Everyone knows that exercising can help speed your metabolism and help burn fat. But did you know that nutrition is actually more important than exercise when it comes to staying lean? And that if you cut back on exercising, you can still stay lean as long as you eat well? (That’s where the best protein drinks come in!)
A recent study conducted by Loyola University, University of Ibadan, Howard University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Wisconsin, and published in the September 2008 issue of the journal Obesity, showed some very interesting results when it comes to exercise versus nutrition.
The study took a group of obese African American women from metropolitan Chicago (average weight: 184 pounds) and compared them to slender women in rural Nigeria (average weight: 127 pounds). It was expected that the slender Nigerians would be much more physically active and burning more calories than the obese Americans, but the researchers found that both groups of women, slender and obese, had the same activity/energy expenditure levels!
Their diets, however, were dramatically different. The women from Chicago ate 40 - 45% more fat and plenty of high processed foods. The women from Nigeria, on the other hand, ate plenty of fiber and unprocessed carbs and skipped the fat and animal protein, or just ate small portions of them.
So what can you do to eat right to stay lean? Follow This High Protein Shake 3-Point Plan!
#1. Eat the right ratio of foods at every meal.What's the right ratio? A fist-size of lean protein, a fist-size of unprocessed carbs and a thumb-size of healthy fats. Your body needs the carbs to:
• provide glucose to fuel your body and brain -- glucose = fuel
• provide fiber to curb hunger and stabilize blood sugar
• burn body fat -- if you don't get a steady supply of glucose your body thinks it's in emergency "starvation" mode and stores everything as fat instead of using it as energy You need the protein and fats to turn the carbs into glucose and create that steady supply.
#2. Cut out processed carbs and other processed foods.They provide no nutritional value whatsoever. And when you eat processed foods, your body maintains excess water weight. It also stores fat because it's in emergency "starvation" mode because it’s not getting any nutrition.
#3. Eat a high protein shake for breakfast and plan ahead by having the ingredients on hand.This is so you can actually do points one and two. These shakes are easy to make, taste great and contain the optimum nutritional ratio. Plus, you can have them as a snack or as a meal substitute. To make the best protein shakes, add the following ingredients to a blender and mix to desired smoothness: liquid (water, non-fat milk, plain soy milk or plain almond milk); pure protein shake powder; good fat (omega oil, flax; green powder; fresh fruit; ice; optional essences and spices (vanilla, mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger).
Ready to stay thin without exercising all the time? Start by getting the ingredients for your fast-metabolism smoothies that you can eat all day long…
