Crunchers' popped chips. On taste these protein chips have an initial dominant soy flavour, followed by a decent saltiness and then vinegar into the aftertaste. Cinabar said that she would have preferred them to have a stronger vinegar flavour, but I prefer more saltiness than vinegar in salt and vinegar crisps. I would definitely have these UFIT Crunchers Sea Salt & Vinegar Popped Protein Chips again, especially on the side of my already protein packed tuna sandwich and protein yoghurt lunch after a good long session at the gym.

Information on the packet;
The 35g packet contains 150 calories, with 3.7g of fat, 1.4g of sugar, and 0.61g of salt. They're Vegan and Vegetarian friendly, gluten free, as well as high in fibre (3.2g) and protein (8.1g). Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Cadbury’s Boost Protein bar (@DegustaboxUK) By @SpectreUK

So I finally went to see the surgeon who fixed my knee yesterday. He patted me on the back (so to speak) for all the hard work I've done in the gym to regain most of the muscles around my knee, and also for losing roughly three and a half stone since January. Then came the bad news. He said that because of the damage to the bones inside my knee I will have to keep my weight down and keep up with the exercises in order to maintain the muscles in my knee, then and only then would the likelihood of a replacement knee in twenty years time be low. That's good as I don't want to have further surgery and a bionic knee or whatever, but the hard work I've put in so far continues for the rest of my life. So rather than a completely fixed knee and back to work and play, it'll be exercise, a good healthy balanced diet, and also work and play. Many or all of us should probably be doing such a balance, but we all know that work generally tries to take over from everything else…

Anyway, the good balanced diet continues with calorie counting as well as exercise. I usually allow myself crisps and a mini malt loaf with my lunch after the gym, both of which I like very much indeed. It's important to like what you're eating even if some of it, like the crisps, aren't so healthy. Though without the naughty snack food and a little booze now and then, I might as well just blow my head off! So you can imagine I'm a little miffed at having to drop both crisps and malt loaf to try and shoulder the calories that come with this Cadbury's Boost Protein bar, especially when the surgeon tells me that maintaining the muscles is key now, rather than growing them. However a high protein diet as well as a mostly balanced diet with it has got me this far. I still need to fix my muscles after I've been to the gym, so the protein yoghurts and other protein packed foods help with that.

So this Cadbury's Boost Protein bar has layers of Cadbury's Milk Chocolate, which is my favourite chocolate, as well as Cadbury's Caramel, which is my favourite caramel and also protein crisps within it. I don't know whether I like protein crisps, but I guess I'm just about to find out… On unwrapping I found the bar is also covered with Cadbury's Milk Chocolate, so this just gets better and better. However you may need good teeth to eat this bar as biting into it was pretty tough. The protein crisps seem to be wrapped in a gooey Cadbury's Caramel underneath the covering of Cadbury's Milk Chocolate. Both the Cadbury's Milk Chocolate and Cadbury's Caramel in the bar are two of my favourite things - did I already mention that? These in my opinion are two of the greatest flavours on Earth. However and most unfortunately neither flavour could seem to mask the slightly weird taste of the protein crisps, which tasted slightly chemically orientated. Try as they might and they almost succeeded they didn't mask the chemical flavour. Both Cadbury's Milk Chocolate and Cadbury's Caramel flavours were there to start with, unfortunately the chemical flavour was dominant into the aftertaste. This made for a slightly unpleasant after-flavour in my mouth, which convinced me to stick with my potato crisps and malt loaf with my usual protein packed yoghurt to finish!

Information on the wrapper;
There are 249 calories in the 49g bar, with 13g of fat, 17g of sugars and 0.11g of salt. Please see photograph for ingredients.

UFIT Chocolate Flavour High Protein Milkshake (@DegustaboxUK) By @SpectreUK

After a long session of weights and swimming at my local gym there's nothing better that a protein packed lunch, and often followed by something sweet for a treat. This UFIT Chocolate Flavour High Protein Milkshake could be both protein packed and a sweet treat. I've certainly got my fingers crossed…

With no added sugar, low in fat, made with nutritious milk and milk proteins, as well as vitamins and minerals, this chocolate milkshake sounds very good for me indeed. Especially after my longer than usual and pretty torturous session at the gym today. I'm working harder to get my knee muscles back into shape, as they are feeling stronger by the day, but I've possibly been going a little easy for a few weeks now. Time to grow the muscles more to match the other knee. Plus my abs are looking pretty good, but need further work to get rid of a little more fat, and my shoulder is improving after its surgery some years ago.

