ExRx.net

I'm starting to panic a bit about all the "cheat" foods i eat to stay in calorie surplus. I eat lots of good healthy stuff, but i also get lots of rubbish.

So... I'm cleaning up my act, and I'm going to start using supplements, particularly MRPs. Looking about the biotest products look the best, but the price I'd pay shipping to Scotland is about as much as the product in itself, and as a poor student i can't really justify the expenditure. Are there any websites (I looked but couldn't find any) that will send biotest products to the UK for cheap? Or are preferably based actually in the UK? I'd prefer to order from a UK company so the shipping doesn't take as long.

Failing that if anyone who posts here is from the UK and has found a decent brand of MRP from a UK based company please let me know.

Thanks
Bob

You're going to struggle to get Biotest stuff. When you get it from a UK supplier, it has a huge mark up and in my opinion just isn't worth the cost.

I use Reflex. I would prefer to use Biotest but, it's just not cost effective over here. Also, when you order from across the pond you get slapped with customs charges on top of everything else, and they seem to just pull the figures out of the air in that respect.

I go to www.affordablesupplements.co.uk I've used them for years now. You can get some biotest products from them but again, they cost a fortune. I get both the Reflex Instant Mass, which has a 50/50 breakdown of protein to carbs, and the carbs come from oats and barley. I also get the Relfex Instant Whey, which is just protein. I like to have both at hand to 'fill in the gaps'. On one hand, if you need protein, it's there, but if you need a MRP, it's there too. I like the MRP as a post workout drink and normally have the Whey as a pre workout drink. I have a meal pre workout (sometimes just a bowl of yogurt or something), but on the way to the gym I just sip away at protein, too.

If you can wait 3-4 days for delivery, it's free (delivery charge). Also, they have a points system, like Boots. So everything you buy, you get points. Right now I have a couple of tubs of protein built up in points, you know, for a rainy day.

Also, if you know of "Power House" which is behind the St Enoch Centre, towards Slaters, they have Reflex stuff (although it's more expensive). If you've never been there, you should go as they have loads of stuff, supplements and equipement wise.

KPj

ah cheers for the link KPj, i think i need to start supplementing because i don't always have time to eat, for example i'm not a morning person (to put it mildly, I'm like a different person entirely when I'm just up - not nice) so if i could knock up an MRP for breakfast then that'd be helpful.

just had a look at that site, looks pretty decent. That stuff you recommended looks like exactly what I'm looking for: 500 odd calories and 50 grams of protein? Sounds pretty perfect to me. Beefcake!

It's very handy to have both. I generally try and NOT use them, you know, because it can be easy to fall into a habbit and get lazy, drinking loads of shakes per day. The tub of just Whey lasts me ages because I don't use it much. The MRP doesn't because I normally have it PW. I also have it as a "oh s**t is that the time! Breakfast". Deffinitly handy for that.

5 scoops of the MRP is a BIG shake. That's what I have, generally. It's 50g protein, 50g carbs. I wouldn't recommend you dive straight in and have the 5 scoops. We have a friend training with us, complete beginner. He just comes in with me and my training partner (we all grew up together). After it, when we were mixing up the shakes, he said, "i'll have a shake as well then, how many scoops do I put in?". Without thinking, I said, "5". half an hour later he could barely move, felt very sick. It was clearly too much. Foolish of me to say such a thing, you know, but, it was a lesson well learned.

He was fine with 3 scoops though. I never started with 5 scoops, I just kept trying to sneak in calories wherever I could, so my PW shake was getting bigger and bigger.

It is strange that it recommends so much for one serving. if you get it, try 3 scoops first, and make sure it sits ok.

KPj

yeah i was going to be a bit more tentative than that, i had some whey protein before but it messed up my stomach. Weirdly, it wouldn't mess with my gut if i had it with some carbs, and seeing as how MRPs have carbs I'm thinking they'll sit a bit better. I'm also going to make it with water, not milk.

although frankly i think you hinting that 5 scoops is too much is a slur on my masculinity! I'll be knocking up a gallon of whole milk with 10 scoops of the powder!!! Just kidding, although I actually did something not dissimiliar to that for my first ever protein shake, I misread the instructions and didn't realise it came with it's own measuring scoop, so i tried to weigh out tablespoonfuls of the powder to get the correct measurement (which obviously i got wrong...) and ended up putting in 15 tablespoons. It did seem like loads at the time, but then the stuff came in a HUGE tub and I figured that was probably why... It was like drinking wet cement. Just horrible.

But yeah what you're saying about getting lazy and just having shakes all the time is something I'll try and avoid. Right now I drink sainsburys own brand of chocolate milk, a litre has 40 grams of protein and 1000 calories! How's that for a mass gainer? But the calories all come from sugar, so I'm trying to wean myself onto something healthier.