Advice needed: Body builders & Athletes - Protein Consumption

[Jake801]

Hi Guys,

I'll be travelling around Thailand for 2 months starting this Saturday. Back in the UK I train every day and intend to continue on my travels (I use bands instead of gym when travelling - they're pretty good!).

I need 150g of protein each day to maintain lean muscle mass. I'm not fussed about gaining muscle whilst away, just trying to maintain and at least retain all strength.

Question to body builders or gym goers, what are good sources of protein in Thailand (also cheap as im hoping to save some cash)?

As I am travelling I won't be able to cook anything so I need protein sources which I can buy and eat immediately. For example

- cheap protein powder

- cans of meat/tuna

- packs of cooked meat

- cooked meat from street stalls.

I've been to Thailand before so i know you can buy meat straight from food vendors but the problem with that is that it is deceivingly expensive, especially if I am trying to get my 150g.

Also I intend to drink quite a lot so my calorie count is already going to be high, so lean protein sources would be preferable otherwise body fat increase etc.

Lastly, I'd be interested to know about gyms in thailand? How much they cost, are they of good quality? Also any other travelers in a similar position to me and what they did?

Last thing - please do not comment and tell me just to enjoy myself and forget about gym, diet, training. Its part of my life and travelling doesn't change that.

Thanks all!

[Rob13]

Tofu,soy milk,eggs,chicken and tuna are probably the cheapest and easiest to get. If you want powders bring them from home as they are stupidly expensive in Thailand.

[gerryBScot]

One of the best and cheapest sources of protein available in Thailand would be chicken feet - 'kah gai'; they are also loaded with collagen. They are not available everywhere but I reckon you'll get them in restaurants around market areas. They are cooked in a variety of ways but my favourite is chicken feet salad; spicy with lime juice and a little bit chewy and not to everyone's taste not so much on account of taste, they are pretty tasteless, but rather texture. Check them out online. I was amazed when I bought them in error first time, googled them and as I say learned they were fat and carb free and actually a great source of protein and collagen - make your face look good!

[Jake801]

Cheers Rob,

Ok good to know about protein powder, i'll write that idea off now.

I'm assuming you mean buy those from Super markets? (Tofu, Soy milk, chicken & tuna etc).

This may sound like a silly question but what are the Big Brand Super markets to look out for in Thailand? (Equivalent to a Lidl / Aldi/ Tesco in the UK).

I have no doubt that Bangkok & Chain Mai will have super markets, but I plan to visit the islands and dont imagine somewhere like Phi Phi will have similar things?

[Rob13]

There's tescos pretty much everywhere and have everything you need. And 7/11's carry tuna and other stuff, tofu,eggs etc.. There's alot of roast chicken sellers in the markets, good,healthy and oil free. Cheap too. I can get a whole roast chicken down the road from me for around 100 baht.

[Jake801]

Thanks Gerry, appreciate that about Chicken feet - seen them before and always assumed they were just 'bones with a bit of flavour!'

Had a look online and you're right about protein but still have a fairly high cal count. Still though, ill certainly be trying them when eating out so thanks.

[Jake801]

Ok thanks Rob for the heads up, ill be on the look out for Tescos and check out 7/11s when ever I see them (so every 2 minutes!)

[NickJ]

Bring six k of whey with you. I just divide it i to ziplock bags. Cans of tuna everywhere. eggs. whey is stupid expensive here.

[Morakot]

More, low in calories and high in protein foods available in Thailand:

• Lentils
• Peas
• Pumpkin seeds

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/8-high-protein-vegetables.html

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/vegetarian-bodybuilding.htm

[gerryBScot]

In and around major cities and towns the best place to buy food IMHO is Makro. Fresh fish and sea food, beef etc - when I say fresh fish I mean it is killed in the store often in front of you - and you can get things like avocados ( imported ones are very expensive) and cuts of fresh/frozen fish such as tuna and salmon together with all the salad stuff.

[lostinisaan]

Silk Worms and plenty of other insects you can easily get here.

[Bob12345]

My tips:

1. protein powder

Too expensive to buy here, so bring a big tub from home. Also bring ziplock bag and once you are in Thailand you can put the contents of the tub in the bags.

