Should I add more protien to my diet?

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10/8/11 12:38 P

Definitely not. If weight loss is your goal, don't add more calories in the form of protein bars and supplements. If your primary criteria in choosing a bar was it's vitamin content, start taking a daily multivitamin (or just continue taking one if you're doing so already).

The ONLY circumstance in which I'd recommend you add in a protein bar is if you maintain your current caloric level, take out X calories of processed junk food and replace them with X calories of a protein bar, so your overall caloric intake remains the same. For example you seem to have two servings of sugary oatmeal every morning. You could cut it down to one serving, and replace the other with a small protein bar, such as the Proteins+ Express bars. That would result in a net increase of 30 calories, 2 grams of fat and 10 grams of protein. It also might be convenient, as you could re-position that bar as a mid-afternoon snack, which might help you cut down on some of those cheese calories at lunch.

But if you're thinking purely of ADDING protein, without taking anything away- NO.

Posts: 11,050
10/7/11 8:55 P

No. If you're getting enough protein, and especially if you're already getting it from real, whole foods, then there's no point to adding more. Extra protein is just extra calories; it doesn't build muscle. Weight lifting and any sort of water exercise are great for rebuilding your muscles, but they don't need extra protein to work with. Enough is enough; more is not better.

SparkPoints: (8,326)
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10/7/11 8:30 P

Hello,

I hope that all is good on the farm and your fall harvest is everything that you are hoping for.

I am so glad that sp offers real qualified nutrition and fitness advice . It is so helpful.

I have a lot of questions but I will start with just one. First I want to tell you a little about me. I am 39 yrs. old. I am new to fitness and healthy eating for myself. Up until July 27, 2011 I did almost nothing physically. I played with my 2yr old some.. and household chores. Pretty minimal.

Since I started working out at the Y and using sparkpeople I have lost 17 lbs. Which is awesome. What started the change is that I want to get healthy so that when my 2 yr. old is 16 I will still be here for him. I started at with a 1800-2000 cal. diet and did 20 min. of cardio in a treadmill and then alternating upper and lower body weight training. And I lost 15 lbs. Then for about 2 weeks I didnt loses but didnt gain, and sp suggested that I reduce my cal. What I have done is add more cardio, so that I am doing deep water aerobics 3 days a week and aqua zumba twice a week for 45 min. Instead of weight training everyday I do it the three days I do dwa. I also reduced my cal. to 1700-1900. I have started losing weight again. 2 lbs. this week..

I am not lifting very much weight.. arms are 15-35 lbs. with 8-10 reps. of 3 sets. Lower body runs 40-55 lbs. and core runs 45-60 lbs. with 15-20 reps. of 3 set. I am a wimp.. at least I feel like one.

Also, I am just not a big veggie eater.. I am trying to be creative to get more into my diet. By using low sodium V8 to tomato based sauces, canned pumpkin to meat and getting cookbooks with creative ways to add veggies to my diet. I seem to be meeting the protein goal for my cal. but always go over on sodium. Please feel free to check out my trackers on my sp pg.

What I want to know is would it benefit me to add protein shakes and bars to my diet to help repair my muscle loss from the yrs. of inactivity. The ones that I have been considering are Boost and Special K because of the added vitamins.

Thanx for your time...