Are you getting enough protein

Protein is something that I know my diet has lacked for sometime now. I have not been intentionally avoiding protein however most of the foods I eat do seem to be carbohydrate based and I feel that this may be responsible for my recent lack of energy. Now that I have started Herbalife and also started working out at the gym, I have decided I really should make more of an effort to add more high protein foods to my daily intake. 

Not only do I add protein powder to my morning nutritional shake and oats but I also have started snacking on things like natural yoghurt, boiled eggs and protein bars. I am also trying to have atleast one serve of lean protein a day with either lunch or tea as I have neglected to do this for sometime now.

You may find the following article from Ausyralian Woman's Health interesting, I know I did :) 

The Paleo Diet. Protein powder. Gourmet burgers. In case you haven't noticed, our culture has become obsessed with consuming protein—which means few of us are skimping on the stuff. "These days, most of the hot fad diets are very pro-protein." says DR Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., author of The Flexitarian Diet.

But despite our preoccupation with protein, some of us are still slipping through the cracks—namely vegetarians or people who tend to under-eat, says Blatner. Problem is, it can be tricky to identify what's considered "not enough" since the recommended intake of protein is a broad range, rather than one hard number.

Afraid you're short-changing your system? Forget crunching numbers—just look for these signs that your body is begging for protein:

You Crave Sweets

One of the first signs you're low on protein: You start craving sweets and feel like you're never quite full, says Blatner. You'd think a protein shortage would trigger an urge for steak and eggs, right? But one of protein's most critical functions is keeping your blood sugar steady—which means if you're lacking, your glucose levels will be all over the place, encouraging you to reach for a quick fix like lollies. "If all you ate in the morning was a handful of cereal, you're going to get energy right away, then your energy is going to wane," she says. "That up-and-down is where cravings come in."

Your Brain Feels Foggy

Balanced blood sugar is essential for staying focused. So when you're protein-deprived and your glucose levels are fluctuating constantly, Blatner says you may feel a little foggy—like you can't quite get with the program at work, for example. Why? Because you don't have a steady stream of carbs to fuel your brain. Protein at meals helps time-release the carbs for steady energy rather than up and down spikes. If you're relying only on "fleeting foods," such as crackers or bread, you'll only experience short bursts of mental energy, followed by the fog. 

Your Hair is Falling Out 

Protein is the building block of all of your cells—your hair follicles included. "If your hair follicles are strong, they keep your hair on your head, despite the tugging we do all day and the wind going through your hair," says Blatner. But if you're chronically skimping on the scalp-stabilising nutrient, you may notice that your strands start thinning (although, keep in mind, this can also be a sign of other conditions, like thyroid trouble).

You Feel Weak

We all know that protein is essential for building muscle. And if you don't get enough of it, your muscles may start to shrink over time, says Blatner. As a result, you may feel weak and unable to do the exercises you once excelled at.

You Get Sick Constantly

Your biceps aren't the only thing that protein reinforces. "Protein is needed to build all the compounds in our immune systems," says Blatner. So if you seem to catch colds or infections more often than everyone else—and you're otherwise in good health—a protein deficiency may be to blame. Another sign: You constantly get hangnails. "Our skin is a huge immune organ because it protects us from the environment," says Blatner. If your skin isn't strong due to a shortage of protein, you may start to notice cracks and tears (like hang nails), potentially exposing you to pathogens and leading to infections.

Extreme calorie counting

Looking back, I still cant believe just how bad my calorie counting was and how obsessed I was with calculating the exact number of calories that everything I ate contained. I would weigh absolutely everything I ate so that I could calculate the exact number of calories and refused to eat anything prepared by anyone else. Even though I would weigh each thinng many times before eating it, I would still often freak out when I was half way through  meal that Imay have made a mistake or that the scales may not have been working properly.

I would make sure that I ate the exact same number of calories ever single day and I wouldn't let myself go over this amount by even a single calorie. Preparing food took a long time as I had to weigh out absolutely everything I was using and then also do the math to calculate the number of calories and add it into my calorie counter. I would reweigh things that had the nutritional values already writtten on them so that I could calculate the EXACT amount.

