Category Archives: protein

About that protein…

Don’t forget to enter the Lanacane giveaway – ends on Tuesday!

Ah humidity. It was like waking up to a warm wet blanket this morning. Ick. I had half of a balance bar and then drove to the gym because it was raining. I had enough biking in the rain on Saturday 😀

I started off with a jog on the treadmill. There were 5 of us working out and after I hit 1 mile, the power cut out in the gym! We all stopped dead. That was really weird. It stayed off for about 10 seconds and then came back on. I just decided that was enough of a warm up and moved on to the iron.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Chin ups 2 sets of 2, 3 sets of 1 Upper body
Barbell squats 3 sets of 8 at 75# Lower body
Dumbbell pullover 3 sets of 10 with 25# DB Back
Barbell Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 with 45# bar Lower back and hammies
Rope Crunch 3 sets of 15 Abs
Barbell Chest Press 3 sets of 10 with 55# bar Chest
Reverse Fly on bench 3 sets of 10 with 12# DBs (24# total) Shoulders
Triceps press down 3 sets of 10 at 40# Triceps

The plan was then to run 2 more miles on the hamster wheel, but the legs were not having it.  Not sure what was up with that, so I walked for 20 minutes instead.  I think it was the extra leg work?  Running has become very difficult for me since my injury, but I am not sure if some of that isn’t mental.  I don’t know how to proceed with this.

Anyway, I went home and was ready for brekkie.  I had soaked some steel cut oats overnight and made custard banana oats topped with almond butter and 15 grams of dark chocolate chips:

It’s amazing that those chips are 70 calories.  It is so, so easy to overeat on chocolate.

Work was busier today, thank goodness.  I will either have to take some PTO this week or try to make up 6 extra hours of work at some point this week. Booo….

Lunch time was the leftover Palak Chole from yesterday!  Yum

Check out this humidity.  I had just poured this glass:

It wasn’t all that hot today, but the humidity was horrible.  Just blinking made me sweat 😀  Even poor Pixie was hot:

We finally turned on the AC downstairs and it got much better.

Susan had asked about protein on bagel days.  On any day, I strive for 100 grams of protein.  Most days I hit that pretty easily.  I do drink 15 grams of protein before most workouts in the morning, including the bagel days.  At least on days where we bike to breakfast.  Sometimes I take a Sunday as a rest day and obviously don’t need to eat before breakfast on those days.  I do try to make it up later in the day with heavier protein meals.   I have recently switched to whey protein isolate now, which is basically pure protein and has less calories and more grams of protein per serving.  I get the unflavored kind, so that I can add it to things.  It’s easy to make up your own flavored drink using something like Capella flavors and stevia.  Who needs 5# of cake batter protein powder?  I get bored with flavors pretty fast.

Plus, I can put some of this whey in my latte, and it is like the protein shot at Starbucks.  It is pretty much undetectable at about 5 to 10 grams of powder in a latte made with 8 oz of milk:

Afternoon snacks consisted of some Kashi and some chocolate.

Nibbler is in the house again…. sigh….

I wasn’t feeling like much for dinner.  I had plans to have just some toast for dinner with that yummy bread.  I sliced off a piece, and then noticed all these tiny ants on the loaf!  Ahhhhh!!! There was about 1/3 of the loaf left that we had to toss.

I decided just to have a no-cook dinner:

Good pears this week.

I am going to work for a little bit more tonight and watch some Tour de France preview shows on Versus.  The Tour starts this weekend!  Woo Hoo!

Evening snack is something I haven’t had in a couple of years:

This is the non Splenda version.  Those are harder to find now, unfortunately.

Question:  Which is worse for you, the heat or the humidity?

Protein punch and Nutrisystem

What a short work week for me!  Since I took off Sunday and Monday, that means I am done with the week already.  Yay!  It is also a rest day for me – one of those really difficult things to do.  To help my sore muscles out, I made a protein-rich brekkie that looks different than my usual!  In the bullet blender, I put:

1 egg, 1/2 cup of egg whites, 1/2 scoop (15 g) of unflavored/unsweetened whey protein isolate, a dash of stevia, 1 tbsp oats, 1 tsp cinnamon and blended up.

