When you enter in to the world of fitness, and wanting to make a change, there is constant talk and imagery of protein drinks, protein bars and so many more protein items. In my learnings over the last 2 years I have tried lots of drinks, snacks, meals and more which will happily share through this site. But here I am to share my understanding of why the push for protein as part of your fitness and/or diet experience.
Protein & Amino Acids
There are 2 main areas which are the reasons that I look at protein in my diet and why it is something that I target. The first is the role of protein in the body and its relationship with Amino Acids. As I understand it, the process of building muscle, which can either be through weight lifting or just the natural building of muscles through normal exercise such as walking and running, requires Amino Acids.
The process of building muscles at the molecular level is that as the muscle is exercised it creates small tears in the muscle, then as it repairs, it repairs a bit larger and this is the process of building muscles. The body’s repair process repairs these muscles using Amino Acids and many amino acids come from protein. There are 20 main Amino acids in the body, 9 of them known as the Essential Amino Acids as they are not made in the body and so need to come from nutrition and hence protein supplements.
There are articles out there that say you need to increase protein to have about 1.8 times your body weight in grams and so for me at 94kg I should target 169g of protein. But at the same time there are articles saying that unless you a pro athelete working out 8hrs day a typical healthy diet will cover all the protein that you need. You need to decide which you think, personally I go a middle ground and make a point to target more protein in my diet but not go nuts over it. On my calorie tracker I have it set about 145g to see if I can hit it.
For this purpose I ensure to take on protein in my diet in different forms and I have a target that is relevant to my weight and height. Now I am not looking for explicit muscle as I am concentrating on weight loss and so this is not my main reason for protein at the moment.
Proteins Role In Appetite
For me the main reason to try and target protein, and that is typically low calorie protein is that it makes you feel fuller for longer. There are good biological reasons for this and you can search those up if you like but it is too boring but ultimately protein types of food make you feel fuller longer and so reduce your hunger cravings.
Protein comes in lots of different ways. For the carnivores it is the meats, for the veggies there are beans etc There are also the classic items we see anytime we look near a gym or a fitness person which is the likes of protein shakes and snacks and bars. The sad reality of shakes and snacks is they are pretty much all horrible and fake to the taste, but the more you have them the more that fake taste becomes your norm!
I use protein in my weight loss as something by ensuring meals are high in proteign. If I need a snack in the day I target a protein snack to try and maximise the feeling full element of the snack. You do have to be careful as many of the protein bars are then high calorie as well and so it is learning what works for you. I have a Whey Protein Shake in the morning mixed with water rather than milk to set me up for the morning along with a simple snack.
There are a variety of snacks from different companies but for now at least I am trying to minimise ANY snacks and concentrate on high protein meals and so having a smaller meal typically with chicken for lunch AND dinner. I am trying less of the lunchtime sandwhich that will not get me through the afternoon and more of a small meal and it is working well for me. But the quest for protein is why you see so much mention of peanut butter in fitness as it is a common nice taste and high in protein.
This is mostly all part of the same conversation about Calorie Deficit and diet though. Protein has goods and bads – My take is target it as part of healthy meals but make sure to track the calories as that is most important.
Decide One Day or Day One!
