DeAnnosaurus, carnivore

I have been attending a nutrition class/support group on Friday mornings at the Shake place attached to my gym. They are primarily a distributor for a supplement company and their "shakes" are actually meal replacements. I have tried to keep my head clear on one very specific concept and that is my need to make dietary changes and incorporate strategies that I can continue for a lifetime and that easily fit into my families life. So that means no pills (although the 'alli' claims of losing 50% more are very enticing...), no radical meal plans that require me to prepare 2 separate dinners, and no 'drink 2 shakes and eat a healthy dinner' programs. I need to do this with real food and a new found love of exercising (in the temperature controlled gym). There's no pressure at the meetings. Of course they work in plugs for their products, but product usage is not required to attend.

Another part of the 12 week program is a one-on-one consultation with the 'wellness coach'. I had my consultation last week. After the normal line of questioning...how many other programs have you tried (all of them)....how much weight do you want to lose (all of it)....what are your problem areas (all of them)....when is the toughest time of day for cravings (all of it)...Then she used my height, weight, and % body fat to calculate some other values. First BMI, which was like 30.5 to which I freely and excitedly explained to her was just barely obese and in just a few more days I would only be overweight and not obese anymore. Isn't honesty with thyself great! Next she calculated my lean body mass which is 122 lbs. From that she calculated how many grams of protein I need each day to fuel my body. She said I need 128 grams of protein per day. I have never tracked protein as part of a 'diet'...total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, calories, fiber, cholesterol, sodium...all of these I have at one time or another tried to control, but never protein.

128 grams of protein is a lot! She broke it down for me and one example is that I need about 25 grams of protein at breakfast (I'll get another 17g for a mid-morning snack, so this 25g is just breakfast). Ugh, I don't really like breakfast. When I make breakfast for myself at home it is usually a carb-fest, waffles or pancakes or cereal. Breakfast on the go usually has more protein, but it comes wrapped in a Chick-fil-A or Sonic greasy wrapper, not really a better choice. Don't panic DeAnn, here are some suggestions...7 egg whites (WTHell?? SEVEN??) or 1 cup of nonfat cottage cheese (gag!)...or 1 quick and easy to make Protein shake with some fruit...

Quick list of my recommended protein break-down...
25g Breakfast
16g Mid-Morning Snack
25g Lunch
16g Afternoon Snack
46g Dinner

Quick list of some of my breakfast stand-bys...
Fiber One cereal bars---2g (only 2 measly grams) and many days that is ALL I eat for breakfast

Instant Oatmeal---4g, this is what I would eat when I was trying to be 'good' and I usually can't finish one serving

Corn Flakes cereal--2g per serving (sometimes as a snack)

Kashi Go-Lean cereal---9g per cup...yea! finally getting closer to the goal...problem is I can't eat more than 1 cup...at our house we changed the name to Kashi Go-Poop.

A few weeks ago, before I starting going to the nutrition classes, I picked up a few smoothie packets at the grocery store just to have on hand for a snack or quick breakfast...guess how much protein....ZERO!

I've decided not to obsess over the protein counting thing. Yes I am going to try to be mindful of eating more protein and looking at protein values on packages. I am even going to look into creative ways to eat the cottage cheese (at 28g per cup, it may be worth it). And I did go ahead and order the smallest size container of miracle protein shake powder to try to work in at breakfast. It was either that or naw on a turkey leg from the Renaissance festival in the carpool line......