Here is a small piece from my book: SECRETS TO A HEALTHY METABOLISM.
"The most important piece of our thermic effect of food metabolism is the amount of quality protein in our diets; which influences weight loss. Protein helps us sustain muscle during weight loss, improve muscle strength and endurance, improve immunity, enhance antioxidant function, build HDL cholesterol, and helps insulin and leptin functions; all of which will help maximize our metabolism.
A higher-protein diet also has a natural diuretic effect. People with extra weight are often sluggish and holding extra water; which can cause blood pressure go up and causes our heart to push harder to move the stagnation. The extra water in connective tissues directly gets in the way of fat burning. When you eat a higher protein diet, an important blood protein called albumin increases; which, draws water back out of your connective tissues and helps you get rid of fluid retention. If you have too much inflammation, your kidneys may leak albumin into your urine, provoking fluid retention, weight problems, and considerable cardiovascular risk.
When we eat too many carbohydrates and not enough protein, the opposite happens; we retain more fluids. It also stimulates too much leptin; provoking leptin resistance and an intense desire for more carbohydrates. Too many carbohydrates cause your willpower to be in a constant battle with out-of-balance leptin. It is pretty obvious from the amount of yo-yo dieting in our culture that misguided leptin usually wins. The best way to win the battle is to not have it in the first place, meaning don’t eat too many carbohydrates and more importantly, not by themselves.
I see a lot of clients come to me after trying a well-known popular diet, (which I won’t name, but they count points) which worked for a while, but they are stuck at a weight they are still uncomfortable at. Counting points isn’t helpful for our biochemistry…they concentrate on calories. Saving up all your points for a Blizzard isn’t going to enhance your physique; even if you only eat 800 calories a day…it is 800 calories of trans-fat filled sugar!
Culver's has a Pumpkin Cheesecake Concrete Mixer with a medium size carrying just a smidge under 1,000 calories and over 100g of carbs! Yikes, I will make mine at home!
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 oz cream cheese or coconut cream
2 TBS Swerve or 1 tsp stevia glycerite (or more to taste)
1 scoop Jay Robb vanilla whey or egg white protein
1 cup crushed ice
Place all ingredients in a blender, blend until very smooth and enjoy!
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Culver's Pumpkin Cheesecake Concrete Mixer = 993 calories, 113g carbs, 2g fiber, 93g sugars, 53g fat, 16g protein
"Healthified" Pumpkin Cheesecake Mixer = 365 calories, 8.5 carbs, 2g fiber, 18g fat, 29g protein