Poured over a preheated pan sprayed with nonstick coating.

This set up pretty quickly and when I was able to get a large spatula under it, I flipped it over.

Even without having coffee, I was successful – yay!  I wonder if I would have shown a photo if I didn’t make it…..

I made some of my blueberry sauce to put in the center after I folded it onto my plate and then used the rest on top.  1 tbsp of vanilla yogurt just for fun.

Quite good,  I don’t think I would even bother with the oats next time.  It had a firmer texture, much like a fritatta has.  It was kind of like a big thick crepe. The best part was where the blueberry sauce had soaked in.

This baby packed in 32 grams of protein and about 270 calories!  When I told John, he said I should just eat a steak next time….

Worked fast and furious today.   I decided to make a tasting plate of finger food so I could work through lunch (bad girl…).

This was really light and refreshing!

I had someone pose a question to me about Nutrisystem.   Really long time readers may remember that I did Nutrisystem a couple of years ago for about 6 months or so (not even sure I had readers back then).  It was after my big plateau (and regain) and I was kind of bouncing around from trying different things.  I knew WW just wasn’t working for me anymore (core or flex), and eDiets GI program was neat, but I was just so tired.  So tired of thinking about food.  So tired of having to plan everything and have the weight stay the same.  I was almost paralyzed with too much nutritional information.  So, I decided to do Nutrisystem.  I just wanted to go for a period of time where I didn’t have to think about anything.  I just ate what I was told when I was told to and could get my brain out of its funk.  And you know what?  It worked.  I did NS for about 6 months or so.  I did change it a little bit, as I ate a little more fat and and protein than I was ‘supposed’ to.  I also was not working out to the extent I do now, so it was okay.

A lot of people knock meal delivery programs without actually understanding what they are all about or how to use them properly.  Some people think the foods are full of chemicals because they are shelf stable.  They actually are not.  It’s the vacuum sealing process that keeps them shelf stable.  The food is processed, though – and I did not care for anything with a sauce on it (so I didn’t order it).   I really began to enjoy the guidelines that NS set of how to make a balanced meal and snack, with protein in everything.  It kept me pretty satisfied, so that is something I stick to now.  Some of the food was good, some really tasted bad to me, and some was kind of middling.  I don’t really think I would enjoy any of that food now because my tastes have changed so much, but if you eat a lot of Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones, you would probably do just fine.  I kind of ‘weaned’ myself off the program by alternating days of my own food with NS food until I stopped all together as I decided I was in an okay place again.

I thought of NS as a tool, and it was a tool that I needed to use at that point.  Just like any number of tools out there, like food trackers, pedometers, GoWear fit, bodybugg, protein bars, the scale, clothing.  Whatever.  It is something that helps you on the weight loss path.  It doesn’t do it for you.  Some people expect it to magically cure everything.  It doesn’t.  You still need to learn how to cope in real life without the food.  Again, the reason why so many people fail is that they assume once you go off the food, you can go back to the way you ate before.  So, that is my experience and take on it.

John made up lattes today:

And I busted out the rest of my lines to be done for the weekend!  Work on my new computer is great, especially when my company’s end is working 😀

Dinner time was something new – turnips!  I got some at the farmer’s market last weekend.  I need to do a whole GVE post on them.  I roasted them up in the toaster oven for about 20 minutes on 400.

Served along side some chicken with laughing cow and caramelized onions.  Sometimes meals at home are just better than what you can get out, you know?  Unless you pay an arm and a leg.

Tonight is a little weeding if it stops raining, then movie time with my hubby 😀

Tonight’s snack?

Granola bar.  Yum.

Banana soft serve and protein power!

Starting off the post with dessert!  I did the banana soft serve last night.  I think this started on Choosing Raw?  Anyway, I put 2 frozen bananas in the food processor.  One was more ripe than the other, as you can see.

It did make a difference.  Dumped some cinnamon in there as well. Turned on the processor and let run.  I had to push down the more ripe banana a few times, and it was a little icier.  Mental note to self on that.

Lookie what came out!

Creamy and fluffy.  I served John his with chocolate syrup.  Mine had a tsp of peanut butter on top.

