Let’s Talk Protein…

First of all let me say that as I write this 5 people have turned in their food journals and I am very excited about your progress at the end of these 4 weeks.

I have had a few questions about protein, like how to get more protein?  So I thought I would cover all the bases on our good friend protein.  What kind of protein? Because they are not all equal.  When to eat protein, and also sneaky ways to get the amount of protein you need each day.

Let’s start with why protein?  Constant processes of repair and renewal take place inside our bodies with the aid of protein. Maintenance, repair and growth of body tissue are accomplished by the digestion of protein into subunits called amino acids. In this form these amino acids can enter cells where, following instruction from DNA, they can be synthesized into new proteins as is needed. Protein is therefore essential for healthy living.

Or, basically, we need protein to repair our muscles and to grow new lean tissue (muscle).  What is the opposite of fat?  Muscle.  What do we want more of? Muscle.  Not big bulging muscles with wormy veins sticking out everywhere, as women we are not capable of reaching that level without extreme training and some scary supplements.  The more muscle we have the more fat we burn because more muscle means higher metabolism.

What kind of protein?  I will prioritize them by level of importance:

1.)   Animal protein.  (Chicken, Turkey, Eggs, Beef, Fish, etc.)

2.)   Whey or Milk Protein. (Dairy)

3.)   Plant Protein (Soy, Beans, Vegetable)

Why animal protein? It is a complex protein. Complex proteins have building blocks called amino acids that we're interested in. There are a few amino acids which we are incapable of synthesizing in our own bodies they are called essential amino acids because it is essential that they are in our diets. Meat contains all of the essential amino acids while no plants have all of them. You can get essential proteins from plant proteins but you have to mix them up, you can’t get them from one single plant source.

When should I eat protein?  Every time you eat.  2 reasons why.

1.     Protein has the highest thermal effect on the body it raises your metabolism more than any other macronutrient.

2.     It reduces the effect of the carbohydrate and insulin in the body.  It slows down the carbohydrate so that insulin does not spike.  We don’t want our insulin to spike because then fat burning stops. Insulin pretty much always win the battle over fat cell metabolism, if insulin is elevated – fat mobilizationwill be impaired.

So we always want to have a protein with our carb, otherwise the carb causes an insulin spike and stops the fat burning.  We don’t want to stop the fat burning right?  Burn baby burn!!!!

How can I get more protein?   Let me start by saying that I am an advocate of supplements.  I try to eat whole food when ever possible and I try to plan my life around whole food, but like many of you I don’t just sit around thinking about meals that I can prepare and cook every time it is time to eat.  I am a mother of 2 kids, 3 half the time, I am a business owner and I have a lot to do every day.  And it is really hard for me to get enough ‘whole food’ protein without adding a protein supplement.  I choose to add an unflavored egg white protein to some of my foods and I choose to replace some of my ‘whole food’ meals with meal replacements such as Isagenix and the Mix 1 Protein drinks which ironically enough I buy at a store called whole foods J

I am not a doctor, I am not a Registered Dietician, I am not a Certified Nutrition Coach (but Jeff is and he has guided me through some of this).  I do not recommend you run right out and buy any of the products that I talk about but I will say this, the most successful people I have seen in our program have supplemented their nutrition with powdered protein and meal replacements. 

Okay so you know how I feel about supplementation.  Here are some other sneaky protein sources.

·         Cottage Cheese:  Low fat cottage cheese should be on your grocery list.  1 cup of cottage cheese has 15 grams of protein.  You can add it to fruit, you can mix it with yogurt, you can throw it in the blender with fruit and ice and make a smoothie, you can add it to salads, and you can just eat it by itself.  It is an excellent source of protein. It is fast and easy and no cooking involved.  I am all for the easy stuff.

·         Meat:  I like to make about 6 to 8 chicken breasts on Sunday so I have some for lunches throughout the week.  Same with lean hamburger patties.  Grill them, put them in individual Ziploc bags, take it out, put it in lunchbox……….EASY  Also, I am a big user of lunch meat, I know it is a little more expensive but my body is worth it, so I go to Whole Foods, go to the deli, get one pound of the Pepper Crusted Beef sliced.  If you don’t have a food scale, ask the clerk to separate it into 3 or 4 oz servings for you (they charge plenty of money for their food there – they will do it and don’t feel bad for asking)  I have a digital food scale so I don’t have to wait for them.  Divide it up into individual Ziplocs, keep it safe in the fridge (away from husbands and children J) place in lunch box with a carb.  EASY.  Boil eggs on Sunday night.  Then they are ready when you are EASY.

·         Bars:  If you are eating bars you should be eating a bar that has at least 10 grams of protein in it.  I like Luna, Balance Bars Bare, Zone, Clif Mojo also check out www.fitbodyfoods.com Carrie Gunderson in our 9 am Napa class makes some killer granola bars.    

·         There are some things that I like to eat but don’t have enough protein in them like some Odwalla drinks or Naked drinks so I add egg white protein to them.  You could also try whey protein.

I hope this helps.  If you take anything from this message let it be that you need protein and you need to eat it every time to eat a carbohydrate.  I like to make sure that I have 1 gram of protein for every 2 grams of carb.  NO INSULIN SPIKES………I want the fat to burn!!!!!!!!

Don’t forget to turn in your journals today.  Email or fax to 707-265-6218 or turn into your trainer.  And stick to your journals and your recommended caloric intake this weekend……….