Today I thought we could talk about protein. Yes, that weird little macro which some lose sight of amidst the endless debates about the benefits vs. evils of fats and/or carbs.

Believe it or not, YOU may need more protein than the average person simply by participating in the UAC.

But first, let's review some simple facts....BTW, if you don't have time to read all my wordy lead-ins and other stuff, I understand. You can just say, "Chris, thank you but I don't have time for all this protein crap" and there will be no hard feelings whatsoever. I understand! I don't know how I found the time to type all this in the first place!



While the saying in the above image is so very true, and a difficult lesson for many to learn, you also can't become healthy on diet alone. You must eat right and be active in order to be healthy.

The UAC challenges members to do these 3 things, all of which are the basic requirements to achieve/maintain a healthy weight and be physically fit:

• Track your food intake - How else could you possibly know how many calories you ate, or if you hit any macro goals?
• Stay within your calorie goals - Ultimately this is the only way to control your weight long term.
• 20+ minutes of exercise/activity - OK, WTF is this? Why 20 minutes? Who chose that number? Why can't I just pick my own number like 1 or 2 minutes? Some people do more than 20 minutes so why can't I do less?

It turns out (and I assume this is not just coincidence) that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends adults get an average of 150 minutes of physical activity each week. That breaks down to 21 minutes and 24 seconds per day. Or perhaps more elegantly put; 20+ minutes per day!

In 2018 the National Center for Health Statistics released estimates that only half of the adult population met the minimum criteria of being physically active, which means that by simply doing 20+ minutes per day of activity, you are in the top half of all adults in terms of your physical activity levels. By doing this regularly in the UAC you are in turn establishing a level of fitness that is in the top half of all adults (your 20 minute walk beats every couch potato out there every single time).

This means you are "above average". All of you here are actually far, far greater than just "above average", but from a pure statistical and factual numbers game you are all, without question, "above average" simply by working to meet the basic UAC requirements of 20+ minutes activity per day.

In order to make things easier, rather than continuing to refer to all of you as "people who regularly perform above average physical activity", I am just going to call you "athletes". If this makes you uncomfortable, I apologize for the brief discomfort. But even if only in a purely recreational sense, you are all being athletic now by pushing yourself above and beyond "average", and are therefore "athletes". If you don't believe me, go sign up for a 5k (even if just to walk it) and you will likely receive emails and other announcements with instructions for all of the "athletes" who signed up for the event. So, greetings fellow athletes!

All athletes (yourself included) are constantly tearing down and rebuilding their muscle tissue every time they exercise. While some may think this is purely the realm of body builders and national level athletes, the truth is that by being more active than the average person, you are making yourself more capable than the average person, but only because you are also undergoing more muscle development and recovery than the average person! It's true!

All athletes (yourself included) must maintain enough protein to maintain their athletic capabilities. If you don't, you can not improve your capability. Without adequate protein your body will actually steal protein from other parts of your body to recover the tissue that became damaged during exercise. You will feel very sore, and eventually burn out from fatigue, or even worse find yourself injured! This is not conjecture, this is how the body works. You tear down your muscle fibers every time you use them and rebuild them while you rest and recover. And you use your muscles more than the average person! Therefore you need more than the average amount of protein!

So how much protein should you be getting exactly? Well, that can be complicated. But I feel this article is a decent point of reference.

Do you have any specific protein goals, or other insights about protein you wish to share with your fellow athletes here in the UAC? My own personal goal is to have a minimum of 1g protein per pound of ideal body weight (180 in my case).

Regardless of your thoughts on protein, always remember the saying, "You can't out-train a bad diet"! Yet also keep in mind that saying works two ways. While you can't achieve or maintain your ideal weight on exercise alone, you also can't maintain high levels of activity/exercise without having a proper diet in the first place!

140 calories under, 1.5 hour walk with friend then another 30 min in the afternoon, all tracked! 1 pass left.
Night team hve a fab day and night. Xox

✅✅✅. As far as macros and cico. It’s all a balancing act. 🙃.

22/07/2021

Exercise – yes – bike ride again this morning, then gardening and housework in the afternoon.
Tracked – yes
Calories – yes.

It was too hot for gardening really but I haven’t mown my lawn for weeks (months?). I embraced the idea of creating a wild patch and let the grass grow – so many flowers popped up!

July 22

✅ - Exercise 20+ Minutes (130 minutes)
✅ - Calories within budget (907 under, ate back 252 exercise calories)
✅ - Tracked every detail I consumed (all of them)

0 Pass Days Used

Personal Challenges Met: 17/22 days (2nd, 4th, 5th, 11th, 15th)
✅ - Net Carbs 30g or less (27g)
✅ - Protein 180g or more (182g)
✅ - 5+ Fruits/Veggies (9)
✅ - Workouts Completed (3)

• Morning Walk - 56 minutes (3.26 miles)
• Afternoon Walk (Hills) - 60 minutes (3.44 miles, 488 ft elevation gain)
• Strength (Lower Body) - 14 minutes (DB Squat Ladders)

I am a meat-eater, so usually I get plenty of protein. When I don't get enough protein, I definitely feel more hungry and that leads to overeating (usually carbs) so I do try to get enough protein in! I eat yoghurt which has a decent amount of protein, and recently I started eating a small can of baked beans as an afternoon snack - which gives me a surprising amount of protein as well as all the other health benefits of beans/legumes (which I don't really eat enough of).

