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Weight Loss Exercise

The Truth about Protein

If you have been researching low carb diets and the Paleo diet in particular you will have noticed that they all have one thing in common. They recommend that you increase your intake of protein. This may come across as strange especially if you are trying to lose weight. Doesn’t protein contain high amounts of fat and cholesterol and should be limited?

Well that is not exactly true. The truth about protein is that your body needs protein for energy and to build muscle. Yes most people could benefit from increasing their protein intake. But knowing which proteins to eat is important.

The Functions of Protein

Your body needs protein to build and maintain muscles, organs, connective tissues, skin, bones, teeth and blood. Protein provides your body with energy, eating more protein when sick will help your recover quickly. If you didn’t eat protein your body would feel weak and exercising would be almost impossible.

Almost all of your bodily functions require the use of enzymes such as digestion. Protein helps to form enzymes in your body. Antibodies are the protein which is found in your blood and helps fight bacteria and toxins. Hormones contain protein and are responsible for sending messages throughout your body.

If you consume too much protein your body will store the excess as fat. Good sources of protein are lean sources such as turkey, chicken and fish.

Truth about Protein

Because so many people choose meat as their protein source animals are now raised with manufacturers having one thing in mind. Making a profit from what they sell. This is why today’s animals are fed chemicals to help them grow and to keep them disease free. Unfortunately this makes eating meat not as healthy as it once was.

To combat this you can choose to purchase meat and poultry which has been raised as organic, free range or as natural choices. Many people on the Paleo diet prefer to shop for grass fed protein sources. This is in keeping with eating the way your ancestors did many years ago.

Your Best Sources of Protein

The Paleo diet suggests that you consume high amounts of protein each day, around the 35% mark. When choosing protein look for very lean sources such as rabbit, lean chicken and turkey, lean beef cuts and lamb.

The Truth about Protein

Truth about Protein

Fish is an excellent source of protein and low in fat. Salmon and mackerel have higher amounts of Omega 3 which is good for you and should be included in your diet.

You will want to consume protein at every meal so having eggs for breakfast is a good start to your day. Eggs can be combined with peppers and mushrooms and turned into scrambled eggs or even an omelette.

Protein choices for lunch can include a tuna, chicken or turkey salad. For dinner you could have grilled salmon or roasted lamb along with plenty of high fibre vegetables, broccoli and Swiss chard are good examples.

Once you get used to eating a little more protein at every meal your body will start to feel the benefits. You will notice that you probably have more energy and that your muscles feel less sore after exercising.

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Weight Loss Exercise

What to Avoid on the Paleo Diet

Now that you know what foods you can eat we should discuss those that aren’t recommended and why.

Cutting out dairy products may seem strange but it is one of the principles of the Paleo diet. This includes foods like ice cream, butter, milk, yoghurt and cheese. Now some people on the Paleo Diet do eat diary but on a very limited basis.

The reasoning behind not eating these sources of dairy is that they were not available 500 generations ago. The majority of these products are processed and therefore not a ‘natural’ food. Again some dieters will drink raw milk occasionally.

Another more technical explanation is to do with the way your body treats the calcium in these foods. This is to do with alkaline and acid levels in your body. All food is processed through your kidneys and excessive amounts of calcium are excreted by your body.

There is no need to worry about becoming calcium deficient on the Paleo diet, you won’t. Plus many of the leafy green vegetables contain high amounts of calcium!

A little sea salt added to your foods will not affect your dieting attempts. On the other hand salt found in processed foods can. Too much salt makes your body retain water and when this happens you will feel bloated and puffy. Unfortunately food manufacturers put high amounts of salt in foods as a preservative. This is not natural and can have adverse results on your health.

Potatoes are other starchy vegetables should also be avoided on the Paleo diet. The thinking behind this is that they are supposed to be cooked and not a true raw food. There is lots of debate over this.

Another level of thinking behind starchy vegetables is the effect they have on your blood sugar levels. Potatoes are known to cause high spikes in your blood sugar level and this is why they should be avoided. High spikes are what causes you to have sudden and acute hunger pangs along with feelings of weakness.

No processed foods should be consumed at all on the Paleo diet. This includes grains, crackers, cookies, breads and canned foods. They all contain huge amounts of bad fats and sugars. These products can be linked to being a cause of heart attacks, stroke and diabetes.

Processed foods like ketchup, sauces, sugars, oils, margarines, hot dogs, bacon, soft drinks, muffins and fruit juices are to be avoided at all costs. They are chock full of chemicals, fats and other ingredients that you cannot pronounce.

All types of legumes and grains should be avoided as well. The reasoning behind eliminating these foods is that they must be cooked to become edible.

When you take a look at the foods you can eat and compare it to those on this page you will see that the difference is in the state of the food. Allowable foods on the Paleo Diet are in a natural form while the others are all artificial and have been manipulated in some way by humans. When you honestly think about it which would you prefer to eat?

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Weight Loss Exercise

Exercise To Lose Weight – The Best Exercise to Lose Weight

When people think of how to exercise to lose weight, they often assume that they will have to buy a gym membership and workout for hours every day. Not true! Not only is it not essential, the image of pumping iron in the gym for hour after hour is a complete red herring, and here’s why…

The basic facts of losing weight are that if you consume less calories, and/or burn more calories, you will lose weight. It really is that simple. So you have a choice. You can either focus on your diet and keep your exercise levels exactly what they are, or exercise a lot more but eat the same (be sure not to eat more!), or try to combine both in some way.

Best Exercise To Lose Weight

Exercise to lose weight is as easy as starting to do aerobic exercise. This means anything that works your heart and makes you breathe faster. Examples might be running, fast walking, cycling, swimming. Even slow walking can make a difference if you have a lot of weight to lose. Of course, you should increase gradually and check with your doctor that whatever you plan to do is suitable for you.

Exercise To Lose Weight The Best Exercise to Lose Weight

Exercise To Lose Weight

If you go to the gym and do a lot of weight lifting, you will burn fat and build muscle at the same time. This will tone your body shape, and the increased muscle will consume more calories, even in a resting state. Muscle can weigh a lot though, so your weight may stay the same or even increase even though your body shape improves. If you plan on doing this type of exercise, it is better to track your process by taking waist and other measurements, rather than relying on the bathroom scale.

If you don’t want to go down that route, you may think of running – but running can cause joint injury. In fact walking can have 75% of the impact that running has. You still need to walk at a pace which leaves you breathing slightly heavier than normal, but you shouldn’t be out of breath. If you do that for 30 minutes, 3 times a week, you will be burning a huge amount of calories compared to when you didn’t walk.

Exercise To Lose Weight at Home

Exercise to lose weight can even be done right there in your chair. Simple exercises can increase muscle usage and aerobic activity, and can be done while sitting in front of the TV. Obviously you should not have a bucket of popcorn on your lap at the same time!

So you can see that when you think of exercise to lose weight, even the simplest of activities can have a big effect, without leaving you in an exhausted heap after a grueling session at the gym.