Like every morning, I started working out at 5.30am and then finally left the gym for lunch at 1pm. So, you can see why I need this milkshake! After a good shake, on opening the bottle there was a fairly milky chocolate aroma from the mid brown creamy liquid inside. On taste this UFIT Chocolate Flavour High Protein Milkshake is pretty heavy on the milk and a little light on the chocolate side. It's milky, slightly creamy and mildly chocolatey sweet. It's certainly not unpleasant, but personally I have a sweeter tooth. Having said that, with the fairly low calories and the sheer amount of protein packed inside this little bottle, not to mention all the vitamins and minerals. This protein packed chocolate milkshake will be helping to fix my tired muscles for some time. I'd certainly have one of these after a workout just for that reason alone!

Information on the bottle;
The 310ml bottle contains 170 calories, with 3.2g of fat, 10.4g of sugar, 0.3g of salt, and 22g of protein. Suitable for vegetarians. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Grenade Carb Killer High Protein Shake (Nisa) by @NLi10

Last week I went to Nisa and got some Milkshakes to supplement my lunches.

We looked at the lactose free Ufit then - but here we go for the macho option.

I'm really not sure why this brand has caught my attention so much, but I guess as one of the featured ones in Holland & Barrett I was bound to try it eventually.  All the shakers and supplements are prohibitively expensive (its pretty much the top end of H&B's male supplement range) so I was glad to find this with only an extra 49p compared to the almost identical Ufit shakes.

As you'd expect its a bottle of UHT milk with some stuff added, but it has grenades and killa on the bottle so it must be better than the standard girly shakes.

And in fairness they know their market - that vague substance Protein (that the human body has to break down before it can use) is here in abundance but none of the calories or carbs.  I mean you could just eat vegetables and get the same effect, but you can't pretend to be in a war as easily then.

In fairness though the shake is good, the minty chocolate flavour is good quality and like the UFit I'm 100% sure that joking aside this is better for you than the non science milkshakes are.  The extra niceness may actually justify the extra 49p too, but as there was only one flavour of this I'd be more likely to get a mix if it was to become a regular thing.

I didn't get a picture of the ingredients so I can't compare the fortified vitamins and minerals, but as the focal point here was protein I'll guess it's similar to the UFit ones and check if I still have the bottle at work.

£2.50 for something that is the same size as a 50p can of pop is always a hard sell, but if you find yourself in need of some 'Protein' and the shop has no actual sources of readily available amino acids (that your body will then convert into the proteins it uses) then go for it.  There are a lot worse tasting options out there.

Upbeat Blueberry & Raspberry Smoothie (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

You may think just before bed is a funny time to try a “Dairy Protein Smoothie” energy drink, but I’ve had a busy day. I also didn’t sleep well the night before so a pick-me-up before bed to help me write a blog about what I’m writing about seemed an ideal idea. This blueberry and raspberry flavoured Upbeat Smoothie has 20g of high quality protein. Good for building muscles after a workout, if not for a nightcap. I don’t usually drink or eat blueberries, as I’ve never been much of a fan. However I do like raspberries and figured the flavours would mix well together with the milk. Plus there was the added bonus, or not added in this case, of no bananas! Some smoothies have added banana which instantly distracts from any other ingredients in the flavour of a smoothie ruining every smoothie it’s added to in my opinion. Here no added banana is fine by me… In taste this drink is undoubtably smooth, with the milk taking most of the tartness from the blueberries and raspberries reminiscent of a cool creamy raspberry and blueberry ripple. I reckon these mixed together would also make a great ice-cream too.
Information on the bottle:
The 330ml bottle has 152 calories with 1.6g of fat, 12.5g of sugar, and 0.34g of salt. For ingredients please see photograph.

Savsé Protein Smash (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

This Savsé Protein Smash is sported as a strawberry milkshake with a twist of coconut and apple. Often smoothies have a secret banana ingredient that makes the smoothie just taste of banana. There didn't seem to be any banana in this drink's ingredients, although it was a yellowish milky colour after a good shake straight from the fridge. I do hate sneaky banana in smoothies and milkshakes as to me it spoils the taste of the other ingredients.

