optimizing your protein intake

Optimizing Your Protein Intake

Did you know there are 5 ways to get the most out of protein in your diet?

Quantity

We learned the basics of how much protein we need earlier. By aiming for at least 20+ grams at each meal and snack, you’re off to a great start at optimizing your protein intake!

Quality

Quick refresher: Proteins from animal sources are considered high-quality as they contain all nine essential amino acids. Other than soy, pistachios, and pea protein, most plant-based sources are not complete but can still meet your protein needs as part of a diverse diet that fills in missing aminos through daily variety.

Now let’s look at three other ways to get the most out of your protein!

Pairing

Better together. A little magic happens when you pair certain proteins and foods. For example, eating grains with legumes (like rice and beans) can provide a complete set of aminos. Whole wheat bread and peanut butter also make a complete protein together. Plus, eating protein with other nutrients like fiber-rich vegetables can improve digestion and nutrient absorption while optimizing your protein intake.

Variety

Your body benefits from a diverse protein intake. Don’t limit yourself to a few old standbys like poultry, meat, and dairy. Mix it up with fish, seafood, and plant-based options like beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds. Each source offers a unique blend of amino acids, the building blocks of protein your body needs to function properly.

Timing

Spreading your protein intake throughout the day can help you build and maintain muscle mass and support recovery. It also helps keep you feeling satisfied and less hungry throughout the day. This is why we’re aiming to eat plenty of protein at each meal, rather than eating it all in one meal.

Another thing to consider is incorporating more protein as you snack. Here are some great protein snack suggestions to optimize your protein intake…

Tip: Anytime you eat a snack, pair it with a protein source. This not only ups your protein intake, but it’s also better for quelling hunger and keeping blood sugar levels balanced.

Here are some great examples:

Greek Yogurt + berries

String cheese + cherry tomatoes

Hummus + carrots

Cottage cheese + peaches

Almonds + strawberries

Hardboiled egg + cucumber

Nut butter + apple slices

Shaklee provides even easier grab-n-go high-protein snacks:

Life Shake is one of the best high-protein snacks. It has over 20 grams of protein!
Shaklee Meal Bar is what I love to grab when I need something quick. They’re perfect to stash in your car, desk, backpack, or purse. These chewy bars keep me feeling satisfied with 20 g protein and 6 g fiber. They come in three tasty flavors.

Do you see a way you could optimize your protein intake even more?

October 12, 2023

Hydration tips

When my mother was living with my niece, she was taken to the hospital twice. The problem: Dehydration. She wasn’t getting proper hydration. Mother has some memory issues and does not like to drink water. She was not well supervised and was left to sit on the sofa all day in front of the television. She was given a bottle of water but seldom finished it by the end of the day.

When I ask my clients how much water they drink a day, the answer is most often, “A lot. I get enough water.” After they spend a day or two measuring the water they actually drink, a majority of them are shocked at how little they really are taking in.

I am currently in a group that is working on getting enough water and developing habits to make sure that we reach our water intake goals each day. You might be surprised at how easy it can be, once you know and practice the steps.

Here are a few things to help you get there:

Plan for at least 64 ounces of water per day. ( the pervasive rule of thumb is divide your body weight by half and go for that many ounces.)
Drink water first thing in the morning, before any other beverage.
Drink 4 to 8 ounces of water before breakfast.
Drink 4 to 8 ounces of water before snacks.
Drink 4 to 8 ounces of water before dinner.

As you can see, it is a simple process. It only takes the effort to make it a habit. And habits develop at different rates for different people.

You might be thinking, wow 64+ oz is a lot of water, how am I going to drink that much? Well, we’ve got lots of tips!✨

First, let’s talk about how much water your body actually needs.🤔 While the EXACT amount you need depends on your activity level, health conditions, height and weight, gender, and even fiber and caffeine intake, there are some general guidelines. According to the Institute of Medicine‘s recommendations:

Men should drink 13 cups (about 3 liters) of water each day.
Women should drink 9 cups (just over 2 liters) of water each day. Pregnant women should drink 10 cups of water daily, and breastfeeding women should drink 12 cups.
Kids and teens should drink 6 to 8 cups of water a day.

💧 HOW HYDRATED ARE YOU?

A practical way to track your hydration level is to note the color of your urine right after you get up in the morning. Straw or lemonade-colored urine is a sign of proper hydration. Dark-colored urine—closer to the color of apple juice—indicates dehydration. Let’s see how getting more water might change the color of your pee. Don’t be shy––we’re all in this together!

One thing that helps me drink more water is having a nice water bottle that shows how much water I need to be drinking. It is also a good way to keep measurement of your intake.

If you don’t measure, you don’t really know. After a while, you will have a feel for how your hydration level is.

July 26, 2023July 27, 2023

Being consistent is key in all aspects of life.

What you do every now and then doesn’t count. What matters is what you do every day. It’s about being consistent.

What aspect of this do you think this is true of for you?

