We've all heard that protein is good. Protein will make you lose weight, it will help you build muscle, it will keep you from being hungry, and has apparently other magical qualities as well. Properly trained, it could likely do my taxes and cure cancer. Vegetarians and vegans scoff at these claims, and meat-lovers embrace them.
Every label at the store wants to claim some sort of protein content, since all of us are keeping an eye out for high gram counts of the nutrient. I remember when low fat and sugar-free were what we were looking for at the grocery store, but now those nutritional values mean nothing. You can have all the fat you want as long as there is a ton of protein! Yay! High fructose corn syrup? Bring it! I think that stuff was off limits for about 10 minutes, nowhere near the legendary run of "low fat," but maybe next time. Sugar is, once it gets in your stomach, sugar.
I cannot forget carbs, and who could? Unlike protein, apparently this stuff collects your taxes and causes cancer. Many may even be unaware that "carbs" stands for carbohydrates, so intimately close are we to the evil stuff that we stick to first names only. Keeping carbs out of your diet is a full time job for many modern folks, so sure are we that it is responsible for everything going wrong in our lives.
How do these dietary trends get going? Eat eggs! Don't eat eggs! Caffeine is bad! Caffeine is heart healthy! Wine is for drunks and losers! Wine is good for longevity! Don't even get me started on chocolate.
I have alternatively embraced and rejected the protein/carbohydrate game. For a while I cut carbs almost completely out of my diet, focusing on protein, though not a single pound was lost after 3 months. Gave that up and concentrated on lowering my caloric intake and making sure I worked out every day. That seems to suit my lifestyle very well, but, again, not a budge in my weight. No junk food, no fast food, no sweets, those things are easy for me because I don't crave them, and I don't overeat, so occasional lean proteins, whole grains, fruits and lots of veggies, along with some pasta and rice and 1200-grain breads seemed like a healthy way to eat, right? Well, maybe, but I'm still 50 pounds overweight. Hmm. Nothing is easy for this gal.
I know people who have atrocious (to me) diets, filled with processed foods and fast foods, yet they remain slim. I know other people who didn't change their diets at all but started walking for 30 minutes 5 days a week and dropped 40 pounds. I've been huffing and puffing 4 miles away in just under an hour for 10 years, 5-6 days a week, and still managed to gain weight. No fair.
I am so tired of looking at labels and counting grams of this and that, but apparently that is what I need to continue doing. I saw an endocrinologist who specializes in metabolism and weight loss, and he explained that, unfortunately, with my body type I have a metabolism that is too efficient, and will only slow down as I approach menopause. He told me the story of a patient of his (I guess I believe him?) who had surgery done on an ulcer in her stomach years ago, which apparently involved cutting a nerve that signals hunger. Thereafter she has no sensation of hunger or satiation, ever. She skipped breakfast and lunch and ate dinner with her family because it is a social activity and she knew she had to eat sometime, though she never felt hungry and didn't really enjoy the taste of food. She weighed 440 pounds. Huh? (Do I still believe him?)
He said that in certain individuals, females in middle age most commonly, the metabolism slows to a crawl and exercise is not going to change it. In ancient times this would serve you well, as your ability to hunt and gather was reduced, and in lean times you could live off fat stores and require less nutrition. These days not so much. The lady in question had lost 100 pounds simply by eating protein three times a day, according to the doctor. This case report was, of course, meant to inspire me but I'm having trouble with it. I'm sure she has a bizarre physiology responsible for this kind of crazy weight gain with so few calories. I had always thought that obese people needed way more calories to keep going every day than the healthy weight person. Go figure....
The doctor looked at my food journal and liked the fact that I don't overeat and I don't eat junk or fast food, but he said I was not getting enough protein. Curses! My nemesis rears its ugly head once again! He said I need at least 30 grams of protein 3 times a day. Yuk. Some mornings I can eat an egg or two, but that is not getting anywhere near into 30 gram territory, and many mornings the thought of eggs or meat makes my stomach churn. My typical breakfast would be the aforementioned 1200-grain bread (if you can point me in the direction of bread that has more grains than 1200 I'd appreciate it) with natural peanut butter on it for my stoopid protein. So noble felt I! A wholesome breakfast with a ton of fiber and no sugar. Wrong - I'd have to eat a whole jar of said peanut butter to get the protein I'm apparently lacking.
People have said to me, "Liz, you're not eating enough and that's why you're overweight." This is what my doc is telling me, except I'm not eating enough PROTEIN. So, that's why anorexics are so fat? That's why models are thin - they're eating gobs of protein 3 times a day? I think not! Don't eat and you won't be fat. This concept of eating more to boost your metabolism is counter intuitive, but my healthy diet and exercise program I've been on isn't helping, either.
So, I'll give it a try. I can drink a protein shake in the morning (much easier to stomach) and use protein bars and powders to up the numbers. I'll continue my walking/jogging routine. I think it boils down to body types and genetic predisposition. There are skinny people who will be skinny no matter what they do, and chubby folks who stress and obsess and restrict themselves with no results. I was never heavy in my life until I hit 40, so the weight gain has been hard to take, but I can see that my body is slowing down and that will only get worse, so I need to try something else. We shall see.
Protein is, apparently, the answer, for now, and I guess I'll quit fighting it. If I get results then I'll be convinced, of course, but by then scientists will publish papers telling us that high protein diets shorten our lifespans, and magnesium deficiency is killing our country. The Cheese Diet will be all the rage, and protein will go the way of 8-track tapes. If you don't know what 8-track tapes are, you'll have to read my blog from 1978. Wait. I think they were called "articles" back then......
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