July 22nd:
✅ Tracked all my calories
✅ Stayed under calorie goal
✅ Exercised more than 20 mins (walked in place for 40 mins while watching a game of rugby league on TV)

8/22 days (started July 12th, so 8/11 days from when I started)
3/3 pass days used

WhatMeRunning wrote: »

*snip*
In order to make things easier, rather than continuing to refer to all of you as "people who regularly perform above average physical activity", I am just going to call you "athletes".
*more snip*

Aye! Aye! AYE!! Love this; thank you Mindset Master! 🙏🏾

On my proper protein days, one will generally see me consume...

* BREAKFAST: egg whites or smoothie
* SNACK: smoothie or pudding
* LUNCH: greens and a beast (generally poultry or fish)
* SNACK: jerky, chips or popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast
* DINNER: same as LUNCH but perhaps a different beast

Italics: protein powder added but not more than two scoops per day
Bold: protein-fortified (iWon brand but there are others)

My ideal daily protein intake is set a smidgen above 1g/lb yet - as we can all attest - I've not been reaching it over the past 6-7 weeks. I'm also fairly certain it played a role in last weekend's running, umm, mishap with my groin.

Since an attempt at mere jogging yesterday evening proved I was NOT ready, I'll be keeping it cool with lower body exercise for a while. But that means I'll need to dial in the diet and get my protein back up...

Tomorrow? Cuz today I polished off some home-baked goodies: muffins and Rice Krispy Treats

---|---|---|--
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes?YES | Walking (48) TOTAL: 48 min
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? YES |Base
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? YES |
---|---|---|---

Personal Bonus: Did I meet my protein macro for the day (40%)? NO | 23%
Pass Days Used: (JUL19)

7/22
Exersised yes
Caleries yes
Logged?-yes

Thanks so much @WhatMeRunning once again how important it is to focus on the whole not bits and pieces and I need to increase protein but where to start?

I did log and track I accomplished 8 minutes of 8 lb medicine ball slams with only 2 very short breaks and a 5.3 mile spin in 20 minutes… is the birthday cake is all gone I had help thank God!!

@mshawski - I still say any day with peanut butter that is within maintenance is a WIN! 🏁🏆

Congrats on the 3 x Yes day @TerriRichardson112 @TwistedSassette @ForLangston @MaltedTea @stella7x7 @clutterqueen @snowshoe072 @JennyRebecca1978 @Bovaryoo @ashleycarole86 @Mrs_Hoffer and @victorious55 @RangerRickL !

Thank you so much to all who have shared their tips so far on non-meat protein sources! Here are some snippets for a quick compilation for anyone interested (If I missed any, please forgive me, I am pretty sure I got all of them so far though).

TwistedSassette wrote: »

I eat yoghurt which has a decent amount of protein, and recently I started eating a small can of baked beans as an afternoon snack - which gives me a surprising amount of protein as well as all the other health benefits of beans/legumes (which I don't really eat enough of).

MaltedTea wrote: »

* BREAKFAST: egg whites or smoothie
* SNACK: smoothie or pudding
* LUNCH: greens and a beast (generally poultry or fish)
* SNACK: jerky, chips or popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast
* DINNER: same as LUNCH but perhaps a different beast

Italics: protein powder added but not more than two scoops per day
Bold: protein-fortified (iWon brand but there are others)

As for myself, I definitely get help from protein powder. While I would prefer to NOT use much protein powder (I really wouldn't), the simple fact of the matter is if you look in my food diary you will see at minimum an average of 1 to 2 meals per day with protein powder in it.🤭 I can come up with endless excuses for it, I'm not proud of it, but that is a factor in hitting my own personal daily protein goal.🤷🏻‍♂️

@Winner_in_Life shared this very informational link about protein powder for anyone interested (both animal and vegetable based options)

Winner_in_Life wrote: »

here is something to read on the topic, if someone is interested
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/protein-shakes-for-newbies-what-to-buy-when-to-drink/

In case it helps anyone, looking back in my diary over the last month, my most common REAL FOOD non-meat sources of protein with a meaningful protein content are nuts and cheese. Those may not be options for everyone (@clutterqueen and @victorious55 come to mind based on their posts). Parmiggiano reggiano and aged white cheddar are my go-to cheese options, with blue cheese not far behind. Just as FYI, younger, softer, creamier cheeses tend to have a much higher fat to protein ratio, it's the aged, drier cheeses with higher protein counts.

Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? yes
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? yes
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? yes

• Treadmill: 23 min / 1.4 mi
• Glutes WO

Passes used: 1/3
Apple rings closed: 22/31

We went out for dinner so I pre-logged what I was having. I just barely made my calories today. I have a morning flight tomorrow and will be back on Tuesday evening so won't be posting until then. My plan is to go with maintenance calories (1400) plus whatever active calories the Apple app gives me. I can probably stay within my calories tomorrow since my friends and I have reservations at a seafood place. But Saturday we'll be going to an Italian restaurant so it's unlikely though I'll do my best.

I also downloaded the MFP app and will try to at least log my food as I go along instead of trying to remember everything when I get home. I don't particularly like apps as I prefer the luxury of the large screen of my mac but I thought I'd see if it was easier this way.

Protein has been an ongoing problem for me. In spite of the regular consumption of seafood, meat & poultry (2x per day or more) I still have a hard time even making it to my 30% goal. Instead my fat percent is often too high though about half of it is olive oil. It's something I would like to improve on.