Verdict?  Quite good, although I could see getting tired of banana flavor pretty quickly.  Certainly won’t put a stop to my Only 8 obsession. I have some egg white protein powder on order from True Protein, so I am going to try this next week with protein powder in it for power ice cream!

The heat finally broke last night with thunderstorms.  Really loud, too.  I woke up to a huge crack that got my heart pounding.  Don’t you hate that?  Feels good today, though.  I, however, do not.  I am very physically tired.  I think I should have given myself 1 more day of rest after the 60-mile bike ride.  I had Sunday off, but then did my usual schedule during the week.  That and the heat tapped me out, and my thighs are sore (unusual), so I am taking  a rest day today, even though I really want to ride in this nice weather.  Rest days are super important, especially if your body is telling you it needs one.

That meant an early breakfast:

Oh yeah!  This is an easy no sugar breakfast for me since I have it this way all the time.  Can’t go wrong with protein waffles and blueberries :mrgreen:

Pixie is airing out after all that heat.  Look at that tummy!

Lunch time came and I decided on a shake for something different.  Because I feel so tired, I decided to up the protein today for repair.  Into the bullet blender went 1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt (all we had), 1/2 cup pumpkin, 1 scoop strawberry protein powder, cinnamon, ice and a little water.  I was going to mix in some PB, but I ended up just licking it out of the spoon instead of blending it in and having it get lost.

Tasted pretty good, surprisingly.  I didn’t think the strawberry would mix, but it did pretty well.

I drained the juice from the mandarin orange slices as well.  One thing I am really missing lately is crispy crunch.  Whether that is crunch from granola or crackers, I miss it.  I cannot replace that with nuts, or I will go overboard.  I’ll be glad when tomorrow gets here and my experiment is ovah.

Latte snack and then some cheese (not eaten together).

Glad to see so many of you do the plank! It is funny how it looks so easy and yet turns out to be so hard.  I actually have to say that I felt a little more self-conscious than usual posting that picture.  I am feeling kind of chubby right now.  You know how that feeling comes and goes for all of us.  I am not a fitness model, but I think it is important to *me* to post photos of myself walking the talk (planking the plank??) and to help keep me motivated.  I said this before, but it also really helps to see what you look like when you are doing these moves.  I have never seen myself do a plank because there is no floor level mirror at the gym (that I can do the plank near anyway), so I really had no idea of what I looked like.  I have taken some shots/videos of myself with other moves and really see how I need to work on my form or slow down (probably my biggest issue).  It’s been very helpful.  Mirrors are good to look in when working out, but also a 3rd person shot where you aren’t looking at yourself, so to speak, gives a whole new perspective.

Dinna time!

That red pear was amazing tonight, too.  Sometimes they are just extra good and I wish there was a way you could see it from the outside.

I took a nice 2-mile walk tonight in this now gorgeous weather!  Then it was time for evening snack.  I made it look pretty.  This is my faux cheesecake mix of ricotta, strawberry protein powder, cinnamon, and a little water.

The strawberries really make this dish. Protein success today.  I had a whopping 139 grams today!  A little heavier on the protein powder than normal for me, but that’s okay.  Eat up muscles! 🙂

Question:  Are you good about rest days?

Cold eats

Kind of a gray day today and a little chilly.  We headed out to Panera so I could get my Sunday bagel fix!

Sorry for the flash.  The lighting at Panera Bread is terrible!

John had one of the new strawberry scones.  It was pretty good, may have to try it myself instead of a bagel sometime (gasp!).

I will tell you that yesterday was a horrible eating day for me.  I had 1 fruit and no veggies all day.  So, that was one day of my veggie challenge that doesn’t pass LOL!  I really need to give myself a little tough love on weekends.  Or a lot of tough love.  Maybe that will be my challenge for this week.

So today, bring on the protein and the produce.

Lunch was pretty orange!

I mixed some cottage cheese with strawberry protein powder and filled the cantaloupe.  This was good, but cold.  I had a serious chill after lunch.  Sat there in a blanket while I worked with some tea!

The only hot thing I had today besides tea was this latte:

Dinner was more cold stuff.  I am so happy to have chicken back!  We stopped at the smokehouse yesterday and got a plethora of meat for the freezer.

