Protein Challenge - Let Me Eat Steak...and Pork and Chicken

The past few weeks of the Protein Challenge have sort of gone by in a blur. Actually, April in general went by in a flash! How is tomorrow the first day of May?!

So over the past two weeks, I've really tried to step up my protein game. Here are some of the awesome protein-rich meals I've had in the past 1-2 weeks.


Medium rare top sirloin at Medium Rare in Washington DC

Did you know that 3 oz of lean beef has an average of 154 calories? I have been able to eat 6-8 oz of beef at many meals and not have to worry about going over my caloric max for the day. I have eaten a lot of pork and chicken as well, but the photos in my kitchen don't look near as great as the plated restaurant meals!


Bacon, egg and cheese on whole wheat English muffin

 In addition to these delicious meals, I had a lot of string cheese, eggs and yogurt for breakfast and utilized beef jerky as my snack for the afternoon. For dinner, I focused on subbing out a dinner roll and instead eating cottage cheese as a side.


8 oz sirloin for my birthday - medium rare of course!

The results of this challenge have been phenomenal for me - I have noticed a significant decline in my desire for afternoon snacks, I have increased energy (not as tired at night) and I my average mile time improved by 4-8 seconds overall.

 

I will most definitely keep the increased protein intake going in my life - I have no reason to go back! Why would I stop a dietary pattern that has given me more energy, improved quality of life while helping me stay fit? I would be insane to stop!

 

All the more reason to keep chowing down on pork chops, steaks and chicken wings!

 

So now I hope with all my heart that you will sign up for the Protein Challenge yourself and start down the path to a healthier, more energetic lifestyle. You have absolutely nothing to lose (except a few pounds if you do it right)!

 

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

Protein Challenge: Week 1 Update

There's a lot more of this in my future. #eatbeef

So for the past 7+ days I have been journaling my food intake to keep track of how much protein I consume on a daily basis. I thought as a meatatarian, I would have absolutely no problem eating 30 grams of protein at every meal, for a total of 90 grams daily.

Boy, was I wrong.

Turns out, breakfast is difficult. Like, really difficult. Even on a protein-heavy day I may only be getting about 20 grams at breakfast, another 15-20 at lunch and then I am trying to amp it up at dinner to meet the 90 (and I'm falling short, often). But I have come to some cool conclusions, thus far:

1 - I am not craving snacks in the middle of the afternoon like I used to before starting the #proteinchallenge. I chalk this up to my increased protein keeping me feeling fuller, longer.
2 - I have gone running seven times since I started the challenge and I can honestly say that I'm running faster than normal. To be clear, I'm not cutting 30 seconds off of my average mile pace but I am noticing that my usual average of 8:45 per mile is now a lot closer to 8:37. I know, you're saying "whoopty do - 8 seconds/mile no big deal." But if you stretch that 8 seconds out over 13 miles it comes out to almost two minutes off of a half marathon! And I even ran at that faster pace while I was in Denver this week, where it was MUCH hillier and the air is a lot thinner (i.e. less oxygen) than in Kansas.
3 - We are running out of yogurt, string cheese and eggs a LOT more quickly than normal.

So, I'm really looking forward to the next 20 days of the challenge and I hope to be able to keep this lifestyle and diet change going long after the challenge is over.

If you want to sign up, you can EASILY do so by clicking here. The challenge is 30 days, starting from the day you sign up. So you could start today, next Thursday or even in mid-May and it would run for the following 30 days.

Who out there is also doing the Protein Challenge? How are you feeling?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Taking Control with the Protein Challenge!

Today I take control of my race-training and overall health by starting the Protein Challenge. The 30-Day Protein Challenge is a fun, step-by-step way to help you get an optimal amount of protein throughout your day. Significant research shows that some people can lose and/or maintain a healthy weight, support a healthy metabolism, and age more vibrantly when they consume more high-quality protein, within calorie goals.

Since I am extremely interested in maintaining a healthy weight and fueling my active lifestyle, I am stoked to be participating. This may surprise you, but even a meatatarian like myself sometimes has a hard time getting enough protein. Which is why I will be utilizing the awesome tools for the Protein Challenge like the food journal, cheat sheet and on-the-go protein snack idea.