On opening the bottle there was a luscious strawberry smell with a good hit of apple and a hint of coconut milk. Okay good no banana in the ingredients… check! No banana in the smell… check! Once I began drinking I realised the 100ml serving suggestion would go straight out of the window. This Strawberry Protein Smash, which is what it should be called, has strawberry as a dominate flavour mixed well with the creamy coconut milk throughout, whilst my tastebuds were tickled by the apple that lends an extra tang. This was a simply delicious pudding drink that felt healthy as well as wholesome. I'd certainly have it again, and not one banana in sight!

Information on the bottle;
The 250ml bottle contains per 100ml serving 2.2g of fat, 6.9g of sugar, and 0.1g of salt. Ingredients included; apple (40%), strawberry (20%), coconut water (20%), coconut milk (10%), whey protein milk (5%), and lemon (5%).

Organic Black Bean Spaghetti & Ragu Arrabiata (@NLi10)

The final protein pasta in the range from Holland & Barrett is the black spaghetti. I always dread black food as it usually contains something like squid ink that I'd not want to eat. This is just squashed black beans, it should be fine right?

In the pot it goes, looking disturbingly like the seaweed, but with a faint beany smell.

It cooks pretty well and loses a little of the scary colour in the process.

Here we see it paired up with some Ragu Arrabiata spicy sauce. This is a pot that you put in the microwave for a minute or two (depending on how far you make the pot go) and add to the dinner to make it have a spicy kick.

With the nacho burger (veggie) then this makes a decent meal and has extra protein and nutrients compared to the regular version.

The protein pasta doesn't taste all that different to the mung bean flavour that we reviewed before. I think I need to take greater care over the time I cook them for to make sure they don't go too soft, but we both enjoyed the whole meal and could have had more.

I hope that these bean pastas cross over into the mainstream and that they become a touch cheaper and more available.  As it stands I have no qualms in making the special trip and paying a little extra to have this a couple of times a week.

For Goodness Shakes Cafe Latte (Waitrose) [By @SpectreUK]

I realized on wondering around the nearby supermarket that I hadn’t had a good milkshake for ages. I had a quick scan over the shelves in the fridge section looking for ones I hadn’t tried before. I noticed this new Cafe Latte flavoured protein nutrition milkshake from For Goodness Shakes, which is made with ultra heat-treated (UHT) milk. I’m not a fan of UHT, but I thought I’d give it a punt anyway. Looking at the calories and its fat free nature, this seemed like a healthy treat. After a good shake the fairly frothy off-white liquid had a predominantly UHT taste with a decent hit from the coffee. Still not a fan of UHT this drink had that creamy yet slightly 'off' taste, which distracted a little from the coffee flavour. It was an okay pick-me-up after an hour at the gym, but you really have to like UHT to appreciate the drink as a whole. Did I mention that I’m not a fan…?

Information on the bottle:

315ml bottle has 125 calories, is fat free, and has 20g of protein, 0.3g of salt and 9.3g of sugar. For ingredients see photograph.

By Spectre

UpBeat - High Protein Dairy Drink - Blueberry and Raspberry [by @NLi10]

I was in Holland & Barrett picking up some curious things to eat and drink and spotted these unusual versions of the protein shake.  They are much more natural looking than the synthetic stuff we've been looking at so far so I figured I'd pick one up.

They are only 250ml but are made with 91% whey protein concentrate which is 20g of protein per bottle.  Doesn't sound that appetising though, does it.  Fortunately that other 9% is mostly fruit puree and they are suitable for vegetarians.

I chose the Blueberry and Raspberry one because I'm predictable.

The fruity goodness does actually work - it tastes like a normal shake (only a bit thicker) and not a protein thing.  These are pretty much a mix of a smoothie and a protein drink I guess.  I'd have to try the other flavours before calling this a total success but I'm liking what i've seen so far.  

As it has to be refrigerated it was hiding at the back of the store where I'm guessing a lot of muscle fans overlook it due to it blending in so well with the normal person drinks.  I guess they need to stick a little sign up next to the giant whey tubs and grenades full of caffeine (i kid you not) that says the nicer ones are at the back.

