Recommend a protein supplement?

yeah, my bad.
rechecked my notes. I manage about 60 grams average a day at the mo.

to go beyond that I am curious about powders. of course for example two pints of milk and two chicken breasts every day and we be getting somewhere, but there are always those crappy food days that drags it all down again...

er, what makes anyone think I'd bother starting this thread as well as anally go trough my diet if I wasn't already lifting weights?
that said, all responses are much appreciated ;-)

Frankly that is a laughable amount of protein to promote any kind of muscle gains no matter what your weight! To give you an idea how much I used to consume, when aiming for maximum strength (and as a pleasant side effect muscle mass) as a power lifter, I consumed 220-280g of protein a day, approximately 30% of this was shakes and the rest from whole foods, I think someone earlier hit the nail on the head when they basically said what I always say to people starting out in weight training, supplements and supplements alone, will not improve your gains, TRAINING AND DIET FIRST!
Supplements have their place, don't get me wrong, but think of them as the icing on the cake, and not the cake itself, there are several different body types, which describe peoples predispositions when it comes to gaining weight/muscle mass, endomorphic, mesomorphic, and ectomorphic, but all of these terms and descriptions are redundant until you have a proper training and diet regime in place to determine how your body reacts under the best possible circumstances first. Do yourself a massive favour, spend the money you were going to spend on protein shakes on seeing a proper sports nutritionist and/or seeking advice on your training regime, explaining to them your goals and aims, but first you need to get yourself on a reasonable diet and into a regular training regime.
By the way I say all this not as the strongest person in the world, but as someone who got somewhere from almost nothing, within three years of wasting away to almost nothing in hospital and coming out a broken man, I was not only walking again, but deadlifting 200kg, squatting 160kg for reps, and benching 120kg, I only really took a break from "serious" lifting summer last year, but I did a couple of amateur comps, and knew a lot of competing powerlifters and athletes at the two gyms I used to train at.
There has been a lot of rubbish stated on this thread about whats right and wrong, with only a few truths thrown in there, firstly diet:
I don't know what your aims/goals are but here is an example of my typical diet back when I was training hard and aiming for maximum strength:

30 minutes Pre-breakfast: Whey protein isolate shake 24g of protein

Breakfast: Fruit and fibre with approximately a pint of milk, with powdered milk sprinkled on top for added protein, approximately 25-30g of protein, milk offers a combination of whey protein and casein protein which works great as you get both fast (whey) and slow (casein) release proteins so you get a sudden burst of amino acids into your system and a nice steady release from the casein.

2-3 hours post breakfast (approx 1-2 hours pre lunch): whey protein isolate shake 24g of protein

Lunch: chicken and bacon pasta salad, normally comprising of two chicken breasts and 1-2 rashers of bacon with whole wheat pasta and mixed salad: approximately 60-75g of protein

2 hours post lunch: whey protein isolate shake 24g of protein

Dinner: whatever was going, I used to do my best to hit a target of around 60g of protein though as a minimum, carbs were reduced or increased accordingly at this time of day depending on whether or not this was a post workout meal or just a normal meal, increased heavily for post workout and decreased if a normal meal, you simply do not need much in the way of carbs at night time.

2-3 hours post dinner 300g of tesco cottage cheese with onion and chives (approximately 35g protein count) as it is pretty much pure casein protein which is ideal for night time consumption as it provides a slow digesting protein to prevent muscle catabolism in your sleep.

I would skip out the first two protein shakes of the day sometimes, Hell..sometimes I would skip out the shakes all together if I forgot to prepare them for work in the morning, and just go for a bigger breakfast just because I was a greedy cunt ;). This is just an example of my diet, in all meals where there are carbs and protein I am careful to maintain a 2-1 carb to protein ratio, as this is essential and highly effective for enhancing protein absorption, also...all carbs are intentionally Low GI unless I am consuming them post workout, in which case pass me that sugary shit bitch! Notice a lack of fat in most of these meals, if a meal was particularly low fat, I used to add some healthy fats in the form of pumpkin seed oil, or Olive oil to the meal (my typical lunch for instance). Oh yeah and all milk consumed was skimmed milk, apart from the powdered shit. Hope all that is of some help.

thanks CrazyJames, much appreciated.

could you recommend a brand of whey protein while we are at it? price is a concern. reason I am bothering people on this forum about it is that I somehow trust people here a bit more than on the weight lifter forums I've visited recently.

yeah, and i promise to everyone else to keep munching away at plenty of the usual healthy stuff.

oh, and how much did you weigh at the time when you had 220 - 280 g protein a day CrazyJames? just thinking in terms of relativity like.

