All About That Protein

All About That Protein

Protein, the third & most important food group. Protein contains 22 amino acids, 8 of which are essential which we can't produce ourselves, therefore they must come from food. Amino acids helps us produce hormones, with brain development, healthy bones & growth. 

Sources of protein are split into two groups animal protein & plant protein, animal protein obviously comes from animals and contains all 8 essential amino acids, whilst the plant protein are known as incomplete amino acids as they don't contain all of the essentials.

Now, I don't care whether your Vegetarian, Vegan, Pescetarian, Carnivore, or an omnomnomivore, I'm not going to judge. Myself, I'm a carnivore I like to eat meat it's tasty & I get all my essential amino acids, and my protein intake for the activities that I do. I mainly eat chicken/ turkey, & I have whey protein shakes, I'll have fish a couple of times a week & steak at least once.

So the question is, how much protein should a person be having?

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 0.8g of protein per Kilo (KG) of body weight, which means that I should be eating 65g of protein a day.

Now, we all know that protein is takes longer to digest & therefore keeps us fuller for longer, that's why I have more than 65g of protein a day, because otherwise I would be starving all day & I have a strenuous workout & I need to eat to refuel & repair my body. 

Protein can also be used to help achieve your fitness goals, by weightlifting & eating a high protein diet you can increase lean muscle mass & strength, and lose fat as when you eat more protein it takes twice as many calories for your body to digest it, whilst maintaining & gaining your muscle mass.

But Too Much Protein is Bad for You?

In previous years a high protein diet gets a bad press from things like the Atkins diet where you used to cut carbohydrates almost completely from your diet. To be able to eat healthily & still lose weight you should never cut a whole food group from what you eat other wise bad things will happen.

Or a high protein diet can cause health problems, which if you eat too much of one thing it can cause some fatal disease, this rule applies to all food, especially if you eat something in abundance and then don't use it as fuel for your body. 

When changing your eating habits, I think you should try a various different eating forms as everyone is different & only you will know what's right for your body.Each body will react differently to a different combination of foods, so it's all about experimenting what works for your body & gives the best nutrition for your activity levels

Personally, I've found that if I eat protein frequently throughout the day I stay nice and full & I'm less likely to snack on crap processed foods. If some people are stuck when losing weight its good to mix it up and shock the body into something new, so if you fancy it try eating 5 small meals day & have protein at all of them, whether it's a piece of chicken, a protein shake or peanut-butter on toast. 

Mmm peanut-butter...

I Wanna Do Bad Things....With Carbs

I Wanna Do Bad Things...With Carbs

I'm not gonna lie, I love all things made with white flour, pasta, bread, cake, biscuits...mmm donuts, & all things sugary & sweet, chocolate, sweets & ice cream. So, naturally all of these things should be enjoyed as a treat every so often, rather than everyday, as they're the wrong kind of carbohydrates we need. 

I know what you're thinking, how could some taste so good, be so bad for us? 

Well it's all a case of Simple vs. Complex carbs. The above mentioned yummy foods are unfortunately examples of simple carbs. This means that the smaller molecules of sugar are absorbed & digested quickly into our bodies. This energy is turned into glycogen & is stored in our cells. If it's not used it immediately turns to fat.  Simple carbs have usually been stripped of most of their nutrients & made more consumer friendly, their high glycemic index (GI) will cause our blood sugar levels to rise quickly causing a sugar rush, once this has ended it was cause our blood sugar levels to dip, & then we begin to seek out more sugar.

Complex carbs, are our friends. They may not taste as great & we may not always be in the mood for them, but they are good to us. Complex carbs can be found in a more natural state foods, this means they haven't been tampered with or processed. These foods are high in nutrients & lower in calories. They're also low GI foods which means our bodies have to work harder to break the food down, to get the glycogen which means that our blood sugar levels are more stable throughout the day. 

Before I started changing my lifestyle I used to eat mainly simple carbs in abundance & not worry about it, I'd never really thought about the nutritional value of the foods I was eating before. Now, I realise how much of the simple carbohydrates turn to sugar, & this is is probably one of the causes of my own obesity, from this I have learnt the error of my ways I now eat complex carbs & because not only are they good for you, they're more dense more so you don't need as much as they fill you up. 

From being educated on carbs, I could then implement an eating plan with my training program for results. I've previously blogged about the Team Dynamix Alkaline/Acid eating plan & about Macro counting, because I'm an endomorph & my goal is for fat loss, I limit my carbs throughout they day, I also don't have any carbs with my evening meal on non-training days. However, it is important to stress that you should never cut one food group completely from your diet, the consequences not only physically but also mentally could be detrimental to you. 

As I am determined to reach my goal, & I show great willpower to be able to say 'No' to the simple carb foods, but don't get me wrong I know my history of being an emotional eater, & if I'm having a particularly bad time I could quite happily sit with a cup of tea & smash a whole packet of chocolate hobnobs, no question. But, even then I still don't display this behaviour because I understand my triggers, & willpower is a wonderful thing...

