I’ve been on Nutrisystems for almost three weeks. While I’ve taken off 10+ pounds, I’ve noticed a loss of strength and/or energy. It’s evidenced every morning at the Y when bench pressing. The weight I had grown somewhat accustomed to is harder to lift. It’s been suggested I supplement my diet with a protein bar in the morning.
Does this make sense? Do these bars really contain enough of what may be needed to get myself back up to strength? Another two weeks and I’ll be back to a more normal diet.
Unfortunately companies take advantage of facts that are legit on a micro level and then try to apply them across broad. If you’re lifting weights you need more protein. This is a fact…Well sort of.
It’s a fact if you’re a bodybuilder. Are you a bodybuilder? Do your work out at least five days a week, six hours a day or more lifting? If not, then you’re not a bodybuilder.
Here’s the thing the human body needs about 1 gram of protein PER KILOGRAM of weight. Did you read that? NOT pound but kilogram. This often gets people off to the wrong start.
So I weigh 175 pounds. I convert that to kilograms (Type the phrase “175 pounds in kilograms” into Google and it wil convert for you)
175 pounds is 79.37 grams of protein.
This is the amount of protein I need per day. I work out but I’m not a professional bodybuilder so I don’t need anymore. Any more protein I take in, will simply not be used and coverted to sugars and used as energy or stored as fat.
You have to remember bodybuilders are tuned down to the very minute calorie intake. They need to know who much protein, carbs and fat they take in. You do not. Why? Because 3 pounds of fat isn’t gonna matter for you, but 3 extra pounds of fat on a bodybuilder will make the difference between winning first and second place in a contest. And that is a different of thousands of dollars in winnings.
So save yourself a lot of grief. Just take the amount you weigh in pounds. Convert it to KILOS and then eat that many grams of protein per day. After that you can divide up your remaining calorie intake between carbs and fat however you like.
The thing about protein bars is that they also contain a lot of sugar. If you want to increase your protein (within reason, see Marxxx post), cook some chicken breast and snack on that. Then you’re getting good, healthy protein, not a candy bar labeled as a protein bar.
Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are also amazing sources of protein, and you get to eat actual food. In fact, cottage cheese is pretty much unprocessed protein powder.
If you think cottage cheese is gross, keep throwing random things in it until you find what you love–cinnamon to hot sauce to fruit, it pretty much all works.
When I was working out about 6 months ago, I used Whey Protein Isolate, which is basically pure protein (unlike some other protein concentrates or isolates which have a lot of fat in them). The brand was NOW Foods, and they have several different flavors.
I was using the “Natural Unflavored” flavor, and I would mix a scoop of it into plain oatmeal, then add cinnamon to make it palatable.
In fact dairy is overall a fantastic sports nutritional supplement (if you aren’t lactose intolerant that is … although that would give new meaning to “explosive” power!) Better than the soy protein in most protein bars anyway. Its advantages include that the mix of amino acids includes the branched ones that are most associated with stimulating muscle hypertrophy, and that real dairy contains both the more quickly absorbed whey and the more gradually absorbed casein components, so eaten after exercise there is an ongoing trickle of amino acids coming throughout the period that the muscles are growing the most. Some carbs are needed too to stimulate the insulin response which is needed for anabolism to occur.
The timing though matters. There is real measurable benefit from having the protein in your system during that anabolic phase. The same amount of protein, or more, outside that window won’t do you the same good. And that’s the advantage of the protein bar. It’s a bit easier to throw in the backpack to eat after a planned work-out later in the day, or to grab after a home work-out to eat in the car on the way to work.
This sort of timed protein intake has real proven benefit even if you’re not lifting 5 days a week for 6 hours a day. Timing your intake so that you are getting 14 to 20gms into your system within an hour of your work-out will help not only avoid the loss of muscle mass that you have experienced already, but actually gain lean body mass (and strength) while losing fat. Once cup of fat free Greek yogurt, at a mere 90 calories, will do it with its 15 gm of protein. Throw in some fruit and/or high fiber cereal and you are golden. A mere 2 oz of boneless skinless grilled or broiled chicken breast will also more than suffice with 18gm of protein in a mere 92 calories. That on a slice whole grain bread will do you fine. And a Balance Gold Bar, with 15gm of protein with some carbs and vitamins and 210 calories total, will also do in a pinch. Then overall spread out over the 24 hour time period get in the rest of your 1gm protein/kg body weight (some sources would suggest up to 1.8 if your are doing a good amount of weight training).
I don’t remember if it was SMDB or not, but I asked a while ago about weightlifting and muscle pain. Someone recommended eating additional protein to help my muscles repair themselves, and it worked like a charm for me. I would eat about 3-4 eggs per day (1-2 yolks, mostly whites) fried in sesame seed oil with a little salt or tabasco on it.
In your case, however, I’m not sure protein would have the same effect. In my case, my muscles were sore because of damage. In your case, your diet is probably causing muscle loss. I’m not entirely sure if eating additional protein would stop it.