Protein: How much is enough?

Protein

Protein is the major building block for the body.  As a competitive bodybuilder I know it’s huge importance.  It is the primary component of muscle and is essential for the formation of all cells.  Protein is also critical for optimum immune function.  When deprived of protein, the body is more susceptible to allergies, infection, and disease.  Anyone who is recovering from surgery, a wound, or burn may require more protein to promote tissue repair during healing.

Proteins used by the body are made up of several different amino acids.  The body is capable of making some of the amino acids, but not all of them.  The amino acids that it cannot make are called “essential” amino acids because they must be consumed in the food we eat.  Eat a variety of foods to be sure that you get all of the amino acids you need.  Lack of protein can cause growth failure, loss of muscle mass, decreased immunity, weakening of the heart and respiratory system, and death.

In order to get adequate protein from our diet we need to eat a variety of foods each day.  The most common source of protein in the American diet is meat.  Milk and most dairy products are also rich in protein.  Egg white is said to have the most complete protein.  I believe this.  I eat 6 egg whites every morning for breakfast.  Like the egg’s yoke, many of these animal sources of protein can also be high in fat.  To avoid too much fat, select leaner cuts of meat, fish and poultry.  Cook without adding fat by baking, broiling, barbecuing, or boiling your meat.

Vegetarians can also get adequate protein in their diets by eating beans and lentils as well as a variety of vegetables and grains.  Certain beans, when eaten together with certain other beans or grains, can make a complete protein source.  An example is eating corn with black beans.  Nuts and sees are also good sources of protein.

How much protein do we need?  The average adult needs 8 grams of protein per 20 pounds of body weight.  As an athlete we find that 1 gram per lean pound of body weight works great.  That’s just equal to about 1-2 more servings per day than a person that is not as active.  This is why it is important to know what your body fat% is so you can adjust your protein intake as your body changes. 

Balance carbohydrates with proteins.  Eat a variety of foods to be sure that you get all of the amino acids you need.  Soybeans, tofu, and other soy-based foods are excellent alternatives to red meat.  Eat 2-4 servings of soy a week.  A high protein diet (such as red meat, cheese, and  full-fat dairy products) that is high in saturated fat and low in vitamins and minerals may increase the risk for heart disease.  Cut back on highly processed carbohydrates (like commercially prepared foods) and increase protein to improve levels of blood triglycerides and HDL’s.

Digesting lots of protein takes calcium.  Eating a high protein diet for a few weeks will not affect your bone strength.  However, eating a high protein diet for a long time may increase the risk of weakening bone.  High protein diets should be used with extreme caution, if at all.  If you are overweight  do not necessarily need more protein.  Most athletes feel we perform better and increase our muscle mass if we follow a higher protein diet.

The USA Food Guide Pyramid recommends that adults get 2-3 servings of meat and 2-3 servings of milk group products everyday.  Low-fat selections are best of course.  A serving of meat is 3-4 ounces or about the size of a deck of cards.  One serving of milk one cup and for cheese, a serving is about 2 ounces. 

Make sure you take the time to figure up your weight and protein calculation.  You need to know the numbers to make sure you are getting enough protein!

EarthFare & NaturalBody Nutrition Seminar a hit

EarthFare & NaturalBody Nutrition Seminar & Grocery Tour a hit!

Now these are faces of some “pumped up”  ladies!  The nutrition seminar Saturday was wonderful!  We ended up with some great ladies who came and enjoyed my talk on “Doing the Dream” and protein. 

“Doing the Dream”

 I started the morning off with my favorite writing by friend and local author Joel Bryant. His writing inspired me 4 years ago and the ladies NEEDED to hear his “Doing the Dream”.  See my blog on Joel and read “Doing the Dream”.  Joel Bryant will be speaking for me soon and you DO NOT want to miss it!  Details to come!

Steps to Winning

Winners focus on where they are going to..not what they are going through.  Stop crying the blues…stop making excuses…start smiling your way to your dream and take people with you.  People do not want to be around a negative, complaining person.  If you have a dream…look at those that are successful.  Want REAL success….look at what everyone is doing in that area and do something different!  You will be the one that shines big time! 

What is your dream?  What is your excuse for not following through with your dream?  We talked a lot about moving forward and what it takes to do so.  I look forward to seeing those emails come in on what their dreams are and how they are going to begin to implement a plan of action to see them come to pass!  Let’s work it ladies!  Full fill your dreams!  I am looking for some stars to begin shining soon!  I look forward to posting your dreams and your successes as you begin!  Let me know!

We then enjoyed the teaching of Lisa Thorton who shared her expertise on protein and all if it’s wonderful benefits.  WOW!  We truly learned so much and it was a rude awakening to some that a food chart was hard to fill out! Thanks Lisa for your input!  We will see you soon for more! 

Genie cut everyone no slack when letting us know about EarthFare and their way of doing things!  As you can see here she is very passionate about letting us know that “giving the boot” to unhealthy things is MOST important in EarthFare!  I think my girls were shocked to know that so much of the food they have in their cabinets is pure junk! 

Each isle produced more and more realization as to what “organic”,  “certified organic”, “whole food”, “natural”, “range free” and healthy actually means. Knowledge ladies!  It is power!  Janelle below looks to be saying “oh my this is amazing!”  While Pat is holding onto her new found education on “sprouting” that Elaine helped us on!  More to come on “sprouting” by Elaine very soon!!! Stay tuned!!