Plus, now I'm in the habit of eating well & looking after myself, I like to save my simple carb treats for something special as I love Italian food or a G&T or wine. 

Count Your Macros

Count Your Macros

I know you're probably reading the title like this......

Macro's or macronutrients are nutrients that provide energy/calories, in large quantities hence the 'macro'. There are three macronutrient groups that the body needs to function properly. These are protein, fats & carbohydrates. 

So, how do we know how much we need to eat? 

Depending on your goals, will determine how many calories of each of the groups you need to eat. Firstly, you need to figure out your basal metabolic rate (BMR) this is number of calories your body needs just to complete its basic functions e.g breathing & brain function if you were to live as a couch potato.  From this you can either add calories if your gaining or decrease your calories if you wish to lose, as we all know managing our weight is basic maths. Here's a link where you can find your BMR http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm

My BMR is 1612 if I were to live as a couch potato, because I want to lose fat I usually eat 1400 calories a day. This number of calories is enough for me I usually feel nice & full at meal times, however, sometimes I do go over this depending on what I've trained, if it's leg day I'll go over because I know I'll need extra protein for my muscles to recover & repair, some days you're more hungry than others & obviously I go over it on treat days too! When I do go over my calorie allowance it's usually not by that much & I probably end up eating my BMR, and most people reading this probably think that 1400 calories isn't a lot of food, but when you eat clean, you can usually eat a lot more food. You can also find macro proportions based on your somatotype, I'm an endomorph so I basically need to manage my fat & carb intake.

My calorie allowance is made up into percentages of the 3 food groups 45% protein, 35% carbs & 20% fats.  I sometimes play around with the percentages as my goal is fat loss, so I have tried increasing my fats & lowering my carbs, although don't lower your carbs too low otherwise you get grumpy, & no one will like you. 

This is why I find my fitness pal an extremely useful tool, as you can set your daily calorie intake & set your percentages. Then your off ready to record your food diary, I enter everything I eat into it. I'm usually like this at every meal time...

Week 3 Update....

Week 3 Update

Afternoon all! 

My weekly update, this week I've gained 0.1Kg again this week I hope it's muscle (fingers crossed). I've also lost another 0.1% percent of body fat! which again isn't a lot but it's hard to shift. This week; exercise wise I went to pole fitness, bootcamp & PT,  totally smashed 100Kg leg press at bootcamp (check out the video https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=889820191040043&pnref=story).

I also attempted a cheeky little jog/run yesterday I didn't go very far, but I was testing my foot as I've had a broken navicular the last few weeks, which has repaired I still have some soft tissue damage, but I can go back to kickboxing next week! 

I haven't done lovely flipagram this week of my food diary as I forgot to take photos haha but I hope everyone had a lush pancake day! 

Let's Talk About Fat

Let's Talk About Fat

Take a look at the image above, and really look at it...

Disgusting isn't it? This is what our bodies are filled with, it lays between our muscles, sits between our organs and lines our arteries. Fat. 

I've spent the last 3 years ridding my body of the excess yellow stuff, and it's been a hard slog! The reason I ended up so big was because I was eating an excessive amount of calories & doing very little movement, it's basic maths if you eat more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight. Fat takes up more room in the body & therefore 5lbs of fat looks ginormous when compared to 5lbs of muscle (Hence, the stretch marks & cellulite). 

Everybody needs body fat to function healthily, it's just how we are as humans some of us have less body fat than others, some have more. There are two types of fat in the body visceral (which protects our organs) and subcutaneous (under the skin), when I was obese I probably had more visceral fat than what I do now, as over the last 3 years I have lost about 10 inches from my waist which would probably be a combination of visceral & subcutaneous fat. It is important to maintain a healthy level of visceral fat around your organs, too much fat can put strain on your organs leading to serious health problems. 

The foods that I used to consume on a daily basis, we're full of the wrong carbs, wrong fats & full of sugar. Now, that I have changed my lifestyle & my food choices I have a better understanding of what my body needs & how much. 

Everybody needs to eat some sort of fat, what type is what defines whether you gain or lose weight. Yes, that's correct LOSE weight! If you eat healthy fats, this can actually help you shift the fat you no longer want. 

I use my fitness pal to record my food diary everyday, it counts calories & all the nutrients you eat, you just need to remember that fat has the highest amount of calories per gram, so even though you're eating healthy fats, you still need to control how much. (1g of fat = 9 calories, 1g of protein = 4 calories, 1g of carbohydrate = 4 calories). 

Avoid trans fats at all costs! Trans fats come in the form of all our favourite things, crisps, cake, chips, takeaways; all processed & fried foods. Look out for the magic word hydrogenated on packaging, then put it down and walk away. 

Saturated fat is the not so good fat, but you should still have the foods in your diet in moderation as these foods have other great nutritional values, saturated fat is found in red meat & dairy products. 

