Lonsdale Pro Bar 30 Review

Lonsdale Pro Bar 30

30 grams of protein! As you can see in the pictures above, the ratios are pretty good. However I am a bit dubious about the ingredient list, as there are certain hydrogenated oils and other fats and sugars which are only there to enhance the taste.

Overall these are pretty harmless bars. If the protein is good quality, then there is nothing wrong with using them occasionally for your lunch if like me you are always on the move. Nothing beats real food though!

I bought these from Sports Direct which is a popular chain sports store in the UK. They cost £1.50 but I have found them on sale before for £1 or less.

Flavours I have tried include Chocolate Fudge, Mint Chocolate and Strawberries and Cream. They are all pretty nice, due to the levels of fat and other ingredients mentioned ealier. The texture is a bit like eating a chewy, slightly chalky toffee bar (UK readers, imagine a thick Chomp bar).

I'd say go for it, but with this being a vegetarian based blog, be wary of the ingredients, as the packet warns it may contain gluten and nuts, so who knows what else may be derived in the process (one amazon review claims it contains gelatine).

Enjoy!

Is Starbucks Coffee Killing Your Progress?

Many of us, myself included, love a cup of coffee. Some of us even need it just to function in the mornings.

While a cup wont really do you any harm, lets take a minute to think about the colorific values.
A standard cup of coffee you make at home has the majority of its calories from the milk that you add, along with the sugar you drop in by the spoonful. Obviously adding flavoured syrups and the like will boost these values even more. Then again, this is generally ok as long as you keep an eye on what you are doing, and if you feel you dont need the 5g of sugar in your coffee, there is 20 calories saved already which you can bank for somewhere else later in the day.

But what happens when you venture out of the house? Lets say you go into town and halfway through your day you stop at a Starbucks or a Costa Coffee for example.Do you have any idea how many calories are in the Cappuccino, or that "Skinny Late" you ordered? You might have thought it was irrelavant as coffee by itself is generally very low in calories, but these drinks fron the large chains can contain anything up to around 200 calories for a regular cup!

And thats not even including the calorie dense hot chocolates or the cream filled fruit smoothies.

The following is taken from Starbuck's website (Drink name, Calories, Fat, Carbs & Protein). Drinks are assumed to be "Grande" with 2% milk.

• Caffe Latte - 240, 9, 24, 16
• Caffe Mocha - 340, 11, 53, 17
• Cappuccino - 150, 6, 16, 10
• White Choc Mocha - 510, 15, 77, 19

In recent years, large outlets, including the likes of McDonalds, down to my local coffee shops, have begun to list the calorie content of their products. Take a look next time at the large menu behind the counter. Dont get sucked in by the marketing strategies which aim to sell the most profitable drink, but be sensible. If you can afford to add it to your daily macros, then by all means treat yourself. Just dont make a habit of it, coffee is addictive and you might find that extra bit of fat growing with your intake.

Still reeeeally want a coffee? Try going black...!



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Whey Protein Review

Kinetica Whey Protein

Amazon Link: Kinetica Whey Protein 2.27KG - Vanilla

Mixing

I always mix my protein in a standard Shaker Cup.  Kinetica whey, along with Syntha 6 have been the most outstanding proteins I have used in my 8 years or so of using supplements. Generally I used one scoop per 250ml of Semi Skimmed milk, and about 20 seconds of violent wrist action later, it was good to go. No lumps, no nasty surprises. After some time I used a heaped scoop, so basically 1.5 regular scoops, and had no complaints.

Taste

This is where this protein really shines. I have tried chocolate, vanilla and even banoffee (the shop had no others available so i took a chance) and each one has been great. The banoffee was even a little addictive.

Sometimes, chugging down 3 shakes a day can get very monotonous, and you may begin to grow resentment to downing it. Not with this stuff! I took on a lot of protein using this, and never once got bored of it.



Cooking

As the price was fairly high in comparison to other proteins online, I didnt feel comfortable using it all up on cooking experiments. A few times I did make chocolate whey pancakes, and even mixed it into a batter with an egg for a chocolate based cake texture dessert thing. It cooked as expected and held the taste very well. No complaints, but I could have experimented further if I could afford it!


Value for Money

Probably the only point here I wasnt too happy with. Compared to ON Whey or other big brands, at £45 per 2.2kilo tub it was around the usual price range. I have found some on Amazon for about £40 now which looks like a good bargain. Before the recent raise in taxes on sports nutrition products its all got a bit more expensive anyway!

