Post Workout Meals and When is appropriate. Whey Protein Shakes

4 Reasons Why You Should NOT Have a Post Workout Shake

1. You don't need any shakes if you're 10lb fatter than your ideal body weight and your focus is on fat loss (while maintaining lean mass). 

Chew your foods later when you're ready to sit down and eat.

2. If you had dinner (w/ protein from meat sources) and you workout the following morning, you don't need an immediate post workout shake, either. If you're planning on eating later that day (assuming a balance meal with protein/meat), skip the shake. 

Chew your foods later when you're ready to sit down and eat.

3. If you had breakfast (w/ protein) and you workout in the afternoon, you don't need an immediate post workout shake, either (assuming you are having a balance meal with some protein/meat later that day). Your body isn't going into "catabolic mode". 

Chew your foods later when you're ready to sit down and eat.

4. If you have carbs post workout, it doesn't really matter what their GI (glycemic index) are. Just eat something. What will really slow down carbs absorption is if you eat tons of fiber and fat in that meal and that's only if you really care about recovery. If you train doubles or 6x a week (some athletes), you may want to minimize the fat/fiber in your post workout meal. 

If you're not an athlete, chew your foods later when you're ready to sit down and eat.

Summary: Your targeted Pro/Carbs/Fat intake over the whole day is more important than what you eat pre/post workout. Endurance athletes may benefit fast acting/liquid carbs during training but that's about it. If you're only training for general health and fat loss (most people), just eat something. Anything, with calories. and remember.

Chew your foods.

Summary
Amino acids stay in your blood stream/muscle cells avaliable for anabolic growth longer than you think.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/what-are-good-sources-of-protein-speed-of-digestion-part-2.html

You only need 0.8g of pro/1 lb of LEAN MUSCLE MASS a day (and that's generous if you're obese trying to lose weight).  1 g/1 lb if you're dieting or training a lot. 1.5-2g/lbs if you're relatively lean but trying to get contest/photoshoot ready and is having hunger issues when doing low calorie dieting.

If you think you're fat, don't worry about PWO meals. You will eat sometime during the day and that will take care of your muscle. When it comes to fat loss, drinking down calories does nothing for satiety.

Focus on increasing daily activities (aside from formal exercise) and reduce caloric intake (by controlling hunger and upregulate fat metabolism).  Reduce carbs/some fat most of the time in order to create an energy deficit for fat loss.  Reduce interval/circuit/bootcamp type training so you don't get hungry and overeat your diet (focus on walking or resistance training instead, lift heavy or walk far). 

Your own bodyfat and some EAA's are the best PWO ingredients for most (chunky) people reading this.

PWO shakes are not that important unless you're a performance athlete or having trouble putting on mass (hardgainers), or just simply hates cooking.  pic to the right... this is when you actually need a protein shake between meals and around workout.

For beginner and weight loss trainees, you should be thinking more about how to squat heavy and correctly rather than which brand of brotein shakes to buy.