Poly-saturated fat is a healthy fat, it can help lower cholesterol and usually are foods high in omega 3 fatty acids, which are essential for building a strong body & regulating hormones. Poly-saturated fat can be found in nuts, seeds & oily fish such as salmon & mackerel. 

Mono-saturated fats are also healthy fats, these are my favourite kind mainly because I love olive oil. Mono-saturated fat raises good cholesterol which keeps our hearts healthy, this type of fat can be found in avocados, olive oil & peanut oil. 

It's taken a while, but I have educated myself on what to eat, what not to eat & other nutritional benefits of certain foods, if other people can take the time & do the same then that is half the battle, knowledge is power, use it wisely.

Personally, I always ensure I have a good mixture of saturated, poly & mono fats to maintain a healthy level of fat, but also because the food that contain these fats have other healthy benefits too, and can contribute to fat loss & overall health & well-being. 

Food Glorious Food

Food, Glorious, Food 

When I was using Slimming World, I found it quite a useful tool as it taught me portion sizes, to set limits to things like dairy, sweets, chocolate; it taught me about delicious new foods,   & swap sugar for sweetener & making low-fat or no fat choices; it still allowed me to eat a little bit of what I fancied by using the syn system. 

When I started Team Dynamix, it used the acid/alkaline diet, which was completly new & terrifying to me but actually it wasn't that bad; it actually made me think more about what I was putting in my body, and that I needed the right nutrition to fuel my body for the exercise I was doing. 

It works on the principle that the body is made up of alkaline cells, and that if we eat more acidic foods our cells will swell & bloat with the acidic foods because it takes longer for our bodies to process them, where as if you eat mainly alkaline foods, our bodies will return to & maintain at an alkaline state.

For this I had to give up all man made processed foods, anything white, caffeine, alcohol, all refined sugars & sweeteners, and red meat (but only for the first two weeks) & I went gluten free. 

This is a food diagram of what you can eat, you should aim for 80% alkaline 20% acidic.  

So, I swapped my breakfast for gluten free granola with almond milk, my builders tea (milk & 2 sugars)  for  green or herbal. You could have one portion of fish & one portion of poultry a day, so I alternated my lunches & dinners, with a portion of complex carbs so I used sweet potatoes, quinoa & couscous. For my morning snack I had one portion of fruit to stabilise my blood sugars throughout the day, eventually I cut this out. The good thing about this diet is that you could have some full-fat products such as yoghurt, houmous & milk, the reason for this is you need fat to break down fat. If you have low fat & no fat products basically it's had  all the good fats taken out and replaced with several "ingredients" or chemicals that you can't pronounce. The basic rules are, if it has more than 5 ingredients don't eat it & if it has anything in the ingredients list that you can't pronounce, you probably shouldnt eat it either.

                                        

For the first 3 days I was walking around like a zombie, I was lethargic, had a headache & chills. This was my body's response to going cold-turkey to my caffeine addiction, I like drinking tea; only I used to drink it in bucket style mugs, several times throughout the day.

I now had zero caffeine & it was awful, I now see why drug addicts don't quit, it's bloody horrendous, however, after 3 days I felt fantastic I had all this energy, because of this diet & no caffeine meant that my body was using energy from my fat stores (yay!).

I think I got away lightly as some other members of my group not only drank loads of coffee, they drank coke so some of them had to ween themselves off of it which took a few days longer, so I would cut the fizzy drinks out as soon as possible.

At home we have steak night once a week, it's like an unwritten law. So for the first two weeks of Team Dynamix I could've cried everyone else was eating steak & I had chicken, it sucked. However, after that you could have it once a week, so having a steak for dinner became my treat meal of the week, with sweet potato wedges & cheesy 'slaw.

My sweet tooth has got better over time, I still have days where I could totally eat a whole cake, but I have a new love now, Green & Blacks dark chocolate is divine. Dark chocolate that uses 70% cocoa solids is also good for you! As it's a purer form of chocolate is has some fat burning properties, and also because it's bittersweet you don't need much to satisfy your cravings! 

I've also tried doing this diet on the 5/2 theory for 2 weeks after I completed bootcamp, so every other day I ate 600 calories after 2pm, to shock my body again, it did work & the first day is always the hardest, I drank water & green tea until 2pm & I found the trick is to have your first meal prepped ready to go, so I had my porridge ready to go for 2pm on the dot, that way I knew I wouldn't binge on my first meal. 

The thing about the alkaline/acid diet, it may have a funny name & the word diet in the title but really it teaches you to eat clean. By not having any man made processed foods & it teaches you to be more wise about your food options throughout the day, to actually think about what you're going to eat next. 

I've found from being on this diet, well it's not really a diet to me anymore it's my lifestyle now & over time my tastes have really changed, I can no longer stomach a takeaway, as all I can taste is the grease they've cooked it in, I also no longer have extreme cravings for sweets & chocolate.

I contantly think about food but for the right reasons, about my next meal what can i make next, I have a pinterest board dedicated to health food inspiration, which really comes in handy. https://uk.pinterest.com/emmalbrown87/healthy-foods/