I just discovered an interesting fact about protein. I discovered it while reading The Protein Counter.
Research shows that a meal high in protein helps to keep you awake and alert, while a meal high in carbohydrate tends to make you sleepy.
This is interesting.
I know a lot of people that seems to be tired all day, especially a few at work. I might advice them to start eating more protein, just as an experiment. And then after a few weeks, I’ll let you know if they have become more awake and alert.
I have always heard that if you want protein, you should start eating meat. The more meat you eat, the more protein you’ll get. But this is not an option for me, because I am a vegetarian. I have a few “body builder” friends though, and they are meat eaters - and they think of protein as a way to build their bodies full of muscles without doing hardly any active work…
Today, I have read another chapter at The Protein Counter, and I found a few interesting thoughts regarding meat and protein - and it’s actually a little funny.
It’s regarding ways to improve physical ability, and that people have been trying to improve it during the history.
Meat was believed to be good because it’s animal muscle and builds body muscle. There are reports that as early as the sixth century B.C., a dedicated Greek wrestler, Milo of Crotona, ate 20 pounds of meat every day to build up his body.
The problem is however, that many still believe as this Greek wrestler did, that extra meat or just more protein will increase their muscle size and strength. That simply isn’t true. Eating more protein is not a shortcut to a strong active body.
I am glad that’s true, because it it were true, I would probably be the weakest kid around 
I take my daily food supplement, it contains all sorts of vitamins and minerals, and flaxseed oil. If you want to know, I buy it at Healthspan and I have used this company for a few years (I highly recommend them).
During the past, I had all sorts of problems remembering my daily food supplement. I used to have it at breakfast, but even if I was eating my breakfast, I would forget the supplement from time to time. I am not sure why, because I usually have a good memory, but not when it comes to my supplements.
So, what I did eventually is something I urge you to do as well.
I put all my food supplements at a place where I would always see them. I would see them every single day, at least twice a day, no matter in how much hurry I was. I would see it, and therefore, I would not forget it.
Have you guessed it yet?
It’s not that hard really.
I am now storing them next to my toothbrush and toothpaste. This is the safest place to store anything that you need to be using every single day. Because there is one thing I never tend to forget, and that’s brushing my teeth.
You probably know that protein is important, and you might even know that it’s a source of energy and that it’s important for building muscles. But accordring to The Protein Counter, protein is also very important because it is:
- Necessary for life
- Necessary for growth
- Part of every cell in your body
- Needed to replace worn out cells
- Necessary to repair damaged tissue
- A major part of your immune system
- A major part of every enzyme
Did you know this?
I have been reading “The Protein Counter” and so far, it’s been interesting. Insted of writing a rather lengthy review, I will write short “stories” from the book, about things that fascinates me and/or things I just find interesting enough to share.
Let’s begin.
You probably know that protein is found in every cell, and that if you don’t get enough protein to replace lost cells, our bodies will cannibalize its own tissues and the body wastes away. This is the reason why we need protein; they all have jobs to do (to help our bones, teeth, mucles, skin and more).
Our bodies uses amino acids as building blocks to make the specific proteins we need. All the protein we need are made from about 20 amino acids, and the amino acids are combined in order to make the protein we need.
An easy way to understand what is happening is by looking at the alphabet, and think of each letter as an amino acid and words as protein. In order to make a word (protein), we need different letters (amino acids).
But do we really need to think about combining the right amino acids to form the protein we need? Well, our bodies are doing this for us. But our bodies will need the right food in order to find the amino acids and combine them into the destinct protein.
That’s why we need to eat a variety of foods.
For instance, beans may be short in one of the essential amino acids, while rice and other grains have plenty of it. If you eat both during the day, then our bodies will pool their amino acids together and make the protein.
If you eat a variety of foods every single day, you probably don’t have to think about finding the right amino acids.
I have just bought a book called The Protein Counter, actually, I just received it from Barnes and Nobles.
So, I haven’t really had the time to do much reading. But I will get to it, and as soon as I do, you’ll see a review of it here.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the book, was the text above the introduction:
Every day your body loses millions of cells. They are used up, worn out, rubbed off, and are even cut off, like your beard or fingernails. You need protein to replace these cells.
Except for water, there is more protein in our bodies than anything else. A 143 pound man has over 25 pounds of it!
You can probably understand why I am excited to get started reading The Protein Counter.
Do you remember my camping trip? Just a short recap first. I was three weeks on a camping trip with my family, and we all had a great time. The weather was perfect, the kids loved it, but one thing was not perfect. I haven’t told you about this before, but there were a lot of mosquitos. They turned up during the evenings, and even though we used all sorts of remedies, they kept coming back and they kept biting and biting.
