How to use Whey Protein to lose weight

Whey protein is a hot supplement in the market these days used not only by professional body builders but by anyone who wants to increase their protein consumption and lose body fat. After doing a lot of research, I decided to include whey protein in my diet program and was happy with the results. Whey protein shakes keeps you satiated longer and helps in the fight against fat. Learn how to use Whey protein to lose weight fast.

What is Whey Protein and where does it come from?

• Whey, a derivative of milk, is the liquid that is left behind after the first stages of the cheese-making process.
• Milk protein is 20% whey proteins and 80% being casein protein.
• Whey protein is a complete protein source, which denotes that it contains all 9 of the essential amino acids
• Whey also has immune-system enhancing benefits.
• Whey protein can actually be used in your fight against fat along with an exercise program.
• Whey has an extremely high biological value (BV). A high BV means that the amino acid ratio is excellent for building muscle and that a large proportion of the protein consumed is absorbed and utilized by the body. BV provides a measurement of how efficiently the body utilizes protein consumed in the diet.
• Because of its high BV, its ideal to consume whey protein immediately after workouts to build muscle

BV of some selected proteins

Whey Protein Isolates 159

Whey Protein Concentrate 104

Whole Egg 100

Milk 91

Egg White 88

Cottage Cheese 84

Tuna 83

Fish 82

Beef 80

Chicken 79

Soy 74

Casein 71

Peanuts 68

Yogurt 68

Oatmeal 58

Wheat 54

Difference between Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) and Whey Protein Isolate (WPI)

There are 2 main types of Whey protein powders available out there. Whey Protein Concentrate(WPC) and Whey Protein Isolate (WPI)

1. Whey Protein Concentrate

• Is produced by pushing the whey liquid through a very small filter that allows water, minerals, and other organic materials to pass though. The proteins, which are too big to pass through the filter, are collected, resulting in whey protein concentrate.

2. Whey Protein isolates

• This is the next step up in purification; the WPC is further purified again using more filtration or a technique called ion-exchange or cross-flow microfiltration. This results in Whey protein isolate powder.

Difference between WPC and WPI

1. WPC/WPI*
2. Cost- Cheaper/economical / More expensive than WPC*
3. Protein content- Lowest 70%-84% by weight / 90%-94% by weight. More pure protein*
4. Lactose content- Contains some lactose / Very little to none*
5. Fat content- May contain some fat / Very low or no fat*

Most people prefer WPI for fat loss (a protein powder with high protein content and little fat and carbohydrate).

3 Ways how Whey Protein helps you lose weight

1. Whey protein cuts appetite.
While many studies have shown that protein is the most filling or satiating macronutrient, all proteins may not be equal in this regard. Whey protein has the highest biological value and the best choice of protein. Drinking a protein shake before your meal, may help you consume fewer calories and reduce your food intake.

2. Whey protein increases insulin sensitivity
High protein diets have been found to increase insulin sensitivity. Research has shown that whey protein is more effective than other proteins stabilizing blood sugar and increasing insulin sensitivity. Thus whey protein can prevent body weight gain.

3. Whey protein can build lean muscle
Consuming whey protein before and after exercise supports fat burning and help gain and maintain muscle mass. Whey protein rapidly delivers amino acids during exercise, thus adding muscle mass and burning fat.
How to use Whey Protein to lose weight

photo credit facebook.com/killtimewithgymtime

The easiest way to use whey protein is in your morning breakfast shakes. These shakes can be very nutritional and healthy as long as you control what you put in them.
Some ingredients to add in your shakes are

1. almond milk
2. coconut milk
3. fat free Greek yogurt
4. frozen berries
5. peanut butter
6. bananas
7. fruits
8. flaxseeds
9. chia seeds
10. hemp seeds
11. choclate etc.

Protein shakes don’t have be boring. You can get creative with them and find what you like.

Try to mix a scoop of whey protein isolate with my almond milk first thing in the morning. I prefer to take my second dose after workout.

Conclusion
Adding Whey protein Isolate to your diet regimen is an easy and convenient way to add more protein to your diet and escalate your fat loss efforts. It’s no longer a supplement which only body builders should be using. Because of its fast absorbability, it is the best choice of protein out there.

8 Common Squatting Mistakes and How to Correct Them For Stronger Squats

Everyone makes mistakes. I make a lot. Everyone squats. (Don’t they?) I squat a lot.Through the combination of these two things, in addition to coaching a lot of squats, I’ve worked out eight common mistakes that limit squatting potential. Thankfully, I’ve also worked out how to correct them. Have a read over this list and see if you recognize any of these mistakes in yourself or others.

