Protein is essential to life and a healthy diet. When trying to lose weight and get tone, people can feel frustrated and confused regarding the best methods, exercises, and products. It seems each person has an opinion but what really matters?
Protein powder, found in gyms and health stores, delivers energy a body needs, but in addition to other meals and snacks, plays a role in amassing calories. How can women most benefit from protein?
Counting Calories
Doctors and researchers continue devoting careers toward understanding exercise science, but when it comes to losing and gaining weight, counting calories is a simple way to understand the basics.
Women and men have different body chemistries and anatomies; therefore, a man’s suggested caloric intake is slightly higher, at 2ooo calories. It’s suggested (and debated) the average woman consume 1600-1800 calories per day.
If a body consumes an excess of calories without doing something (running, cleaning, yoga) to burn it off, it gains weight. Conversely, a person consuming the average number of calories while partaking in exercise is on the road to weight loss.
Healthy Foods
What’s healthier: a slice of plain pizza or a cup full of granola? Most people would assume the granola is healthier and depending on how you define ‘healthy,’ it is, yet a cup-full of granola is likely to contain more calories. So, let’s assume a person continuously makes those sort of decisions despite eating ‘healthy.’ They will grow confused at seeing the number on the scale! Healthy foods are great for delivering protein, healthy doses of fat and carbs along with vitamins and minerals, but any kind of excess is still too much.
When you are looking to lose weight, consider a trusted and reliable diet like The Dukan Diet. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to stick to this high protein diet and how quickly the numbers on the scale go down. I lost 18 pounds in 8 weeks on the Dukan Diet and I kept the weight off (until I got pregnant and had another baby)!!!
Protein Powders
Protein powder is great because a person can ensure they get a healthy dose of protein in the system, essential to growing and maintaining muscles. While protein powder won’t directly help calories, it does energize the system, which promotes longer and intense workouts. Read labels and understand the best time to drink a shake. Some formulas are engineered for pre-workout periods while others best consumer after.
Just keep in mind that it’s unhealthy to ‘swap’ wholesome food for protein powder. Unfortunately, some women mistakenly starve their bodies in a short-term quest to lose weight. Such short and intense endeavors often leave people feeling depleted of energy, moody, and potentially sick while delivering short-term results at best. You will find that if you starve yourself, that as soon as you start eating again, you will quickly gain the weight back.
You can not replace a healthy diet with drinking protein powder smoothies all day long. Protein powders can help supplement your diet with minerals and vitamins, but they are not and should never be a replacement for real food!
Food As A Security Blanket
In some cases, being overweight is a derivative of something else. Stress related to a new job, marriage, kids, or dying family members causes anxiety and most associate foods with feelings of security and pleasure. Furthermore, people often adopt favorite snacks enjoyed in front of the television or computer, which presents more feelings of security and warmth.
Those of you that use food as a security blanket or escape could benefit from speaking to a professional counselor about unhealthy feelings toward food and consumption.
Strong Enough for a Man
As mentioned, a woman’s anatomy is different and requires a lower number of calories. Speak to a trainer or a doctor about the best protein powder for women in addition to visiting numerous websites on the topic. Furthermore, don’t hesitate to engage in exercises, regimens, and sports normally subscribed and associated to men. Some proteins are made for women but very little activity is meant for men alone.
Healthy Regimen
Protein powder can be a part of a healthy regimen. It’s been suggested that it takes about twenty days to form a new habit or mindset. Therefore, a measured daily dose of protein powder along with healthy, low-calorie foods can be a regimen leading to desired weight-loss goals.
Remember, a healthy regimen may contain pizza, cookies, chocolate, vegetables, and protein powder. Good health requires moderation and concentration on portions and ingredients. Returning to the pizza topic, there’s no reason one cannot enjoy pizza throughout the week while minding overall caloric intake and attention to a healthy variety of foods!
Licensed or Opinionated
It seems each person has an opinion about the best way to lose weight, workout, prepare foods, etc. While it’s healthy to keep an open mind and consider what’s worked for others, be sure to differentiate the licensed from the opinionated. Don’t accept powders or pills from people at the gym or replace doctor suggestions with unlicensed opinions. Furthermore, ask your doctor about the ingredients of particular powders and health supplements.
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