It’s Day 10 of the Mykidstime 21 Day Health & Fitness Challenge! If you missed yesterday’s video, catch up with Day 9 here.
Our health and wellbeing expert, Fiona O’Donnell, explains what’s involved for Day 10 in the video below. We want you to tell us during the challenge how you are getting on so tag us on social using #mkt21days and we’ll give you some encouragement!
Mykidstime 21 Day Health & Fitness Challenge: Day 10 – Protein
When it comes to nutrition, social media will lead you to believe that you’ve got to wait for the next best thing – that there’s something just around the corner. This little tablet is going to fix everything for you, this multivitamin is going to change your life, this shake is going to solve all your problems… Unfortunately, none of that is true and a lot of it is marketing.
Realistically when it comes to nutrition, when it comes to feeling better, when it comes to developing a thriving gut, when it comes to performance, it’s all down to the basics. One of the things that I see in my cohort of training clients is that we tend to ignore our requirements for protein and, in general, women over the age of 30 don’t eat as much protein as they need to.
Think about what you’ve had in the last 24 hours – did you have porridge, cereal, muesli or yogurt for breakfast? What did you have for your lunch? Ask yourself where was the protein, and was it high quality protein?
Often, dinner is okay – we’re good at doing meat and veg. Generally speaking, our portion of protein for dinner isn’t lacking, but I would like you to look back at your protein intake in the last 24 hours and try to be more conscious of it over the next week.
Broadly, a portion of protein is in and around the same size as the palm of your hand. Now our own palms are relative in size to the size of our bodies, so if you’re petite you’re going to have a smaller size palm. I’m nearly six foot tall and I’m quite broad, so I’ve got a much larger palm and my requirements for protein will be higher than somebody who is smaller.
Taking in enough protein is going to help to support your immune function. It’s going to help to support retention of muscle before you even consider thinking about doing any strength training, and of course if you start strength training protein is going to add to your capacity to build more quality muscle.
When it comes down to protein, it’s not a guessing game – it’s an essential line drawn under it. We want to, at a bare minimum, get approximately four portions a day if we’re looking at animal-based proteins and a bit more for plant-based proteins like tofu, tempeh, quinoa, chickpeas, lentils, etc. While they are quality proteins, not all of them are whole proteins and not all of them are absorbed and utilised by our bodies as well as animal-based proteins, so you must eat more of them.
I want you as today’s task to ask yourself this question – am I getting four defined portions of protein in my day? If you’re not, the best thing you can do is make a list of your favourite protein sources, pop it up on your fridge and remind yourself that nourishment is your top priority. Every time you have a meal or every time you’re looking for a snack, aim to add in one of these lovely sources of protein.
If you have any questions throughout the Challenge, email Fiona or send her a message on Instagram, Facebook and use hashtag #mkt21days to let us know how you are getting on with the Challenge!
About the Author: Fiona O'Donnell