This salad had 4 cups of spring mix!  Now that is a lot of veggies :mrgreen:

With strawberries.  Look at this berry – I wonder if it was grown near 3-mile island?

Tonight’s snack? I mixed up 1/2 cup of water with a 1/2 scoop of protein powder, 1 tsp of cocoa powder (for richness) and some konjac powder.  Let it sit for a while and I got a pudding out of it.

Check it out!  Topped with a little marshmallow fluff – oh yes.  This stuff is crazy!  I might try some of those noodles, but I am a little scared.

Work is done and it is laundry time!

Produce challenge:

F:  1/2 cantaloupe, strawberries

V:  baby carrots, 4 cups of spring mix.

Practice excellence

I wanted to start this day off with a quote for you all:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle

Isn’t that cool?  Practice happy, be happy!  Keep working and become fit.

Got an early start to my workday today, as the weather is nice outside for today warmth wise and I wanted to take advantage of that. Let me tell you, my butt is sore from those walking lunges yesterday. (drop seating, anyone?) Definitely keeping those in rotation. Also my shoulder on top from the military presses. I cannot remember the last time my shoulders were sore.

Made up a yummer breakfast of banana oats topped with the new Naturally Nutty PB!

So good.  There are too many flavors they have that I want to try!  I need to be very careful to keep the spoon out of this jar 😳

Started work early while waiting for it to warm up some. I had a mid morning protein snack of strawberry protein powder and a tsp of nutbutter.

John asked me if I wanted to bike today – of course!! However, just in case it rains earlier than predicted, I went out for a quick 2-mile jog before lunch.  That was to ensure the rain stayed away.

Worked a little more, then lunch time! Something different today:

This was 2 oz of ground beef cooked with 3 egg whites and topped with some 50% reduced fat Cabot cheese (the only low fat brand I like) on top of a corn tortilla. And the requisite hot sauce! Brussels as my lunch veggie today. This was pretty filling, think it was the fat in the meat that did it (80% lean).

A note on the chin ups, because I have gotten some questions about them. There is a difference between chin ups and pull ups.  With chin ups you grasp the bar with your palms facing you. Pull ups use the overhand grip. Pull ups are much, much harder than chins. It took me months to build up strength to do these, and I started with negative chins, where you start with your chin over the bar (standing on a box or bench, obviously), then bend your legs so you are hanging and slowly lower yourself down. Rinse and repeat. I did those for a while before trying the real thing. Then I started with partially bent arms before going to a full hang.  Practice, practice, practice.  Strength building takes time.  It would be easier if I were lighter, too 😛

Pre ride snack of latte and some chocolate!

We then took the back path around.  We don’t take this one often because we usually have a destination to do, and this loops back behind where we normally go to.  It starts with a big downhill, and then it is up, up, up!  Here is a shot from the top of the hill:

Those mountains way off in the distance? That’s actually Vermont!  The Green Mountains, although they don’t look very green now.  We went out for a little more than 8 miles today.

Came back for some dinner.  I decided to have a different veggie for dinner:

(John even commented about the lack of broccoli). This is a baked crab cake (from frozen).

Done with work for the week. Yay!  :mrgreen:   I decided to hang out in the kitchen tonight and make up some protein cookies for a snack using oat bran and strawberry protein powder.

They came out pretty good.  I topped mine with a couple tsp of cream cheese, as they are pretty sweet.  I’ll post the recipe tomorrow.

Produce challenge:

F: 1 banana, 1 kiwi, strawberries

V: brussel sprouts, carrots

Question: What is your most excellent habit that you practice?

The letter P!

Happy Monday to all!  I woke up a little later today again because of the time change.  No one was at my gym either, maybe because it was still a little dark when I got there.  That just seems too early, even though it was near 7.  I jogged a mile on the hamster wheel to warm up, then moved some heavy stuff:   P is for Power!

  • Pull up:  0 (see below)
  • Chin ups:  2 sets of 4, 1 set of 3 (see below)
  • Barbell deadlift/row combo 3 sets of 8 at 65#

Superset:

  • Stationary lunge:  3 sets of 8 with 35# plate
  • Pushups:  3 sets of 10.