For example, I've already got a start on today by having two scrambled eggs with shredded cheese and a yogurt for breakfast. While delicious, that meal only had 23.2 grams of protein and the goal is to get 30 grams of protein at every meal. This is going to be challenging but fun!

Breakfast full o' protein

I will be blogging about my experiences here weekly (maybe twice weekly, who knows) and how I feel, what I'm eating, etc. I fully expect to feel more energized and, hopefully, improve my performance in some upcoming races!

I have full confidence that my increased protein intake
will have me smiling like this a lot more often!

I encourage you to explore the 30-Day Protein Challenge, and if so inclined, sign up and do it yourself!

What do you have to lose? Nothing.

What do you have to gain? Energy. A healthier lifestyle.

Take control!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Pounding the Pavement and Inhaling Protein

 

My feet and legs hurt - I think it's from kicking so much butt by breaking my 10K PR a week and a half ago. Or it could be because I need new running shoes. Either or.

Whatever the reason, I better get them quick, fast and in a hurry since I'm less than a month out from the race Kelly and I are running in Kansas City on April 18. Boy howdy, it's coming up fast!

From last Saturday to this coming Saturday, I'm scheduled to run roughly 35h miles but I'm a horrible traveling runner, meaning I don't do a good job of sticking to my training when I'm out-of-state, so I'll probably be relegated to about 25ish miles. Not bad, but not great.

I'm having trouble deciding/noticing if I'm getting any faster or more resilient during this round of training. I live in a holler among the Flint Hills, so GPS reception is sketchy and at any given time my Nike+ running app could be telling me I've run 1/2 mile farther than I actually have, which [falsely] leads me to believe I'm running 8:15 minute miles for 10 miles straight. Impossible? Absolutely not. Probably inaccurate? Yes.

So while I'm not sure if I'm going to break my PR next month, one thing that I'm certain about is that this girl is getting hangry quite often. Generally after a long run.

One of my favorite beef meals - smoked beef brisket.

After a long run, which I personally quantify as anything over six miles, I have a noticeable desire for protein, specifically meat. When I say “noticeable,” I mean that I must eat some sort of meat within a half hour or I may chew my arm off to suffice. Sometimes I will eat a few slices of lunch meat to hold me over until I can prepare a full meal or sometimes I will schedule my long runs so that I arrive back at my house roundabout the time my husband has finished grilling lunch or supper, which allows me to dive into a burger, steak or chop almost immediately after my workout. If I don’t get some sort of meat or protein in my system pronto, I feel very sluggish and have a hard time functioning the rest of the day.

Give me all of the flank steak. All. of. it.

Why am I craving protein? Well, that's easy: protein helps support a strong, lean body which is obviously important to me. Furthermore, a high-protein diet helps build and replenish muscles while at the same time providing the "full" feeling meaning if I'm full from steak I'm not chowing down on Cheetos or cupcakes. I get most of my protein from beef and pork but I am also a huge fan of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and a big glass of milk. I personally believe that breakfast for supper is one of life's underappreciated treats. Actually, I think breakfast food anytime is pretty much the bees knees.

Anyhow, since I have no desire to stop running due to my fondness of my current pant size, I've got to devise a way to get more protein into my system in order to keep the Cheetos and cupcakes out of my system. Those items tend to mysteriously disappear shortly after they are purchased. Weird.

Next week, I'll have a protein update that I'm excited to share, a new meaty recipe and hopefully, some new kicks!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Above the Shoulders - 101 in 1001

I hope I have your attention.
I haven't done a 101 in 1001 update since October/November so I figure it's about time. I don't do updates very often because I don't want to update you, faithful readers, unless I have actually completed some worthwhile goals. So here they are:

First up, goals in progress:
Run/workout 3x a week for 2 months
Celebrate one of life's little achievements once/month for 12 months (1/12)
Celebrate our 1 and 2 year wedding anniversaries in a unique way
 -- Successfully did the 1st year anniversary uniquely - Ninja took me to the Cottage House Bed & Breakfast in Council Grove and to dinner at the Trail House Museum. Council Grove was a point on the Sante Fe Trail (I think) so the dinner the restaurant was set in the 19th century and had a bunch of cool historical things and facts from that era. We're history nerds and we love it.  For gifts, (first year is paper) he got me Eli Young Band tickets - my favorite! I bought him a bunch of books and a big vintage world map for us to keep track of our world travels and also to pin spots we'd like to visit in the future. He did a great job of spoiling me and it was a lot of fun!

the Ninja and his map

I was pretty excited about those Eli Young Band tickets (they were awesome in concert - you should go sometime).