Mistake #1: Squatting Too High

If all the Internet memes are to be believed, squatting deep is possibly the meaning of life. While this is not quite true (everyone knows deadlifts are the meaning of life), squatting deep makes a whole load of sense, beyond proving doctors wrong and motivational posters right. I always think of squatting deep as something that is counterintuitive. When you have a heavy weight on your back, the last thing you want to do is to squat deeper with it. However, getting your ass to the grass has a number of direct benefits to you. You can harness the power of your glutes and hamstrings far better. It also puts you in a better position to get your hips directly underneath the bar quickly. Both of these things actually make the squat easier and have direct transfer to Olympic weightlifting (think getting pinned at rock bottom under a heavy clean.)

Mistake #2: Having Pins That Are Too High
Nope, nothing to do with long legs. In fact, this is the opposite. For those of us who are vertically challenged, we need to ensure we don’t challenge ourselves further by working off pins that are set too high on the rack. By the time you’ve gotten onto your tip-toes to get the weight off the rack, you’ll have lost a good deal of the tension you’ve worked so hard to generate. So don’t be lazy. Move the pins to a height that suits you. Slightly too low is better than slightly too high.

Mistake #3: Being Unconfident
One of the cues I use most often, out of both necessity and effectiveness, is “confident hips.” You know the type of squat I’m talking about - the one where there are no glaring technical issues, but the squat still looks unstable and unconfident, particularly on the way down. It can look like the hips are making their way down in an “S” shape, unsure which way they are going. Cueing confidence with the hips allows the squatter to focus on moving one part of the body correctly and confidently. Whichever style of squat you are going for, when you create a confident path with the hips, many other aspects of the squat will tend to fall into place.

Mistake #4: Always Wearing Assistance Gear

I’m the first person to advocate the use of legitimate lifting accessories, such as belts and knee wraps. They can be powerful aids in allowing your whole body to experience the strengthening benefits of heavier squats, while also keeping injury at bay. However, save these accessories for when it matters. Take a belt, as an example. I believe wearing a belt can actually help to teach the lifter to brace hard (rather than lessen the lifter’s ability to create pressure, as is commonly believed). However, I also believe that lifting beltless has great benefits in terms of creating and maintaining pressure and position, too. Get the best of both worlds, and use the belt when it gets heavy. Actually, just before it gets heavy, as using a belt is a skill to be learned just like any other.

Mistake #5: Breathing Incorrectly
I see this mistake take many forms. Two of the most common are taking a breath as you make your way down to the bottom, and taking a breath into your chest as opposed to into your belly.In fact I’ve often seem both together, and I put this down to the fact that taking a breath into your chest has little impact on the lifter in terms of anything else apart from intake of oxygen, so when it’s done doesn’t really matter either. The two fixes are simple. Point one: take a breath into your belly. This works to create intra-abdominal pressure to make your squat safer and more effective. Point two: this breath should be done before you begin this lift, just as you wouldn’t put your belt on after starting your lift. Maximize pressure before you begin your descent.

Mistake #6: Going Too Heavy Too Often
All you badasses out there will disagree I am sure, but yes, there is such thing a squatting too heavy. Actually, I’ve changed my mind. There isn’t such thing as squatting too heavy, as when you do so, you are no longer doing a squat. You’re doing some bastardized version of the lift. If you’re all caved in on a front squat or your back squat looks more like a good morning, then you are risking injury and training crappy movement patterns. Yes, it happens from time to time, but don’t make a habit of training this way or your body will think that is how it should be done.



Mistake #7: Never Failing
Not to be confused with going to heavy too often, this is in fact the concept of not going heavy enough, due to not having the balls to do so fear of getting pinned under a heavy bar. Almost always, as with many things, the fear is worse than the reality, and the only way to overcome it is to experience failure. In this situation, I may choose to take the lifter up to and through a controlled fail, with good spotters and under my watchful coaching eye. More often than not with this type of lifter the mind gives up before the body does. Form remains intact, but the lifter has given up mentally and is unable to make it out of the bottom of the squat. However, I have found a controlled practice of failure helps to alleviate the fear of being stuck, and gets the lifter to start making more aggressive choices with weight selection. If you’ve never failed a squat before (and I’m always surprised how many people haven’t), then consider this as an option.

Mistake #8: Being Too Quick Between Sets
Looking at this from a wider perspective, I can see lots of possible reasons why people don’t rest enough in between sets. The hasty pace of modern day living leaving little time to train, the desire to fit in as much training as humanly possible, and the CrossFit mentality of doing everything quickly are three potential reasons why I figure I often see squat sets performed back to back (there’s a pun in there somewhere). But to not allow adequate rest is to short-change yourself from strength gains. Allowing full recovery, or as close as possible, in between squat sets is going to ensure that you get the best out of every set. And before you tell me you don’t need the rest, that you are fine without it, have you ever tried it? I bet that not only could you lift heavier across more sets, but also the quality of your reps would improve, too. Rest more, lift more.