Superset:

  • Dumbbell Pliet squat: 1 set of 10 with 35# DB, 2 sets of 10 with 40# DB
  • 1-point dumbbell row:  3 sets of 8 with 20# DBs.
  • Planks: 1.5 minute hold, then two 1-minute hold
  • YTWL:  3 sets of 4 (each letter) with 10# DBs

Giant set:

  • Cable woodchop:  3 sets of 10 at 40#
  • Bicep curl with EZ curl bar:  3 sets of 10 at 30#
  • Overhead triceps extension:  3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs.

Yay!  It felt great 😀  I attempted a pull up just for kicks.  That was quite amusing, I have to say.  I dangled like a fish on a hook before giving up.  I moved to chin ups, but I went back to the way I did them before from a box with bent arms instead of dead hang and that is why I was able to do more.  I am getting stronger.

I was ready for breakfast and started the day with the letter P for pumpkin!  Pumpkin custard oats, to be exact.

Yum!  Work started off slow today.  That is always annoying because it means I have to work later into the evening to make my line commitments.  It’s not like a job where I go and work for 8 hours no matter how busy or slow it is.  If there are no files, I don’t get paid.  The not so glamorous side of working at home.  P as in Pfffffftttt…..

Lunch was an egg puff (just scrambled in the microwave) on a tortilla with laughing cow and hot sauce.  I am so into the hot sauce.

And on the side? P is for Plum!  This is called a lemon plum.  It’s yellow on the inside and has a lemon shape to it:

Interesting.  More sweet, as I find plums to usually have a tart side to them.

Afternoon snack – P is for protein!  I remember when Starbucks offered a protein shot with lattes, so I asked John to put 1/2 a scoop of protein powder in the milk when he steamed it.  He used chocolate PP and it looks like this:

It kind of was like a mocha.  This baby packed in 21 grams of protein!  I think I would use plain next time (which we don’t have on hand at this moment).  I am not used to sweet lattes, so this was a little odd for me to drink.  I know you are all probably proteined out, but I need to up my protein for snacks (meals are fine).

Dinner time.  I love how with daylight savings, dinner pictures have plenty of natural light.  Behold my plate:

Stir fry with chicken, broccoli, and sweet Potatoes!  This was excellent.  And these strawberries are like candy, seriously.  (There may have been some P for Peanuts snacked upon while cooking, too)

Does anyone else think it’s earlier than it really is at night now?  I keep getting surprised when I look at the clock and see how late it actually is.

Getting settled in for my evening snack.  P is for Pomegranate!

A couple squares of the new Hershey’s Extra Dark with Pomegranate.  Yum, yum.

The last P for today? P as in Publish post!  😀

A 10% off coupon is available to my Open Sky shop – just use the code THANKS when you check out for 10% off your order from my shop or any shop!

Protein powder FAQ

Let’s chat protein powder, shall we?  Protein powder doesn’t have to be just for body builders.  One of the great things about protein is that it can help keep you satisfied for longer, so adding a protein element to some carbs (like oatmeal), help them to last even longer.  There is a crazy variety of protein powders out there from whey to pea!  :mrgreen:   Even vegans can find a protein powder to use.

Types:

Soy:  Pretty self-explanatory.  Soy protein is pretty high in protein and lactose-free, so a good choice for vegetarians,vegans, and lactose intolerant people. Due to it’s nature, it actually works very well in baked goods, and you can cook it into oats without it curdling.  Downside is it can have a somewhat strong taste.  Contains approximately 20 grams of protein per oz *

Whey:  Whey protein is made from the whey left over from cheesemaking.  It is very easily digestible (unless you are lactose intolerant) and mixes really well into smoothies and shakes.  Contains about 25 grams of protein per oz *. While whey is really good in general, it will make baked goods a little on the tough side.  It will also curdle in hot things like oatmeal.

Egg: Made from dehydrated egg whites.  Or really it is just dehydrated egg whites, although you will also see it sold in flavored form.  Naturally fat free and quite tasteless.  Great to mix into things.  It can also give a little lift to baked goods, but more as an add in, rather than flour replacement.  Average of 20 grams of protein per oz.

