“Protein Makes Me Gag!” (is What She Said)

Posted on by travelingmarla

Come on. Seriously? Quit being so juvenile. This is a FITNESS post. I had absolutely no intention of suckering you into yet another nonsexual post with a sneakily-titled innuendo.

According to my trainer and my online coach, I need a LOT more protein and water. It’s not the first time I’ve been told to eat more protein, and until I started having these crash-outs I really figured I was fine. And besides, “eat more protein” means nothing if you started with next to no protein, then “some” protein seems plenty.  

I crashed again late yesterday afternoon. It has been happening more frequently on weight training days. I emailed my new trainer and gave him a rundown of everything I ate. He replied back immediately that I didn’t have nearly enough protein.

protein deficiency dehydration weight training fitness nutrition
Already not hungry in the morning makes breakfast protein intake difficult. No wonder people just add protein packets to their smoothies. Need to get me summa those.

I’ve never eaten much protein on a daily basis, so this is definitely going to take some adjusting. I rarely eat red meat (although when I do, I pretty much chase a poor cow around a field with a fork) and actually, as I’ve come to realize once I started paying attention, I don’t eat much at all.

Kind of seems odd coming from an overweight person, but as my trainer is starting to figure out, I actually don’t consume enough of anything for all the weight training and cardio I’m doing.  And by underconsuming, I’m forcing my body to fight against me. It wants to hold onto everything because maybe it thinks we’re starving? And as for building muscle, well forget it if I’m not getting enough protein.

protein deficiency dehydration weight training fitness nutrition
Sometimes it’s Fiji in there. Sometimes it’s tap. Baxter ate my water bottle. :-/

My intake yesterday consisted of a scoop of ground almonds and cup of green tea for “breakfast” (I’m not hungry in the mornings…EVER). I had one 12-ounce bottle of water with my workout. For lunch it was 8 oz water with an egg and veggie sandwich on ciabatta bread (processed 🙁 ). Then late afternoon I had a smoothie as my dinner (1 cup berries, 1 cup yogurt, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 2 tbsp almond butter, 1 scoop progreens powder, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp cinnamon).

That was all I was hungry for.

After emailing with trainer, I dug around in the pantry and ended up eating a plain can of tuna to add some protein.

For all the talk about “listening to your body” sometimes your body just doesn’t know what the f*ck it’s talking about. Or, probably more likely in my case, I stopped listening so long ago that I’m completely out of tune with what it’s trying to tell me, so the only recourse it has is to simply crash.

Hmmm – I guess I’m kind of like an old married couple with my own body: “You never listen to me anymore, except when I yell or swear or do something to get your attention!” I’m just assuming that’s how those arguments go, because as we all know, Kurt and I are a perfect couple. And yes, he’s reading this. He reads all my blogs, so don’t get yourself in a dander because you think I’m talking smack about my better half.

protein deficiency dehydration weight training fitness nutrition
My smoothie tastes better than it looks!

Anyway, while trainer is getting me numbers on just how much protein I should be taking in, I started today with a protein-heavy breakfast. You know, as much as I love “planning” I have never really looked into how much protein, carbs, fats, etc., I should be taking in daily, not before I began weight training six months ago, and not once since. Until now. And I guess it really is time for My Fitness Pal, as everyone is talking about.

Okay, I’m about to barf. Seriously I’m going to finish this post and waddle my lead stomach to the bathroom to get ready. I love eggs and salmon and spinach and cheese. I really do.

But I still can’t stand anything in my stomach first thing in the morning, and I don’t know how to force my body to be hungry during the day.

Okay, time to go chug some water and pretend I’m enjoying this change. The only thing that helps me get through it is thinking about energy and muscles. Energy and muscles. Energy and muscles.

Energy and muscles.

Energy and muscles…
Energy and muscles…

Love, Marla

16 thoughts on ““Protein Makes Me Gag!” (is What She Said)”

  1. This was a big realization so I’m glad your trainer talked to you about it! Kinda crazy the old one didn’t! You’ll get used to it, and when you do good things are going to happen! Get on MFP already so I can monitor you! 😉

    1. Thanks Colin, my old trainer talked about it, but I think I just didn’t realize how much I needed. (As you have been finding out, it takes me a long time to get something through this stubborn skull.) I signed up for the MFP via Facebook but haven’t gotten the app on my phone yet. Will do asap. I promise. 🙂

          1. Because if you’re anything like me, you’ll find you’re eating more calories than you thought you were. Once you start trackign everything, it becomes scarily obvious. MFP has made a HUGE difference for me 🙂

  2. Awesome good luck keep it up, I start my new macrobiotic diet in the first so keep up the good work I’m gonna need a certainty partner lol
    Benjamin

    1. Benjamin, thank you so much. I’m trying to read one or two articles a day on the different eating habits and I am leaning toward the “eat clean” style I see on so many blogs. I can’t wait to hear about your progress! 🙂

      1. Day one: yogurt w/ granola for breakfast, carrots for brown rice
        with spinach and peppers for dinner. so boring lol. but ill spice it up. No meat or dairy 3 months min.
        B.

  3. So, I went and joined MyFitnessPal after reading this–after I already ate breakfast, of course–and was *thrilled* to learn that I ate over after my day’s allotment of calories already. *shakes fist* Hahaha…

  4. How do you like yogurt? A cup of Greek yogurt with some berries in the morning might be a simple way to become acclimated to eating breakfast while still consuming protein. 🙂

    1. Hi! Thanks for reading and commenting. Yes, as mentioned in the post, I currently have 1 cup of yogurt each morning in my smoothie. It has been one of the only sources of regular protein in my daily diet. With as much work I’m doing building muscle, I need at least my body weight in protein, which is currently 228 grams.
      At present I don’t even clear the minimum daily intake for an adult female who is not weight training.
      The yogurt I already have in the diet is nice, but this is a much more significant overhaul.
      Love Greek yogurt. It’s the ONLY kind I like to get!

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