Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pro Gainer, Weight Gainer Protein Powder, Vanilla Custard, 5.09 Pounds (Packaging May Vary)

As an amateur/hobby bodybuilder, this single product has become a staple in my diet over the past 3 years. When I started getting serious about lifting again out of college, I had dropped to 145lbs from my previous high of 175lbs. My metabolism is fast, and I simply had trouble keeping up for a number of reasons: time, money, and the difficulty eating the calories I needed in solid foods. I then found this product, which has helped all three of those issues.VALUE - At approximately $2.25 a serving (when using subscribe and save), this is one of the cheapest quality 650 calorie meals you can provide your body with. I found this to be much more cost effective than trying to put together my own meal. Thanks to Amazon's subscribe and save, the prices compete with the other bigger online supplement retailers and I don't have to worry about re-ordering.PERFORMANCE - I can drink an entire serving in 2-5 minutes without feeling bloated/sick (taste ranges from acceptable to good - banana cream and vanilla are must tries). I have one serving every morning, and one at some point after my workout and before bed. This accounts for 1300 of my 3500 daily calorie intake. For me, without the aid of liquid weight gainers - it would be impossible to achieve my calorie goals and gain lean mass. I especially would struggle in the morning -- I often don't have time to prepare a good meal, and have trouble eating too many solid foods first thing in the morning. Also - understand that while 60 grams of protein a serving may seem like too much, this is not 60 grams of pure whey protein that is metabolized very quickly. It is packed with 7 sources of protein (faster and slower metabolized proteins) so it takes several hours for your body to metabolize the protein.RESULTS - When used with a high quality, high calorie diet and proper lifting routine - this product can help you achieve your daily calorie requirements and consequently gains in lean mass. I have used this product to raise my weight from 145lbs to 187lbs while keeping body fat under 8%. Highly recommend this product over cheaper gainers with more sugars/poorer quality calories.FYI - If you have the time, I recommend following the blending instructions provided. However, if you are short on time - a shaker bottle is best. The blender mixes the product so well, that it will take you 2-3x longer to drink since the volume of product is increased just due to being "frothy" from the blender. While the blender taste cannot be beat (and less water can be used to get good mixing results), a high quality shaker bottle does work well for this stuff as well with 20-40 seconds of shaking and the correct amount of water. You sacrifice taste for a shake that takes less time to drink.

Once again, Optimum Nutrition has a winner.To give you an idea of my lifestyle so you can make a comparison, my style of weight-lifting, eating, etc. is more of a "clean-bulking" program. Many will say the concept of the clean bulk is a myth, but I've done it. Is it perfect? Nah, but it works for me. I watch my diet all the time but am no calorie-counting zealot. I exercise every day of the week with five weight lifting sessions and three half-hour interval training cardio sessions (one day is combined of course). I am 5'6" and weigh 138 lbs with about 7% body fat. I am no expert on fitness but I've made it to where I am and I'm proud of it. So this review won't be the most scientific post on Amazon.First off, this is a GAINER protein. I will say that again because it merits repeating. GAINER. Despite it being visible in gigantic green letters on the package, and in the name, and in the description, I am sure some people managed to glaze over this. This is a higher calorie protein while being lower in fat, sugars, etc. so lean mass can be put on. You will put on some great muscle growth if used appropriately with exercise and proper diet. Despite the fact it's a lean gainer, some loss in definition is inevitable. Not all of those calories will go straight towards building muscle mass alone.I have been using this protein since November 2013 and I have seen some great improvements in my muscle gains and my strength shot through the roof. I am sure having the extra calories from the protein to increase muscle growth attributed to those results. Now I did experience some minor loss in definition with this protein since it is after all a GAINER; even with my constant clean diet not all of the calories went straight to my muscles some of it inevitably went to my fat reserves, particularly around the mid-section of course, but the loss in tone was minor. All in all I am thrilled with the results that this protein gave me and how much it bulked up my muscles with such little change to my "aesthetics" so to speak.The protein tastes fine. I am so sick of seeing "THIS PROTEIN DOESN'T TASTE LIKE CANDY. ONE STAR. THIS IS GROSS DO NOT BUY." If you want a candy like taste then go eat chocolate. This is a protein. If it has all the sugars and flavor additives then guess what? It defeats the purpose. Is it the best tasting one I've had? No, but I don't really care. It did it's job and that's what matters.I highly recommend this protein if you're looking to increase muscle mass without adding as much "other mass" AKA lean mass. The price is also a steal for 10 lbs.Pro Tip: If you open the box they ship it in with a knife, be careful. I learned the hard way.