I wouldn't recommend doing that at home already as customs might be alerted when you bring a few kilos of white powder in ziplock bags.

Just buy a new and sealed tub to bring with you and you wont have any trouble.

Leucine as a supplement (which is an amino acid and linked to holding on to muscle mass) is also an option as it will take less space.

2. supermarkets

Tuna in a can with water is an easy 40 grams of protein. It won't be my preferred option as I have trouble getting it away.

Big supermarkets like Tesco and Big C also sell grilled chickens. This is a whole chicken for about 150 baht with great taste. Just away the skin and you have a healthy meal.

3. 7-11

You can find 7-11s everywhere and in the fridge section they have boiled eggs. Actually they even have soft-boiled, medium-boiled, and hard-boiled eggs. I believe the red packages are the hard boiled ones. Costs about 15 baht for 2 eggs. You can throw away the yellow to limit fat intake.

And since recently 7-11 also has "ready-to-eat" healthy meals with brown rice, some veggies, and chicken breast. This is specifically made for gym goers and a meal is about 50 baht or something. They will microwave it for you at the counter.

4. Food courts

Most food courts, and here and there on the street as separate restaurants, you can find "kauw man kaai" (steamed chicken with coconut rice). The rice is high in calories as they boil it with coconut milk, but the chicken is great. In most cases they sell a meal (some chicken, rice, and some broth) for 40 baht but for 80-120 baht you can also get a much bigger plate with only chicken.

[Rob13]

Ready to eat healthy meals from 7-11. Gimme a break. Healthy food and ready to eat meals are opposites.

[robblok]

Protein powder... i pay around 600 bt per kg recently bought 20kg at once you get a discount then. Seems cheap to me, but only viable if you stay here long.

I buy chicken at the market 70B per KG for chicken-breast and got a gril and it tastes good with some herbs.

If you want to boil eggs just buy a small electric egg boiler and you can boil your own. (good for idiots like me who otherwise forget to turn of the heat under the water ending in disaster)

Loads of salad for sale but often expensive.. in general i buy and mix it myself still need to find a way to do that on a large scale so i wont be bothered with doing it every day. Combine that with tuna and its a nice meal.

I got a vegetable steamer for sweet patato and broccoli and stuff like that.. can even steam chicken.

[TheRascal]

7/11 now sell protein milk, there are 3 flavours chocolate, vanilla and a gold topped one which has slightly lower carb. I think they are about 60B a bottle. I'll try to grab one later to find out. This is probably going to be a really easy go to option for you as these seem to be in every 7/11 branch.

Max Value supermarket (and maybe some of the others) sell cartons of pasteurised egg white, 450ml for 89B.

Protein in most of the shops is expensive but from phuket health shop (they have a website where you can pay with paypal) you can get a big tub of dymatize protein for 2000B, a little more expensive than the UK with options like myprotein but not extortionate.

In BKK there's a supplement shop inside Asok BTS station, they also sell tubs of protein for around 2000B and have Quest protein bars (21g of protein per bar) for 99B

[TheRascal]

Protein powder... i pay around 600 bt per kg recently bought 20kg at once you get a discount then. Seems cheap to me, but only viable if you stay here long.

Where do you get yours from mate?

[Bob12345]

Ready to eat healthy meals from 7-11. Gimme a break. Healthy food and ready to eat meals are opposites.

Wow, the huge amount of academic research you provided as source material will keep me busy the coming days.

#1: foods are not healthy or unhealthy by itself.

If you lack fats in your diet a McDonalds meal will do you more good than broccoli and sprouts.

You can therefore not make generalizing statements like "7-11 food is unhealthy".

#2: just the fact that something is "ready to eat" does not mean it is unhealthy.

Can you explain that link?

In many cases ready-to-eat meals are full of sugars and salts, neither is particularly healthy (this does not contradict #1 as your body is very unlikely to have a lack of salt or sugars).

But in this case the meals are specially prepared for gym goers and have low contents of sugar and salt.

Looking forward to your answer and hoping for more than just "bro-science".

