Protein With Each Meal

I’m pretty sure we can call our term 1  lifestyle change a success. Boy, did we see some positive results from swapping white to brown.

At first, it was met with fear. “How on earth am I going to get my family to swap from the comfort of the fluffy white carbs to the enemy, brown, fibrous, nutritious carbs?” But do you know what? By the end of term most people had successfully transferred themselves and their families (including reluctant husbands) over to consuming nutritious products like wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, quinoa, brown rice and even wholemeal flour.

Many boot campers noticed a difference on the scales and a subtle change in energy levels as well as identifying a cleansing of the digestive system with regular bowel movements (I know, “Gross” I hear you say). All of these results are contributing to an improved quality of life, as well as a reduced risk of disease and illness. It’s really important that we continue on with this lifestyle change for the rest of our lives and keep it part of our “normal”.

So this brings us to our lifestyle change for term 2. I guess the title gives it away, we will be ADDING PROTEIN TO EACH MEAL.

In a previous post (How much protein do we need? November 2012. Please go back through the archives and re-read so I don’t have to repeat myself too much.) I talked about the importance of lean protein in our diets and the crucial role that it plays in repairing cells, helping with muscle growth (another word for toning up, ladies) and keeping us feeling fuller for longer. And we know that by feeling fuller for longer we are less likely to overeat at meal times because we are not “starving hungry”.

Strength + protein

What foods contain protein? Never fear I have the answer to your question below. It can be difficult to include protein in each meal if you are living on a high carbohydrate diet, so some may find this more challenging than others. Breakfast is quite often a stumbling block for protein. (there isn’t much protein in vegemite on toast). Who says we need to have toast or cereal for breakfast. Its just a picture painted by Kelloggs, Sanitarium or Sunicrust to sell their product. Just run down to the river and catch a salmon to cook up for brekky. Just kidding, instead you could include some of the foods listed on the tables below. I found these on the internet and they are really informative if you’re not sure how much protein you are consuming.  I

SCRAMBLED EGGS

Ingredients; Remember the shop once, chop once. This is much easier of a morning if you stick to that piece of advice and have the veggies pre-chopped in the fridge.
2 eggs
mushrooms, sliced
onion, diced
red capsicum, diced
cherry tomatoes, halved
97% fat free bacon diced
small slice of low fat feta, crumbled
zucchini, diced
spinach
Spray a hot non-stick pan with olive oil and stir fry your veggies, except spinach. When cooked add you eggs and feta. Stir until egg cooked (about a minute) and add spinach at the end. Serve with cracked pepper.
Scrambled
ROLLED OATS WITH NUTS AND SEEDS
Ingredients;
Rolled oats (the less processed the better)
frozen berries
milk
goji berries
your choice of nuts and seeds
I used; pepita seeds, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds with some walnuts crumbled over the top.
 Cook the rolled oats as per instructions but throw the goji berries in at the start of cooking, this makes them plump.
When cooked sprinkle with frozen berries and cover with your nuts and seeds.
porridge
So for all you boot campers out there, try and get your 1g of protein per kg of bodyweight in everyday, spread out over all your meals. If you’re not doing this already you will notice a difference in your hunger and it will also aid in your recovery. You should notice that you recover quicker and are able to work at a high intensity for longer. And its all a bonus if we a preventing those nasty cravings for sugary foods!!
I will keep posting high protein recipes for you so that we can easily transition ourselves the same way we did with our white to brown lifestyle change. Remember this is not a challenge it is a permanent lifestyle change, if you are finding it too difficult adjust to it slowly. I know you can do this. 🙂  Jac

Leave a Reply