Proteins- I’m impressed

When Lindsey, my personal trainer, finally got to look at my food log, I had gotten a couple weeks in of eating better and at my calorie goal, so I was feeling pretty good. Seemed like she was too, her only comment was “you need to get some more proteins and vegetables”… my response… “Can my fruits count as vegetables??” I was actually hopeful that she might say yes, but the answer was no. lol

Apparently, proteins are just a short fancy name for a string of amino acids and basically, different combinations of amino acids = different types of protein. It really hit home when I found out that stuff like enzymes, hormones, antibodies and even hemoglobin (the famous carriers of oxygen in the body) are all forms of protein. See, there are so many cells in the body and each one has a very specific purpose. Proteins are like the engine that helps drive each cell to carry out its function. They are also the brains behind rebuilding and strengthening muscles when we work out. So basically, nothing in me would work without proteins! Honestly, I was impressed. Maybe I learned this in some bio class at some point but I’m an engineer, my last bio class was like secondary school so don’t judge me 😉

Now knowing how important proteins are, I was curious to know the best sources of them. The list above shows some of the good ones I found. It’s important to note that some of them are animal sources while the others are plant sources. Animal sources tend to have more “complete” proteins in the sense that they have more amino acids that are essential for the body. The flip side is they can also have more fat and cholesterol so it is important to balance it out. I figured that like with other foods I won’t do anything drastic but I will do my best to make sure get my body the proteins it needs and be cautious of where it’s coming from!