But hey, that’s what camping is all about.
Well, it shouldn’t be like that. And because I am not going to let this happen to me (and my family again), am going to tell you how to keep mosquitos away (I have been doing some research). The reason I want them to stay away is kind of obvious, because no one really likes getting a mosquito bite, they itch, they hurt, and they look bad.
But first, mosquito bites are nothing more than itchy when it comes to the ones you get in Norway (I think). At least, I have never heard about people getting really sick from a mosquito bite in Norway. So, I guess we should consider ourselves lucky, because in many other countries you and your family could get very sick from a single mosquito bite. The reason you should be aware, is that mosquitoes carry diseases like malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and West Nile virus, just to name a few. These diseases kill millions of people around the globe every year. While many can be treated, your best bet is to never get bitten.
How can you make mosquitos stay away from you and your family?
I have been home for a few weeks now, and I have discovered that there are many factors that affect whether or not a mosquito is attracted to bite you. That includes heat, moisture, carbon dioxide, and other chemicals in your sweat. So, what I am really saying is that it’s your particular body chemistry that determines whether you will get bitten or not - that’s why some people (like my cousin) attract more mosquitoes.
The most popular way to keep mosquitoes away (at least in Norway) is spray-on repellant. That’s exactly what we tried, and they didn’t work. Well, I guess we should have kept on testing other brands though, because these chemicals help cover our own natural chemical triggers, and by doing this they should be masking us from mosquitoes. While every brand and type of spray contains different chemicals, the most effective and long lasting is DEET. At least that’s what most people are talking about.
I guess that I could have made my own repellant, because the spray-on we bought did not work. I am not saying that I am going to, but if I would try it, I would use various oils, including citronella, cinnamon, cedar, clove, peppermint, and castor, among others. I have read that they are the best when it comes to making your own repellants.
I am one of those guys that are hesitant about putting chemicals on my body. And therefore, we bought an area repellant as well (we tested it before I tried the spray-on). With an area repellant, there are scents and chemicals that go into the air, instead of onto the skin, and help mask us from bugs (like mosquitos). The most well known product for this is citronella candles. The flame produces heat, moisture, and carbon dioxide that distract mosquitoes, and the citronella provides additional masking.
The candles were nice, but they didn’t help us with the mosquitos.
The problem with citronella and similar products is that you have to be within a few feet of them for them to work. The candles we bought were kind of cheap ones, next time I guess we’ll have to try another brand.
Maybe we’ll try scented products that we can wear, like buttons with sayings on them and glow-in-the-dark scented bracelets. While these products can work, I haven’t seen them in stores in Norway, and from what I have read, most are one time use so you have to keep buying them over and over again during the summer.
When looking for mosquito repellant, most of us only consider using things that go on the outside of our bodies. However, as I stated below, repelling mosquitoes is all about changing our body chemistry so mosquitoes won’t be attracted. This can also be done through what we put inside of our bodies. There are several daily supplements that can be used to keep mosquitoes away, as well as improve our overall health. While these pills can be very effective, they don’t work right away. You may need to take them for several months before you get the full effect.
I am not going to be taking any pills to make mosquitos stay away. Well, I guess I would if I were anywhere where mosquitos could cause diseases like malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and West Nile virus though.
A few sites where you can buy various mosquito repellants (I don’t know if they work):
- Mosquito Control
- ThermaCell
- Mosquito Barrier
Or maybe you should just eat garlic
Yes, I admit that the Snickers chocolate bar is my favorite. It’s not a healthy alternative, but it tastes great.
I just love the taste of peanut butter nougat topped with roasted peanuts and caramel covered with milk chocolate, and guess what.
Last night, I ate a Snickers chocolate bar in my bed while I was reading a book, it was way past midnight. That’s how much I love the Snickers chocolate bar.
Of course, it’s all about the taste. One serving of Snickers is apx. 280 calories, so I am not enjoying it because it helps me stay fit, because it doesn’t. I just enjoy the taste of it, I enjoy every bite of this high calorie snack. I love my teeth crunching the peanuts and the taste of the sweet caramel.
Anyway, I am about to get carried away and I am almost on my way to the store to buy a Snickers. In my mind I am actually at the store with a Snickers bar in my hand.
I guess I am not the only one enjoying my Snickers once in a while. Did you know that Snickers was launched in 1930 and is the best selling chocolate bar of all time? I actually didn’t know this before I did some research, you can read the history of Snickers at the official homepage and at wikipedia.
