I am by nature a contrary character.
When somebody says something to be true or worse still raves about how good something is, I instantly want out.
For the last few years all you ever hear is how important protein is to fat loss, recovery and performance.
Very often though this information is aimed at the generic non athletic population or general gym goers interested only in their appearance and body composition.
So, is it relevant to triathletes?
There will be those that say not, these are usually non meat eating populations.
Sometimes they will also be the contrary type often the media fall in to this camp.
They are looking for an angle.
A different angle to make them more interesting, that angle has been the negative effect over consumption of protein can have on the kidneys.
So what is the truth?
In all honesty and like with lots of things in life we cannot say 100% what the truth is, so I am going to share with you my 3 tips on eating protein
These are by admission the result of anecdotal evidence.
They are the result of working with hundreds of people and 80% of the time ring true.
These are my conclusions:
1 – Consume it with every meal including breakfast. In it’s most simple form this will help keep you fuller for longer.
2 – Try having liquid protein after all training especially any high impact stuff like intervals or S&C stuff.
3 – If training first thing without breakfast try having some branch chain amino acids to prevent catabolism. This can be sipped during your training.
Non of these mean consuming huge amounts of red meat which will break the bank and may overly concern you with regard saturated fats – but thats another story.
They are little changes but we all know about marginal gains – right?
Well those little changes over a month, year and longer will in my opinion have a positive effect.
LINK:
This is a little “sciency”, it discusses the “Thermic effect of food”, basically meaning how much energy is expended as a result of breaking down protein.
The findings from this and generally are that it takes more energy to utilise protein tan either carbs or fats, hence its positive effect on fat loss.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9683329
RECIPE:
Breakfast muffins – these are something else:
http://www.recipegirl.com/2014/10/18/egg-muffins/
Jamie”always full”Leighton