Now I gotta be honest for a minute, I haven't exactly been sticking to the sugar free lifestyle lately. It's not my fault! I was on vacation and everyone knows you get to eat whatever you want on vacation, right? Well, I did and when I came back I may or may not have brought a few treats with me which of course I had to eat, I couldn't let them go bad. So here we are, summer is almost over and I'm finally starting to settle back into a more healthy livet.
This post was actually inspired by a friend who was in town this weekend. We practiced yoga together and I was especially sore the next day. She asked about my protein intake and of course my first reaction was, "hey, just because I don't eat meat doesn't mean I don't get enough protein." But when I let my guard down a bit and actually thought about it, I have never really sat down and figured out how much protein I need. I've read plenty of articles touting that as long as you ingest enough calories, your protein is covered (vegan or otherwise). And really, how many of us (vegan or otherwise) know how much protein we need? Well I'll be honest, I didn't.
So I consulted Dr. Google and found enough sources to feel comfortable with a ballpark estimate. The CDC says women aged 19-70+ need 46 grams of protein. However webMD says athletes need about 50% more than a sedentary person. I found this nifty chart by fitsugar that suggests I need about 70 grams so I'm making that my goal.
Then I sat down and kinda guesstimated how much protein I'm getting on an average day. I found another nifty chart, this one by YumUniverse, that shows how much protein is in all kinds of plant based foods. Did you know there's 24 grams of protein in 1 cup of quinoa? That's only about 10 grams less than 1 cup of chicken! Well, based on my really terrible calculations, it appears on some days I am not getting enough protein (mainly because I just don't eat enough food some days).
Not terribly shocking, but definitely concerning. I've decided to commit to daily protein shakes (20 grams of protein each) which I need to do anyways to get my B12. I'll also be paying closer attention to what I eat and striving to attain 70 grams of protein each day. And of course, I'll be reeling in my sugar consumption too!
Oh and just for fun, here's a fast and delicious recipe I made last night: Curried Eggplant with Tomatoes and Basil. And a not so fast, but still delicious, recipe for homemade kind bars.