Watch 5 movies that the Ninja loves that don't interest me (Apocalypse Now, Papillon, X-Men,)
Call /visit my grandparents once/month for 12 months (6/12)
Attend 6 of Kristy’s sporting events/school events/4-H stuff - (Bourbon Co. hog show, Bourbon
     Co. beef show)
Defend my thesis by May 2012 - My defense date is set for April 20!
Promote agriculture at community meeting or conference - 3x (2/3)-- This one I am pretty excited about. My first experience was with the Australiasian Pig Science Association Conference in November in Adelaide, SA, Australia. I was invited to speak about agvocacy in agriculture, specifically in the swine industry. It was only to about 75 people but it was very well received.
-- The second time was just last Thursday at the Berryton, KS Kiwanis Club meeting. I am a speaker for Operation Main Street (I did my training with the Food For Thought in Jan 2011). I haven't heard much feedback from the NPB yet, but I had a blast!

Speaking to the Berryton Kiwanis Club about modern pork production. They were a great audience and I had a blast!

Pay off my small credit cards - Maurices, Victoria's Secret
Purge and donate old clothes from closets at least three times (1- 7/2011, 2 - 1/2012)
Learn how to make Grandma’s fried chicken, chicken n’ noodles and divinity candy
Volunteer once/month at a breadbasket, food pantry or other comm. service 6 times (5/2011 -
        Red Shield Appeal;)
Donate 25,000 grains of free rice through Freerice.com (5110)
Say 'I love you' EVERY day for entirety of 1001 days
Attend church once/month for 12 months (6/12)Read the books from this list
Play golf 3x in the 1001 days (2/3)
 -- This one was a lot of fun too, both times I played while in Australia. Our friend Doug Albright came and visited so during some downtime during an afternoon in Alice Springs we checked out the links. I also played once in Melbourne on a rainy day.

Dougie Phresh and I

Alice Springs' golf course wins award for best scenery - middle of the Australian outback

Now for the fun stuff... goals I've completed since the last update:
Run/workout 3x a week for 1 month -- some of my closest friends can't believe this. Even hubsy and his best friend had an over/under bet on how many times I would work out (hubsy took the over for 5, lucky him)
Have a date night with the Ninja each week for two months
Watch Food Inc. -- this was difficult to do but I felt I must. If I ever find the notes I took, I'll write a summary/opinion post
Fly first class (even if it's only from KC to Dallas) -- this was not on purpose but on a recent flight to D.C. for a job interview (the company paid for the seats) I found myself with uber leg room and at the front of the plane. Success!!

Design and print our Christmas cards for 2011 - this was hard because we had so many great pictures from Australia that I wanted to include but here was the final product.

Clockwise from top left: A day out at Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary in Healesville, VIC, AUS; infront of Uluru/Ayers Rock in the Northern Territory, AUS; goofing around on the Great Barrier Reef before snorkeling; one of our great wedding pictures from Grant Watkins Photography; a romantic/posey moment in front of the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, AUS; scuba diving off the cost of Matamanoa Island, Fiji, during our honeymoon!

Earn someone's respect -- this has been made extremely clear to me over the past few months so thank you to everyone for the kind words.

Drastically change my hair -- if you hadn't picked up on it in the picture from the pork presentation, I cut 6 inches off my hair. It is currently ABOVE MY SHOULDERS. My hair hasn't been this short since I was 13 and growing out the bowl cut I sported from age 9-13 (true story). Here's a better picture for ya. It looks a lot longer here because I'm kind of leaning forward but it's way short. Also, I had no less than 10 people tell me that my Fake Patty's Day shirt (pinch me and I'll punch you) was very fitting to my personality. Go figure.

Goals completed to date: 23 (in less than a year - go me)!
Goals left to complete: 101 minus 23 (I suck at math).
Days left to end of challenge: 663 (I used this website to figure that)

Well, that's all for this update. There will probably be another in June. Or not.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~