One serving (58.7 g) of Snickers consists of about 4 grams of protein. That seems to be a lot, but I am not really sure how much protein other chocolate bars got. But as I stated earlier, I am only eating Snickers because of the great taste, not because of protein or any other health issue.
I have tasted a cake consisting of several Snickers bars, and it was almost as great tasting as the chocolate bar. But I haven’t tasted the snickers pie, if I did, my guess is that it would be my favorite pie. I even love the Snickers ice cream.
What’s your favorite chocolate?
I am still on vacation, but I have been home for a few hours to wash some clothes. During the short trip home, I have had the time to write a short post about the food that I have been eating while away. One of my greatest discoveries so far have been regarding eggplant (or aubergine as it’s called in Norway).
I discovered earlier that eggplant is a relative of tomato and potato (I knew about potato), and eggplant is actually a berry (as in fruit) and not a vegetable. That was news to me, because I have always thought that it was a vegetable.
Eggplant is naturally high in fiber and low in calories. I think it’s a great alternative to meat, and you can use it in many dishes. For instance, I am really enjoying eggplant in (vegetarian) lasagna.
I have been experiencing with grilled eggplants, and I have been brushing them with oil and added some spices. They taste great, it’s easy to add whatever oil and spices you like. The great thing about the eggplant is that it absorbs a lot for liquid, and it doesn’t taste much if you don’t add anything to it.
What I am trying to say is that it’s easy to add extra flavor to the eggplant.
I think it’s best to cut small eggplants lengthwise halves or quarters depending on the size. Larger eggplants should be cut crosswise to a thickness of about 3/4 inch (I admit that I read this somewhere, but that’s the way I am doing it).
Now, let me tell you what I am going to do for my next dinner. It will be grilled eggplant and avocado mini burger, it both sounds and looks really tasty. I will give you my review when I get back from camping.
My final thoughts on grilled eggplants are this; it’s low on calories, high in fibres and it tastes great - I am going to be experimenting with it a lot during the next two weeks. If you don’t use too much oil, this is not only perfect for people trying to lose weight, but also a great alternative to meat.
Sources:
Grilled, it’s a great ingredient in many dishes
We all want to look fit, feel fit, and stay fit. It’s hard to accomplish it, and it’s even harder to lose weight.
There are probably many reasons why people are not losing weight and many people are gaining weight instead of losing it. The main reasons are that people are eating too much unhealthy food, too much junk food, and they are not exercising enough.
But today, I am going to tell you my thoughts on weight loss, and the two reason why most people (according to me) are not losing weight, and why they fail to stay fit and fail to stop gaining weight.
Are you ready?
To be honest with you, I don’t believe that losing weight is really a diet. You just can’t do something very differently for a few months, loose a lot of weight and then go back to your life and expect to stay fit forever. To me, a diet, is something you do for a few months. You do things differently, after the diet, you go back to your normal life and hope to stay fit (as fit as you were when you finished the diet).
My thoughts might not be what you are expecting them to be, they are really simple, and you probably know all about them from before. But if you think about it, isn’t this what it’s all about?
In order to lose weight, you need to do someting about the following:
1. Portion control
2. Food and emotions
Let me start with Portion control. One plate is really enough, and you don’t have to supersize it. Remember to use one medium / regular plate, and nothing more for every meal. Don’t eat more than what’s on your one plate. If you stick to this, you should be better than ok.
I think that the part where most people lack control are when they connect food with emotions. Let’s use myself as an example. It’s always great to tell you about my faults.
Every time I am watching a movie (it doesn’t matter if it’s on TV or I am at the movie theatre), I feel like eating candy. I am just hooked on candy while watching movies. The same thing happened a while ago when I was watching soccer on TV, it felt really good to eat potato chips during every game.
Some people eat ice cream every time they are sad (at least that’s what women do in movies), some people eat candy every weekend, because that’s when they are enjoying themselves. Some people are eating candy every time they have guests, because that’s the polite thing to do. Every time we celebrate something, we are eating cake… why is that?
There are all sorts of reasons why people eat candy or unhealthy food, just like me and my pizza. I am not eating it just because it tastes good, or because I need it to survive. I am eating it because it makes me feel good. I am enjoying myself while eating, and I am enjoying myself because I am eating pizza. Just the thought of pizza makes me smile.
So, if you really want to lose weight, you should disconnect food and your emotions. If you will start eating only because you need to eat (in order to survive), then you will be more than ok. It might sound like a very hard thing to accomplish, and it might be, I really don’t know… because I am still eating candy almost every time I am watching a movie.
Remember, those are just my thoughts.
What do you think?
