Fit-Bullets Friday: January 13th, 2023
Fit-Bullets: Our Kids Are Watching, 30 Grams Of Protein, and Weekend Food Choices
Happy Fit-Bullets Friday!
Here are 3 things I wanted to share with you this week...
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Our Kids Are Watching
Our kids are watching.
And listening.
So pay attention to your words and attitude towards fitness and nutrition.
Instead of telling your kids you need to work out to lose weight, tell them you want to work out to get fitter and stronger.
Instead of talking about how many calories you burned in your cardio session, talk about how healthy and energized you feel.
Instead of telling your kids that some food is good and some food is bad, let them see you eating and enjoying mostly nutritious food while also enjoying the occasional slice of pizza and ice cream.
If they ask you why you're weighing and measuring your food, let them know - honestly - you're making sure you're eating enough so you can keep getting stronger.
Let you kids watch you working out. Especially if you're a mom and you have a daughter.
This is our duty as parents.
And you can be damn sure I'm doing these things with my 18-month-old daughter.
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30 Grams of Protein
I often talk about consuming enough protein while losing weight: around 0.7-1 gram of protein per lb target weight is a good daily aim.
For example, if your target weight is 150 lb:
- 150 x 0.7 = 105
- 150 x 1 = 150
Your protein range would therefore be 105-150g per day.
And if we break that down, it means you'll need somewhere around 30g protein at each meal, plus a high-protein snack.
Which is why I've said on my Instagram many times that 2 eggs isn't a high-protein breakfast - because that's only 12-13g protein.
But add 3/4 cup of egg whites and now you're over 30g - while only increasing the calorie count by 94 calories.
Here are some more foods that, when combined with the rest of your meal (don't forget, there is some protein in veggies, legumes, and starches), and included in snacks, will help you hit 30g protein per meal.
- Greek yogurt. 1 cup of plain 2% Greek yogurt = 21g protein and 160 calories (source).
- Cottage cheese. 1 cup of 2% cottage cheese = 28g protein and 240 calories (source).
- Protein powder. From experience, 1 scoop of whey protein isolate usually contains 22-24g protein and approximately 120-150 calories.
- Chicken breast: half a breast (no skin or bone) = 26.7g protein and 142 calories (source).
- Salmon: 4oz = 23g protein and 236 calories (source).
- Edamame. 1 cup = 14 g protein and 180 calories (source).
For more, type "lean proteins" into Google.
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Weekend Food Choices
If you weekends are undoing the progress you make during the week, there are 5 things you can try:
1. Be more flexible with your food choices during the week. Saving certain foods for the weekend will increase cravings and make it hard to control your intake. Instead, allow yourself small amounts of that food during the week.
2. Be less extreme about your food intake on weekends. Stop treating the weekends like a complete free-for-all. You can Increase calories up to maintenance, which will allow flexibility, but you still need to be moderate. When you're not socializing, eat the same kinds of meals you would eat during the week.
3. Drink less alcohol on weekends. Let's face it, alcohol is the cause of a lot of poor food choices on weekends.
4. Plan your weekend meals. If you're going out to eat, look up the menu in advance and decide what you'll have. Decide how many drinks you'll have and whether you'll have dessert. And plan the meals around the social occasions - just like you would during the week.
5. Especially plan for "the day after". The weekend damage doesn't come from one meal. It comes from allowing one instance of eating more than intended - typically dinner on Friday or Saturday evening - to turn into another 1-2 days of eating because you feel you "messed up". Choose to get back on track instead, which will be made easier by having a plan for the next day. This might involve going to the grocery store and making sure you have the food you need.
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See you next time,
Daniel