Carbohydrates and Fats have both taken their turn as the evil food that you should never eat, but protein is always the golden child that can do no wrong.
Or can it?
I think protein has been put so high on a pedestal for both weight loss and muscle gaining that you can begin to suffer from something I like to call “protein guilt”.
So what is protein guilt? Well I’ll tell you.
If you eat any food and especially EXTRA food simply because you think you need it for protein, then you have protein guilt.
I realized I had protein guilt a few years ago when I used to analyze every meal I ate for the protein content. If the meal I was eating didn’t have at least 30 grams of protein I went out of my way to eat something else to make sure I got my 30 grams.
This is a perfect example of protein guilt – I felt guilty if I didn’t eat a precise amount of protein at every meal. I couldn’t just enjoy food anymore, I could only think about the protein content because I believed protein was so important for burning fat and gaining muscle.
Now I realize that I was actually OVEREATING because I felt the need to get more protein into my body. I would drink an extra glass of milk or make sure I ordered double chicken breast when I ate salads, anything to make sure I was eating MORE protein. I was denying the fact that I was overeating just to get more protein.
And it showed around my waistline.
This is how protein guilt can sabotage your weight loss efforts, namely justifying overeating just to get more protein in your diet.
To this day I still struggle with protein guilt (I use it to justify my chocolate milk cravings) but now at least I can eat an apple without forcing myself to have some milk or chicken to bring up the protein content of that meal. Doesn’t this sound crazy?
I’m getting better for sure, but I still feel twinges of protein guilt almost every time I eat. If you’re anything like me you know exactly what I am talking about.
If you live in any modern industrialized society you most likely already eat enough protein without even thinking about it. Even though I now know better, this protein guilt still bothered me enough that I researched and wrote an entire book about protein just to ease my mind about how much protein I really needed to build muscle while losing body fat.
I know this sounds a bit extreme but this was the only way for me to get over my protein guilt. Fortunately for you I’m done writing the book and you can get the final answer about protein without having to do all the research and write your own book.
So if you want to find out how much protein you really need to build and maintain lean muscle and your fat burning metabolism, and if you want to know the TRUTH about protein supplements, post workout protein, and protein guilt, then you need to check out my new book “HOW MUCH PROTEIN”
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Brad Pilon is a nutrition professional with over eight years experience working in the nutritional supplement industry specializing in clinical research management and new product development. Brad has completed graduate studies in nutritional sciences specializing in the use of short term fasting for weight loss.
His trademarked book Eat Stop Eat has been featured on national television and helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat without sacrificing the foods they love. For more information on Eat Stop Eat, visit www.eatstopeat.com
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
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