one year of protein

For most of my twenties I would pretty much eat whatever I wanted, trying to stay away from too much junk food/processed foods. That's a lie though because I like ice cream after midnight, and we all know cheese goes on everything - standard stuff. I have decent control when it comes to buying snacks, but once it's in front of me I'm EATING whatever it is.

From 2015-2017, I would have a proper lunch around 1pm and I was working from 4-10pm every day and eating a big dinner around midnight. Sounds like a huge potential problem but I was 23 and I guess I was a growing boy or something cause that was the lightest I've ever been during those years. I ran treadmill a lot, so I wasn't putting on any muscle, Korean weather was also hot and sweaty for most of the year and I didn't put any gains on. I was teaching full time and yelling at students must burn calories too. It's possible that more variables were at play here.

So obviously, when we moved back to Toronto and entered covid-times it was a shock to our systems. My theory:

2nd Puberty, the period of change in your body around your late twenties when you experience metabolic, hormonal, and other physical changes related to aging. May or may not be a real thing.

I wanted to counteract this, so here's my review of what the last 12 months have been like while consciously trying to eat at least 100g of protein a day. 

The Plan

- Look for protein-heavy snack alternatives to supplement time between meals.

- Do high intensity training, like pushups/situps, lifting, or jumping. 

- Continue to eat the foods that I like up until about 2000 - 2200kcal/day. 

- Find additional supplements for anti-oxidation and general metabolic health.

It started with a few products that I'll honestly stand behind to this day. They are simple, quick, and if used consistently with all the other steps, will show immediate progression in about 3-5 months. 

Premier Protein, comes in a bunch of different flavours, but chocolate was my favourite. It has 30 grams of protein which is actually insane. 1g of sugar and 160 calories. So when you have one with a yogurt/fruit or something in the morning you will find yourself way less hungry for carbs and suddenly you've had 30+ grams of protein before having a proper meal. 

$48 from Costco for a box of 18. 

Pure Protein Bars, another awesome tasting product that you can turn to around 2-3pm before starting on dinner plans. They have 18-20g of protein depending on the flavour, I like the caramel one. 3g of sugar and 190 calories each. 

You can find a variety box which includes 18 bars from Costco for $30.

Whey protein might not be for everyone, obviously it's not the most appetizing thing to have to eat, so if you can find a way to replace this with meat or natural proteins go for it. But the real secret sauce here is not what you eat or how much you exercise, it's being able to listen to your body. It's about feeling good in your skin and keeping energy levels high. It's about progress and finding joy in little victories. 

This is going to sound crazy but this is all you really need to get started and hit the ground running. You'll find yourself consuming way less sugar, craving carb heavy foods less because you're supplementing meals with protein, getting hungry less often while being more of an intuitive eater, and being able to eat whatever healthy + hearty meal you want. At the end of the day, you'll aim to be in a slight caloric deficit which, in my experience, when combined with basic training, equals muscle gains.

Extra points if you go on long walks after each big meal. When you eat and go into a food coma, your metabolism slows down and your blood sugar immediately spikes - resulted in an increase is fat cell production. Going for walks will keep your metabolism active for this critical period and helps counteract this.

With all that being said, it's never really about cutting weight, everyone's body is going to respond differently. What this is about is optimizing your body's metabolism to counteract the natural aging process.

Do your own research, but I've found a lot of improvements when I started taking some popular anti-oxidants that I learned about in Korea: alpha lipoic acid (ALA), and glutathione. These two in tandem have a direct positive impact on muscle tissue growth and repair.