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May 9, 2006
The Importance of Protein
When people ask me how I manage to maintain a low calorie level without being hungry, I always rave about the importance of protein. The single biggest change I've made in my diet since I started CR over two years ago was to dramatically increase the protein content in my diet. I get almost all my protein from sources that contain no saturated fat: eggwhites and nonfat dairy. Between my morning eggwhite omlette with nonfat cheddar cheese (and shiitake mushrooms), my lunch time salad with fifty calories of cubed eggwhites and a cup of nonfat plain organic yogurt, my megamuffin, and my brewers yeast soup at dinner, I get over 70 g protein every day. When I go out to eat, I usually order a dish with either seafood (shrimp and scallops most of the time) or grilled chicken. When I don't get enough protein, I immediately notice an increase in my hunger and a decrease in my mental focus. Combined with exhaustion, a lack of protein can cause sugar cravings and ill will towards the rest of humanity. If I find myself in a less than Zenned out state of mind, a lack of protein is often to blame.
This morning, for the second morning in a row, I was out the door before six am to pick up Luke to run down to a hospital and drop off flyers to the health care professionals who are working to join our union. MR lovingly packed me a mega-brownie, the chocolate version of the megamuffin, a 260 calorie hunk of delicious treat that contains 26 percent of the RDA of every essential nutrient. It was delicious, but it's Zoned, so instead of my usual giant shot of protein with a teaspoon of flax oil and almost no carbs for breakfast, I ate 30% protein, 30% carb, 30% fat. Nutritionally, the mega-brownie is a work of genius, and for most people it's an ideal breakfast. But I find I really need a huge shot of almost pure protein at breakfast to both maintain my CR-Zen calm and to keep from being hungry later. A mega-item once a week or so for breakfast is just fine, but two days in a row left my protein a bit low. I felt fine till lunch, when I ate my usual sixty calories worth of almonds (that's about eight almonds) with my salad and a cup of nonfat organic plain yogurt. I didn't realize at the time that something was missing, but by 3:00 I was hungry again. Usually I would eat a half a megamuffin either with lunch or as an afternoon snack, but this time Edward called me from the road on his way back from a meeting and asked if I wanted to go out for lunch to discuss a rather pressing work matter. He hadn't gotten lunch due to an earlier meeting, and I figured I'd just accompany him and not eat, since I had already eaten my lunch. But he drove straight to the Ruby Tuesday's, home of my favorite salad bar, so I decided to forgo my megamuffin (I'm eating a whole one between some combination of lunch, afternoon snack and dinner these days, so that's 275 calories) and turn my second lunch into dinner, thereby making room for a big salad with the salad bar's cottage cheese.
After two big plates of vegetables, two scoops of cottage cheese, and a small plate of fruit, I was quite satisfied, and called MR to let him know I wouldn't need him to make me dinner. But I was surprised that I had been that hungry so shortly after eating my normal lunchtime almonds, salad and yogurt.
When I got home it dawned on me that my fifty calories of eggwhites had been missing from the lunch MR had packed for me. In the hurry to get me out the door before six am, he had forgotten to weigh them and throw them into my salad container. Between that and the lower than normal protein in my breakfast for the second day in a row, it's no surprise that I was ravenous by the time I darkened the door of the Ruby Tuesday's. Protein is the greatest killer of hunger. To paraphrase the old Snickers commercial: Protein really satisfies. Without enough protein, I get hungry again quickly.
My second lunch, like my first, was very nutritious and delicious -- the RT's salad bar contains heavenly veggies, lowfat cottage cheese, and a nice selection of fruits, at least where I live. So my second lunch at about 3 pm turned into dinner, and I just drank a small glass of wine at the table while MR ate his dinner of CR friendly roasted red pepper and shiitake mushroom lasagna.
I did, however, experience that other symptom of low protein combined with exhaustion: the evil sugar craving. After leaving the office I stopped by my mom's house to see if she needed anything and visit a bit... she's still recovering from her surgery, and can't lift or bend over much. She keeps a bunch of candy on hand at all times, including the almost irresistable jujubee, and as soon as I saw the hard gummy item languishing in the candy dish, the sugar craving hit. I had a handful, and then another. Not too many calories - it's 124 calories for 56 jujubees, and it would take awhile to eat 56 jujubees. But the sugar roller coaster is never a good thing to step on, especially not when I'm already tired. I took a short nap on my mom's couch before gathering up the energy to take out her trash.
I may be tired now (in addition to running around like a crazy person at all hours for work, I was awaked by a combination of MR's insomnia and my howling calico cat at three am and never got back to sleep) but I would have been unable to handle this level of activity pre-CR. The extra energy CR gives me makes it possible to work crazy hours, maintain a relationship, house, and cats, and still have two brain cells left to rub together. Even when I'm exhausted from lack of sleep or stress, I still feel more alive, more vital, and less like a sack of potatoes than I ever did pre-CR. It's amazing what a difference a few calories (fewer) can make.
Posted by april at May 9, 2006 8:06 PM
Comments
You rock (i was about to write "girl", err, make that woman :-) )!
Um, what about why protein for breakfast? like 27 gram worth or so? I bet you got an educated opinion about that too... (might have missed that if you already wrote about it)
Posted by: Curious at May 10, 2006 2:55 PM
Had an epiphany, thanks to you! Now I think I know why I am so hungry and irritable by 10:30 - 11:00 am!! I might be eating too much carbs for breakfast and not enough protein.Will re-adjust my diet to include more protein and see what happens.
Posted by: Eleanor Jarrett at May 20, 2006 3:34 AM
Try eating three eggs for breakfast -- with the yolks -- soft-cooked at very low temperature in a covered, buttered skillet. Then have some oatmeal, with light cream or butter and maybe a little brown sugar or maple syrup. Add raisins, walnuts, cashew chunks, sunflower seeds or the like. Most people would finish with some really good coffee, but suit yourself.
Try it. Try it for a month. See how you feel. See if you still get hungry at 10:30 in the morning.
Posted by: Tom A. at June 8, 2007 10:17 PM