UFit Pro 50 - Protein Shake (@Tesco) [by @NLi10]

As part of the continued drive to achieve a BMI that raises me from the underweight to normal categories I've been doing exercise. Due to this I've been eating a bit more and trying out whichever protein drinks are on special offer.  While a comment on a previous post suggested that the protein powder itself is much better for this I think that these kinds of drinks are more the way that us regular folk will come across this.  Also I kind of want the sugar and calories to use to fuel the exercise - its not like I have anything else to burn!

This time I picked up the Ufit Pro 50 range - purely because Tesco had them for half price.  I saved them for when I was actually going to be doing exercise and then drank away.  Here we see the bottles on the bus on the way to training.

And here we see the wrestling ring under construction.  I drank one before the training session with NXT star Joel Redman (who wrestled as Oliver Grey), and one afterwards.  There was less cardio than my normal weekly workouts but more stability and core work. Lots of rolling about and throwing people too which is much more fun than running towards a wall at the gym.

The flavours of these drinks were pretty similar, not too sweet, milky with a hint of that odd protein taste layered under the advertised flavour on top.  They were not bad at all, and I'd happily drink these.  The texture was very pleasant, not like the odd Nourishment can, and closer to the original one from a vending machine (see all the Protein posts here).  

These were on special so about £1.50 each but I think they would be double that normally.  I think that this science food for exercise people is a big growth area where there are lots of confusing premium products whose effects you can't judge from one session.  I did manage to survive OK (I have a sore neck from landing on my head a few times) and my muscles are not achey so maybe they did their job.  I'm also the heaviest I've ever been - hooray - but still short of the target.

For Goodness Shakes - Chocolate & Strawberry (Tesco) [review by @NLi10]

As part of my new fitness regime I've been trying lots of shakes and potions to see if I can make the exercise hurt less.

This one was just sitting on the supermarket shelf all innocently, and I consumed the left hand one precisely one hour before the the training started.

The first thing we did was 130 squats - this isn't how you like to start things...

They hurt (I did them all but a bit smaller than normal) but I managed them non the less. The rest of the exercise was mostly acrobatics which I'm less capable of but hurt less.

The recovery was much better this time though, I could sit on seats without massive discomfort this time. This was a pleasure. Whether this was wholely due to the magical drink I'm not sure.

The flavour was much nicer than the nourishment can, the texture was that of a deluxe milkshake and it went down nicely.  I plan to buy more of these and to continue to experiment with their effects.

Dunn's River - Nurishment (original variety) [review by @NLi10]

I've been increasing my exercise recently with a spot of swimming and some prowrestling at a local dojo.  To this end I've been trying out a few of the more bulky energy drinks that have a variety of science claims and are designed to make you a superhuman beast.

To start with I picked up this can of bachelor chow that is named Nurishment. I've seen this around a lot. The people who drink this do tend to wear track suits, but don't tend to be doing exercise. I figured that I'd see what happened.

This is what was in the can. Science! 

I had achey post exercise legs before and after drinking it, I did become very, very sleepy though.  I'm not sure if this was just as a result of work and heat, but it did coincide very closely with the drink.  I will have to get another can and try it when I'm actively doing exercise.

The flavour was vaguely strawberry and it was very gloopy and felt like it wasn't veggie friendly (it isn't). I may be not quite the target market for this, but I am willing to try it again.

Maxi - promax milk strawberry [review by @NLi10]

On a recent trip to our local pool (Smethwick Baths - apparently The Beatles played there once) I spotted that they had some modern vending machines with supplement drinks in.  As I hadn't been swimming properly for at least a year, longer if you want to find a time when I went regularly, I needed a reward.  I over did it a bit as usual and pulled something in my calf I decided I'd earned a bag of crisps and also went for a protein shake too.

The machine has a lot of different ones and it basically comes down to whether you want to choose by magical science effect or flavour.

I thought that the one that promoted muscle repair was probably the one to go for, and thus got strawberry.

Despite the fact that it contained lots of protein it didn't have that papery taste that early protein shakes had.  The strawberry was more of an artificial thing but the milkiness was more real.  The texture wasn't as thick as I'd expected but was suitably satisfying.

My leg stopped hurting about two days later but I haven't been swimming again yet to try it out.  I'm not sure that these were great value for money but it hit the spot at the time and I may try another one next time.