Everyone enjoyed my teaching on the rice isle and also on the protein isle back at the meat and fish counter.  Some found themselves purely entertained at the cracker and cookie section like my wonderful friend here Vanessa from Salem, VA.  

 We also got a great education on healthy skin and hair care with organic products!  We all like knowing we can stop the wrinkle process by eating protein!   Hey, I know I will make sure I am eating all the protein I am suppose to if it will help me with upcoming wrinkles!!! 

I hope everyone walked away with some great knowledge and something to carry back home to start changing the way you are doing things to produce better results to your health and wellness!  Tell all your friends and come on out to the next seminar Oct. 3rd!  You will be glad you did!  Watch for the upcoming Joel Bryant event as well!  Don’t forget the FREE wine tasting at EarthFare this Thursday from 5-7:00!!!!!! SEE YOU THERE!  In good health through a NaturalBody!  Candi

August 29th Free Nutrition Seminar/EarthFare Tour

Free Nutrition Seminar/EarthFare Grocery Tour

Don’t miss out on the FREE Nutrition Seminar/EarthFare Grocery Tour Saturday August, 29th at 9:00-11:00!  We will meet in the community room and discuss protein and the metabolism.  Guest speaker: Lisa Thorton.  Genie and I will be guiding the tour and filling you in on all the cool facts of shopping organic!  Genie is great and you learn so much!  Come out and enjoy a morning of learning and meeting new friends!  Hope to see you there!

Tip of the day – Burn 3500 calories for 1 pound loss.

1 pound of body fat equals 3500 calories!

Did you know that is takes a loss of 3500 calories to loose one pound of body fat?!  Either way you look at it to loose a pound or gain a pound you must go in one direction or the other with your 3500 calories!  Most of my folks coming to me want to loose the pounds. 

When starting a program with a new client we look at many things.  First how much their body fat percentage is and their weight.  We also look at what their goal is.  Some come with a specific goal like a 30 year class reunion, a wedding, just to loose 30 pounds or even a health issue that means life or death.  We develop a plan of attack from there. 

Given each persons schedule I show them that in a 7 day stretch we must get into a healthy deficit of 3500 calories to loose 1 pound that week!  Now comes the work and the dedication on their part.  Cardio burns the fat and eating right and eating 5-6 small healthy balanced meals a day will surely be the key to your weight loss.  If you are looking to truly develop a safe and healthy weight loss program get with a personal trainer who can guide you.  You will need to make sure you are consuming at least 1200 calories a day and keeping those calories to clean and healthy foods that supply your body with the proper nutrients as you start your program.  I reccomend starting weight training as well and you will need to supply the body with proper amounts of carbohydrates and protiens  so that you can develop and keep that wonderful muscle that we all need to support a healthy body frame and keep our body functioning as a lean machine!

Stay tuned for more tips and keep that cardio going to burn that 500-600 calories a day!  As you can see if you do that for 7 days you will have your 3500 calorie loss for only 1 pound that week that is if you are eating right too!  What type of exercise are you getting?  Are you burning enough calories?  Are you eating correctly?  Are you eating enough to do your body good? 

Email me and let me know!

Nutrition Seminar at Earth Fare a great success!

FREE Nutrition Seminar a great success!

What a great time we all had Saturday morning at my FREE food seminar held at EarthFare at 9:00am in the Community Room!  For those of you who missed it I taught on the basics of eating the proper amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fats.  We talked about water and the proper amounts you should be drinking.  We also discussed organic purchasing and why it’s important to KNOW about Fructose and it’s effect on your body!  We took a brief tour of the store and I was able to share with the folks the areas of importance to knowing ”what” to shop for to put a plate together that is healthy for you!  Eating those 5-6 times a day is sooooo important and knowing what and why you should eat certain things is VERY important.  We talked about the importance of KNOWING your body fat% and how to take that number down to better health and wellness!

EarthFare FREEBIES!

Genie O’Shaughnessy, Promotions Director, gave us some free EarthFare shopping bags and wonderful coupons and Margaret shared with all of us about her serious party she throws the 1st Thursday of every month!  It’s a FREE wine tasting that I must tell you is AWESOME!  My hubby Jim and I DO NOT MISS THIS and neither should you if you like beer and wine!  See you Sept. 3rd from 5-7:00 for the next great wine tasting!  Wow with all this great info we all were inspired to do a few bodybuilding poses!  I LOVE IT!!!!!

Tour of the Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge Fitness Center

 

 One of the things I love most about my job is how addicting it is!  These wonderful ladies were so inspired that they wanted to come out right away and see where I teach my classes and find out more about the exercise part of loosing weight!  We were greeted by our lovely Olga and then did a nice 20 minute tour of the facility.  If you have not been out to see what the Hotel has to offer….COME ON OUT!  It is a wonderful, peaceful and private place to train and I promise if you are looking for something great and different you will find it right here!   

Well, I hope all who came learned something and will look forward to coming back next month!  We will look forward to a special guest speaker who will share her knowledge on metabolism and it’s effect on our body!!!!

Until next time…remember “It’s You against YOU”!  Be in good health through a NaturalBody!

Candi

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