Hemp:  Approximately 20 gram of protein per oz. * Hemp can be pretty clumpy depending on the brand.

Rice:  Brown rice protein is gluten free, soy free and vegan.  It is made using an ezymatic process, and keeps all of the natural proteins in whole grain brown rice.  Pretty cool!  It contains approximately 24 grams of protein per oz. *  Brown rice powder is great for baking because you can sub it for flour easily.  In foods like smoothies, it can have a starchy taste and has a bit of a gritty texture if you use a lot.

Pea:  Who knew that you could get protein from peas?  Pea protein powder comes from yellow peas.  It has a very good protein profile like whey of 25 grams per oz * Very strong taste, however.

Of course, there are also blended proteins that combine many of the veggie powders to give a more complete protein profile.

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Other than in shakes, you can mix protein powders into pretty much anything.  With the brown rice and soy – you can sub half of the flour with the protein and see quite good results.  We like this better than using whey.  Whey protein is a bit heavier and makes baked goods chewier, although if you leave out any egg, that helps.

Here are some recipes we have done with protein powders:

Lara-type bars (Loribars!!)

Banana Chocolate protein cake bars

Chocolate Oatmeal bars

Cranberry Pumpkin Oat bars

* Note with all protein powders, various fillers and flavors can change the amounts of protein and calories per serving.  Try to look for those that give you the most protein for the calories, as those have less fillers are more straight protein.  Avoid meal replacement proteins, as those are engineered to be higher in calories and can have a lot of added sugar and fat.

Sore and protein power!

I took a Tylenol PM last night both for the back and the pain at the Broncos loss last night. 😡   I slept really well for almost 8 hours (go me!!).  Opened my eyes and took inventory:

Sore legs? check

Sore butt?  check

Sore arms, sides and chest?  Check, check, and check.

My back injury actually felt pretty much gone, just a tiny twinge.  I was slow getting out of bed and John commented on how weird it was to see me moving so slow.   I guess it does happen on occasion LOL!

Only went for a walk today as I decided to let my body rest up since I have NROLW on Wednesday to do.  I also decided to stock up on protein for repair.

Protein pancakes for breakfast!

cakes

Along with cafe au lait (I use 1 cup of milk to make 2 drinks for breakfast).

Without a workout, I got right down to typing and worked steadily.  Sometimes I can get distracted by things, and I had some trouble focusing today watching my squirrel buddy right outside my window.

pixie1110

Pixie was really enamored of him, too!  She chatters, which is so funny!

I made a fabulous protein packed superfood  lunch!

lunch1110

  • 1 container of french vanilla Oikos
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin
  • cinnamon
  • cranberry sauce
  • 1 packet of teddy grahams (into the pool!)

It was so delicious.

John made lattes and brought me a little treat with it.

latte

Candy corn kisses!  These actually remind me more of a canned frosting than candy corn, but I love the look of them.  Another thing hidden up high.  I should take a picture of what is hidden away from me – it is quite a lot of stuff LOL.

Took a walk before dinner.  It feels so funny just to walk.  I hardly ever do that anymore since I normally run or bike.  I kept catching myself wanting to start jogging.  Come on Lori – gotta relax!!

Dinner was more protein in the form of chicken.  I brushed some mustard on the chicken breast and coated it with almond meal and sauteed in a pan.

dinner1110

Super tasty, although the coating fell off.  Yummy.  And roasted brussel sprouts for a change.

Done with work, so that means the evening is free for something, although not sure what yet 😀

Tomorrow we are going to attempt a morning ride to bagels.  Upper 30s, so at least it will be above freezing!

Question:  What is your favorite way to get protein?

The myths that are out there.

I was reading an article on MSNBC about fitness rules you should break. While the majority are interesting and worth a try, there was one part that irritated me.
There was a blurb on protein intake and an RD – a registered dietitian – said “Any extra protein calories you take in will be stored as fat,” says Molly Morgan, R.D., owner of Creative Nutrition Solutions in Vestal, New York.

