So, I regularly like to browse through popular women’s magazines – Cosmo, Shape, Glamour, Fitness to name just a few becuase as a writer, it’s a great way to spark some new ideas.
Even if I’m reading about beauty, this doesn’t mean I can’t get an idea for a twist on a fitness article of sorts.
Recently, I was reading my copy of Glamour magazine (the January 2011 edition to be exact) when I came across something that really troubled me.
It was an article where the author was speaking on ‘The Truth About Winter Weight Gain’ and they were pointing out to readers that during cold temperatures, your body’s natural hormones may be altered.
Okay… there may be some accuracy here.
But then I came across this line:
“Snack on protein-rich foods like almonds, or have a cup of fiber rich oatmeal for breakfast to keep leptin on the level.”
Woah. Hold up.
Almonds… protein rich?
If you turn to your favourite calorie counting website, you would come to see that almonds contain all of 6 grams of protein per ounce. That is along with 164 calories and 14.3 grams of fat. And, this also makes them just a measly 14.6% total protein content.
Now, I’m not saying almonds are not a good food choice to be making – they’re an excellent source of healthy fats.
But, to classify almonds as a protein rich food, that’s a bit of a stretch, in my opinion. And it’s statements like these that are leading far too many women astray.
To put this into perspective, if you were to try and meet your minimum daily quota for protein from almonds (okay, no one in real life would ever do this, but let’s just say…) and you’re about 150 pounds, this means you would have to consume 4100 calories.
I don’t know about you, but last time I checked, I did not burn 3826 calories per day. In fact, not even this guy likely burns that many calories (< —- click to see).
If you nosh on almonds to meet your protein requirements, you’re going to be gaining weight. There’s no way around that one.
While almonds will provide a small amount of protein, there is a far better way to go about accomplishing your protein intake. Sadly, Glamour is missing the boat on advising you of this.
If you want to meet your protein requirements, you need to eat:
- Chicken breast
- Turkey breast
- Lean red meat
- Low-fat dairy products
- Eggs and egg whites
- Fish
- Seafood
- Whey protein powder
These are the foods that will contain high amounts of protein and will help you meet your requirements without having to consume a massive number of calories each day.
If you ask most women what a ‘protein rich food’ is, many have no idea. Some will even state completely devoid foods – like a banana, as being ‘protein rich’. This shows just how far their misperception goes.
Memorize the above list. It’s single-handedly one of the most important things that you could do for your diet success. All of the above listings are 50% protein or greater (in most cases they come downright close to 100% pure protein).
So what’s my advice to you?
Read glamour. Soak up the beauty info, learn how to please your man, get the details on the latest celebrity gossip, but skip over the fitness stuff.
It’s simply not accurate in many cases and will just lead you astray. Stick with me and I’ll keep you on track.