There was no type of food that I would not weigh (except liquids like milk which I would measure out with a measuring cup. I would even weigh things like pieces of fuit, salad and vegetables. I will use breakfast as an example of my extreme calorie counting. I would weigh the slices of bread that I was going to use for my toast and then also the spreads that I was going to be putting on them. If  I had something like apple and custard oats I would weigh out the oats and sweetner I was going to be using, weigh out the custard and then cut up an exact weighed amount of apple to stir through.

I honestly dont know how I did what I did. Just the thought of doing this insane calorie counting whilst preparing food and planning what to eat seems like such a huge waste of time and effort. I suppose at the time I ddn't really have anything else happening in my liffe to concentrate on but I still don't know how Icould have been bothered to go to all that effort, just so I could know that I was eating an exact number of calories each day.

At one stage I was also counting macros which was even more awful as I didn'tt only need to eat an esact number of calories eah day, but I had to eat a mixture of foods that would fit perfectly into my macronutrient goal too. The amount of time I have wasted in my life with this useless calorie/macro planning and counting really does make me sick and if you are currently living the sae way, I highly encourage you to try and get out of these unhealthy behaviours now. Life really is to short to be spending so much time doing these absolutely pointless things and letting go of these behaviours is very important for your recovery.

Even though I still have a fair idea of the amount of calories I eat as I like to make sure I am reaching my minimum calorie target each day, I have no idea of the exact number of calories and I also have no idea about how much of each macronutrient I eat. Letting go of these behaviours was one of the greatest challenges in my recovery  but I am proud to now say that I have managed to do it and I know that you can do it too. It feels so good to now have the freedom to eat exactly what I feel like, despite how many calories grams of carbs, fat or protein it may contain.

Fat is not the enemy

Society makes us think that eating fat or having fat on your body is bad, I know because I was once made to believe that this was true too. But I assure you, fat really is not something to be feared. While it is not helthy to eat excessive amounts of bad fats or to have lots and lots of excess fat on your body, it is not something that you should be frightened of either. 

When I was at my sickest, I was eating only around 5 grams of fat per day and even then I felt guilty for eating that much. Basically everything I ate had to be fat free and even once I started eating more, fat was the thing that was hardest for me to reintruduce into my diet.

I can honestly say that I have no idea how many grams of fat I eat each day now as I do not count macros but I honestly dont really care anymore. I have finally come to the realisation that fat is just another form of energy that our bodies can use to fuel our bodies. It is not some kind of poison that makes us gain incredible amounts of weight just from consuming it.

I have also realised that having some fat on my body is not a bad thing, in fact it is essential. Without a healthy body fat percentage, I know that my ody can not work effficently and optimally. I know that I will not get my period back if Ido not have enough fat on my body as my hormones wll not be in balance.

It is also important to realise that having a body with no fat on it really is not attractive at all. While I couldn't see it at the time as my anorexia was distorting how I saw my body, I can now see exactly how terrible I looked when I was really underweight. I can honestly say that I never want to look that way again. 

If you don't believe me (I know I probably wouldnt have when I was at my sickest either), then here are some facts on fats from the eat balanced website;

Why do we need to eat fat?

Fat! Don’t be scared of it…  You actually need it in your diet.  Fat doesn’t directly make you “fat” – excess calories make you “fat”.  It’s about getting the right balance.

Fat has had bad press, to the extent that some foods are designed and marketed as ‘fat-free’. But it isn’t all bad. In fact, getting some fat from our diet is absolutely vital.

In this section, you will find out what fats are, why we need them, what they do for us and where we find them in our foods.

Why do we need fat?

Virtually all natural foods contain some fat.  It is in foods because both plants and animals use fats as the most economical way to store energy.  It is needed for their growth, development and function when there is a shortage of food supply (or a shortage of sunlight in the case of plants).

Certain specific dietary fats have other essential functions. We are much like other animals so we do actually need some fat from our diet to survive.  And while in general, as with most things, too much fat is bad, a certain amount is perfectly compatible with good health.

What is fat for?