That is just total B.S.
It’s not like if you eat a turkey sandwich, that the body will pick it apart and only store the excess protein as fat. It’s excess calories…. hello…. it doesn’t matter if they are fat, carbs, or protein. The body uses the calories it needs and stores the rest. Yes, some calories are used much more efficiently, but it’s not like if I eat 1000 calories of white rice it won’t make me fat, whereas 1000 calories of chicken breast will.

It’s really amazing how much old information is still being spouted by so-called experts.

More on my eating.

I was trying to think of some catchy blog worthy title for this post, but ended up just naming it what it is LOL! Lately I have had a few more emails and a couple comments about exactly how I eat and why I eat the way I do. You might want to get a cup of coffee, because this will probably be somewhat long and rambling.

I basically count calories, but I am more concerned with getting proper nutrient macros. I’m not a low carb follower per se, but I do watch my carbs. I eat 5 times a day. 3 meals and 2 snacks. I strive to have protein/carbs and fat every time I eat. I don’t really eat a lot of sweet stuff anymore. I don’t use artificial sweeteners, if I want something sweet – I have the real thing. That way I have learned that I don’t need that stuff on a daily basis, but it really is a treat. So I am not wasting my calories on 100 calorie packs, or junk like that. A book that had a huge influence on me was The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program, and that was kind of a catalyst for me in changing how I ate.

I wanted a little more accountability, so I joined WW online a few years ago – and while WW is a good program to a degree – I have always gotten stuck at some point, and the last time was no different. I realized that I was just not eating enough, and not eating enough protein and not enough fat. I was afraid of calories and afraid of fat.

In learning more about nutrition and macronutrients, more and more information has been coming out that fat is not the enemy. Just as a point, your body needs 10 grams of fat a day alone just for your gallbladder to function properly.
Now this is not me saying go out and lick a stick of butter, but fat is very important in a diet and really will allow you to eat healthier (in my opinion) and have a lot more options.

For a lot of people, when they are losing weight or watching calories, what ends up in the grocery cart? Lean cuisines, Smart Ones, 100 calorie snack packs, lite this, sucralose there, and fat free that. If you look at this list – all of this stuff is processed foods. Yes, lower in calories, but also not very high in protein or fat. This stuff doesn’t keep you full.

If you look at good whole foods, the fat content is naturally higher. Whole grains are higher in fat than processed grains, so yes – the calorie count is higher, but the nutritional benefits outweigh all that (haha). Plus, it really does help you stay full. Whole grain products also have more protein in them, another plus.

I eat more protein because I strength train pretty hard. I shoot for 100 grams a day or so, and usually don’t have a problem getting that in. To do this, something else has to shift, which is usually a lower portion of carbs in my day. That’s why you see so many adapted low carb recipes on my site – not that I follow low carb, but if I can find ways to get in more protein, I will go for it. That’s also why you see protein powder end up in my baked stuff, or my oatmeal. This keeps me full, and I can enjoy a muffin or cookie and know that I am getting what my body needs, and don’t worry about a sugar crash.

My main focus at any given meal is the protein base, whether that is meat, eggs, vegetarian option, or dairy. Then I add in the carbs, always with fiber – so that means fruits and veggies, or occasionally brown rice or whole grain bread type of thing. Then I think about the fat. I can either cook with it, like coconut oil or sunflower oil, or I can add it on top of something (bleu cheese dressing on a wrap with chicken and hot sauce!!), or sometimes just straight up like nuts or a spoon of peanut butter.

My ideal would be to get my macro ratios at 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat (ala The Zone) and 25 grams of fiber, but as long as I am at least 50/25/25 I am fine, and normally I am somewhere between those ratios. Since I do work out a lot, I have no problems with higher carbs. The brain needs a certain amount of carbs to function, and I am all about using my brain LOL! Plus, I don’t see the point in going into ketosis and have the body burn protein to make the glucose your body would get naturally from carbs. To me, that is not efficient for the body – and I want my body to operate like a well-oiled machine, which means efficiency.

I really enjoy the foods I eat, and I like playing with my foods to make them in new and interesting ways so that I can enjoy them and get the nutritional benefits that I want to see without the frankenchemicals. Seems like a company could be started that caters to people like me 😀