I hope this article has helped you. Do you see yourself or anyone you know in any of these points? Please feel free to spread the word if you recognize any of your friends and clients, and post below if you have any further questions. Here’s to better squatting!

5 Foods That Will Make You Look Better Right Now

Food is one of life’s great pleasures, but little did you know that eating well can also mean looking better? Yes, eat certain foods and suddenly your hair will be shinier, your skin will have a phenomenal glow, and even your nails will be stronger.


Wanting the lowdown on what foods to add into your diet to get serious beauty benefits? Here are 5 awesome tips.


1. Olive Oil
Olive oil is something you should eat all year round. It kind of moisturizes your body on the inside, and the way that you are inside reflects on the outside. It helps with growth of nails and shiny hai


2. Avocados
A Avocado is a complete food—it has so many nutrients that are so good for you. Avocados, loaded with monounsaturated fat and lutein are known to ward off aging, and have even been said to make you look younger, so stock up. Eat an avocado with a little salt and some lime to give it a little more flavor. Half an avocado for breakfast is one of my favorites. Avocado on toast is another meal I love. For kids try to mix it into eggs or even pancakes. Avocado makes the pancakes even fluffier and more buttery.


3. Coconut Oil and Grape Seed Oil

Cook with coconut oil. It is also really good for you and makes you look better on the outside [is a bonus]. Depending on what your cooking, sometimes use coconut oil instead of olive oil. I also use grape seed oil instead of canola oil. Grape seed oil is great because it’s flavorless, it has a high smoking point, and has no synthetics in it like a lot of oils do. I like to use natural oils that are healthier and very moisturizing to the body.”

Grape seed oil is rich in Vitamin E, which reduces the appearance of wrinkles. Coconut oil is full of beauty benefits too.

4. Almonds
My favorite go-to for a healthy snack when im short on time is almonds. I like to make my own trail mix, I add some dried fruit like dried cranberries and mini chocolate chips. Bonus that almonds are a major source of vitamin E and are known to reduce wrinkles and fine lines in your face and help cure acne.

5. Baking Soda
Besides foods that you can ingest to make you look better, there are plenty of items in your pantry that are great to introduce into your beauty regimen. Make a scrub from baking soda and olive oil and mix it up with a little bit of water. Exfoliate your face with it every day and you can use it on your body, too.

5 Exercises That Can Help You Loose Those Love Handles

Read on for five ways to work on lessening your love handles that don’t totally suck. They neither require long visits to the gym nor that you starve yourself; instead, they’re relatively painless exercises that won’t eat up too much of your time or your general joy in living. Will they make you sweat? Sure, but nothing worth doing is easy. Try these and get ready to look better for summer.

1. Side Plank With Hip Dips
Starting from an upper-pushup plank position, bring your right hand directly under your nose. Bring your feet together behind you, then roll to the outside edge of your right foot and stack your left foot on top of it. Lift your hand off the ground, so all your weight is balanced on your right hand and edge of your right foot. Pull your belly in toward your spine, then dip both your hips down until they almost touch the ground. Lift them back up toward the ceiling. Repeat this movement 10 times on each side, and do three sets. This is a fantastic exercise for your oblique muscles, those abdominal muscles that live on the sides of your core.

2. Boat Pose With Twists
This one’s a move derived from traditional Pilates: sit on the floor and lift your legs and feet away from the ground. Bend your knees at 90 degree-angles and lean your torso back about 45 degrees. Bring your arms our long in front of you and press your palms together like a prayer. (Your body should look like the letter “V,” but with bent knees.) Sit up tall on an inhale, then as you exhale, twist your arms over to the right until they touch the floor beside you. Inhale back to center, then exhale to twist the other way. Repeat 25 times.

3. Plank With Knee Twists
Start in an upper-pushup plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders, then come down to your forearms. Lift up your right foot, extending your leg out straight behind you. Take a deep breath in, then on the exhale bend your leg and bring your right knee to your left elbow. Extend the leg back and place it down, then switch sides. Repeat 10 times on each side.

4. Good Posture. Believe it or not, sitting up straight while you’re at your desk, having lunch, or just walking around can significantly impact your love handles. When you’re at your computer, for example, sit up tall and gently pull your stomach muscles in toward your spinal column. This slight, ongoing activation of your core muscles will help tone them while also burning more calories a day. It’s a subtle change that can make a big difference.

5. Leg Circles 
Lie down on your back with your arms down by your hips, palm down. Pull your lower abdominal muscles in toward your spine, then lift your legs up toward the ceiling so your body forms an “L” shape. Pull your legs down toward the ground over to right, but before they touch the floor, bring them center so they’re hovering above the floor. Then pull them over to the left, and back up to center toward the ceiling; your legs should be making a big circle. Do it 10 times toward the right, then 10 times on the left.