Always Save Your Old Protein Scoop

This one goes out to all the jocks with a giant jug of protein powder in their shopping cart. Supplements that come in jugs tend to be measured by the scoop, and they conveniently include a scoop in each package. But where? At the bottom, usually.

Some of us are smart and figured out what to do about this pretty much instantly. Others of us — including, ahem, nobody you know (but yes, it’s me) — took a while to figure this out. It was only a year or two ago that it occurred to me I didn’t have to use the scoop that came with the new jug. Because I already had one. From the old jug.

The only tiny caveat here is that you’ll want to make sure the new scoop and the old scoop are the same size. Check the nutrition facts label, which will say something like “Serving size: 1 scoop (30g).” If it’s the same brand as your old powder, and the label is the same, the scoop should still work. If you’re not sure, grab your kitchen scale and weigh out a scoop of powder.

Now you don’t have to worry about whether the scoop is buried at the bottom, or somewhere in the middle, or if it’s perhaps just below the surface. Just start scooping with your perfectly suitable old scoop. When you hit the new one — maybe weeks from now — you can decide which scoop you’d like to continue with. Save the other in your kitchen drawer as a spare.

Saving a good scoop is also helpful because sometimes they change the scoop design, the bastards. I used to get perfectly good scoops with my unflavored whey, until one day they switched to a scoop where the handle was in the middle instead of at the top. I don’t know what monster thought that up, but now a little mountain of powder forms on the handle, leading to an inevitable spill when you go to plop the powder into your drink. Of course, I had tossed the old scoop when I found the new one, and I will forever rue that day. Save the good scoops, ok?