As promised I am sharing some important nutritional information from the new BE FIT Program that I have begun two weeks ago. With the permission of my nutritionist I would like to begin sharing some of the most important information that I have ever read regarding the importance of Protein.
Protein must always be a central part of your diet. Unfortunately, for years you have probably heard statements like "Americans eat too much protein" or "Avoid animal protein because the cholesterol and saturated fatty acids are bad for your heart" or "Too much protein is bad for your kidneys". Guess what? All three of these statements are False.
As a child you learned that protein is important to build muscles and strong bodies. It seems logical that when your growing, you need protein. So we often think that protein is only important for children or guys wanting to build big muscles. Protein is extremely important for growing children but it is just as important for adults. This is because every day your body needs to make nearly 250 grams of new proteins to replace old proteins, to repair tissue damage and to adapt to new activities. During the course of a year, virtually every protein in our body gets replaced. Now compare this to growth needs which only account for 3 to 5 grams of new protein each day. (Growth really is not a very big part of daily protein needs.)
Also, as we get older, we become less efficient at making new proteins. After age 30, we begin to lose body proteins at a rate of about 5% each decade. The proteins you lose come from you muscle and bone strength. (Think about the elderly people in your life and the condition of their appearance in both their muscle tone and bones.) By the time you reach age 60, you may have lost significant muscle and bone strength. With each passing year you lose mobility and become more likely to be injured with a fall. Equally important, each year you also have less msucle to burn the calories you eat. So habits that seem okay at age 30 can make you fat by age 50.
(Now I wanted to share this next part because during our first meeting my nutritionist expressed that because I was only averaging between 60-65 grams of protein per day before meeting with her and gaining a new perspective, that I may have sustained muscle and bone loss. Please continue reading this important information as provided by my nutritionist.)
Loss of muscle and bone becomes even more dangerous during weight loss. Why? If you lose weight simply by restricting what you eat, then you will lose weight from every part of your body. You will lose body fat (which you want to lose) but you will also lose weight from your muscles, bones, heart, liver, intestines and kidneys. (Which you don't want to lose). These muscles and organs (called "lean tissue") are obviously important to keep your body running, and these "lean tissues" are the parts of your body that burn calories! (I think that bears repeating. Please stop and re-read that last sentence) If you lose weight with the wrong type of diet, you will lose "lean tissues" and reduce your ability to burn calories. This makes it more and more difficult to lose weight or to keep weight off. (Now you can understand they "Why you can't lose the weight or keep it off yo-yo" that we have all been on) The longer you use a bad diet, the fewer calories you can eat. If you can do the right things duing weight loss and just lose fat while you protect your muscles, then you can keep losing weight , and prevent it from coming back!
Wow! I wish I had thought of that back when I first stated my journey to a new me! I just concentrated so much on the 1400 calories and making sure that I got to pick and choose what food that I wanted to "Spend it on" that I did not stop to consider what was going on inside of my body. I guess because I could see results on the outside I never stopped to consider what kind of "results" I was causing on the inside. Tomorrow I will share a little bit more about this powerful nutritional fact about protein. But until then, don't delay, Eat More Protein Today and Every Day!
Protein must always be a central part of your diet. Unfortunately, for years you have probably heard statements like "Americans eat too much protein" or "Avoid animal protein because the cholesterol and saturated fatty acids are bad for your heart" or "Too much protein is bad for your kidneys". Guess what? All three of these statements are False.
As a child you learned that protein is important to build muscles and strong bodies. It seems logical that when your growing, you need protein. So we often think that protein is only important for children or guys wanting to build big muscles. Protein is extremely important for growing children but it is just as important for adults. This is because every day your body needs to make nearly 250 grams of new proteins to replace old proteins, to repair tissue damage and to adapt to new activities. During the course of a year, virtually every protein in our body gets replaced. Now compare this to growth needs which only account for 3 to 5 grams of new protein each day. (Growth really is not a very big part of daily protein needs.)
Also, as we get older, we become less efficient at making new proteins. After age 30, we begin to lose body proteins at a rate of about 5% each decade. The proteins you lose come from you muscle and bone strength. (Think about the elderly people in your life and the condition of their appearance in both their muscle tone and bones.) By the time you reach age 60, you may have lost significant muscle and bone strength. With each passing year you lose mobility and become more likely to be injured with a fall. Equally important, each year you also have less msucle to burn the calories you eat. So habits that seem okay at age 30 can make you fat by age 50.
(Now I wanted to share this next part because during our first meeting my nutritionist expressed that because I was only averaging between 60-65 grams of protein per day before meeting with her and gaining a new perspective, that I may have sustained muscle and bone loss. Please continue reading this important information as provided by my nutritionist.)
Loss of muscle and bone becomes even more dangerous during weight loss. Why? If you lose weight simply by restricting what you eat, then you will lose weight from every part of your body. You will lose body fat (which you want to lose) but you will also lose weight from your muscles, bones, heart, liver, intestines and kidneys. (Which you don't want to lose). These muscles and organs (called "lean tissue") are obviously important to keep your body running, and these "lean tissues" are the parts of your body that burn calories! (I think that bears repeating. Please stop and re-read that last sentence) If you lose weight with the wrong type of diet, you will lose "lean tissues" and reduce your ability to burn calories. This makes it more and more difficult to lose weight or to keep weight off. (Now you can understand they "Why you can't lose the weight or keep it off yo-yo" that we have all been on) The longer you use a bad diet, the fewer calories you can eat. If you can do the right things duing weight loss and just lose fat while you protect your muscles, then you can keep losing weight , and prevent it from coming back!
Wow! I wish I had thought of that back when I first stated my journey to a new me! I just concentrated so much on the 1400 calories and making sure that I got to pick and choose what food that I wanted to "Spend it on" that I did not stop to consider what was going on inside of my body. I guess because I could see results on the outside I never stopped to consider what kind of "results" I was causing on the inside. Tomorrow I will share a little bit more about this powerful nutritional fact about protein. But until then, don't delay, Eat More Protein Today and Every Day!
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