One guy is consistent at walking every morning, sometimes at 5 a.m. He’s being consistent.

Another guy shows up at our networking meeting every week with printed rosters for everyone. He’s being consistent.

Someone else is at church every Sunday. That’s being consistent.

The compound effect

There is a book called The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy. (find it on Amazon) It discusses the importance of how being consistent with a habit can have huge impact on our lives. And these can be good or bad. It seems that repeated actions will seem to have little if any effect for a period of time. Then suddenly there is a big, exponential growth noticed.

As I said, this habit can be good or bad. How does one become obese? There’s no sudden need to eat a whole pie after dinner each night. It starts slowly and then suddenly they are buying double XL T shirts. Their overeating became a habit and the weight mushroomed into an unhealthy state.

I do pride myself in being consistent.

If you sit near me here at the Tuesday morning networking meetings, you will see that I am consistent at taking my daily strip of vitamins.
You will find me at the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:15 a.m.
I drink a glass of water first thing every morning.
I floss my teeth every day. I am being consistent.

Why is this important?

Health habits are very important to maintaining our lifestyle. As time progresses, we are no longer able to stand without a groan, sprint across the street or keep up with a friend on a walk. Vacations become more sedentary as one cannot walk or climb as much as when they were younger.

I encourage my massage clients and my customers to look at what their health habits have become and those they may want to incorporate into their routines.

Exercise.

While we are very consistent with our breathing, we are not always in control of how we breathe. It is usually pretty shallow. How do we develop a habit of breathing deeper, longer breaths?

We can take that power and control back. Here is an exercise to help improve your breathing that can add stamina to your day, help you relax more and improve your sleep.

Sit comfortably with your hands in your lap. Take note of your breathing. Are you breathing into your throat? Your chest? Your lower abdomen?

To help you be more conscious of the depth of your breathing, get an ordinary balloon.

Blow into the balloon and quietly let the air out of the balloon. Where did your effort to blow up the balloon come from?

Blow into the balloon again and make an effort to use your lower abdomen to push the air into the balloon. Empty as much air as you can into the balloon. Release the air from the balloon.

Repeat this procedure a few more times. Slow down if you get light headed. This may be something you need to work up to.

Using your powers of consistency, do this on a daily basis. You will notice an easier process of breathing. Be aware if you have increased stamina. What is happening with your sleep after being consistent with this for a period of time?

Moving forward

Think about your health habits. Commit to one new habit that you will take on for the next 30 days. I feel certain that the compound effect will happen for you.

August 26, 2012

Shaklee Distributor in Dallas, Dallas Health Helpers, talks about the best time to lose weight.

Shaklee Distributor in Dallas, Dallas Health Helpers, talks about the best time to lose weight.

-Right after New Year’s Day
-Spring time
-The dead of Summer

When do you think is the best time to lose weight? Many people have preconceived ideas about when as well as how to reduce their waist line. These ideas are often rooted in external elements that we have come to believe and adhere to.

The best time to lose weight is when someone gets disgusted with the extra 5, 10 or 15 or more pounds they are carrying around. Until we get in touch with the physical discomfort and emotional pain of being overweight, we generally will not do anything about it. It is futile to jump on the New Year’s weight loss band wagon if you are not adequately motivated to move away from the pain or to move toward the health and vitality that comes with being at your proper weight. Even now in the heat of summer can be a good time to lose weight if you are sufficiently motivated.

Get in touch with your why when you consider losing weight. When your why is strong enough, you will take the proper steps to do it right.

Contact us when your “why” gets strong enough to take action. Click here to learn more about our weight loss program.

Dallas Health Helpers, Shaklee Distributor in Dallas is about being healthy without drugs or synthetics. Call 214.252.9596 or email us to learn more about vitality and health.

March 13, 2012

Shaklee Distributor in Dallas, Dallas Health Helpers, asks, “Is your pet overweight?” “Too??”

Shaklee Distributor in Dallas, Dallas Health Helpers, asks, “Is your pet overweight?” “Too??”

Weight, weight. Don’t tell me!!

Do you know that 50% of all dogs in this country are overweight? We are soothing and rewarding our pets with food. We also do this with our children and ourselves!!

If you think that a 50% rate is bad, get a load of this: 67% of adults in America are overweight and half of those are obese. These are not good statistics.

Most of us have been on diet in our lives. And most of us have been on several diets in our lifetimes. The problem is that most diets don’t work. What does work is a lifestyle change.

The good news is that we have a lifestyle plan that has been clinically proven to change the weight loss to come from fat, instead of the typical weight loss coming from muscles. Weight loss from muscle is not a good thing.

Check out our weight reduction plan at http://CinchPlan.com/HealthHelpers . We offer at FIT205 Studio, weight management support meetings two times a week-Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. and Saturday mornings at 9 a.m. Come and join us. For more information call Tim at 214 770 9596.

Dallas Health Helpers, Shaklee Distributor in Dallas is about being healthy without drugs or synthetics. Call 214 252 9596 or email us to learn more about vitality and health.