Protein: Why it Matters to get Enough!?!?

Good morning!  Today we are going to get a bit technical.  This information is fascinating to me and I am hoping that you will find some value here as well! 

Today is all about PROTEIN.  Are you getting enough?  Chances are that the answer may be "no"!  I am thinking back to last year at this time. I would typically get one, maybe two servings of protein per day.  How many servings should I be getting in order to operate at my optimum level??  For the past four months I have been at FOUR protein servings per day and am actually stepping up to FIVE with the PiYo nutrition guide!  Crazy, right?  Especially for someone who is not the biggest fan of chicken.  Because let's face it... when I think of "lean protein", chicken is what comes to mind for someone who is not really a seafood eater.  I do have this ONE Salmon Recipe that I actually enjoy.  I pull many of my images from "google images" and even doing a search on "protein" just now made me feel a bit queasy!  WHY all of the raw meat photos there?!!?  At least the one below includes some cooked protein examples!  

Protein plays a very important role in weight control. Lean protein helps you maintain your lean body mass when your calories are restricted. It also helps you suppress your appetite.  Let's put our thinking caps on to learn more about how/why this works. 

Eating lean protein increases your metabolism due to the thermic effect of food, which is how much energy you burn to digest the food. Protein has a thermic effect of 30 %. This means that if you eat a lean protein food that has 100 calories, 30 of those calories are used to digest and process the food leaving only 70 calories of net energy available. Carbs have a thermic effect of 10-15 %, while dietary fat has the lowest thermic effect of only 3%.   See this page for more info on the thermic effect of foods.

Whoa!  Interesting, right?  Now let's remember to keep THIS food pyramid in mind, as opposed to the one from when we were kids when it was all about the carbs! 

So we need to be sure to not skimp on our protein and definitely watch our carbs! :)  For me, carbs along with too many nuts are the areas where I am most likely to get off track.  It is not as often that I find myself gravitating towards taking in an extra serving of protein or veggies in my diet.  Reading all of this will definitely make me think hard before eating foods that take me in a direction opposite of my goals! 

Here is the good news!  Protein is not found only in meat.  I get one of my daily servings through my Shakeology.  Another comes from Greek yogurt.  Many veggies contain a helpful boost of protein as well.  Here is a great article which talks more about which percentage of calories come from protein with various veggies.  This seems crazy, but spinach comes out AHEAD of steak when compared calorie-by-calorie in the protein race!