2 quick TacFit diet questions...

[sakinney]

For folks using the 4x7 tacfit eating program. I'm on the 40-day ramp up to the eating plan and currently at the stage where the requirement is to eat breakfast within an hour of waking. For me, this has been harder than it might be for most folks, but anyway

The next steps require (1)adding 4 oz of lean protein to breakfast, and then (2) healthy snacks every couple of hours.

What are people doing to add the protein to their morning meals? (I may be forced to eat dog food..that's not as bad as it sounds. I make my dogs' food by cooking ground turkey and collard greens together (sometimes spinach, sometimes chopped broccoli))

When I think of healthy snacks I turn to nuts and fruit. What are other people adding?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[woglaka]

I have been using chia seeds for the past couple of years with success. Chia seeds are a complete protein with all 9 amino acids. It is a plant protein which, argueably is better for humans than animal protein. Packed with calcium and iron are organic and raw. Easy to use, allow to soak in juice or water for about 5 minutes and they turn jellike and easy to digest. They help hydration if taken before a workout or a run. I like to add them to my green smoothies. Two tablespoons should pass for the four ounces you need. They are available on the internet and are innexpensive.

[sakinney]

Wow! Good to know, thanks for the tip.

[OJF]

Excellent questions, I've been wondering about the same thing myself :D
What I've thought about for breakfast is varying between eggs, tuna and ham, but you'd have to eat a lot to get 4-5 oz per meal. The chia stuff looks superb!



Two tablespoons should pass for the four ounces you need.

Is that really enough? From what I've found on the internet 100g of these contain about 25g protein, but that could of course be wrong.. Any confirmation here? :)

-OJF

[woglaka]

Two tablespoons of chia seeds would equal the same amount of protein as one egg. So you would have to eat four eggs to get the protein to match the 4 oz. of lean meat called for. This equates to having to consume about 3/4 cup of chia seeds to match that protein need. The difference is that chia seeds are a plant based protein which is more effecient for humans than animal based, requiring less consumption for the same benefit. For reference, there is an incredible book, "The China Study," which gives the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted. The scientists in this book tracked millions of people over decades to sight trends based on a populations using a plant based diet versus ones using an animal based diet. The disease rates between the two are mind blowing. Back to chia seeds, there is a book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall that tells the story of the Taramuhara Indians of Mexico whose lifestyle is based on running, mostly barefoot or in huarache sandals and up to 40 miles in a day to travel their desert mountains. Their main source of protein is the chia seed. They carry it is small pouches on their belts for energy while out gathering or traveling. They relied on the seeds to help with hydration in the desert climate. I loved the book, changed my way of running and I no longer deal with running injuries from modern day shoes. Another topic. Hope this helps.

[OJF]

Thanks man, great explanation :)

I recently read Born to Run myself, didn't catch that their "power-bar" was chia seeds.. I'm going Chia all the way! :D

[sakinney]

I'm wondering if 'adding' 4-8 oz of lean protein to breakfast results in a basically reformulating breakfast. Let's just stick to 4 oz of protein for a minute. On average, 7 grams of protein per ounce, that's 28 grams of protein for breakfast. I'm thinking that means reformulating breakfast around a 28 gram 'requirement'. Mostly, I'm on a South Beach diet, and have very little carbohydrates at all for breakfast. So, I might have a half-cup of cottage cheese with blue berries for breakfast. By itself, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese has 15 grams of protein. I can add a scoop of whey protein powder to that (24 grams by itself) to reach a total of 39 grams of protein for breakfast. I can do the same thing with greek yogurt or even oatmeal.

I can eat 4 eggs for breakfast occasionally, but not on a consistent basis. Two eggs, some cheese and some dog food (see initial post) would do the trick. I'll be trying some chia seeds this week to get a feel for them. I can see adding them to foods and smoothies, but I need to try them to figure out how much at a time.

This rambled more than I meant it to, the bottom line is, this step in the plan seems easiest to achieve if you re-design breakfast completely.