[robblok]

Ready to eat healthy meals from 7-11. Gimme a break. Healthy food and ready to eat meals are opposites.

Wow, the huge amount of academic research you provided as source material will keep me busy the coming days.

#1: foods are not healthy or unhealthy by itself.

If you lack fats in your diet a McDonalds meal will do you more good than broccoli and sprouts.

You can therefore not make generalizing statements like "7-11 food is unhealthy".

#2: just the fact that something is "ready to eat" does not mean it is unhealthy.

Can you explain that link?

In many cases ready-to-eat meals are full of sugars and salts, neither is particularly healthy (this does not contradict #1 as your body is very unlikely to have a lack of salt or sugars).

But in this case the meals are specially prepared for gym goers and have low contents of sugar and salt.

Looking forward to your answer and hoping for more than just "bro-science".

If you mean the new ready to eat (only microwave) meals of the 711 with brown rice and stuff (they mention they are balanced)

They are not too bad i keep a few in the freezer for if i get lazy.

[Bob12345]

Ready to eat healthy meals from 7-11. Gimme a break. Healthy food and ready to eat meals are opposites.

Wow, the huge amount of academic research you provided as source material will keep me busy the coming days.

#1: foods are not healthy or unhealthy by itself.

If you lack fats in your diet a McDonalds meal will do you more good than broccoli and sprouts.

You can therefore not make generalizing statements like "7-11 food is unhealthy".

#2: just the fact that something is "ready to eat" does not mean it is unhealthy.

Can you explain that link?

In many cases ready-to-eat meals are full of sugars and salts, neither is particularly healthy (this does not contradict #1 as your body is very unlikely to have a lack of salt or sugars).

But in this case the meals are specially prepared for gym goers and have low contents of sugar and salt.

Looking forward to your answer and hoping for more than just "bro-science".

If you mean the new ready to eat (only microwave) meals of the 711 with brown rice and stuff (they mention they are balanced)

They are not too bad i keep a few in the freezer for if i get lazy.

Yes, those are the ones.

[Rob13]

Loads of salad for sale but often expensive.. in general i buy and mix it myself still need to find a way to do that on a large scale so i wont be bothered with doing it every day.

I've been putiting salad greens in a big plastic bag and keep them in the fridge. They stay good for about a week, just got to make sure there's no water on them before you put them in the bag.

[robblok]

Loads of salad for sale but often expensive.. in general i buy and mix it myself still need to find a way to do that on a large scale so i wont be bothered with doing it every day.

I've been putiting salad greens in a big plastic bag and keep them in the fridge. They stay good for about a week, just got to make sure there's no water on them before you put them in the bag.

Good plan, then i can prepare a larger quantity and take what i need. Sounds like a plan. (i dont mind preparing foods but try to keep it to a minimum). When you make a large quantity you can put more different ingredients in it.

[Rob13]

What's the salt content of those CP meals? How much MSG are they using, what kind of oil do they cook them in? They're OK for a quick snack once or twice a week, if you're relying on them for a healthy meal on a regular basis you're doing more harm to yourself than good. If you want a healthy ready to eat meal, DIY at home a week or so a head of time so you can control the ingredients.

[Kabula]

You can add eggs, salmon, shrimp, chicken with skin on.

Enjoy Greek Yogurt and sweet potatoes and all dark green veggies, especially Kale.

Avoid all sugars, sweeteners, fast food, soft drinks, alcohol and restaurants while in training.

Eat less and work out on an empty stomach.

Do HIIT training in your room. High intensity training. Better than a gym for burning off fat with the proper diet. U tube has great videos to follow.

Buy the food in the market and prepare the food yourself in plastic containers and eat small portions 5 times a day on a regular basis.

Drink lots of bottled or filtered water with this heat.

The muscle factory comes highly recommended.

I don't recommend cheap protein powders.

Good protein comes from hemp seeds, but I import them.

Enjoy....

[F4UCorsair]

Egg whites. You can eat them raw or have a four egg omelette, but with one yolk. The omelette won't 'set' without the fat of oine yolk. Apparently they are better absorbed when cooked.