I found Nature's Best weight gain stuff (basically protein with carbs in) good as a meal replacement, and for pre and post workout just to keep the wolf from the door before the meals.

Maximuscle's stuff doesn't seem so good, but then I didn't use it to "gain weight" I used it as a supplement to weight training and cycling where I was looking to improve power to weight ratio by replacing fat with muscle. and building lean muscle in specific places. and that worked.

what kind of training are you doing?

Weight gainers are all about increasing calorie intake - and in my professional opinion - are a waste of fucking money. Drink a pint of milk after a training session, chocolate of you like - but then consume a small complex carb/protein meal within 2-3 hours after.
All weight gainers and protein powders are heated to high temperatures to dehayrate the melecule and form a powder right? (Well, in a nutshell..)
All proteins denature when they reach that temperature - so there is no product on the market (that is labelled as a sports product) that contains a complete protein - and its complete protein that rebuilds the body.... Any weight gain from these products is through an increase in *calories *and nothing else. So you may as well just reap the same benefits from a cheaper.... tastier option.
Don't even get me started on those fucked up, casein loaded, gut tormenting protein bars.... what a fucking joke.
Eat sensibly, eat clean and the benefits will be tenfold, both internally as well as getting the performance enhanced effects of a functional nutrition base.
This toss was written on the front of a myoplex
"contains 54g of pure whey protein" ..... fuck off. Pure my ass... denatured laxative in my opinion....

So what do you eat if you are cutting? and how many calories ought you aim to burn in a day?

thanks CrazyJames, much appreciated.

could you recommend a brand of whey protein while we are at it? price is a concern. reason I am bothering people on this forum about it is that I somehow trust people here a bit more than on the weight lifter forums I've visited recently.

yeah, and i promise to everyone else to keep munching away at plenty of the usual healthy stuff.

oh, and how much did you weigh at the time when you had 220 - 280 g protein a day CrazyJames? just thinking in terms of relativity like.

I was about 17 stone 8 with visible abs, not proper proper ripped, but ok, I was about 18-20% bodyfat I think.

Personally if you want cheap and cheerful ON whey was half decent and didn't upset my stomach, AST vp2 whey protein isolate is one of the best, its nearly twice as expensive as ON whey but you get what you pay for: http://www.discount-supplements.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=7009 you have to be careful with whey proteins though, as pistaboy said there is a lot of shit out there, and the crap ones will upset your stomach a bit. Once again though just to emphasise, the bulk of my carb/protein intake came from food, there is no substitute, but whey protein is helpful for those moment when you just can't eat anymore!

I'm not really a small guy now, but I think my serious powerlifting days are gone lol, the amount of effort it takes to maintain the diet/training is intense and it would be next to impossible to cycle as much as I do and recover fully from that kinda shit.

Which brand of EPO is the best?
I've been on a weight gain diet for 30 years and now I'm ready for my speed phase.

are u on chaemo therapy Hippy ?

Does that help?

YouTube - Michael Phelps 12,000 Calorie Diet Test by Fat Guy Nation

Does that help?

humour fail on my part

Which brand of EPO is the best?
I've been on a weight gain diet for 30 years and now I'm ready for my speed phase.

Not sure really but Testosterone decanoate helps me out when I need a little lift ;)

The Fairy SuppMother knocked at my door this morning, I'm good for the next few weeks

next time go to www.discount-supplements.co.uk, and you will pay less for better quality versions of those products Holland and barret are nearly always the most expensive.

Fuck Holland and Barrett, I'm GNC, USN and myprotein.co.uk all day beyotchhhh

where's your steak, milk and eggs?

RPM, they are tucked safely away in my belly.

You men eat your dinner, Eat your pork and beans
I eat more chicken, Than any man ever seen
..

Hey Chug It, could you explain that Glucosamine Sulphate stuff?

EGGS EGGS EGGS EGGS EGGS.

etc

3 out of the 6 products in that picture are manufactured for and by Holland and Barrett.....who also own GNC and all their relevant own brand products. I worked for them part time for a few months when I was a teenager.

myprotein are really good, GNC/holland and barrett are very overpriced for very basic products though. Try discount supplements great choice, great products, oh and if you want a creatine product that actually works well, try Get Diesel Nos Ether, that stuff is amazing, just amazing.

raw eggs , use mostly the whites and blend them with a banana.

Hey Chug It, could you explain that Glucosamine Sulphate stuff?

promotes joint health, particularily knees (which can take a battering), really good and better than cod liver oil!