Common Mistakes When Choosing a Protein Diet

As the New Year approaches, you have decided to go on a diet and get your weight down to a healthy level. So that you will be ready for the New Year you want to take the time choose a diet plan. But which one should you choose? Which one will really work this time? You don't want to make a bad choice and end up just wasting money and time. Here are some common mistakes folks make when choosing a diet and hopefully you will take heed and avoid them so as to choose the right plan and minimize the time on the diet. Never choose a diet that makes some incredible claim of unrealistic weight loss. These companies will boast all sorts of results with little proof other than a before and after picture of a person. Always remember that you can only safely lose one or two pounds a week.

And along the lines of unrealistic, never choose a diet that claims you can lose weight but not change you eating habits or give up fatty foods. This is absurd. Think about it. Your overweight condition is more than likely a result of your eating and exercise habits with the exception of pregnancy. You are going to have to do something different because obviously what you have been doing does not work. So promises of results with no effort are ridiculous.

It is recommended also to stay away from diets that cut out an entire classification of foods such as no carbohydrates or no fat whatsoever. Always remember the word balance. Your body needs the whole entire range of food groups each day. When you cut out an entire food group you will quickly crave it and end up falling off the diet anyways. Plus, if you have some other health condition you could put yourself in serious danger. For example, people with gout should stay away from the high protein diets because the high protein only aggravates the condition.

Any diet that shoots down proven medical research should be avoided. If most doctors agree on a certain topic then you had better take it serious. For example, if most doctors believe that a starvation crash diet is bad then you should maybe research a little further and see why they are saying it.

This is probably the biggest mistake people make: They choose a diet that includes no exercise. It will not work no matter what the promoter of the diet says. You have to combine diet with exercise in order to increase your metabolism and burn calories. There is absolutely no getting around it.

Any diet plan that requires a significant cash layout on your part should be suspect. These are diets that want you to attend their meetings and seminars for an annual
membership fees. They are also diets that require you to buy only their meals that are so much more expensive than going to the store, buying the ingredients, and
cooking your own.

There is one rule in life that if you follow it will keep you from making poor choices with diets or anything for that matter. The rule is that if it is too good to be true then it is probably not true. Some diet that says you will loose 40 pounds in two weeks is too good to be true. And of course, their advice or plan will not be free. It will require you to spend something to find out it was too good to be true.

Why take Protein Supplements?

When it comes to a bodybuilder's diet, protein is number one! You must eat lots of protein rich foods like meat, fish and dairy products each day. Most bodybuilders supplement their protein intake with protein powders in order to be sure they are consuming enough for maximum muscle growth

The popularity of supplemental protein has grown for many reasons. Let's look at a typical 200 pound bodybuilder. Our bodybuilder must consume 1 to 1.5 g of high quality protein per pound of body weight each day. That works out to 250-300 grams of protein every day. This protein intake should be divided into 5 or 6 meals to be consumed throughout the day. Six meals per day, our bodybuilder needs to consume an average of about 40 g of protein at each meal.

This is why supplemental protein comes into play. Protein "shakes" are an extremely convenient, fast and cheap meal to help you get two or three more servings of protein a day. Fortunately, most of the better protein powders taste great! Protein powder supplements come in many different types, formulations, and flavors.

Protein consists of amino acids, which are the very building blocks of muscle tissue. There are 22 amino acids, some of which the body can make on it’s own, and some that must be provided in the diet. The combination of the different amino acids in a protein source is called the amino acid profile. Each type of protein has a different amino acid profile. This is why it is best to eat a variety of proteins sources as well as use a variety of protein powder supplements. The most popular types of protein powders are whey, casein, egg, and soy.

Whey protein is by far the most popular and most heavily used protein supplement. Whey protein is cheaper per gram of protein than most other types of protein. Whey protein is absorbed very quickly by the digestive system and reaches the muscles quickly. Whey protein is best used as the first meal of the day because your body has not had any protein for many hours during the night and you want to get it in your bloodstream right away. Use whey protein immediately following a workout because this is the most important time to take in a large quantity of protein and you want to get to your muscles as soon as possible.

Egg protein is not nearly as popular as whey or casein mostly because of its cost. It is, however an excellent supplement with a high BV (Biological Value is used to indicate how much of the protein is actually used by the body) and excellent amino acid profile. I like to add egg protein to my whey and casein shakes for variety or occasionally as a substitute.

Soy Protein, which comes from the soy bean, while popular with vegetarians, is slightly inferior to whey, egg and casein protein. While this may be true based upon its incomplete amino acid profile, it is still an excellent way to add variety to your protein intake, and is recommended as an addition to your overall supplement diet.