After our last email about Sarah we got several questions. Maybe you were wondering these as well….
Q. Should I have protein before I work out?
If it means adding another meal to your day then the answer is probably not. If it means skipping the meal or meals that you have before your work out, like breakfast and lunch which contain protein, the answer is yes. If you’re asking like should you have some special protein supplement before you work out, then probably not. It’s often a slippery slope to snacking more which is rarely a good thing.
Q. Sometimes I feel I have to force myself to eat to get my calories. I usually dont eat lunch just a fruit to tie me over. Is this ok?
In general unless your goal is to try to gain weight then forcing yourself to eat more than what your body says, isn’t going to be helpful. One thing that people do find is that protein is extremely filling, so that is why we recommend people eat their protein first at a meal so that they’re able to eat the whole serving of protein before they get full. Hopefully.
One more nutrition myth that has been floating around for decades is the idea that forcing yourself to eat some special meal will accelerate your metabolism. The truth is there’s no meal or time of day to eat that will accelerate your metabolism. You burn the same number of calories digesting food if you eat all that once in one huge meal or 12 ridiculously small meals per day.
Q. Do I really need to eat lunch?
There are no meals of the day that are mandatory. Nobody has to eat breakfast, nobody has to eat lunch, and nobody has to eat dinner. Some people do very well with only two meals a day.
The real question here is are able to get your protein needs met with only breakfast and dinner? However, if you’re like Sara in the article and hitting your protein goal is a challenge, then I would suggest trying something like a cup of fat-free Greek yogurt for lunch, or a scoop of Whey Protein instead of the piece of fruit for lunch. These will both add 20-25g protein to your day at about the same calories as the fruit.
Hope that helps!
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