You could also boil eggs, possibly in your room, and pitch the yolks?

I appreciate you said food that didn't need cooking, but food stalls are everywhere, all have eggs, and omelettes are easy and fast to cook.

When I was lifting weights years ago, egg whites were my main source of protein, and they are what many of the powder protein supplements use.

Or.....figure out how much you'll need and bring it with you in a new can, split it into plastic bags for easy carriage on arrival, if you believe it's too expensive in Thailand. You could just buy it in Thailand, and any higher price won't add much to the overall cost of your vacation.

[Bob12345]

What's the salt content of those CP meals? How much MSG are they using, what kind of oil do they cook them in? They're OK for a quick snack once or twice a week, if you're relying on them for a healthy meal on a regular basis you're doing more harm to yourself than good. If you want a healthy ready to eat meal, DIY at home a week or so a head of time so you can control the ingredients.

Sure, but this topic is started by someone who plans on traveling through Thailand and is looking for high protein foods.

I assume he does not bring a kitchen, most hotel rooms don't have a microwave, you should even be happy if you can store 2 days of food in the minifridge in the room.

It would be best if he can grill his own chicken, but how do you do that in a hotel room without a grill?

That's why i give alternative like 7-11 balanced ready meals, eggs, and maybe protein powder from home.

These options are available all over Thailand, and in many cases you can get them in every city at almost every 7-11.

They do not require a fridge, a microwave, or a stove.

[robblok]

What's the salt content of those CP meals? How much MSG are they using, what kind of oil do they cook them in? They're OK for a quick snack once or twice a week, if you're relying on them for a healthy meal on a regular basis you're doing more harm to yourself than good. If you want a healthy ready to eat meal, DIY at home a week or so a head of time so you can control the ingredients.

No idea.. they are more like a quick snack like you said. I cook my own food most of the time.

[Jools99]

Hi,

I buy my protein powder from Boots in Thailand. They frequently have special offers of buy-1-get-1-free, but this alternates with buy-2-get-1-free. It costs 1,350 bhat for a 720 gram tub, but half that if using the BOGOF offer at the right time. Not all Boots sell it, but it is usually sold in the stores inside large shopping malls.

It tastes pretty good and mixes easily.

[SOTIRIOS]

...there is an independent distributor.....sells whey powder...with no additives....bulk...reasonable price....

...cannot recall the name or email or link right now.....

...(lost all my bookmarks somehow)***.....

[Jake801]

Hi All,

Really appreciate the response. A lot of foods/ideas been mentioned that hadn't occurred to me so will defo check it out.

Some of you saw that I will be travelling and are correct that I won't have access to cooking equipment but cheers for advice anyway.

Unfortunately I'm a muppet and didn't bring Protein Powder with me (Been in hongkong for last 10 days so too late now) so that option isn't available but hopefully from your suggestions I should be able to hit 150g a day. Excited to check out the super markets and see whats on offer!

I'll have a think about maybe buying some powder here if I find a shop and also once ive checked out prices of other things (grilled meat / tuna etc). If it turns out more economical I might just try and buy some protein powder when I arrive.

Again cheers all!

Still be interested in hearing about Gyms if anyone knows.

[robblok]

Hi All,

Really appreciate the response. A lot of foods/ideas been mentioned that hadn't occurred to me so will defo check it out.

Some of you saw that I will be travelling and are correct that I won't have access to cooking equipment but cheers for advice anyway.

Unfortunately I'm a muppet and didn't bring Protein Powder with me (Been in hongkong for last 10 days so too late now) so that option isn't available but hopefully from your suggestions I should be able to hit 150g a day. Excited to check out the super markets and see whats on offer!

I'll have a think about maybe buying some powder here if I find a shop and also once ive checked out prices of other things (grilled meat / tuna etc). If it turns out more economical I might just try and buy some protein powder when I arrive.

Again cheers all!

Still be interested in hearing about Gyms if anyone knows.

In pattaya there are many gyms. One problem is that many want you to join for a longer time not pay as you go (though you are likely to find more of those kind of gyms in Pattaya than in Bangkok)