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Low Fat Protein Diet PlansLow Fat Protein Diet Plans are an important part of running because running burns calories quickly, and a low fat diet meal plan helps us see results faster! In a forty-five minute run I use about 500 calories over and above just sitting around. It's easy to know how many calories you are burning with the right running gear. I wear a Polar Heart Rate monitor when I run, and the Polar calculates caloric burn based on heart rate and other factors. See how running stacks up against other common exercises based on a moderate intensity. Calories Burned Running Running compares pretty well against other high intensity exercises like Cross Country Skiing, which requires lots of gear, waxes, and trials and errors along the way to developing good ski technique! (Let's face it: wobbling down the ski trails just trying to stay upright doesn't use a lot of energy!) Let's think about low fat protein diet plans in relation to all these calories we'll be using. What nutritional (real) foods are we eating??? Can we go on a running diet and avoid falling into the trap of the unmaintainable "self denial diet"? For instance, even though we're concentrating on low fat protein diet plans, runners need carbohydrates. That's the fuel that muscles use to create their "stored energy". We know that watching our carbohydrate intake can be an important part of dieting and nutrition. Solutions that fit into low fat protein diet plans lie in eating the right kinds of carbohydrates: complex carbohydrates rather than simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates (or carbs for short) are processed by our bodies more slowly than 'simple' carbs. This means we don't get the sudden sugar highs and lows we experience with simple carbohydrates like white flour or white rice! Complex carbs (carbohydrate) foods are often found in wholegrain foods: wholegrain breads, oats, muesli and brown rice. Another bonus for complex carbs is that they really are a better choice for weight loss.
Carbohydrate Summary Carbohydrates are used by every cell in your body for energy. The over consumption of refined, simple carbs has given carbohydrates a bad name. Simple carbs are a leading cause of obesity according to the World Health Organization. Simple carbs are implicated in diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even some cancers. Complex carbs are the foundation of a healthy diet. High fiber complex carbs improve digestion, stabilize blood sugar and keep energy at an even level. They are our key components of a runner's diet plan. A runner's diet plan should distinguish between these very different forms of carbohydrates.
Moving beyond carbohydrates, low fat protein diet plans feature high quality proteins as an essential part of a athlete diet plan. High quality proteins come from animal sources (chicken, turkey, fish, egg whites) and also from a surprising variety of other foods: Tofu, beans and rice, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and others. My favorite non-animal proteins are tofu and Brussels sprouts! It's amazing what a good restaurant can do with tofu! When we run we use many muscle groups: legs, feet, abdominals, core muscles and so on. When muscles get used, especially as part of a training routine, they get broken down and rebuilt. This takes protein. The 20 Amino Acids commonly found in protein are the building blocks of protein. Just like with carbohydrates there are good ways to get protein and poor ways to obtain protein. A runner's diet plan should contain low fat protein or at least as low a fat as possible without living a monk-like life of self denial! Here are some good sources for low fat protein diet plans: Fish Turkey Chicken Lean Beef Tuna - but watch the mercury!
This must be my favorite food group. Fats are fun to eat! However, low fat protein diet plans call for a little forethought when it comes to fats! We ideally need about 25% of our daily diet (e.g. caloric intake) in the form of fats. This is a really easy number to hit! What we want to do is satisfy that dietary requirement with the right kinds of fats rather than the wrong kind of fats. It's not just a matter of "cutting down" on fats. Results from a 8 year study showed that eating a low fat diet did not help significantly in weight lost, and didn't have any noticeable preventative effect for common degenerative diseases like heart disease and some cancers. What the study found is that "good fats" (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) lower risks while "bad fats" (trans fats and saturated fats) increase risks for certain diseases. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated are liquid at room temperature, while trans fats and saturated fats semi-solid or solid. Keep that in mind when you are thinking of fats! Cholesterol Our own livers make about 75% of our blood cholesterol (that's the cholesterol that increases our risk for heart disease). Only about 25% of our cholesterol comes from food. What is important is that the largest determinant of blood cholesterol is the mix of fats in our diet. While we're on the topic of cholesterol, try omega-3 eggs if you have them in your area. These eggs have health benefits and I've noticed they are far better tasting eggs than the regular variety! Summary That's about it for low fat protein diet plans! A diet isn't something we go "on" and then "off". It's our food lifestyle, and running give us an additional advantage over our sedentary friends. By running regularly and eating wisely we can compound the benefits of regular exercise and a healthy diet!
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