do you just do one set each time? (I knwo you note you do them 7 times a day)

Its far better for your body to do one session of between 45-90 minutes than 7 separate ones, you will see a lot better results that way.

As for the protein shakes - they are an absoltue god send, dont get me wrong a good diet is important and cant be replaced by suppliments in any way, and you can easily drink skimmed milk and a few eggs instead of a shake. But im guessin your gym budies arent that serious about weightlifting or that big if they believe they are a joke. Every major athlete and millions of people world wide backed by scientific evidence points to protein being the key building block to muscler growth and effective calorie intake. and protein shakes are unsurprisingly an excellent way to get this protein!

Good luck findin a gym mate, just take it slow and build up your fitness and ull be fine.