• A source of energy – Our body uses the fat we eat, and fats we make from other nutrients in our bodies,  to provide the energy for most of our life-functions
• Energy store – The extra calories that we consume, but do not need to use immediately, are stored for future use in special fat cells (adipose tissue)
• Essential fatty acids – Dietary fats that are essential for growth development and cell functions, but cannot be made by our body’s processes
• Proper functioning of nerves and brain- fats are part of myelin- a fatty material which wraps around our nerve cells so that they can send electrical messages. Our brains contain large amounts of essential fats
• Maintaining healthy skin and other tissues.  All our body cells need to contain some fats  as essential parts of cell membranes, controlling what goes in and out of our cells
• Transporting fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K through the bloodstream to where they are needed
• Forming steroid hormones needed to regulate many bodily processes

Trust me, I know how hard it is to eat foods that are high in fat when you have such a big fear of it but I promise that it cant hurt you. I was terrified of it once too but now I am no more scared of foods that contain fats then I am of any other food. 

Even if you need to do it gradually, that is completely fine. Just try to slowly reintroduce more and more fats into your diet and eventually your fear will start to fade. If you feel you ned to, just start with healthy fats and then you can progress into eating all other kinds of fats too. 

From experience I can honestly say that it is also possible to eventually accept having fat on your body too. In my opinion, learning that fat is not the enemy really is an essential part of recovery and therefore something I encourage everryone to do.

Counting Macros

An old anorexic behaviour of mine that I once obsessivelely did was counting macro-nutrients. I became obsessed with counting macro nutrients when I was in my half recovered state and made sure I ate the exact same number of macronutrients each day. It could take hours for me to make a combination of foods that fitted perfectly into my macro nutrient goal and I found myslf eatng things that I didn't even enjoy, just so that I could eat the 'correct' amounts of fats, protein and carbs eacch day.

Each day I would try to eat 75g of protein, 305g of carbohydrates and 42g of fat. I know that lots of anorexics are quite scared of carbs but I never really was. My main issue was just with fat. I rememeber going through a stage when I thought that eating 10g of fat was far too much and that I tried to limit my intake to around 5g of fat per day. It was very hard for me to increase this to 42g but I knew that 42g was still really too low.While cooking wth oil is something I still need to get more comfortable with, eating foods high in fat really does not bother me anymore at all.

While I still see how much energy things contain while grocery shopping (as I really need to see if the food item will fit into my meal plan or not), I honestly never look at the fat content anymore. The other day when I was about to have an icecream, I caught glimpse of the fat content when I pulled the icecream out of the packet and I was surprised to see that the single icecream contained more then 20g of fat. Once I would not have even been able to even consider eating something so high in fat but I can honestly say that I did not even think twise about eating it, as I seriously did not care one little bit abut how many grams of fat it contained.

If I was having a sandwich for lunch when I counted macronutients, what I put in it would not be determined by what I felt like, but instead by what macronutrients I needed to increase/decrease for that day. If I needed to eat more fat, I would put in something like peanut butter or cream cheese. f I needed more carbs I would have jam or honey and if I needed more protein I would have ham or cheese. Looking back I am soo glad that I no longer do this aa now I can just eat exactly what I feel like.

I honestly have no idea how many of each macronutrient I eat each day and I honestly don't really care. I don't really think it matters what form I am giving my body the energy in. What I think matters is that I am giving my body the energy it needs by eating both foods that are healthy and also foods that I enjoy. The only macronutrient I Sometimes need to make a conscious effort to eat is protein as this is the macronutrient that I probably eat the least of. I get most of my protein through dairy products like milk, cheese, yoghurt and icecream but I know my teas are often lacking in protein. This is why I try and have meat and vegetables at least every few nights.

If you obsessively count macronutrients like I did, I highly suggest you try and stop as it is one of the best things I have ever done. Wasting so much time each day to try and come up with a combination of foods that wll allow you to hit your maconutrient targets is just crazy and I am sure you have so many other ways you could better spend that time.  At the end of the day, as long as your diet is reasonabely balanced, all that truly matters is that you are giving your body the energy it needs in order to recover. Remember that your body is smart enough to use the energy you give it, no matter what form it may be in.