Nutrition

Nutritional Information	Typical per 30g serving	Typical per 100g
Energy	118kcal/494kJ	394kcal/1648kJ
Protein	22.6g	75.3g
Carbohydrate	1.4g	4.8g
of which sugars	0.9g	3.1g
Fat	2.5g	8.2g
of which saturates	1.8g	6.0g
Dietary Fibre	0.08g	0.26g
Sodium	0.05g	0.17g
Other Added Active Ingredients	Typical per 30g serving	Typical per 100g
Aminogen® (Digestive Enzyme)	100.0mg	333.3mg
Amino Acid Profile	Typical per 30g serving	Typical per 100g
Leucine	2.73g	9.10g
Isoleucine	1.47g	4.90g
Valine	1.48g	4.95g
Total Branched Chain Amino Acids
	5.68g	18.95g
Aspartic Acid	2.78g	9.28g
Glutamic Acid	4.45g	14.83g
Serine	1.38g	4.60g
Glycine	0.48g	1.62g
Histidine	0.47g	1.56g
Arginine	0.70g	2.32g
Threonine	1.88g	6.28g
Alanine	1.25g	4.16g
Proline	1.47g	4.92g
Tyrosine	0.79g	2.63g
Methionine	0.47g	1.58g
Cystine	0.62g	2.08g
Phenylalanine	0.83g	2.78g
Lysine	2.37g	7.90g
Tryptophan	0.37g	1.22g

INGREDIENTS:
Biotein™ Protein Blend (Ultra Filtered Whey Protein Concentrate, Cross-Flow-Micro-Filtered Whey Protein Isolate, Hydrolysed Whey Protein Concentrate), Natural Flavouring, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Digestive Enzyme (Aminogen® A Registered Trademark of Triarco Industries Protected By US Patent No. 5,387,422), Natural Colour (Carotene), Stabiliser (Carboxymethylcellulose), Sweetener (Sucralose).


Overall


9/10 - Only losing points for the price! Hint, dont buy from Kinetica's own website, there are cheaper deals elsewhere. Click the link to Amazon in this little box below, or this text link here:
Kinetica Whey Protein 2.27KG - Vanilla


The product is affiliated through Amazon. You will pay no extra, but my blog will be credited with the referral and that will help my site continue to grow. Thank you!
 
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Lose Weight For Summer

Losing weight is simple. There are millions of websites, blogs, weight loss groups, gyms, personal trainers, and corporations (read: Weight Watchers) that over complicate things.

There are two main factors which will aid in weight loss:

Move More

Eat Less

.....and thats essentially it. Generally, if you eat 2000 kCal a day, and you move around enough so that you expend 2,500 kCal every day, you will be at what is known as a calorie deficit. Through the space of a week, you will have burned off 3,500 kCal, and that is nearly the same amount of calories as one pound of bodyfat.

There are many ways of keeping a tab on how many calories you are burning. Apps such as Myfitnesspal, my favourite, can help a lot. Try tracking everything you eat for a few days (and i mean everything). You will be surprised how wrong you may be with your estimations beforehand.

Track Your Calories













Track Your Weight Regularly

Dont worry about supplements for now. Thermogenic Fat Burners for example may have their place, but can vary in their effectiveness and some people can be very sensitive to stimulants.

You Are What You Eat!

You might be able to get all of your daily calories from chocolate, but you will be badly malnourished and feel terrible. If you eat nothing but chocolate, which for instance may be 30% fat, 60% Carbs (refined sugar) and 10% Protein, then how do you expect your body to drop to under 10% fat so you can see your abs? In this case, a calorie is not equal to any other calorie.

If you want to lose weight as a bodybuilder, you are going to lose some muscle size. Deal with it. In order to minimise this loss, keep your protein level high. The reason for this is when your body starts to break down for fuel, you will still have enough protein passing through your system to replace whatever mass gets used up (a very basic overview).

Cutting out a Macronutrient

It works, but its probably not worth it. Once you come off the diet and eat carbs again for example, your body will adjust and you might find yourself back to square one. Good for competitors & models who have to hit a deadline, not so good for longeivity and good health.

Be Smart, Eat Sensible, Train Hard.

 

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The Only 2 Supplements You Need

Thought about trying BCAA's, Testosterone Boosters, Deer Antler, Fat Burners, Natural Steroid Alternatives?

You dont need any of it!

If you work hard at the gym, in my experience there are only two supplements which work, and thats besides sweating your ass off and eating clean.

Whey Protein and Creatine Monohydrate

I recently heard Marc Lobliner call whey protein "chocolate chicken". Its not a magic formula, that when you consume a 5lb tub in a few days you grow huge. Its essentially the macro's of something like a chicken breast in an easy convenient formula. Think about it. Easting 6 chicken breasts a day wont make you huge, so why should a protein powder. 

Of course it helps. I myself find it hard to eat a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight a day, but if i have 6 servings (6x1 scoop) per day, i can get close enough on top of my other food. Please note, as whey protein is derived from milk, it is not suitable for vegans. There are other protein sources available out there which may be suitable.

Creatine should be used in the monohydrate form. All of the other forms are marketing techniques on the same product. Also, the loading phase isnt necessary. It will fill your muscles faster, but you will also burn through your stash faster. My advice is to take 1 5g scoop per day throughout your required term. There is no need to cycle either. 

Save your cash for the gym membership and rubbish gym clothes!