Slimmer Saturday: My Protein Review

With 18 weeks until my 3 week road trip around the West of America I’ve had a sudden reality shock that it really is about time I started shifting some weight. I mean, that is what this blog was supposed to be about. Showing how you can still lead a healthy lifestyle by eating/drinking in moderation. Unfortunately temptation always gets the better of me and I’ve been guilty of eating and drinking whatever I fancied. That is until this week. I’ve cut right down and, even when out and about, have started to choose the healthier option when in restaurants.

Unfortunately healthy eating isn’t going to shift my weight on it’s own and certainly won’t help me tone up. Back to the gym I needed to go and this is actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. I’ve been to the gym in the last 6 months, don’t get me wrong, but only the odd time with no real structure to my workouts. As someone who used to be a real gym bunny visiting 4/5 times a week I am really struggling to get my bum there and just sweating it out until I get fit again.

So when My Protein asked me to try some things from their website I thought it might be the kick up the bum I needed to bite the bullet and just go for it, as Nike would say.

Firstly I was sent the large food KlickBox which retails at £2.99. It’s made from sturdy plastic with moveable dividers so you can section off your lunch box. I like that I can store my fruit, salad, meat and snacks in the same box but still separate to each other. The only issue I have found with this is that, with the dividers being moveable, any sauce or dressing would just run underneath covering everything. Not pleasant to find salad dressing all over your strawberries! With that in mind I put my dressing in a little tub and pop it into one of the sections ready to be poured over my salad at lunch. For £2.99 I think this is great value compared to similar lunch boxes you can buy at the supermarket.

When trying to lose weight I usually opt for a smoothie at breakfast. They are quick and nutritious and, especially since I have discovered the wonder that is frozen berries and bananas, really simple to do. I’ve been having berries and banana with almond milk most mornings but do find that I am really hungry by 12pm. I was bothered how I would cope once I was back at the gym properly and have heard good things about protein shakes for energy so thought I’d try some powder.

I chose the My Protein Elle True Diet in velvet vanilla that retails at £34.99 for 1.8kg. The bag is huge and I struggle to store it in my teeny kitchen so it is currently sat on top of my fridge! It doesn’t say anywhere on the packet or website that there is a scoop inside the bag, thanks to the knowledgeable people I follow on Twitter, I managed to dig to the bottom of the bag and find one! This resulted in me being covered in the powder but at least I could easily measure out the recommended 28g per serving.

This protein powder contains premium protein, fibre, green tea extract, guarana, CLA and chromium to create a meal replacement or an alternative to mid-morning/afternoon snacks. With 36.3g of protein per serving this is a good way to get your daily allowance and also to help fuel your gym sessions whilst trying to slim down.

Taste wise the shake is really sweet. The protein blend contains sweeteners which kind of goes against the whole health kick for me. I really want to cut out as much crap from my diet as possible and the added sweeteners don’t really help. That said, it means I can lose a few calories by opting for unsweetened almond milk.

I was sent the Max Elle Blender Bottle to help me make protein shakes. The mini version retails at £1.99 and holds 400ml so perfect to chuck in the gym bag. The wire blending ball acts like a whisk to blend the powder with my almond milk and really does work. I thought I’d end up with lumps of powder floating in my shake and bits stuck to the bottom but this little ball really is genius! The bottle is genuinely drip proof so my gym kit doesn’t get covered in shake and, well I am a stereotypical girl, looks good with it’s bright pink lid!

Overall I don’t think you can beat the price of the products from My Protein. The accessories are some of the cheapest I have found and the protein powder seems a good price for the amount of protein per serving. I find the addition of protein to my breakfast is helping keep me full for longer and means I can workout longer without burning out too quickly. As I up my number of gym sessions a week I hope it continues to help my energy levels, I’ll keep you posted!

These items were sent for review purposes. This is an honest and unbiased post.