protein

eviebee03

Just wondering what everyones view on protein after work outs is? And second, do any of you guys eat your exercise calories? I havent been. But then realised when I dont im usually way under my calorie goal. By quite alot. And too close to 1200 calories for my comfort. And third question, what to do when u dont eat enough one day? Does anyone else have this problem? I was in the starvation zone thingy for ages I think... and trying to get out of this is hard.

3athlt

Honestly I haven't used protein supplements very much in the past. I've heard enough negative things about protein supplements to discourage me from using them.

The main argument was: If you eat a proper diet, you won't have a need it. If you load up on protein-rich foods like chicken breast, egg whites, lean cuts of beef, fish, peanuts and whole grain bread you should be getting enough protein. Why put some chemical into your body when it's not necessary? Also, although protein supplements have came down in price a little bit over the years - they're still a bit expensive. I thought about this and they had a point. But on the other hand - by this theory, why take a daily multivitamin? All of us know that nothing bad can come of taking a multivitamin - why not take a protein supplement?

For us - in this "I have over 100 pounds to lose" category, I think the biggest danger is the extra calories. Some of these protein supplements are VERY high in calories. If you decide to get a protein supplement, make sure it's not loaded with calories. We work too darned hard trying to make lose weight. Make every calorie that you put into your body count. (I failed to mention that a lot of times these supplements are VERY high in sugar)

I've read several articles a few years ago that detailed the importance of getting protein back into your body, post workout. During workouts, muscle breakdown occurs and it's important to get some protein into your body quickly (ideally with 20 minutes post-workout). I always have boiled egg whites on hand. I don't eat them every day, but if I'm too lazy to make something I can reach for the egg whites as a quick protein source. Obviously they're very bland, I used to eat them with salsa (I just bought some salsa last night!). Ideally, I'll have something pre-made so that when I finish my workouts I can start eating protein immediately but I must admit that I'm not as successful at that as I could be.

And for what it's worth, I prefer Whey protein over Soy protein - but that's just me. Some guys like Lambourdini's and some guys like Ferrari's. There's lots of arguments over which is better, but most of my friends (although I haven't entered a race in 7 years,thus I haven't seem them in 7 years) used Whey protein.

Now that I have MFP to track things (YES!), I find that I usually eat my exercise calories. Although just a guide, the MFP calorie plan is a good guide (at least for me it is). I think it's as important to make your daily intake calorie goal as it is to meet your daily exercise goal. For me, the MFP calorie plan has me running pretty lean and I feel like my body needs the extra calories I'm burning through my workouts.

But I caution, years ago I fell victim to a false way of thinking (my own stupidity). I always felt like if I had a monster training day (like a 50 mile bike ride followed by a 8 mile run), I earned the right to eat whatever the heck I wanted. After all, I just trained for 4.5 hours and if I wanted to gorge myself - I did. You would be surprised at the number of endurance athletes that fall victim to this way of thinking. One problem I found with this is that your stomach size will get big. I suppose having a few extra calories on the one day a week where you put in a lot of miles is fine, but when you over-do it your stomach size will increase. Since your stomach is bigger, I found that I didn't get full during the week when I tried to eat normally. This overeating put my weight loss at a complete stop.

Obviously none of us here are in danger of working out for 4+ hours in a single day any time in the near future. I just wanted to caution everyone not to fall into the trap that I fell into so long ago.

By all means, DEFINITELY eat back some (or even all) of the calories you burn through exercise! Just be cautious as you progress not to over-do it. We're all working too hard to fall victim of eating too much, and we don't want to end up in this position again (where we have 100+ pounds to lose).

Lastly, I don't think missing your daily calorie goal is a big deal if it's a once in a while thing. However if it's a habit, I think you need to do a better job of meal planning. I think it's important to have healthy things to eat that you can prepare in a hurry. In the ideal world, I would make a few quick meals every Sunday so I would have them available through the week. - easy, peasy. I have a hard time getting this done, this is an area where I have a lot of room for improvement.

As far as meal planning goes, I take inventory of my food every weekend before I go shopping. Before I go to the store, I first plan out my meals and then compose my grocery list accordingly. I already know that tonight I'm eating out (I always study the restaurant's menu online before I go so I'll make a good choice).

This is just what I've experienced. Again, I'm no expert or anything - I've just been through this before and I'm trying to help anyone in any way that I can. I feel like I've learned SO much from my mistakes of the past that I'll make this lifestyle change stick this time. The older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. I'll be 50 years old this fall, I don't have time to do this all over again (if I fall off the wagon).

eviebee03

Hey! Thanks heaps for ur reply. Alot of thought went into that firstly, I forgot to mention the only reason im considering a protein supplement post work out is I struggle to eat straight after. Im just not hungry. I just wanna chill and drink lots of water. So I thought if I had my non dairy milk (dairy does werid things to my stomach sometimes) im trying rice milk for the first time tomrrow. Ober almond milk at the moment and a protein shake thingy I would still be getting my protein but not forcing my body to est when its not hungry. Does that make sense?

I dont think id use it in the long term. More a stop gap measure while I ak exercising but dont have my diet fully under control in terms of balance. Doed that makr sense?

Ok and yes I do desperatly need to meal plan. What I'm struggling with here is again the not being hungry thing. I really need to make more snacks and ready to take away meals so I can put them in my bag and eat them while out. Tonight I sorta did. I took a banana, an apple and water. But I supose thats not really a big lunch. Any ideas? Ill def try meal planning!

eviebee03

Oh and sorry if non of that made sense. Im on my phone, almost never use my computer its having issues. And its 1.44am my time

3athlt

Yes, I would go ahead with a protein supplement. But like I said earlier, read the labels and try to get one that's not too high in calories or sugars.

Yes, you're making sense! :-)

As for your meal planning, I really can't offer much advice other than try to do it. For me, meal planning takes the guesswork and stress out of things (I get stressed out too easy). If I meal plan properly, I have mental comfort knowing what I'm going to eat and I don't get stressed over it. To me it's comforting - knowing in advance what I'll be eating every day. I try to make sure that I have a protein at every meal. I guess to start meal planning, I always start with the protein and go from there.

I love to marinate my meats, I love the extra flavor. So every morning after I strength train, I get out whatever meat I'm going to have for dinner and get the marinate going - that way it has all day to work it's magic. I know marinates tend to be high in sodium and I should probably be concerned about it, but I'm not. I figure as much exercise as I get the extra sodium isn't going to kill me. Some people make their own marinates. I guess I'm too lazy for that, I buy pre-made.

What kills me about my diet is that I don't like many vegetables. I make myself eat at least one salad a day, but it doesn't mean that I like it. I'm getting used to it again, I think I'm embracing the salad thing more that I'm a little wiser. I wish I liked "leafy vegetables", that's where I'm really missing the boat.

This coming weekend, I would just take a food inventory then think about what dinners you want to have next week. Even if you only plan 2 or 3 dinners, it's a start.

I hope this helps!